Metaphysical Musings

I’m often asked the question “How do I know if I am psychic?” or “How can I develop my psychic abilities?”  First, know that almost everyone has some degree of Sixth Sense – I liken it to one’s sense of smell.  Most folks can smell, many have a heightened sense of smell and a rare few (whom the French refer to as having “The Nose”) can work in the perfume industry as they are able to detect notes of fragrance when a perfumed strip is waved under their nose.  The same holds true of intuition – most have it (think “Mother’s Intuition” or “Woman’s Intuition”); many have a heightened sense and they learn, in time, to trust and rely on their “gut instinct”  – and a few are able to “read” future events. “see” lost children or objects, and/or tune into current situations for others.  

There are times in a person’s life (often occuring for women at puberty and/or menopause) when their intuition or “second sight” can be felt to burgeon.  Additionally, when I am reading a palm sometimes certain lines will speak to intuitive ability.  However, many people do not realize how mundane a flash of intuition can appear to be.  You are thinking of a friend you have not seen in a long time – a moment later, the phone rings and it is that same friend on the other end.   A random song from years ago is playing in your head – you get into your car and turn on the radio, only to hear that same song playing.  I remember once at Talisman having a discussion with Patty (a dear friend and patron) about “John of God” and the quartz crystals he has available on his website.  Patty was asking me about the validity of the crystals, if I thought they were really from John’s quartz mine – and literally seconds later, someone I had never met before walked into the shop and asked if I carried the new book titled “John of God’ then proceeded to pull from her pocket crystals she had gathered when visiting him in Brazil months before!  And she graciously gave one to an awe-struck Patty.   All I could think was “Question Answered!”

When I use these examples in conversations involving the development of intuition many people immediately smile, because it feels comforting to be able to make sense of these “odd” events.

These odd coincidences, when especially meaningful, can also be known as Synchronicity.  This word was coined by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, who was in his office with a patient one day discussing Egypt when a beetle known as an Egyptian scarab walked across his desk.  Jung found the word “coincidence” too ordinary to describe an Egyptian beetle – thousands of miles from where it belonged – appearing at the exact moment he was talking about Egypt.  It was a clear sign to Jung that this universe God created is not random and chaotic, but ordered, perfect and patterned – in other words, synchronized.   

Shirley MacLaine, in her amazing book “Sage-ing While Age-ing” discusses this phenomenon at length.  She notes that appreciating the synchronicity of events in your life gives you a deepened sense of identity and self-worth, while it also gives meaning, direction and purpose to your existence.  In its highest manifestation, synchronicity is nothing less than your personal connection to the Divine.  Sometimes these are the most important episodes in your life, incidents that quite literally transform you.  Think of the profound manner in which certain people or pets have entered your life – unavoidable circumstances or a series of coincidences that drew you together.  The right person, the right place, the right time enters your life at a strategic moment, which seems blindingly without logical motivation – I believe this speaks to Divine intervention.  Shirley MacLaine goes on to write that the power of surrender to a guided synchronicity has been the most meaningful lesson of her life.  I completely agree with this thought.  I don’t feel that this means being passive or just “going with the flow”  but rather, recognizing that “what’s meant to be done is easily begun” then rolling up your sleeves and getting on with the task at hand!       

Quantum physicists are working to prove that the gap between science and spirituality is being bridged by the recognition that our visible physical reality is connected to an invisible spiritual reality.  Einstein said, “Men invented time to feel comfortable in space.  But is doesn’t actually exist.  All experience is happening at once.”  He also said time does not flow in only one direction.  In a sense, reincarnation speaks to this at another level – synchronistic events that lead one to believe they have been born and died and born again into this earthly plane.   Again, I believe this to be true.  Dr. Stephen Hawking (noted physicist who occupies the Sir Isaac Newton Chair at Cambridge University in England) said on national television that reincarnation was a distinct possibility because of coincidences which had haunted him since childhood.  Carl Jung, when treating his patients, said the degree of their psychosis stood in direct relationship to their level of spiritual convictions.  Those who lacked religious beliefs, philosophic or spiritual views, had the deepest neurosis.  In his work, Jung concluded that a spiritual instinct is part of the human psyche.

If we valued more our burgeoning spiritual instincts, perhaps many of our “problems” would fall away.  Recognizing and trusting this spiritual instinct could help us relate with more balance to a clearly neurotic society.  Just being aware of a synchronistic event in one’s life is an immediate infusion of spiritual instinct, brought about through individual recognition of the unseen spiritual world.  There is a connection there that gives us comfort – a very fine reason to work to develop our ability to “intuit” as part of our daily life.  These are empowering experiences that inspire us to take up the journey in search of our destiny.  And by keeping a journal, recording events and dreams – the more we pay attention to synchronicity in our lives and record it so we can look at it later, the more we see that our lives will improve and our destiny will unfold as it was meant to be.