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Synchronicity

According to Wikipedia:

Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance, yet are experienced as occurring together in a meaningful manner.

When someone says “synchronicity,” most people think of ladies swimming…..

synchronized swimmersor The Police…..

But in fact, there is a far deeper meaning to the term.

The concept of synchronicity was developed by the Swiss psychoanalyst and psychiatrist Carl Jung back in 1930.

Deutsch: Carl Gustav Jung

Deutsch: Carl Gustav Jung (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Carl Jung is considered to be the founder of Analytical Psychology. Jung believed that the individual has access – through the unconscious – to an “absolute knowledge” that is not bound by the confines of space or time. Without these limitations, the psyche is able to participate in the events of all of nature.

In other words, through our dreams, we can get in touch with things that our waking mind can not.

Volumes could be written on this esoteric subject, but what actually made me think of it was not quite so mysterious.

The reason I started thinking about synchronicity was, fireflies (aka lightning bugs).

Did you know that there are only two places in the entire world where you can witness the  phenomenon of synchronized fireflies?

I know this because I used to live near one of them: The Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

In late Spring, thousands of fireflies inhabit the park. As soon as dusk falls, the little lightning bugs start to light up – in unison. They flash their little beacons six or seven times, and then pause for about the same amount of time before lighting up again. It’s an incredible display of light patterns that moves across the mountains like a glowing wave. When I saw it, it reminded me of when I was a little girl and my family camped out at the beach in Saudi Arabia. We would go swimming at night in the warm waters of the Arabian Gulf, and because of the phosphorescence, every movement would leave a wake of iridescent miniature stars in its wake.

Of course, the explanation behind the fireflies is more mundane: in fact, the males are actually “talking” to the females of their species, trying to get their attention. The females, in turn, flash their come-hither lights if they are interested, thus guiding their horny suitors to where they are hiding in the dark.

But the real mystery and beauty lies in the synchronicity of the display. Why do the fireflies do it – and how do they know exactly when to light up?

Like Jung’s concept, steeped in esoteric knowledge, the mysterious synchronized fireflies are just one of the countless phenomena that no one can explain. It is something that will take your breath away, if you are lucky enough to witness it…..

Synchronized fireflies in the Smoky Mountains

Synchronized fireflies in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Have you seen the fireflies? And what are your thoughts on synchronicity?? I’d love to hear what you think!

Categories: Fun Stuff, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

New Wine for a New Year

Since I got my book up on Amazon earlier this month, G and I have been celebrating by opening good bottles of wine at night. Not that we intentionally open bad bottles, but we have been spoiling ourselves a little. (It helped when he found some great deals on some of our favorite wines online.)

We’ve also been drinking less, so we can justify drinking a more expensive bottle. 🙂

Here is a new wine we just discovered:

Poison

Poizin – “The Wine to Die For.” We opened a 2010 Zinfandel. It hails from Armida Winery in Sonoma County, California. G read the back of the bottle to me while I was getting dinner ready.

As she stands in the clearing the cold wind dances through the trees, swirling her golden mane over her diaphanous, silken black gown.

“What the hell does di-a-phan-ous mean?” he asked. I stopped what I was doing and looked at him.

“What the hell are you reading?” I asked back. “It means transparent.” He went on:

The full moon melts into the paleness of her skin. As she stirs the cauldron of zinfandel she chants an other worldly incantation. From vials as old as the echoes of time she adds minute pinches of her ancestry. Her slender fingers rub together as the grains fall, releasing their magic as they touch the fermenting must. On her face is the look of both good and evil, of love and hate, of life and sex and all that stirs you. What is this unearthly potion? It is Poizin, the wine to die for.

“Well okay then, let’s try it!” I said enthusiastically.

It was fabulous! Very fruity on the nose, smooth and rich going down. Chocolaty, even. We both really liked it. And at around $25, it’s affordable.

Ours didn’t come in a coffin, but check this out:

Photo Credit: Steve Tobak

Photo Credit: Steve Tobak

 

Try it and let me know what you think!

Categories: Uncategorized, Wine, Thou Art My Red Muse | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments

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