The Buddha Coincidence Connection Story

From a very early age I've always been interested in Buddha. No idea why, as this was far removed from my upbringing. When I moved into my first home one of the things I bought was a small Buddha as an ornament. I didn't know anything about Buddhism at the time.

Later in life, when I was married, I saw another Buddha in a shop while visiting Spain. I just had to buy it. "Why?" asked my wife but I couldn't really give an answer. It was simply something I felt I had to do.

As the years ticked by I gradually got to know a little about Buddhism, not by seeking it out but because it simply presented itself to me. I also felt I had an affinity with Nepal and the Himalayas.

I'm not now a Buddhist - but it still fascinates me and is, somehow, within me.

Moving forward many years my mother had a severe stroke and had to move to a Nursing Home. It was a sad and difficult time. Just before she died we managed to get her to our house. It was very emotional as she said she had thought she would never see our house again.

As she sat in our living room she looked at my Buddhas on the mantelpiece (as per the photo above), where they had sat for many years including all the while my mother was fit and well.

"It's strange," she said, "My father always had a Buddha on the fireplace mantelpiece as well."

I didn't know this as I had never known my maternal grandfather. He was a lot older than my grandmother and died years before I was born.

My mother went on to say her father was a Buddhist.

I was amazed at this, as it was something I never knew and something my mother had never mentioned previously. My grandmother was very much a Bible person.

It's odd but years before, when I had seen photos of my grandfather as a young man, I felt I knew him. His face was familiar. As with Buddha and the Himalayas I felt a definite affinity with him. One of my prized possessions is a collection of several of his old fashioned gold tie pins.

A friend suggested to me that these connections are all down to reincarnation - but I guess that's a whole different issue.

Further Coincidence Examples:
Married Couple In Same Photo As Children
Coincidence And Synchronicity Story
Thailand Coincidence Story

Helen Finds Boyfriend's Buried Money By Coincidence

This is an example of a coincidence story which I find interesting. It was initially reported in the New York Times by John Stickney back in 1975.

It's the 1960's and an eight year old girl, Helen Montgomery, was playing in a London (England) park when, quite by 'chance', she found some money hidden under loose earth. She was hiding while playing hide and seek. It amounted to just over eight shillings - quite a prize at the time for a young girl. As the money was never claimed Helen was allowed to keep this.

Now we move forward 13 years and Helen is walking through the same park with her boyfriend. She mentioned her find to him and amazingly it was her boyfriend who buried the money years before! He told her that he had stolen the money from his mother and knew he would be in serious trouble if she ever found the coins on him. So he buried the cash to retrieve later.

The problem for Helen's boyfriend, when he went to dig up the cash, it was gone ! Helen had got there before him ... and now they are sweethearts - ahhhh! Well they were back in 1975, hopefully they are still together today.

As I see it, this coincidence or synchronicity indicates how our past and present are interlinked as are people, especially important people in our lives.

Can such things be, and overcome us like a summer's cloud, without our special wonder?
William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act III

This post was previously published on my other blog 67 Not Out

Further Reading
A Coincidence Meeting At Boscastle Cornwall
The Costa Concordia Coincidences With The Titanic

We Came Across Spike Milligan By Chance

Nothing too dramatic today as far as coincidences go but it's another small personal experience from one of our holidays.

We were staying in a 16th century cottage in Rye, East Sussex, England. That's the row of cottages at the front of the photo above. This was taken from the church bell tower opposite.

One day my wife and I set off for a long walk heading in the direction of the sea. As we crossed some open fields I started talking about Spike Milligan, a British/Irish comedian, writer, actor, musician and poet who died back in 2002. Nothing specific, just general chat as we walked. I'd always liked Spike's work, he made me laugh.

After crossing the fields I wasn't too sure which way to head but saw a sign saying Winchelsea, so I suggested we went in that direction. As we approached the village it was highish on a hill and looked to be old and interesting.

