Dear Soul Arcanum::
I always enjoy reading your column. Do you think it’s possible that I’m getting spiritual messages through your website? I’ve noticed that when an issue arises in my life or I’m thinking about different spiritual matters or questions, the next issue of Soul Arcanum will have an article with the answers I need. For example, I signed a contract for my house at 11:11 p.m., and said to my girlfriend that there are so many experiences of 11:11 in my life, then the next Monday there was an article in Soul Arcanum about the spiritual meaning of 11:11. Another time my dog got sick and the next thing I saw in your magazine was an article on how to meditate with your dog. I could give you a lot more examples. Soul Arcanum definitely plays an important role in my life! What do you think – am I really getting messages this way? Thank you!
– Ellen
Dear Ellen:
You are not imagining things; everything in the Universe is interrelated, and the more conscious we become of that truth, the more we notice connections like those you describe.
The common term for what you’re experiencing is “synchronicity.” It was a favorite topic of Carl Jung’s, who noticed that many so-called coincidences are statistically inexplicable. For example, one of his most famous experiences of synchronicity occurred as he was listening to a patient describe a dream she’d had about a golden scarab beetle. As he listened to her, he heard a tapping noise at the window behind him, and when he turned around to investigate, he saw a beetle at the window. When he opened the window, the beetle flew in, and it looked just like the beetle his patient was describing in her dream. We might say that this experience “blew his mind,” and launched him on a journey of exploration into the nature of synchronicity.
We’ve all had experiences like this that strike us as highly improbable. They’re usually laced with a sense of meaning; something deep inside of us makes us sit up, take notice and wonder at what is happening. Since there is no obvious rational explanation, many people’s minds just shut down and they brush the experience off as a coincidence. Those who are more mystically inclined, however, are able to use their intuition to bridge the gap between common reality and the subtler realities beneath the surface. In this way, we find meaning in synchronistic experiences where others do not.
So how does synchronicity work? Sometimes there are intelligent forces like spirits using such means to communicate with us, but more often, we are simply answering our own desires and questions via the unified field beyond the dimension of time and space. Our conscious minds are tuned into three-dimensional, physical reality, but there are other aspects of our minds that abide in what we might call more expansive dimensions. When we become more spiritually aware, we begin to link our conscious mind with these other aspects of ourselves, and they begin to work together more adeptly because they are more “in synch.”
At a quantum level, the universe appears to be a “magical” place. Things can move from one place to another without traveling the distance in between. Time collapses at this level of experience. This is basically what is behind the experience of synchronicity – when we are vibrationally in harmony with something (such as an answer or an idea) it will come to us or we will be led to it. For example, perhaps you needed the information in that article about 11:11 BEFORE you began noticing those numbers popping up in your experience, and that is WHY you began noticing them.
When we begin to look for signs, we open up a vast new realm of potential ways that we can receive them. If we set an intention of having certain dream experiences or accessing certain information in our dreams, our dream life will blossom. If we look for signs in the spoken conversations of others, or in random books, or any other way, those avenues begin to expand for us.
This leads me to why I am so in love with the internet. The internet is as close as we come in the physical dimension to that vast unified field wherein everything is connected. Nothing tangible actually “exists” on the internet, and it is not an actual “place,” yet we can all visit it and have very real experiences there. We can quickly access whatever we need to know or connect with whomever we desire, even if they are on the other side of the planet! Just as we can access information and understanding by mentally “dipping into” other realms, the same is true of the ‘net. As it is a half step above the level of space/time, the internet is a very powerful channel for synchronicity.
I’m suggesting that you had a certain need or desire that led you to Soul Arcanum in the first place, and that you subsequently defined Soul Arcanum as a great avenue for finding the answers you’re looking for. In this way, Soul Arcanum became a key channel through which you receive synchronous “answers” to your questions.
Now you’re probably wondering how your questions could be answered as opposed to the questions of all the other seekers out there. Here’s where things get very complex but also very interesting. Practically speaking, you probably read a lot at Soul Arcanum that doesn’t “grab you,” and you naturally latch on to those articles that have special meaning for you. Your eyes may glide ride past anything you don’t need and go right to what you’re most interested in.
At the same time, however, it’s natural for you to resonate with most of what you find here. From a higher perspective, those of us who read and appreciate Soul Arcanum are a virtual spiritual community based on our shared interests and experiences. Along what we might call “the spiritual path,” everyone passes through the same territory. It’s like driving from L.A. to Las Vegas: While a few people will get lost or wander off the beaten trail, most people will follow the same basic route, and along the way, there will be various landmarks that EVERYONE passes. (Some will notice some things more than others, of course.) Now imagine that Soul Arcanum is like a travel guide devoted to this journey from L.A. to Vegas, and you’ll see why when you’re reading it, you often think, “Hey! I just noticed that myself!”
Further, since we are in the same virtual “community,” we are in communication at a subconscious, energetic level. The articles I choose to run are thus being influenced by your needs and desires. In fact, long ago I set the intention of choosing articles and topics intuitively; I just go with whatever feels right. So if you’re sending a strong signal, I may just receive it. At the same time, YOU may be picking up on what I’m doing. I work about a week ahead, so it makes sense that articles would either appear shortly after you sent that signal, or you might develop a sudden interest in the topics I’m working on at that time.
It’s exciting to know that the more we look for synchronicities, the more we’ll find. When we clearly define what we want to know or experience and then watch for signs and synchronicities, we weave magic into our lives.
If you’d like to experience even more of this magic (and who wouldn’t?), begin to focus on it and ask for it. Try manifesting answers through other specific sources and see what happens, or try writing down some theme, question or subject you’d like to explore further. Tape it to the wall behind your desk or carry it in your wallet or pocket. Then just watch for something related to this subject to grab your attention, and instead of brushing this experience off as a coincidence, celebrate it as validation that through synchronicity, the Universe can work for us in wonderful, mysterious ways.
– Soul Arcanum