Odd Telephonic Coincidences

[Forever_S]

I work for a communications company (not telling which one) Anyway in my spare time I like to research such things as The order of the Golden Dawn and other occult stuff as well as reading FT.

I thought I'd tell you of a series of odd coincidences I experienced while at work. One day I was researching The Golden Dawn and I received a call from a lady who's name was (no kidding) Dawn Gold. Also another time I was reading about the Goat of Mendez and received a call from someone called George Mendez. Ok not so odd by themselves but here's the real strange thing. I am a sort of amateur writer and I have a character who is a wizard and his name is Elijah DeCourt. Well.. one day I was writing a story after a long time of not writing at all and it was about Elijah and lo and behold at work I got a call from someone called Mrs DeCourt.

Is there some mystical force at work? Is my mind connected to a giant mind-internet so that when I am researching stuff or writing all subjects/contacts etc to do with that automatically are redirected to me?
Whats going on?

 

[PeniG]

Literary synchronicity happens to all readers on a regular basis. It's partly a result of selective attention. Don't waste your time on the trivial name-coincidences, which are distractions that can lead you down convoluted timewasting paths, and go for the thematic resonances, which have the potential to help you enormously.

 

[Mr_Seaweedski]

That reply was almost as strange as the first post Peni! I like the synchronicity idea and have heard/thought about the selective attention of peoples brains.

I would be interested if you could expand on the rest of your comment please, sound fascinating.

Of course I assume Forever_S wont mind my temporary thread hi-jacking!!

Back OT it does seem once you are aware of one coincidence (i.e. I've often experienced hearing the word I've just read as part of the song lyrics on the radio/CD at the same time) you often notice several more in fairly rapid succession!

 

[PeniG]

Oh, lord, you don't want to hear me go on and on about it. Or, if you do, you can go here:
http://www.achuka.co.uk/features/opinion/mar04.php
I used to do an opinion column, back before my life went to hell, for the Achuka website, and literary synchronicity was one of the topics I wrote on. This is probably the most relevant paragraph, but I've got lots more:

Researchers have a term for the influence of random chance on their work - the Library Angel. We all have our stories. How the fact or figure or illustrative item we had been looking for in vain for months suddenly, miraculously, appeared before us in the window of an antique store or in a document accidentally filed where we would find it instead of where it belonged. How new vistas opened before us when a book fell off the top shelf and landed, open, at the very page containing the bit of information that would send us in the right direction. How life rearranged itself to make facts accessible and connections possible.

 

[James_H]

I was halfway through a wikipedia article about 'confidence tricks' this morning when my phone rang. It was someone claiming to be from my internet company but I immediately sensed something was 'off'. They said that 'illegal people' were using my 'internet line' for 'suspicious activities' and wanted some information. I told them I didn't trust the call and would check with the company. Sure enough I did, they hadn't called, and it was an attempted scam. Just a nice bit of irony that someone tried a confidence trick on me the moment I was reading about the very subject.