When Is A Coincidence Not A Coincidence?

[luna-tic]

We often talk lightly about strange occurrences but has anyone had anything happen to them or somebody you may know that would be construed as not the obvious coincidental happening or any other unusual phenomena ?

[Lonnie]

Simply put, a coincidence is an accidental happening.

[luna-tic]

Sorry Lonnie, Maybe I phrased the question wrong. It should of read: Has anyone had any strange occurrences happen to them that would include completely separate events but later realise they have an uncanny connection
or any other strange phenomenon ?

[Lonnie]

My apologies lun-tic, if i'd read your question properly, instead of just scanning, i'd have given it more thought.

[Quizmonster]

Click here, Luna for a website about the psychologist Carl Jung and his concept of synchronicity which seems to be what you are referring to. Perhaps it'll help.

[Theland]

When one of the Wesley brothers was told that answered prayer was mere coincidence, his reply was, that when he prayed, coincidences happened, and when he didn't, they didn't.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Wonky logic alert, Theland!

If he is a Christian, presumably he prays for things he think require God's assistance. Therefore the things he doesn't pray for, and where he doesn't notice 'coincidences' must by their very nature be things he doesn't think require God's intervention, so er..?

Are you aware of this: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2006/03/30/pray er-heart-surgery-20060330.html

Other studies have shown similar results.

[Theland]

http://www.wholesomewords.org/biography/biorpt aylor.html
There's a link that tells of a man whose answered prayer enabled him to be Gods instrument in setting up the China Inland Mission.
I read his story, (which would be interesting to anybody, as well as Christians), and his lifes work was based either on answered prayer, or just lots of weird coincidences.

[naomi24]

After all this talk of prayer, getting back to your question Luna, yes I've experienced many very strange coincidences in my life that have been quite astonishing - and I would say inexplicable, only if I say that Theland or Lighter will probably give me their stock answer, which wouldn't be my personal stock answer.

[luna-tic]

In relation to the answers;Quizmonster, "Synchronicity" would be relative to some of the random meaningful occurrences I have. I don't really know how to explain them but Carl Jung seemed to be on the right track.
Maybe I placed my question in the wrong category because although certain circumstances concerning the outcome of people's prayers and what they pray for may fit into events that have a connection, I am not dismissing any religious followers events that have personally happened to them but when posting my question did not solely mean from a religious viewpoint.
I was referring to any strange phenomena that people may have had happen to them(putting the religious overtones to the answers on the backburner for a while) if possible and certainly not wishing to offend anyone who may walk that particular path.

[naomi24]

Luna, this is nothing to do with coincidence, and I don't know if this is the sort of thing you mean, but it is something I can't explain. I bumped into somebody in the street one day and we recognised each other immediately. We were absolutely overjoyed to see each other. We hugged and laughed and were both completely ecstatic. Then I stepped back, looked at this person and realised that I didn't know who he was - and he didn't know who I was either. It was crazy. We tried hard to figure out where we'd met before; we went through schools, jobs, homes, our social lives, our friends, our families, holidays, hobbies - everything we could possibly think of, but to no avail. He lived miles away from me in a town I'd never been to, and had only just begun to come to offices near my home once a week on business, so it wasn't even that I'd seen him around. After that we met for coffee regularly in an effort to solve the mystery, but we never did. We knew each other so very well, but in reality we didn't even know each other's names, and we never got to the bottom of it. It's always puzzled me and I can't explain it - unless perhaps we'd known each other in a previous life, if such a thing exists - but if anyone has any other ideas, they would be very welcome.

[luna-tic]

Thanks naomi24, That's exactly the kind of thing I was talking about.Although your particular experience has never happened to me but I have my own personal ideas as to the reasons for your weird meeting but probably too long to explain here.
Here's a little example of some of the odd things that have happened to me. Yesterday I had some free time and decided to watch a DVD.I picked one out of my collection which just happened to be "Forest Gump". I watched the movie and then hours later I went onto my PC and for some unknown reason the phrase spiritual awareness came into my head so I punched that into google and hundreds of sites came up which included that phrase so I picked one,opened it up and staring me in the face on a sidebar it read" Life is like a box of chocolates" which Tom Hanks said in the movie. I'd never seen the site before and I could of picked any of them.This kind of thing keeps on happening.

[WaldoMcFroog]

Yesterday, as I had a day off, I watched 'Withnail and I' again. Then, later on, I went on the computer and wanted to check out something about copyright law. So, I put the phrase into Google and I picked the most likely looking result from teh hundreds that were offered and opened it up and staring me in the face on a sidebar it said nothing that had any relationship whatsoever with the movie I'd watched earlier. I'd never seen the site before and I could of picked any of them.This kind of thing keeps on happening.

[luna-tic]

Your experience naomi24 is like the opposite of mistaken identity. We in our physical incarnation are only on this planet for a fleeting moment but I believe that our spiritual body so to speak has many lifetimes and not all necessarily on this planet . The outside appearance may change but our evolution in other forms continues to be.
The person you saw in the street could of been experienced many times in one or other incarnations of yourself and you were lucky(or not) to cross physical paths.

[luna-tic]

Thanks Waldo. So from the vibe I got from your answer it suggests that what I experienced is probably a meaningless event but I was asking have any strange things happened to anyone so I guess your answer would be "No".

[naomi24]

Waldo, "there are more things in heaven and earth ......." (Makes a change for someone else to quote from a book I thought!).

Another example Luna. I was driving to meet a friend one day, and listening to Desert Island Discs on the radio. Brian May was the celebrity who was choosing music and a book to take with him to the fictional desert island. The book he chose was "Out of the Silent Planet" by C S Lewis. I've read a lot of C S Lewis's works, but I'd never even heard of that one. I met my friend and during the afternoon we wandered into a second-hand book shop. The moment I walked in, the first book I spotted was "Out of the Silent Planet" by C S Lewis. Needless to say, I bought it.

[WaldoMcFroog]

...yes, but had Brian May not mentioned it, it wouldn't have caught your eye, Naomi.

Luna-tic, I have seen a UFO as it happens (although admittedly only in the sense that I can't identify what the strange thing moving through the sky was, not that I believe it was an alien spacecraft). Of course strange things happen to people, but all too often things which are just random coincidence are embued with a significance that is misplaced.

[naomi24]

You might be right Waldo, but an irrelevant remark surely, because Brian May did mention it, and that's the whole point. It was certainly an odd coincidence.

I've seen a UFO too. It might have been an alien spacecraft - I couldn't say - but it's possible. I have no idea what it was, but I saw it in broad daylight; it was very close - just above the rooftops - and it was like nothing I'd ever seen.

[naomi24]

Luna, A 'ps' that is relevant to my Brian May story. The book was written in 1938, and I'm not even sure it's still in publication, so definitely not on the Best Sellers stand!

[Theland]

Wizard69 & Noxlumos coincidences:-
Both male in their forties.
Both atheists.
Both knowledgeable about religion, as well as a wealth of other subjects.
Similar writing style and phraseology occasionally.
Both home educate their children.
Both went missing from AB about the same time, and returned about the same time.
Both have revealed, "problems " in their past that they have overcome.
Are these just coincidences, or .... are they one and the same person?

[wizard69]

Me and Noxy have both been to prison as well...and?
Noxy practices chaos magic..I dont
Noxy has several children...I dont
Noxy was bought up a catholic...I wasn'
Noxy has different views from myself on a lot of things.
You can find "coincidences" anywhere if you look for them Theland.Fact is (and i'm sure Nox will back me up) we are two totally seperate entities.
BTW, I live in stoke on trent, dunno where Noxy lives...