Some Reflections about Synchronicity and My Life as a Metaphysical Author

 
On a recent Friday afternoon (June 16), I stepped into the building next door to the one where I'd concluded an appointment and found that there happened to be a pianist stationed in the lobby.  He began playing a tune that I recalled from my childhood.  The piano keys were suddenly bringing forth "Puff the Magic Dragon", a 1963 song performed by Peter, Paul and Mary.  I was only in the building a few minutes yet the song was heard in the entirety during this short interlude.  As a child, the song was played at an elementary school assembly and left an impression as it mentioned a dragon, which was something that I found intriguing.  The song was a big hit back in the 1960s, which might seem surprising to some upon hearing the unusual lyrics.
  
There was further synchronicity later that Friday when I opened up a metaphysical book I'd received and found a drawing that featured a dragon and enormous hands cradling a sleeping infant.
  
For me, the lore of dragons and other legendary creatures has always been a facet of the ancient world worth investigating.  As a child, such creatures also appeared in television shows viewed at the childcare center where my twin brother and I stayed after elementary school until our mother could pick us up after work.  The TV was usually on in the playroom and I remember one of the programs was "Beany and Cecil."  Often the little boy named Beany would find himself in a situation where he would need help and 'Cecil the Sea-Sick Sea Serpent' would come to his rescue.
 

How impressionable is one's mind as a child is vividly realized as I consider that there are even earlier times in my life when there are memories of watching TV shows.  The earliest children's programs recalled during the later 1950s are "Adventures of Superman" and "The Yogi Bear Show" yet also remembered are scenes from adult shows such as "The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis" and reruns of "Our Miss Brooks."  My interest in paranormal and metaphysical subjects would eventually make me aware of the frivolity of much of the American entertainment culture as people are conditioned to perpetually seek out entertainment.  It is far more important to involve oneself in spiritual development. 

 

In comparison to the fantasies of childhood, the realities confronting adults are in stark contrast.  Just about every day there is a grim listing of news headlines informing about new violence, accidents and disasters throughout the world.  The solution to many sad circumstances would be greater spiritual awareness among all people worldwide.

 

A misfortune of people whose only sources of information are the commercial mainstream media is that they do not know about many enlightening cases and events that could help one to expand their understanding of human spirituality and metaphysical aspects of life — such as are selected for presentation at this noncommercial blog.  Providing transcendental communication quotations and other data relating to life on Earth as well as the ascended realm, the authentic metaphysical/'paranormal' case studies and other nonfiction books selected as topics offer 'good news' with inspiring evidence about the continuation of life beyond the Earth journey with a benevolent "omni-dimensional" God/all-knowing "All That Is" (using some words articulated by Lazaris through Jach Pursel) with Love ultimately constituting the highest truth.  Earth is a place to learn how to live and be responsible in our decisions to live in a manner that is beneficial for other people and our planet and thus harmoniously with 'God.'  Happily, even after the most horrible disaster or illness, a human being continues his journey with God in the ascended realm of life.  

 

Upon 'growing up' here in Southern California,  I pursued my metaphysical interests.  As my father's lineage is the House of Russell, I was even able to find and read an 1833 book entitled Historical Memoirs of the First Race of Ancestry, Whence the House of Russell Had Its Origin: From the Subjugation of Norway to the Norman Conquest by J. H. Wiffen, Corresponding Member of the Society of Antiquaries of Normandy. 
 
Among the many curious accounts is one circa A.D. 1016 involving 'Turstain Seitel' in an "incident that is gravely recorded of him by the monk of Jumieges."  After the account of how he had impressively set free a goat upon seeing it seized by a lion, the following is written.

The Lombards, with whom this excess of strength and courage excited greater envy than admiration, resolved in secret on his death.  They conducted him to a dell where an enormous serpent had been seen, and which was the customary lair of savage creatures.  When the traitors heard the rustling of the serpent, they dispersed, without appraising Turstain of his danger.  Their flight at first surprised him, till he saw the monster approaching in an attitude of menace; he rushed upon it with his sword, and by repeated blows succeeded in dispatching it, after his buckler had been entirely consumed by the fire proceeding from its jaws.  He is stated, however, to have enjoyed his triumph but a few days, being fatally infected with the poison of its breath.  The good monk, in expressing his admiration of the tale (Will. Gemmet. in Duchesne, p. 284), seems well persuaded of its truth.  The treachery of the Lombards was avenged by the chiefs whom the Normans next elected; and under the sway of their successors the power of that people became consolidated in Italy.

