One of the starting points for a journey into the world of the mystical is synchronicity. Synchronicity could be considered to be simply defined as the act of attaching significance to the confluence of activities. In other words, if something happens that causes your attention to focus upon two events or actions coming together, and you remark upon it by relating it to your own life in some way, then you could be said to be partaking in an act of synchronicity.
Here’s an example. Let’s say that you have been in a low mood for a few days due to the death of your pet goldfish, whom you called ‘Fluffy’. A few days after this tragic event you happen to see a car bumper sticker that says “I love goldfish“. At that same moment on your car radio someone says the word “fluffy” . You look out of your car window to see an advert on a hoarding that contains the phrase “living in a goldfish bowl“. This causes you to think about your pet goldfish and realise that this date is actually the date when you bought Fluffy the Goldfish a couple of years ago. Several things come together at a point in time that were only of significance to you, as though the Universe was constructing these elements just to point something out to you.
These confluences can be easily dismissed, of course. Chance, inevitability, irrationality – all these terms remove the obligation to dwell upon the confluence, and to consider the concept any deeper. However, once you begin to regularly notice these synchronicities, and once you attribute some meaning to them, then the world necessitates deeper consideration. How are they being created? Who is creating them? Am I constructing my own reality? What do they mean in a wider context? Am I going mad?
Once these questions have been considered and investigated then the result of that can often be a profound sense of joy. Yes, joy. One begins to enjoy spotting these little “glitches in The Matrix” as they have been popularly termed. I prefer to call them “node points” – gatherings of strands of the tapestry of possibility that is woven through Time and Space and which, bundled together, create meaning, drive purpose, and satisfy a very human need for a glimpse behind the veil of the Mystery that life surrounds itself in. For a fleeting moment we see how the Universe flows, and we see how we are woven into its grand design.
As Jake Kotze says in his article written for The Sync Book:
” Syncs offer endless insight into the world, but their most essential quality is in vivifying what and who really allows for them.” (source: The Sync Book)
That sunchronicity happens is not as important to us as the notice we pay to it and the attribution of meaning that it has for us. Synchronicity makes us feel more connected, and more alive.
The Flow of the Infinite Intelligent Universe
I have been developing a concept about the way the Universe is structured since I began to encounter and recognise synchronicity. My concept is called The Flow of the Universe. It is neither startlingly new or mind-bogglingly clever. It is, as I am, relatively simple. My idea is that the Universe, when perceived with a Time dimension to it, necessitates momentum. In other words, if you think about the passage of time then you require the Universe to flow – to move from one point in space and time to another point.
I am equally aware that humans can perceive outside of time, and in this perception the Universe does not flow, it simply IS. In our usual everyday consciousness this is too difficult to work with because possibility to too infinite. With our ‘reducing valves’ of perception we reduce the Universe to a manageable set of possibilities by perceiving it as a flow through time and space, and thus we are able to position ourselves in relation to other points, and thus establish identity and history.
When we open our perception a little we begin to peek behind the veil and to lose our sense of ourselves fixed so firmly in time and space. We see the connections between our current age and previous times. We imagine futures. We begin to appreciate Universal concepts, even if only within the human framework. These are the visionaries, the free thinkers, the mystics and the insane people. Opening up has the potential to overload our tiny little perceptive organs, and some people don’t cope with it very well. For those people who don’t cope with this experience we lock them away, shut them up, or buoy them up on mood-enhancing drugs. At the very least, people who have opened up to the Flow of the Universe and who are altered by that experience society designates as “strange” – different to those who have never dared to experience the Infinite Intelligent Universe (see also Fred Hoyle’s Intelligent Universe theory).
