INTRODUCING MY NEW PUBLICATION TO THE READERS, WRITERS AND EDITORS OF ILLUMINATION
What is “ChannSpirations and Coincidences?”
A Celebration of Synchronicities and the Every-Person-Portal
Introduction:
Aware people often say the universe sends us signals all the time, which we could see if we only knew how and where to look.
How: just be open-minded.
Where: Everywhere and Everyone
Not long after the start of this leg of my journey, a band I like very much, came out with a new album — far and away their best work — The New Abnormal by the Strokes. Right away the title of the album, coming out on the heels of the USA going into lockdown, perked up my perception. The first song on the album is called The Adults are Talking — I could rename it “Greg, Listen to Your Guides:”\
We are tryin’ hard to get your attention I’m climbin’ up your wall Climbin’ up your wall
… Information’s here Here and everywhere
Carl Jung
The concept of synchronicities being meaningful coincidences was championed by the noted Psychoanalyst Carl Jung. Hence our avatar:
Jung realized that our souls and the universe communicate with us through the symbols of our dreams. Similarly, the universe signals us through symbolism in the 3D world, and our psychic energy can manifest a symbol, often a mirror coincidence, but sometimes a directional coincidence as well.
Craig S. Bell’s fabulous book, Comprehending Coincidence, Synchronicity and Personal Transformation, discusses Jung’s work in great detail, provides myriad examples of real coincidences culled from his research, and sufficiently for our purposes sums up the latter type of coincidence thusly:
Directional coincidence[s are] also generally related to one’s state of mind. However directional coincidences are associated more with an open receptivity to guidance and are the product of an intelligence that is far superior than our own: an all-knowing supraconsiousness, rather than our own limited awareness. Directional coincidences occur to provide each of us with particular guidance for contentment and fulfillment appropriate to our own journey through life.
The topic seems surprisingly not well covered here in Medium, at least to me given my view of what is and is not important. I did find one very good introduction to the concept (despite the few typos and either misdating Jung or thinking the 1900’s were the 19th as opposed to the 20th century):
When I realized that one of my spirit guides was God, or a God, what have you, I asked: why me? What makes me so special? Rama answered that they are available to anyone and everyone if people would just ask, seek or be open.
The key is how and what to ask. The desire needs to flow from your soul, not from your human wants.
A Note to Agnostics and Atheists
Last month my friend here on Medium, Adam Borowski (how are you, by the way, it’s been a while since our daily banter — are you ok?), wrote:
in which he said in relevant part:
I call God a self-aware infinite intelligence. Does that mean God exists? I don’t know. If you’re an atheist who’s convinced there’s no God — great! If you’re a devout Catholic who prays to God every day — fantastic! At this point, I’m more inclined toward atheism but I’ll never categorically deny the existence of God. As Socrates supposedly said — in ancient Greek, of course, not in modern English — wisdom is knowing how little we know.
Now while Adam wrote he leans towards atheism, as he is open to the possibility that God exists, he is by definition agnostic. Regardless, his definition of God, whether or not God exists, as “a self-aware infinite intelligence,” is exactly the Jungian definition of that which is responsible for synchronicities — an all-knowing supraconsiousness. Accordingly, Adam and those who share his mindset should feel quite comfortable with our publication.
Spiritual Awakening and Soul Expansion
Why: to open your hearts and minds to the fact that every one of you is a potential vessel with open channels to the Universe. We hope to gradually expand your souls towards spiritual awakening.
I gained spiritual awakening instantaneously through pain that I wish for no one. My soul expansion has just now reached the outer boundary of my awakening-sphere and is now pulling the sphere along and expanding it. Myself and my colleagues are so “tuned in” that it is unlikely that any significant thought we have is not the result of open portals between our minds and the supraconsciousness, particularly the creation of this publication as a tool that many can utilize to begin the instead slow, gradual process pathway to spiritual awakening.
In Patrick Paul Garlinger’s 7 Signs You Are Awakening Spiritually, When these happen, you are opening to a deeper undercurrent to life, he writes:
Spiritual awakenings come in many forms. Some are subtle, like the gentle rising as the light grows in intensity outside, chasing away the darkness. Others are dramatic, like a thunderclap, jolting you out of a deep slumber. (I’ve experienced both.)
These are the ways that your soul is trying to pry open your mind so that you can shed certain ways of seeing the world and expand your consciousness. The universe conspires to bring you experiences so that you start to see reality differently. It’s also important to remember that awakenings are not singular events; they can unfold over time, and new ones can emerge even after you already believe you are “awake.”
Garlinger’s Fourth Sign: Signs, Messages, and Synchronicity
Did you suddenly become aware of certain numerical sequences that seem to appear regularly in your life? Are you coming across images or words that feel like they’re speaking to you with a message?
You’re beginning to see synchronicity — a connection with a deeper undercurrent of wisdom in which the Divine is communicating with you in ways you had previously ignored. When synchronicity starts, spiritual information, wisdom, people, experiences start to show up in your life when you least expect it.
When this happens, go with the flow. These experiences or messages feel like they are guidance from a higher power. Trust them — they are. I remember when I first started seeing certain number sequences over and over, in the most random of locations. 11:11 was very common, as were combinations with 7s. I hadn’t ever heard of 11:11 or any kind of spiritual significance to numbers, much less been aware that many people feel this is the way our spirit guides and guardian angels communicate with us.
