Thank you so much for this Beyondmortality. It has been VERY useful to me because I've experienced something similar though I haven't had the guts to share it here. Maybe I will one day --and if I do, it will be thanks to you. It is fair to say that sharing in a Forum like this, although it is difficult because this stuff can be very personal, can be a huge gift for those who will benefit from reading about our experiences; even if only one person does, it may still be enormously useful and significant for them.
As for synchronicities, I have been marinating in them for the past 3 or 4 years. A couple of people here who have now become friends (through "private conversations" -- another great feature of this Forum, which has helped me immensely in my quest for answers) could testify to this: I document everything with photos and other hard evidence, and it is my experience that syncs often end up "contaminating" the people you discuss them with, so that they, too, get directly "involved" and start experiencing syncs first hand. I joined this Forum precisely because I'd started getting bombarded by synchronicities (here my very first post on Skeptiko:
http://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threa...ce-prove-him-right-306.3106/page-6#post-87125)
Some people who experience syncs think they know what it is all about - strangely (to me), often they take it to mean that they are some kind of chosen people on a mission for God or something. Certainly, given that not everybody experiences this stuff, it's reasonable and even justified to feel somehow different or even "chosen" (but by whom?). However God is far from being "a fact" (moreover the concept of God is too subject to interpretation to have much use; should always be accompanied by a somewhat precise description of its supposed characteristic) and there could be multiple sources behind these kind of events, if this is some kind of shamanic universe, as I suspect. Also, it's easy to read exactly what one wants in syncs - their supposed messages may well be end up just being a projection of our wishes (this is a general consideration that does not apply to the story you shared here, whose interpretation is quite uncontroversial I would say)
It must feel good to have certainties. I do not have any, I only have "a working theory"; I am still searching and studying and analysing, and posts like yours are certainly very valuable for me. So thank you very much once again for sharing.
Do we know that this was a message from her mother, or was it from some spiritual being (with access to her memories etc) who wanted this lady to get this kind of consolation, and/or acquire a belief in the existence of a "spiritual dimension", in case she didn't have that belief? Impossible to tell. Both possibilities are uplifting, of course.
Hypermagda,
I do appreciate your thoughts here. I read your first post as well as some of the other comments from that thread.
Like you I was a skeptic. Despite exploring a number of organized religions (catholicism, Jehovah Witness, Mormonism, evangelical, and Pentecostal) nothing concerning god and an afterlife resonated with me--nothing sounded rational or even remotely plausible.
In college I took a lot of science and science based classes including general biology, human biology, human anatomy, medical terminology, and geology. I was convinced the conscious was nothing more than brain physiology, and it was just a matter of time before researchers identified the precise location in the brain where consciousness is generated. Accordingly, I believed death was a finality.
For years I used science to dismiss spiritual activity around me. But as these synchronistic events grew increasingly complex and beyond the explanation of science, I was forced to re-examine my beliefs.
I been extremely reluctant to discuss these events with others. About 15 yrs ago I made the mistake of discussing some of these things at length with my neurologist. I have a form of epilepsy so I see a neurologist on a regular basis. He referred me to a "specialist". Turned out she was a neuropsychiatrist. She decided I had some type of psychogenic non-epileptic seizures that manifested in disassociation, visual and auditory hallucinations. Simply put, she thought I was crazy.
After I read her report I thought it in my best interest to keep these things to myself. I know I'm not crazy. And I do not want my official medical records stating otherwise.
So I fell silent. Silence is a not only a form of isolation, but such inward solitude does nothing to bring about clarity and understanding. It's a confusing and lonely place.
It was by chance that I stumbled upon this forum. For several days I just read; I never registered or engaged, just read. It was like exhaling for the first time in years. An open space without judgment, without challenge/skepticism, and, more important to me, a place where I thought I could speak without fear of someone throwing a straitjacket on me and hauling me off to a mental institution. There are no definitive answers, but just knowing there's others out there who experience these phenomena eases a lot of the fear.
Regarding your question whether we know with certainty whether or not it was Claire's mother...I don't know. There is no way to know for certain who generated the message. When these things happen, I try to keep my response spontaneous. And that means accepting the information as it is presented to me then delivering it to the recipient just as clearly and unadulterated as it came to me. I truly believe it is not for me to interpret these visions/messages. It is not my message. I believe it is solely the recipient's prerogative to take any meaning, or none at all from it. It is only for me to convey what I saw.
About as far as I will go in expressing an opinion is when I perceive a feeling so deep that I cannot ignore it. Even then I clearly state that it is only a strong feeling that I got during the vision.