We made our way through the old gatehouse and into the village. It was typically, old fashioned England with a big church in the centre (photo below). Though I don't belong to any organised religion I like churches: the way they feel, the atmosphere inside and so on. They are usually full of history.


We spent an age in the church and my wife even made a 'rainbow' woollen bracelet, which she attached to her rucksack. As we were leaving my wife saw a photo of Spike Milligan in the church!

She beckoned me over and it was Spike's picture with directions of how to find his grave in the churchyard. This was completely unbeknown to us. We had no idea where he lived when alive or where he was buried. It seems that on his death he was living in Rye.

We found his grave outside and paid our respects. In typical Milligan humour his stone bears the words "Dúirt mé leat go raibh mé breoite". This is Irish and translates to "I told you I was ill." I have since read that the church would not allow this to be written in English.

This post was first published on my other blog 67 Not Out

Further Reading:
16th Century Cottage Coincidence Story
Dreaming The Winners Of Horse Races

Lucky Numbers That Are With Us Through Life

Coincidences seem to arrive in various categories. The sort I'm mentioning today is where numbers, or perhaps a symbol, keep popping up throughout a lifetime.

With me it's the number 76. This has appeared from time to time ever since I can remember.

As I see it 76 comes about in two categories.

Firstly it seems to be a sign for me of something good or perhaps to indicate that I'm on the right track.

Let's see, examples of this would be that I met my wife on the 7th of the 6th, the house I bought, which was very lucky for me, had the door number 76, my son was born in 1976 - and so it goes on and on.

Now it's easy to say that this happens all by chance or, perhaps, I've picked numbers or circumstances to fit this post. I can understand this thinking but for me when the number 76 comes up, in some way, it means something good will happen. And, yes, you could also say that if you believe something to be true then it will be.

Moving on to my second category for my number 76. Sometimes it links with the past. Or you could look at this the other way round and say that it links with the future.

There are many examples I could offer. For example in the early 70's I owned a car with the number plate 76GMP. Now my initials are MP and a girlfriend I had back then used to say the GMP meant 'gorgeous Michael Perry' - blimey how times have changed, those were the days!

Anyway, the 76, even back then, I felt was lucky and the car was lucky in more ways than one, which I won't go into!

The strange thing is that later, when I married, I moved into a house, as I mentioned earlier, numbered 76 and the road I lived in started with a G - and me, MP, lived there. So the 76GMP all fits nicely into place.

I know this may sound like I'm away with the fairies, and it's often possible to make things fit the way you want. All I can say is that I 'feel' that 76 is an important symbol of good in my life. And I believe that lots of people have special numbers or symbols.

Having written the above I had a look on Google for a meaning of 76, I had never done this before. All I could come up with was a website called Riding the Beast which gave the following:

"76: Represents the termination of the individual Karma, 6, by the completion of its cycle of evolution, 70, passing from the death of the matter - or of oneself - to the birth to the spiritual, that is to say the passage on a higher level of existence - 7 + 6 = 13."

Whatever! All I know is that 76 is a positive symbol in my life.

Do you have a special number or symbol in your life?

Further Reading:

The Thailand Coincidence Story
A Coincidence Meeting At Boscastle Cornwall
Also see my other blog 67 Not Out.

Jonathan Pryce Coincidence Story

A coincidence story today from the actor Jonathan Pryce (Pirates Of The Caribbean series, The Brothers Grimm, Tomorrow Never Dies, Evita and so on). This tells the story of when his mother died.

"My mother was 83 but had been ill for a while. My sister called and told me to come home, so I got the next plane out to the UK (he was in New York). Now this could have been complete coincidence, but I remember getting on the plane and telling the crew why I was going back - just in case I broke down and they thought, "Hell, call the captain."

I did get a bit tearful and short of breath. I remember looking down at my watch to see how long before we arrived. It was 2 am UK time. I sat with the stewardess for some of the flight and then went back to my own seat.

