Engaging Synchronicity

                                                                                                             
                                                                                                             
                                                                                               

                                                                                            Oracle at Delphi

The Magic         

Part 2 of the book is where you become an active participant in synchronicity. You summon it, engage it, harness it. You do this through various divination techniques, by heeding environmental clues, through travel, your animal companions, dream interpretation, and through developing your psychic skills. This part of the book is where the magic comes alive.

Divination

There are many different kinds of divination techniques, but all have one thing in common: they are based on synchronicity. In the moment you draw cards or runes, toss coins, swirl the leaves in a teacup,  you're engaging synchronicity.  We cover several techniques here, but don't limit yourself!

I Ching  

     

The I Ching is a 5,000 year old divination system. It was introduced to a larger  Western audience through the translation of Richard Wilhelm, a European who spent most of his life translating ancient Chinese texts. The divination system is based on 64 hexagrams derived from the tossing of three coins. Originally, bones were used and later, stalks of yarrow.

The hexagrams are composed of broken and unbroken lines. In some instances, there are 'changing lines' that suggest the present situation is in flux and result in a second hexagram. As Jung wrote, whoever invented the I Ching believed that the hexagram "was the exponent of the moment in which it was cast.” In other words, when you toss the coins, the hexagram you receive is like a snapshot in time, making manifest the internal.  In The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching, author and visionary scholar Terrence McKenna wrote that he believed the hexagrams of the I Ching were archetypes “that could shed light on one’s fate if one properly consulted the oracle.”

When using coins with the I Ching, ancient Chinese coins are the best – they have a hole in the middle and an inscription on one side. In lieu of these, use regular coins. The inscribed side (tails) is yin and has a value of 2. The other side (heads) is yang, with a value of 3. The coins are tossed six times. With each toss, you add up the heads/tails and a line is created. A toss of one head and two tails, for example, equals seven, a solid line. A toss of two heads and one tail equals eight, a broken line. Sixes and nines are considered to be
“changing lines.” A six (three tails) is a broken line that changes into a solid line and a nine (three heads) is a solid line that changes into a broken line, thus creating a second hexagram, the evolution of your question.   By consulting a table in the back of the book, you find out the name and number of the hexagram(s) you’ve drawn, then turn to the interpretation.

Astrology

As a divination tool, astrology is as rich and complex as the I Ching. Instead of yarrow sticks or coins, astrology is based on the patterns that stars make at any given time and date. A natal chart or horoscope is a geometrical picture of the heavens from your spot here on Earth at the moment you were born. It’s determined by the date, time, and place of your birth and looks like a circle with twelve unequal parts. These parts are known as houses and depict different areas of our lives – self, finances, siblings and neighbors, family, partners, and so on. Just as the toss of coins is s snapshot in time, the moment you drew your first breath froze an instant in time. A birth chart, like a hexagram, forms a meaningful pattern, a blueprint of archetypal potential.

Transits - the daily motion of the planets -  impact your natal chart and provide information much like the hexagrams do about what's coming up.    

Tarot

  Whereas the I Ching is chatty and astrology is a symbolic language, the tarot is hauntingly visual. The 22 cards of the major arcana – from The Fool (key 0) to The World (key 21) – represent archetypes, specifically those of an evolution in  consciousness. The Fool symbolizes a peak moment, an intense euphoria that rises from the knowledge that we’re all connected to something larger than we had imagined. The Fool is Pocahontas when she sings about the color of the wind, it’s the magnificent journey ahead of us. With The World card, the Fool’s journey ends, the goal has been reached. You’re the sage, the master. The other 56 cards, the Minor Arcana, represent the synchronistic details of our lives. They symbolize the points along the path we take from The Fool to The World.

Runes

Runes were originally an alphabet used by the early Norse people. By 400 A.D., he use of a set of 24 runes was in wide use across Europe. Like tarot cards and the I Ching, its language is symbolic, archetypal. 

Stitchomancy

This system, as old as the printing press, is easy. Think of your question or an issue that concerns you, hold it in your mind, open any book at random, and point to a place on the page. See if the word or phrase your finger is touching illuminates your question or concern. Just about any book will do: a dictionary, the Bible, Grimms Fairy Tales, your favorite novel or nonfiction book, even a magazine will do. The idea is that thelarger the book is, the more choices you have for answers, so a magazine should bea last resort. The symbology of the source you use should also resonate for you.  In other words, if you’re not familiar with the Bible, that probably wouldn’t bethe ideal book.

Animals as Oracles

Animals appear in our lives - and in our dreams - for a reason. By studying the habits and habitat of an animal, its mythology and folklore, and animals in fairy tales, it's possible to gain deeper insight into your own life.

Let's say you have an experience with a swan - you dream of one or come upon one. What's the message? In mythology, the swan is a symbol shared by at least two gods. She was a symbol for Venus, the goddess of love, romance, and the arts, but she also symbolized Apollo, the Greek god of music.  Even though swans don't sign like other birds, there's a wide4spread belief that they sign as they are dying, which could be where the term "swan song" originated. 

In fairy tales, there's The Swan Princess. The storyline is simple. A young prince and princess are brought together as children and fall in love. Just after they announce their engagement, an evil sorcerer kidnaps the princess and turns her into a lovely swan. The only time she can become human again is when she stands in the moonlight under the sorcerer's castle. 

In the real world, swans are ready to mate when they're about 18 months old. Both parents care for the young. Swans generally mate for life and when the partner dies, the survivor usually doesn't bond again.

So if you have an experience with a swan, then in romance it's possible you're about to fall in love and the relationship could be one between soul mates. When you dream of a swan, it may be necessary to be more protective of your children or of your "creative children."

Color divination

Most of us associate certain nouns with certain colors. Red, for example, is often associated with energy, anger, heat. Blue is usually associated with tranquilty, water, oceans, sky. In the book, we provide guidelines on creating your own color divination system.

Travel

Travel is our doorway to other worlds, other states of consciousness. When we're out of our usual routines, our minds are more open and synchronicity is more apt to occur.  The book provides tips to attract synchronicity while traveling. We also discuss other types of journeys - out of body experiences (OBEs) and the ultimate journey, death - and the types of synchronicities that are likely to occur.