In life, there are moments. Moments that make you stop and stare. Moments we know are significant but defy explanation. Moments that send chills through our body. Holy, sacred, and transcendent windows into the unseen… as if our soul is gently brushing the veil between us and eternity. Famous psychologist, Carl Jung, called these moments synchronicity; meaningful coincidences. These occurrences appear to have no causal relationship yet they seem to be meaningful and related.
Out of the blue you are thinking of a childhood friend you have not heard from in years; suddenly, the phone rings and it’s that friend. Or, you have been hearing in your mind that it is time to change your career. You persist in ignoring this message for several years despite mounting evidence that you should make the change. One day, driving home from work and pondering this very question and listening to a song on radio as you drive called “Desperado” by the Eagles, you pull into your driveway at home only to focus on the last line of the song before walking into your house… “Don’t you draw the Queen of Diamonds; she’ll beat you if she’s able; the Queen of Hearts is always your best bet.” Strangely, as you open your front door and walk into your house, lying on the floor by your left foot is a playing card—the Queen of Hearts. Now if the story ended there, you might just brush the incident off as an “unexplained phenomena”. But let’s say over the next twelve months, this same playing card pops up in your life over and over in improbable locations all around the country. On a sidewalk in Cincinnati, a conference room in Santa Fe, a sand dune in Cannon Beach Oregon, and somewhere in the wilderness of Colorado while on a hike. This I suspect, would have a powerful impact.
Such incidences do occur in our lives. During my journey toward becoming a Shaman and Astrologer, I found myself enveloped in a whirlwind of synchronicities. At times, I must admit, it was overwhelming. However, intuitively, I knew something was trying to get my attention- the universe was speaking to me. It was my choice to listen or not. In these frozen moments, I was being reminded of the great mystery and inter-connectivity of all that is. One of the most notable, was an encounter I had with a Praying Mantis. In August of 2011, I had a near-death experience. After about a seven-day recovery period, I returned to my office to work on Monday, August 15th. Sitting down at my desk for the first time since the NDE, I distinctly recall drawing in a deep breath and exhaling with a sigh. It was a time to be grateful, as well as to re-frame what life meant to me. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, I perceived something hanging on my office window. Turning to see what it was, I found myself staring at a large praying mantis and it appeared it was staring back at me. Motionless, quiet, and focused, its presence seemed profoundly important but I couldn’t sort it out in that moment. The mantis stayed on my window all day, and remained there as I departed for the evening.
Over the ensuing weeks, synchronicities abounded in various shapes and forms including repeating numbers, timely songs, and significant encounters with people who it seemed I was destined to meet. The image of the mantis though, was emblazoned on my mind. This caused my inquisitive mind to research it. Seemingly, every night for weeks, I found more and more information. But it was the following brief summary of what the appearance of a mantis in your life might mean that had the greatest impact:
· Calm
· Balance
· Patience
· Intuition
· Stillness
· Awareness
· Mindfulness
· Creativity
Bullseye! These things were exactly what was needed at this time in my life. And like the story above, it didn’t stop there. The mantis reappeared in dramatic fashion on an off for the next twelve months. It was undeniable to me that this was a message. Ironically, the word mantis in Greek means “prophet” and to the African Bushman the praying mantis is the oldest symbol of God, a divine messenger. This was the proverbial sledgehammer to side of my head, followed by a booming voice saying “do we have your attention?”. I began following the signs.
Fast forward to now. I do on occasion, when intuitively nudged to do so, share this story. One such occurrence, was approximately one and a half months ago with a reader of this blog. In sharing the story with him over lunch, I added that during the above-mentioned period where the mantis was “active” in my life, I had on three different occasions been prompted to tell someone about the mantis. In each case, without fail, the person was visited at their home by a mantis within a few days of us talking about it. Breathlessly, one by one, each person called me immediately to tell me what had happened. They became part of the mystery, and there was a message involved for them too.
Laughing he replied, “well I will have to keep an eye out at home then, wouldn’t it be funny if I saw one too?” This past Friday, at 1:22 pm, I received this picture via text that you can view below.
The body of the text read as follows:
“Look at this, just found him sitting on one of my coffee tables. Couldn’t believe it when I saw it! I don’t think I’ve seen a live praying mantis in over half a decade, not to mention one in my house. It’s so crazy. How it even got in my house let alone just sitting there on a table… my doors are never left open and my windows have screens…”
Coincidence? I think not. Needless to say, we talked. There is a message there for him.
In conclusion, be open to the possibility that all of creation is intertwined. That on this universal stage, there are multiple levels of reality and multiple levels of energy at work. You don’t know everything there is to know. In fact, acknowledging that you don’t know, is the beginning of knowing. Pay attention to the signs. They often resemble winks, or nods coming from a place that is sacred, holy, and older than time. Signs can come in many shapes and sizes. Don’t prejudge or dismiss something as impossible or better yet a statistical aberration. Get outside of your rational mind and consider listening to your heart as much as your head. More intuition, less intellect. Among shamanic cultures, says anthropologist, Michael Harner in “The Way of the Shaman”, synchronicities are considered “a kind of homing beacon analogous to a radio signal indicating that the right procedures and methods are being employed”.
Pay attention to the mystery, and the mystery will pay attention to you.
Artwork Courtesy of JAG Artistry: For more information visit: https://www.jagartistryimages.com/
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