The driver I'd worked with on some films came to meet me. He was going to drive me to Wales straight away. I phoned my sister and she said, "She's just died." I asked what time and she'd died exactly as the plane had landed.

My sister took me through the last night with my mother. She said she started to slip away about 2am and they'd said to Mum, "Hold on, Jon's coming." It coincided with the time I'd got short of breath.

Further Reading:
Coincidence Story From Author Colin Wilson
Coincidence And Synchronicity Story

The World Champion Yo-Yo Coincidence

This isn't a big flashy coincidence story but is still something I'm personally amazed by.

I had been clearing out the attic in our house and came across a case full of bits and pieces from when I was a child. Amongst the items were two autograph books. I kept these out as I wanted to look at them to see if any of the more famous names might be of interest.

An autograph I did notice (above), as I absent mindedly flicked quickly through the pages, was one of somebody called Don Robertson who wrote in my book, "Hi Mike, Don Roberston Yo-Yo Instructor."
I didn't think any more about this until I was watching The One Show on (UK) television later that evening. Who did they bring on as an odd interest item? Yes, an 81 year old Don Roberston! And right after I had been looking at his signature.

Seemingly Don is still technically the reigning yo-yo champion from 50+ years ago because the title has not been contested since he won it all those years ago - and I've got his autograph! Small world.

There was another aspect of this coincidence as well. On the front of one autograph book (pic right) was the word 'Corbiere'. I had never realised this previously.

Corbiere is something I mentioned in my post Dreaming Winners Of Horse Races about how I dreamt a future happening, where the word Corbiere played an important part. By another coincidence I also used to live in Corbiere Avenue, years back, when I bought my very first house.

I feel that these winks from the Universe, as some people like to call such coincidences, are to make us aware that events and people ten, twenty, forty or hundreds of years apart are all linked and threaded together. In some respect time is meaningless.

Further Reading:
16th Century Cottage Coincidence Story
Coincidence Meeting At Boscastle

A Message From My Dead Father

This is a personal coincidence story or maybe something much more: a message from the dead,

Thinking about it perhaps it doesn't sound such a big deal but, at the time, it affected me greatly and still intrigues today.

My son had just told us that he had qualified as a Chartered Accountant, which takes six years work here in the UK. I was, of course, chuffed to bits about this and, after talking about it with my wife, I went upstairs to our bedroom.

I wanted to get something or other out of my wardrobe and, for some reason, I was wondering what my father, now deceased, would have thought about my son's success. As I reached into the wardrobe a small bag fell out.

The bag just happened to be one in which I kept a few of my dad's possessions. Nothing of value but they all mean something to me: his old watch, cigarette case, penknife, wedding ring, darts, a tie and a few other trinkets all full of memories.

I then looked at the watch. Dad was always one for punctuality and often asked, "Do you know what time it is?" when I was a teenager either arriving home at night or getting up late in the morning. Then I noticed the time where the hands of the watch had stopped and have remained ever since.

The time on the watch was exactly the time that my son had been born (3.20pm).

Perhaps I was in an emotional state but this really hit me. It was as if it was a message from my father saying he knew all about his grandson.

Okay, this may sound very fanciful but what are the odds of the watch stopping exactly at the time of my son's birth? Plus the bag fell out of the wardrobe 'by itself'.

Anyway, that was one of the first things that got me paying attention to coincidences and synchronicity. They have fascinated me ever since.

Hayley Mills Coincidence Changed Her Life

Hayley Mills reckons a text, sent on her behalf, was life a life changing moment, and it happened all by chance - a coincidence if you like.

I've always had a philosophy that 'you never know what's round the next corner.' A coincidence could well change any or our lives dramatically.

In Hayley's case, purely by chance, she was spotted on a Eurotrain by actress, and ex Britain's Got Talent judge, Amanda Holden.