The chapter also mentioned ". . . the things which are seen are temporal, and that it is only those which are unseen that are eternal, to pass from the visible to the invisible world and from the shadows of time to the realities of eternity . . ."
 
The Russell lineage is charted back to an individual named “Olaf the Sharp-eyed, King of Rerik” who is linked five generations later with “Sigurd Hring, King of Sweden” and his queen Alfhilda circa A.D. 735.   
  

Wiffen provided a description of events that convinces the reader that any monarch's power lay "frequently at the mercy of the strongest hand or the boldest adventurer" who are chronicled to have also themselves often suffered a violent demise.   The recorded incidents are "the result of research amongst the Icelandic writers, particularly Snorro, whose annals of the achievements of the Scandinavian heroes are frequently illustrated by curious extracts from the runes of the Scalds, by whom they were at first commemorated."

On June 26 while waiting for an appointment, a television was on in the room and I noticed the name of an actress being interviewed was shown on the screen: Lake Bell.  The name of the show was "Access Hollywood Live."  As longtime blog readers may be aware—the last name also being part of my pen name—'Bell' is one of the words that since 1995 I've noticed to frequently recur in my day-to-day life.  1995 was the year when occurred my unusual spiritual awakening that began with my investigation of a contemporary 'talking poltergeist' case (the 'Centrahoma case' in rural Oklahoma that has been the topic of many blog articles).  Another prominent name often manifesting in the synchronicity of daily life is 'Michael' and variations of the name.  (There are also a few other recurring name synchronicities for me that have been noticeable.)
 
I didn't know very much about these patterns at the time of my 1995 expedition where the nickname 'Michael' was used for the most prominent manifesting entity by family members, some having the Bell surname.  I was aware of the well-known 'Bell Witch' talking poltergeist that occurred during the 1800s in Tennessee.  During my first call with the mother of the family Maxine who had a different last name, I mentioned the earlier case and was startled to hear her say: "My daughter’s maiden name is Bell."  Maxine had remarried.  At that time, I'd recently completed an unpublished book about historical 'talking poltergeist' cases and it was startling to discover that there could be a dynasty of poltergeist experiencers.  I excitedly arranged to visit and interview the family.  The previous summer of 1994, bushes went up in flames on the hillside below the windows of my condo under inexplicable circumstances.
 
In previous articles, I've written about the synchronicity of 'The Bell Pattern' (including "Aspects for Synthesis" and "The First Full Light Seance (from Voices in the Dark)".  Researching other famous documented cases of 'paranormal phenomena,' I learned that 'The Michael Pattern' is often noticeable in famous cases of transcendental communication/'unexplained phenomena.'  As reported in previous blog articles, some of these cases include Nostradamus, John Dee, the Fox Sisters associated with the Spiritualism Movement, Madame Blavatsky, Edgar Cayce, Guy and Edna Ballard, Leslie Flint, JZ Knight, Mark Probert, and the 'Messages from Michael' Ouija Board communication case.
  
Gustav Davidson in his book A Dictionary of Angels Including the Fallen Angels (1967) began his article about the Archangel Michael as follows:

Michael ("who is as God")—in Biblical and post-Biblical lore, Michael ranks as the greatest of all angels, whether in Jewish, Christian, or Islamic writings, secular or religious.

The religions of Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Zoroastrianism encompass the belief that each person has a 'guardian angel' while the seances of the Spiritualism Movement brought awareness of every person having one's own 'control' and 'guide' 'spirits.'

 
As one who is attentive to watching out for synchronicities, hardly a day goes by when there is no recognition of some manner of synchronicity concerning such noticed objects as personalized car license plate messages and bumper stickers, timely radio songs, or messages on the T-shirts of people passing by.    
 
Ever since the Oklahoma trip, seeing pennies has been a symbolic encouragement; or if some manner of difficulty needed to be addressed, there has been dimes or quarters seen on the ground (meaning little or big complications).  One might say that 'Spirit interacts with one based on one's individual beliefs' and at some point I construed the pennies as positive and the dimes and quarters as possible warnings of a recent or potential misstep.  Considering coins being noticed by an onlooker who associates some kind of meaning to them such as 'luck'—or sighting any other object associated with being lucky for that matter—it is one's thoughts that direct the precise steps so such incidents of synchronicity at times is actually evidence of people having a 'shared subconscious Mind'; there being an intermediary organizing Force.
 
