Synchronicities And What To Do With Them
It's not just about clock gazing. Synchronicities show up in all kinds of forms. I often have a thought about something and then within a second or two I hear the same word or phrase from an outside source—maybe from an audiobook, a person walking down the street, the TV, or any number of ways. I might also think of a long lost friend and they suddenly walk through the door of the shop I am in. I might see the same word or a book title repeatedly. No matter what the circumstance, when I have a synchronicity, joy bubbles up inside me and fills me with awe. The effervescent school-girl-giddiness I feel is palpable.
But what are these synchronicities and what do we do with them?
It was Carl Jung, the influential 20th century psychoanalyst, who coined the term synchronicity in the first place. "Synchro" has its base from the Greek word for together, while "chronos" stands for time. Laura Kerr describes a synchronicity as "circumstances that appear meaningfully related yet lack a causal connection." 1
My dream teacher, Kelly Sullivan Walden, postulates that synchronicities are guide posts on our path to enlightenment. Oh how I like the sound of that! They are like road signs that show us the way. They confirm that we are where are meant to be. If we are open to them, they can guide us to take the right steps along the way. In other words, they are great little reminders to pay attention, because the Universe is always speaking to us, it's simply a matter of whether we are listening or not.
If we take the time to dive a little deeper, we can gather some pretty glorious information as was the case in a recent dream session.
NOTES FROM A DREAM SESSION:
Me: “Did you have any dreams this week?”
Client: “No.”
Me: “Did you have any synchronicities?”
Client: “YES! 1:11. I saw the clock and it was 1:11!"
Me: “How did you react when you had that synchronicity?”
Client: “I said aloud, 1-11 and then shared my gratitude."
Me: “How did you feel when you saw 1:11?”
Client: “I wanted to celebrate!”
Me: “Does celebrating or having a celebration mean anything to you?”
Client: “Yes, it does!”
Me: “How so?”
Client: “I LOVE decorating for the holidays. My house is all about Halloween right now. It’s a celebration for me when I decorate for whatever holiday it is.”
Me: “If this were my "dream" (even our waking life can be considered a dream), I am wondering about the ritual behind the decorating for the holidays and how this is celebratory for you.”
Client: “Thank you. Wow. That is excellent! I am so grateful you brought that up. To me, decorating is about family, community, gathering—a celebration! (She had her arms in front of her in a circle with her hands touching.) It’s a container for all this celebration of family and community! I love this work! Who knew that 1:11 would mean all that for me! I am getting chills up my arms and the hair on my arms is standing straight up! I love it! Thank you for that!”
My client had a deepening view of what this common synchronicity is for her. Just a few numbers had a far deeper meaning. Not to mention the fact that she was over the moon about this discovery. Diving deeper can actually shift our moods into sheer elation.
RECURRING SYNCHRONICITIES:
But what about recurring synchronicities? I have "one off" synchronicities quite often throughout the day. I am always grateful. I am always elated to receive them, but there are frankly too many to investigate them all at a deepening level. Ergo, I look at the ones that are amplified in some way for me. Either I keep thinking about them, or they continuously show up until I do something about it.
For example, I had a dream where one element was showing an image of me holding onto some hanging velvet draperies. When I went back into the dream by way of a shamanic journey, I discovered those draperies represented the metaphysical veil between our 3-D world and the Spiritual world. They were a symbol of the portal between the two sides of the veil.
Once I incubated that dream, the word veil kept showing up. And I mean immediately. Within minutes even. I turned on the TV and there was a repeated reference to the spiritual veil. I looked on my Facebook feed and there was something about the history of wedding veils. The treasure hunt was on. I clicked on the post to learn more.
Apparently brides originally wore veils because back in the day, when parents gave their young daughters to old men to be married, they wanted to make it difficult for them to run away. And those long veils certainly made it difficult for prospective bride-to-be's to sprint away into the horizon never to be seen again. Their feet would simply get caught up in the flowing fabric, making it all too easy for them to trip and be caught by dear old dad or by the old geezer waiting for her hand at the altar. Who knew? I most likely wouldn't have bothered reading that post except for the recurring synchronicity. So I learned a little factoid along the way too.
And of course it didn't end there. It simply kept coming up for a few days, until I saw an advertisement that The Shift Network was having a summit called...I bet you can guess..."Beyond the Veil."
What's a girl to do? I took it as a signpost that the Universe wanted to steer me in this direction and I signed up. After I clicked the payment button, I haven't seen any signs of "veils" anymore. I paid attention and took the correct offramp from the veil superhighway so that I can learn more about the spiritual veil in the summit. I listened. And I was proactive too. No more messages required.
CONCLUSION:
Synchronicities are hidden jewels, waiting for us to discover. The more we are open to being present and to working with our innate intuition, the more they will show up for us. When we pay attention to the synchronicities to them and when we share our gratitude for receiving them, the more these metaphysical morsels will want to come and play with us.
So rev up and put your synchronicity gears into drive and notice what signs are revealed along the way. You'll be grateful you did.
Sleep Well. Dream Well.
~Lisa
1. (from Wikipedia) Kerr, Laura K. (2013). "Synchronicity". In Teo, T. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Critical Psychology. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer-Verlag
Comments
Post a Comment