Amanda was starring, at the time, in a popular UK series Wild At Heart and recognised Hayley. She straight away texted the show's producers saying, "Wouldn't it be wonderful if Hayley Mills played my mother in the show?"

The rest as they say is history. Hayley can now be seen on UK television on Sunday evenings playing the role in Wild At Heart.


Hayley said, "I love this job and I love being in Africa. I love the show, I love the character and I love all the people I am working with. It doesn’t get any better than this."

Amanda spotting Hayley on a train turned out to be an important moment. As I said: You never know what's round the corner.

On the left a photo of a young Hayley Mills. Perhaps best known for her late 50s and 60s classic films such as Pollyanna, for which she won an Academy Juvenile Award and Whistle Down The Wind.

Hayley was born 18 April 1946 in London, her parents being John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell. Her sister is the actress Juliet Mills.

She is still appearing in the UK television series Wild At Heart, as mentioned above. Amanda Holden though has now left to do other things.

This post was first published on my other blog 67 Not Out two years ago.

Coincidence Of Photo And Dorset Calender

The strange thing is that when you become interested in coincidences they seem to be everywhere. Or perhaps you start looking for the slightest thing that may just be one.

This coincidence is about the 2010 Calendar that a friend brought us. I opened it up and the picture I saw was the one on the left. "That's exactly like the photo I took last year when we toured Dorset (England)," I said to my wife.

And sure enough when I checked it was very similar. The photo I took was the large one at the top of this post. Okay the calendar pic is brighter, they no doubt did some work on it to make it so, but it is an identical view: same cottages, same trees in the background and so on.

It's a small world or maybe everything is simply interlocked and we don't fully realise this.

"Do we see in these singular coincidences the purpose of a supernatural power to enforce the attention of mankind to the fact that there is something more in this world than mere matter."
Ignatius Donnelly, diary entry July 4, 1881.

Abraham Lincoln And John F Kennedy Coincidences

There are lots of famous coincidences. Here's some about Abraham Lincoln that are quite well known.

Actually, thinking about it, the first part perhaps isn't quite so well known. When Abraham Lincoln was a young man he knew of someone in financial difficulties who had to sell all of his belongings to survive. Being a compassionate sort of man Lincoln bought a barrel from him for one dollar.

As for the barrel, he had no idea as to what was inside and simply put it into storage.

Years later Lincoln wasn't sure which path to take in life: either journalism or the legal profession. While thinking about his future he came across the barrel again and decided to see what was actually inside.

In the barrel was a set of law books. He took this to be a sign and chose the law profession which, in turn, led to politics and eventual presidency. Sometimes it's as if coincidence and synchronicity are pointing to our destiny.

Coincidences Between Abraham Lincoln and
John F Kennedy

Moving on, there are many coincidences linking Presidents Lincoln and Kennedy. They are fairly well known but make an interesting read for anyone interested in coincidences.

1. Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846 and John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946, one hundred years apart.

2. Still on the hundred years difference theme, Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860 and Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

3. Now their deaths. A month before Lincoln was shot he was in Monroe, Maryland and a month before Kennedy was shot he was with Marilyn Monroe.

4. Both Lincoln and Kennedy were shot on a Friday, behind the head and in the presence of their wives. And so it goes on.

5. They were both assassinated by Southerners and succeeded by Southerners.

6. As for the assassins we go back to the hundred years difference. John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839 and Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

7. If you are into numbers both Booth and Oswald were known by three names and their names are made up of 15 letters.

8. Lincoln's assassin shot the president in a theatre and then hid in a warehouse. Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and hid in a theatre.

9. Both Booth and Oswald were themselves assassinated before their trials.

10. Moving on to their successors, both were called Johnson and were born 100 years apart. Andrew Johnson was born in 1808 and Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

11. There are also other similarities such as Lincoln having a secretary called Kennedy and Kennedy had a secretary named Johnson (though some dispute this fact) and both of the presidents' wives lost a son while living in the White House.