Revel in this connection with a higher power, and deepen it by listening for the signs and messages. But don’t try too hard to find them, or get discouraged if it seems like they’ve stopped. It just means you’re looking when you need to relax and wait for the messages to show up in divine time. Your ego might be straining a bit to force a conversation. Sometimes we try too hard to get divine guidance when it should come naturally.
Here you are tuning into the ways that the universe is in conversation with you, seeing the world differently through signs and messages that you had previously not heeded, so you can realize that you have an inherent connection to the Divine.
If you follow our publication you can allow us the honor and privilege to lead you down this path of awareness and a self-catalyzed spiritual awakening.
What are ChannSpirations, or, if you prefer, Co-Inspirations
Whats, include but are not limited to: a) innovative thinking often inspired, with or without the vessel realizing it, by a channeled spark from a guide, angel, oracle, divine Muse, or a God themselves; b) other-writer-triggered stories, but then the question is what constitutes a qualifying response to the trigger — it should be more than “it made me think of [something obvious]. It should be a significant and original building on the thought, or not directly responsive at all but leads to a significant insight or innovative thought in a seemingly unrelated realm; c) “aha moments — ”as noted by our esteemed colleague at Science and Soul, R. Rangan PhD,
A new study provides some insights that suggest that in some people, creative insights (aka: “aha moments”) trigger a burst of activity in the brain’s reward system
From my experience, aha moments are a subset of “a)” fully stated this way:
innovative thinking is often inspired, with or without the vessel realizing it, by a channeled spark from a guide, angel, oracle, divine Muse or God themselves, and that the rush of energy one feels is the sharing of energy from a spirit-entity, and that infusion is the reward, which for me, leads to further development of not only my third-eye chakra, but it cements my connection to and awareness of God’s love.
So, each inspiration begets more awareness which begets more receptiveness which begets more insight which begets another energy shift…and so on and so on in a Divine positive feedback loop towards spiritual awakening.
Celebrations of Synchronicities
If you experience a mirror coincidence or directional coincidence, a story that simply describes it / them and the meaing to you qualifies for our publication. This does not have to contain any inspiration. Here are two examples from the literature:
- In Bell’s book, he recounts the story of a management level employee’s retirement and the not proverbial gold watch he was given stopped running at precisely the time the retirement party ended. That is a mirror coincidence.
- In Ethan Chua’s article embedded above, he includes this in Jung’s own words:
“A young woman I was treating had, at a critical moment, a dream in which she was given a golden scarab. While she was telling me this dream, I sat with my back to the closed window. Suddenly I heard a noise behind me, like a gentle tapping. I turned round and saw a flying insect knocking against the window-pane from the outside. I opened the window and caught the creature in the air as it flew in. It was the nearest analogy to a golden scarab one finds in our latitudes, a scarabaeid beetle, the common rose-chafer (Cetonia aurata), which, contrary to its usual habits had evidently felt the urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment. I must admit that nothing like it ever happened to me before or since….The dream alone was enough to disturb ever so slightly the rationalistic attitude of my patient. But when the “scarab” came flying in through the window in actual fact, her natural being could burst through the armor of her animus possession and the process of transformation could at last begin to move.
In other words, that mirror coincidence had the directional impact of propelling the patient onto the path of awakening.
Read for yourself examples
I have described to you what qualifies as publishable ChannSpirations and Synchronicities. They say a picture is worth a thousand words — reading examples for yourself is priceless.
This first example I synchronously stumbled upon last night in another publication, thus manifesting not only the quintessential model but also a gloriously joyful read. Please enjoy this story by Dennett:
Now here are a few examples from our publication. The first is by my co-editor, Anthi Psomiadou, for whom I am filled with gratitude for agreeing to join me:
This next piece is by the ever-so-talented poet and essayist, Ravyne Hawke, and will always be near and dear to my heart as the metaphorical first dollar-bill in the spiritual till:
And here is one of mine, which upon finishing it I was so drained from how many third-eye-chakra-portals actively wrote this piece with me that I asked Anthi Psomiadou for a title and a subtitle, which she contributed masterfully, allowing me to re-charge and then pick the perfect image of hummingbirds synchronously in action, and thus Anthi not following up on my request to suggest an image is another nested coincidence:
Technical Submission Guidelines
It should go without saying, but 3D life doesn't seem to work that way so, every submission must meet /comply with / not violate Medium’s Policies and Medium’s Content Standards.
We have a zero-tolerance policy towards plagiarism. Not only would you be blocked from submitting to us again, but you would also be reported to Medium Staff.
Every submission MUST start with a “Writer’s Note” explaining to the reader the circumstances that qualify it as a Channspiration. This also allows the Co-Inspired content to be of any genre (e.g., essay, creative non-fiction, fiction, poetry of any length or form, etc.).
Proselytizers Should Not Apply
You will not get past the door. There is no singular path to spiritual awakening and no religion charts a better course than another. Religions are human constructs. Religious values are largely laudable. If you feel inspired to discuss the value of certain religious tenets not to the exclusion of others, and you stay within the bounds of tolerance and acceptance, your story may be accepted. It does not matter how convincing your writer’s note is. I am a “tuned-in” HSP-INTP, i.e., a bull-shit detector on divine steroids. If your content does not jive with being channspired, me and my co-editors, who are just as, if not more, tuned in than I am, will sniff and snuff you out.
In order to submit stories for our consideration, leave a comment here requesting that I add you as a writer.
Further detailed guidelines are here:
In Rama I create,
Marcus