I also believe any judgment on my part could obstruct the flow of communication. Keeping an open mind is important since the symbols can be outright bizarre/baffling.
Last month I had a vision while driving into town. It started with an image of a plastic bear shaped bottle filled with honey. These plastic honey bear bottles are sold in grocery stores across America. In all honesty, my first reaction was "You can't be serious!"
But the image was hyper-clear, like an HD photo. When the images are that clear I've learned I cannot dismiss them. So I acknowledge it: "honey bear." Over the next 24 hours I received additional visions and communications. By the time it was done, i knew the recipient's name was Melissa and I would be able to confirm her identity by her childhood pet name of honey or honey bear. As is my habit I journaled the notes on my iPad notes app as I keep a record with time and date stamp.
Later that second day, the forces of synchronicity inspired me to write a random note at the bottom of an Internet forum post. That random note was not even directed to the person or on subject with that thread. I just had this intense feeling that I was suppose to write that note on that thread. After I wrote it, I deleted it. Then I got that intense feelings again that my odd note referencing Melissa was suppose to be on that thread. So I typed it again and posted it.
That post resulted in a woman contacting me through the site's private message feature. I knew it was the right Melissa when she told me her best friend calls her by the nickname "miel" which means "honey" in Spanish; and her immediate family, and only members of her immediate family, call her by the nickname "bear." I never told her I had and was using the pet childhood name to confirm the identity of the recipient.
And in a final twist of synchronicity, the name Melissa means "honey". The meaning is from Greek mythology. Melissa was the nymph who fed Zeus. Instead of feeding Zeus milk, Melissa fed him honey.
That seemingly silly image of a plastic honey bear bottle proved to be a critical symbol in confirming the identification of the intended recipient. So I try not to inject any of my interpretations or judgments into the process.
I do agree that conveying these messages can significantly impact others. While I have not had them trigger synchronistic events in others, it certainly has had an emotional impact on those involved. One case caused tension between my sister and I. The recipient is a friend of my sister. But my sister does not want me to meet her friend and convey this to her as she feels it would be very upsetting. While I understand my sister's concerns, I also believe the decision is not my sister's to make. I asked that she explain to her friend that I had a vision that I believe involves her deceased mother. Then allow her friend to make the decision as to whether or not to pursue it further.
In Claire's case she was extremely happy to receive what she interprets as a message from her mother. She was very open to everything. Shortly after we met, she brought up religion in conversation. I explained that I was an atheist. She told me that she was devoutly Christian even though she no longer attended the mega church in town. This particular church has approximately 20,000 people attended services their each week. As I was paying my bill she said it made her feel very sad to hear I was an atheist. She said she sensed something about me that she thought was very special. She said she sensed a very very deep spirituality around me. I brushed it off as a christian trying to plant the seeds of christianity in an atheist.
After I gave her the wind chime, she told me she was convinced that I had a special gift. Several times she encouraged me to go to some center down in the San Diego area where people work to develop their intuitive senses. So she was open to spiritual possibilities beyond traditional christianity.
But I do not believe this is a "gift"; I do not believe there's a god or some divine spirit out there selecting individuals to channel communications from the spirit world. I definitely agree that there are people out there who want so deeply to believe they have a "gift" that they create their own scenarios.
I really don't have any theories on why some of us experience more synchronistic events than others. "Why" is one of my three questions: what, who, why.
What is this? Is this life beyond the mortal body? Is it in anyway associated with a God? Or is there just some free wheeling spiritual world out there?
Who is it? Who sends these visions? Are they really people who have passed? Are they spirit guides? Are they imposters with some other ulterior motives? Are they dangerous? Are the spirit guides that I have seen and felt real?
Who am I? What does this make me?
Why are they communicating from the other side? Why through me and not directly to their families and friends?
These experiences demolished my structural reality, but leaves my new structural reality in a state so incomplete I'm not yet able to fully move in.
I'm only now certain that matter, space, and perception are not what I thought. Perception is not truth. Space is not a vacuum. Life is not the sum of its atoms. I'm certain life and beyond are all far more reaching and far more complex than the very limited form and space we inhabit during what we refer to as a lifetime.
I'm still an atheist. But atheism isn't synonymous with nihilism. For me it's simply means I have no concept of god. There's no logical reason why life cannot have intrinsic value, meaning, and purpose in the absence of a god. Further, the absence of a god construct does not discount life beyond mortality. Again, I see no rational reason why an omnipotent god is required for an afterlife--especially one who remains as absent, indifferent, and negligent as the one christians conjured up.