Can this really be all by chance? Or is there something greater behind these coincidences?

Nazca Lines And Maria Reiche Coincidence Example

A couple of days ago I wrote a post about the author Colin Wilson and his coincidence of how, after reading something, he picked up another book and opened it at an article written about exactly the same subject. Yesterday the same thing happened to me.

I was reading The Power of Coincidence and it mentioned the Nazca Lines in Peru and how Maria Reiche, a German mathematician, had devoted most of her life studying these lines.

I finished reading and, for some reason, picked up Arthur C. Clarke's Mysterious World. It opened to page 189 where I read, "In the last 1940's, Kosok teamed up with Maria Reiche, a German mathematician and astronomer. She had come to Nazca to pursue a theory of Kosok's that the lines were astronomically aligned ..."

The same page went on to tell of how, "Kosok died in 1959, but Maria Reiche has devoted her life to the study of these lines, living rough in the desert, tracing new alignments and preserving them against the inroads of tourists."

So in the world of coincidence it seems that one thing leads on to another with the aid of synchronicity. And when I was looking for a photo to include on this post I searched on Google Images and the first one I clicked on was the one I have used. This turns out to have been released to the Public Domain by - yes, you've guessed - Maria Reiche!

This post was first published on my other blog 67 Not Out

Coincidence Story From Author Colin Wilson

The coincidence story today is from the author Colin Wilson. His classic books include: The Occult: For Those Who Would Walk with the Gods, Mysteries, and Beyond the Occult.

"I was reading Hawkin's Stonehenge Decoded, the last section on the standing stones of Callanish, which Hawkins describes as a kind of Stone Age computer.

I finished the book and immediately picked up Bell's Mathematics, Queen of the Sciences. It opened at Chapter 6, and I found myself looking at a footnote on Stone Age mathematics.

The chances against coming across it immediately after the piece on Callanish were probably a million to one.

Again, last night I was reading an account of the Domenech murder case at Moher, in Galway, and noted that the victim had been at Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia, where I had lectured recently. Ten minutes later I opened Wanda Orynski's abstracts of Hegel, and saw that the introduction is by Kurt Leidecker at Mary Washington College.
There are nothing startling about these coincidences except the odds against them."

This post was previously published on my other blog 67 Not Out

Find A Parking Space With The Power Of Coincidence

As you will have gathered from the title of this blog I'm interested in coincidence and synchronicity. I'm even more interested to see if it's possible to make such things occur consciously. A lot of coincidences don't appear have any apparent value - though some do, especially after writing them down or dwelling on them for a while.

One easy(ish) way to test out coincidences is with car parking! It's something I've done for ages.

I don't like going in official car parks (I object to having to pay!) so I try to find space in side roads that are convenient to wherever I want to visit. Before I set out I 'request' that a perfect parking space will be made available for me.

Yes, it does sound a bit nutty but the strange thing is that a parking space is usually made available to me. Another car may just leave at that very moment I arrive or everywhere will be stacked with cars except for one space perfect for my car.

It happens over and over again.

A good example was when my wife and I visited Arundel on a sunny day when there was a street music festival taking place (that's Arundel castle on the right). The only place to park was in the official car parks as everywhere else had been made no parking areas.

We arrived after events had started and the car parks were jam packed full. People were driving round and then leaving the car park. I did a circuit once and then, instead of leaving, 'asked' for a space.

I was following another car and he suddenly stopped and waved me on - he wanted to let his wife get out of the car - I overtook him and immediately another car drove away from a parking space and I was able to drive in and park. Plus it was right near the center of all of the attractions - perfect.

I know this all sounds far fetched but give it a try for yourself.

When I say 'ask' for a parking space I mean to request one from whatever/whoever you feel comfortable with: the universe, your inner self or subconscious, the cosmic, God, an angel or saint, infinite spirit or virtually anything. As I see it the important thing is to actually ask. It can all happen inside your head or you can make the request aloud. This seems to make no difference.