According to Charlene Belitz and Meg Lundstrom:
“Flow responds directly to our beliefs, behaviors, and actions. We can either enhance this state of perfect timing and flawless serendipity, or we can diminish it and even cut it off. When we become open, willing, trusting, we experience flow as fulfillment and joy, and synchronicities pop up all over the place. When we become fearful, doubting, controlling, flow diminishes, our day is filled with blocks and frustrations, and synchronicities cease.” (source: ‘What Is Flow?‘ article)
The correspondence here with one’s ability to interact with the subtle forces around us is remarkable. Dowsing, as a skill, requires exactly that ‘tuned in’ state of mind that promotes the apprehension of synchronicity, the linking in with Nature’s Tapestry, the feel of a connection with the threads that weave together forming the warp and weft of the Universe’s fabric. Whether one can dowse is dependent upon whether one can dispense, even temporarily, with the “fearful, doubting, controlling” aspects of our mind. In the ‘letting go’ we allow our own subtle energy threads to entangle with other threads that are normally invisible to us. We begin to ‘feel’ the Universe’s invisible intelligence, to interact with it on a personal level.
By allowing ourselves to weave into Nature’s fabric, and go with the Flow of the Universe, we reconnect with our ancestral talents, and restore meaning to the pagan movement as a viable force of mystical power. By sewing ourselves to synchronicities we are subtly understanding the pattern to which our internal tailour is trying to create the suit of our soul. For your critics, this will seem like the ultimate epitome of The Emperor’s New Clothes – an invisible suit that only you can appreciate, but you should wear it with pride, because it has infinitely deep pockets!
Gwas.
Links to:-
- Synchromystic videos
- Red Ice interviews with Jake Kotze
- Red Ice interview with Alan Abbadessa about Synchromysticism
Other selected synchromysticism blog sites:
- Tek Gnostics (very good)
- Reality Sandwich (clear and varied)
- Live From The Logosphere
- The Blob
- Cosmic Contemplation
- Labyrinth of the Psychonaut (mad)
- Neil Kramer
Books:-
- Synchronicity – The Bridge Between Mind and Matter – J.F.Peat
Just to add a little more…
I like the term ‘synchromysticism’ and the idea of tapping into the greater flow aligned with Nature.
I’ve seen a few movies and ideas that float around people, where the idea attached to synchronicity often involves fulfilling all your personal dreams, desires, and wishes as way to spiritual development. Whether or not these come from the deeper self or from a limited viewpoint self is a question that remains, yet they seem to differ from what you are writing of here in that they talk as though the universe exists to fulfil all our wishes, as though we are all born as spoilt children of an unlimitedly giving and powerful Divinity. This often implied ‘wish-fulfilment by daddy in heaven’ seems somewhat an artificial fantasy to me. I much prefer the idea presented here of flowing with Nature.
Hi Whytefox,
That’s a very good distinction to make regarding The Flow of the Universe. This is not an imaginary river whose course is destined to flow as any mere human would wish it to. Being in the flow takes a struggle to position oneself mid-stream, and it is equally difficult to maintain that position. The only easy bit is actually “going with the flow” because that is the natural course of events.
Whilst you’re riding the Flow life gets easier, but maintaining your position in the Flow is actually quite difficult, given the multitude of forces that try to divert your path, to stem your flow, and to pull you away from the course that you would like to steer. Maintaining your position requires the skill of Balance, and a certain amount of Will. Some see it as requiring sacrifice. Some believe that it involves struggle. The odd thing is that ocne you find your position in The Flow it doesn’t seem like you’ve sacrificed anything worthwhile, or that it was difficult to get to that position. It only felt like that when you weren’t in the Flow!
Definitely not an easy position to maintain, but a position in which life is made so much easier, and that feels right in a very mystical and spiritual way to each person who makes the effort to find the position.
Hi again Gwas,
Your topic has brought me to a few questions…
Do you consider The Flow of the Universe to be similar to the Dao? similar to Satori? Similar to Awen? Possibly that’s three distinct questions if you like.
Peace,
Whytefox
Hi Whytefox,
I’d not really considered it in those contexts before simply because I had created my own context! However, now that you raise the point let me consider each one.