Following my Centrahoma expedition, the scope of the synchronicity phenomena and all the other incidents resulted with me sometimes speaking aloud to the invisible ever-present ‘Michael’ (the nickname a carryover from the trip) or just ‘Boo,’ another nickname I used (perhaps an influence from watching “Yogi Bear” cartoons as Yogi’s best friend bear had that name).  After I began using ' Boo' as a nickname for the never-audibly-responsive 'unseen presence,’ I began noticing synchronicities involving ‘Betty Boop’ character paraphernalia (bumper stickers, apparel, etc.) as one recurring aspect of the diverse manifestations being observed.  The awareness of having such an 'angel'/'control'/'guide' involved with me has been a basis for a heightened experience of love along with appreciation for existing amidst a responsive and interactive universe.  
 
Historical Memoirs of the First Race of Ancestry . . . has recently become available to read in an online edition.  My discovery of the book happened soon after the Centrahoma trip.  I decided to visit the Central Library downtown to see if there was any information archived there that could be found about my ancestry as I knew that the library had an extensive Genealogy Collection.  I hardly knew where to begin but eventually made my way to the department card catalog and began investigating what was available for ‘Russell.’  I soon found a Rolodex card about the 1833 book.
 
The book was brought from a special collection and was found to remain in excellent condition after all these years.  On the title page was a depiction of the Russell coat of arms: a crown is shown above a shield presenting three scallops and below the shells is a lion with right raised paw.  Encircling the emblem is a garter inscribed with the motto partially obscured by the crown emblem “Honi soit (qui) mal y pense.”  The motto on the Russell coat of arms is translated from the French as “Shame to him who thinks ill of it” and is associated with ‘The Order of the Garter,’ the oldest British Order of Chivalry dating back to the Middle Ages.  Something that I recognize is that In my domestic life long before knowing anything about this, I've always been attracted to household objects with designs of scallop shells on them.  I have long owned china plates, silverware and towels that display motifs that include scallop shells.

I learned from the book: “. . . the first peculiar chieftain of Le Rozel aspired to become the independent founder of a new house, that should transmit to other times its own illustrious surname.”  Wiffen explained at the beginning of Chapter I:

The House of Russell derives its distinctive appellation from one of the fiefs which the first Chieftain of that surname possessed, anterior to the conquest of England, in Lower Normandy, in the ancient barony of Briquebec.
 

The name given, first to the cape, and afterwards to the castle and the family inhabiting it, appears to have been imposed by some of the early settlers in Neustria; Le Rozel implying, according to Roquefort (Dubois, Dict. Univ. de la Nobl. de France), a tower, or bold headland, by the water; from Roz, the rook or castle of the chessboard, and el, the synonym for eau. 

'Eau' is a French word for water.
  
Some depictions of the Russell family crest from Scotland feature a different French motto, that of "Che sara sara" ("What will be, will be").  My own family tree pedigree charts show ancestors dating back to Jonathan Russell, born in 1759 in Milton, Massachusetts, and Richard Hiscockes, born in 1556 in All Cannings, England.  The Hiscockes surname would become Hitchcock with Luke Hitchcock born in 1614 in England.  Seeing the "Che sara sara" motto immediately reminded me of the title of the famous song performed by Doris Day "Que Sera, Sera" in Alfred Hitchcock's remake of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" with the phrase having the same meaning in Spanish.   
 
As indicated by the metaphysical topics considered in articles at this blog, one can learn about diverse case studies encompassing 'supernormal' life experiences to develop one's perspective and understanding of the metaphysical reality of the omnipresent spiritual Force often expressed with the word 'God.'  Synchronicity, psychic abilities, 'talking poltergeist' cases, the annals of Direct Voice and Physical (materialization) mediumship, authentic 'channelers,' spiritual healers, Near Death Experiences, reincarnation cases, UFOlogy and 'Contactee' cases, EVP and Instrumental Transcommunication (ITC) cases — there are many aspects of interaction and communication involving spiritual ‘Oneness’ and the ascended realm of earthly human existence.  The diverse manifestations when considered altogether present evidence of an omnipresent spiritual Force involved with mankind and dedicated to helping the advancement of human spiritual understanding.  As the annals of 'unexplained phenomena' reveal, this Force sometimes manifests in unusual ways in the lives of individual people for the enlightenment of others.