Try it. It's a bit like the Bible says: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find ..."

This post was previously published on my other blog 67 Not Out

Coincidences Have Helped Arlene Phillips

Arlene Phillips, the dance choreographer and ex dancing judge for BBC's Strictly Come Dancing, said that coincidences have been a large part of her life. In Arlene's words:

"My whole life, I've felt there have been these paths that have been set me. Coincidences that have happened - moments of chance that have changed my life.

Meeting Angus (her husband) was one of those chance things. We got together pretty quickly and have been together ever since. At the time, I didn't quite realise it would last so long.

When I became pregnant with Abi it was a gift beyond compare. I was so luck that, firstly Angus and I got to have a child together and secondly, that I was able to get pregnant at 47 (she is now 67).

This post was previously published on my other blog 67 Not Out

The Thailand Coincidence Story

Here's a typical coincidence story seen in the British Daily Mail newspaper. I've printed out the text again in case the cutting on the right isn't too clear:

"A few years ago, I was having a meal out in a Chinese restaurant in Tenby, South Wales.

Sitting at the next table were four women who were obviously celebrating something, due to the greetings cards on their table and the 'toasting' going on.

Curiosity got the better of me and I asked what was the occasion. One of the women said she was leaving the country and her
friends to take up a teaching post in Thailand and this was her farewell party.

A women at a nearby table said she could not help overhearing our conversation and was curious as to which school she was going to in Thailand.

The woman told her and, amazingly, the other woman had just relinquished, having spent several years teaching English there. They didn't know each other, one had never been in the restaurant before and neither lived in Tenby. What a coincidence!"

This post was previously published on my other blog 67 Not Out

Coincidence And Synchronicity Story

This is another personal coincidence or synchronicity experience, out of hundreds that I have had over the years. I have no idea what it indicates other than the odds against it happening must be pretty high.

My wife and I take many breaks throughout the year abroad and in England. This coincidence happened in Devon and is quickly explained.

We had booked a chalet near the sea for a week and when we arrived we were shown to a house instead, which was much better and larger than expected.

As usual we moved our luggage into the house and, after unpacking, looked about.

In England all electrical equipment, in rented holiday accommodation, has to have a sticker on it stating when the item was checked, who by and when the next check is required.

I noticed the sticker on the side of the television. It had been checked by Mike Perry - which just happens to be my name. That was a big coincidence in itself but there is more! The date when it had to next be checked was July 23rd - which also happens to be my birthday.

As I say, I'm not sure what these coincidences indicate but they impressed me at the time!

Further Reading:
The 16th Century Cottage Coincidence Story
The Coincidence Meeting At Boscastle Cornwall

This post has previously been published on my other blog 67 Not Out

Dreaming The Winners Of Horse Races

Today my personal coincidence or synchronicity examples feature dreams and how they foresaw the future.

(1) The first goes back to 1976 but it's one that I remember distinctly because I dreamt the winner of the British Derby.

The thing about this is that I knew absolutely nothing about horse racing, I'd never even had a bet on a horse race or was aware of the names of any 'good' horses. However in 1976 I woke and told my wife that I knew who would win the Derby that day. I said it would be Empery. She just gave me an odd look, the way wives sometimes do.

That morning we went out and passed a bookies, with parking space, and my wife said that, for fun, I should place a bet on Empery because of my dream. I didn't though as I said that I had no idea what to do and besides, "Who believes in dreams?"

Needless to say Empery won the Derby Stakes that afternoon at 10/1 odds.

(2) In 1983 I did it again. This time I dreamt the winner of the Grand National. Again I told my wife the name of the winner: Corbiere. I also mentioned this to a friend, in advance of the race.

Once more I didn't have a bet on the race and Corbiere was the winner.