1. Dao/Tao – very similar to this, I think. Ineffable, ungraspable, yet one seeks to be in tune with its flow. The inter-operability of male and female forces (although i would include neutral and primal in there too). Yes, a close similie indeed.
2. Satori – satori is more like understanding one’s true nature. I think this is an important step along anyone’s spiritual path, and essential to being in the flow, but not a description of the flow itself, rather an understanding of what one is aiming towards by being in the flow – i.e. the consequences of alignment
3. Awen – I have always considered this to be similar to the concept of divine inspiration, the seed of poetry. One often hears of people talking of “the flow of Awen”, but what I think they mean with that phrase is the influx of inspiration from a source that is larger and more intelligent which they consider to be divine. Different from the Flow of the Universe, whis describes more a motivation or direction to the Universe’s entire intent.
I hope that helps in some way?
Gwas.
Thanks Gwas, that does help clarify it. I agree with your view of Dao and Satori, yet in my view, I would consider the flow of Awen to be similar to the flow of the Universe when things are flowing, particularly if one views every action one does as an act of creativity. With Awen flowing, one is inspired with a kind of ‘creative genius’. So to extend this idea to life itself, living in a state of continual ‘creative genius’, as some people seem to do, I would consider this idea of Awen as something similar.
The Universe is inspired to create itself, change itself, be itself, flow as itself, and Awen is the connection of oneself with this original inspiration in each and every act.
Something like that…
Very good to read, Gwas. I have not focused on contemplating synchronicity for a while now, until a couple of days ago. I had once dismissed it as too ‘new age’, but now I’m giving it another chance – I’d like to explore it more deeply. Maybe I have been living somewhat in the flow, but I feel now I can become more conscious of this. Thanks.
Kal wrote:
“You see, a synchronicity isn’t telling us that something strange is going on right now…oh no…it tells us that something strange happened when the universe sprang into being.”
Wow, yeah!
Leaning into the flow,
Whytefox
Hey Gwas,
An interesting post. As you know I too love synchronicities and would like to drop a thought into the mix. This occured to me when I had a kind-of sync event.
I was enjoying a coffee with a friend in a cafe. I had the seat facing the window. As I was chatting I was also looking out of the window. At one point I saw a friend pass by whom I hadn’t seen in years.
I couldn’t leave my friend to go and find her, I did however shorten our meeting so that fifteen minutes later I was out of the cafe and hunting my old friend. The town (Warrington) is of reasonable size. But I thought that a few minutes of wandering ‘purposefully’ around might give dividends.
My rational brain was giving me input on the kind of shops that my old friend might be visiting so I meandered around those. All to no availl.
Finally some 30 minutes later I gave it up as a bad job and headed out of town. As I came to a place where the shops ended, who did I sppot walking towards me? My friend!
But here is the thing…She had her hair bleached and wasn’t wearing the clothes I had ‘spotted’ her in. Indeed the person I had seen, looked what my friend did when I had last seen her some time ago. Since then she had changed her hair (which used to be black).
Wow! I exclaimed and enjoyed another coffee with this friend wondering what a strange synchronistic world that we live in. As I pondered this thought I looked more deeply into my experience…
If I hadn’t of spotted my friends look alike, I wouldn’t have left my other friend early.
If I had spent some more (or less) time searching then I wouldn’t have bumped into my friend as she walked through towm (she was passing through).
If I hadn’t of been thinking of my friend I wouldn’t have recognised her with her new hair-style.
Sounds fairly normal for a synchronicity but what people often forget is this…
If I hadn’t of sat facing the window, if I hadn’t of met in that cafe, if we hadn’t of met at that time…If I had decided to do something else that day…If I had been born in a different town…If…If..If…
You see, a synchronicity isn’t telling us that something strange is going on right now…oh no…it tells us that something strange happened when the universe sprang into being.
As a much loved astronomer put it…”If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe” Carl Sagan
Great post!
Kal