There are two strange things about both of these dreams - the only two I have ever had about horse racing winners. Even though I hadn't seen a list of horses running in the races, or had the slightest interest in the races, the horses names do have links to me.

(a) Empery is my name, well sort of. I am M.Perry so that is pronounced empery.

(b) I previously lived in Corbiere Avenue.

So what does all this mean? Well there is an obvious synchronicity in the horses names and myself. Did I somehow pick up on this by some means or other? It's just another mystery in the world or Coincidence and Synchronicity.

Does the Universe / World talk to us and sometimes guide us with coincidences. I have, for example, also had other dreams that appear to have looked into the future.

Further Reading:
The 16th Century Cottage Coincidence Story
The Thailand Coincidence Story

This post was previously published on my other blog 67 Not Out

The Coincidence Meeting At Boscastle Cornwall

This is another personal coincidence and synchronicity story

My wife and I were away on a long weekend break and on the journey home I decided to take a longer scenic route, which took in the north coast of Cornwall. It got to about 11 o'clock and I saw a sign to a well known village called Boscastle.

I asked my wife if she'd like to visit there, so we could have a tea or coffee overlooking the sea. She wasn't too sure but I took the turning anyway and when I got to Boscastle drove into the only car park.

As it was late September the very large car park was virtually empty, so we found a spot right in the middle. As we parked another car stopped directly behind us but three rows back. I looked in my mirror and thought the car looked familiar but thought nothing more of it.

My wife went to the back of our car to make some tea. I looked again in my mirror and remarked to my wife that the man in the car looked like Mick, a friend of some 30 years.

To cut a long story short it was our friend and his wife.

Now they live some 180 miles from where we live and they too, unbeknown to us, had also had a weekend away. They too were on their way home, some 270 miles away. We were on our way home, about 90 miles away.

The strange coincidences were that

(1) They arrived only minutes after us.
(2) They parked directly behind us, when they could have gone anywhere in the big car park. If they had of done we could have easily missed seeing them.
(3) Neither of us knew the other would be anywhere near Boscastle.
(4) As they drove into the car park Mick, and his wife Janet, were talking about coincidences.

So did one of us receive some sort of telepathic message that we should head for Boscastle? Was it purely by chance or an example of synchronicity? Who knows, but we spent a pleasant, unexpected, time together.

As I said, when writing a previous Coincidence or Synchronicity example, I'll look into some of the theories about such happenings in future posts.

Further Reading:
The 16th Century Cottage Coincidence Story
The Coincidence And Synchronicity Story

This post was previously published on my other blog 67 Not Out.

Mike's Cornwall for more photos of Cornwall

16th Century Cottage Coincidence Story

Okay, I'll kick off with a personal experience of coincidence and synchronicity.

My wife and I were in Rye, England where we had rented a 16th century holiday cottage. We parked our car on the narrow cobbled street to unload.

As I took the first bit of luggage inside the old cottage I noticed a trap door in the beamed ceiling of the living room. I said to my wife, "I wonder what that was used for?" She didn't really answer so I went back to the car to get some more of our stuff.

There was an old lady standing outside of the cottage shaking a stone out of her shoe. I said words to the effect that I hoped my car wasn't in her way. She shook her head and said, "I used to live in that cottage twenty years ago. It's got a trap door in the lounge to take the coffins in and out of the bedroom, when somebody dies. The stairs are too narrow and steep otherwise. It's also used for furniture." And with that she went on her way.

The old lady had answered the question I had asked my wife. It felt quite spooky as I hadn't asked her anything about the cottage.

There were two coincidences with this example.

(1) The old lady had stopped (by chance?) outside of the cottage to remove a stone from her shoe and
(2) She answered a question without being asked (she couldn't have heard me ask my wife about this).

So how did this happen: by coincidence, synchronicity or pure chance? Who knows.

Further Reading:
A Coincidence Meeting At Boscastle Cornwall
Dreaming Winners Of Horse Races

This post was previously published on my other blog 67 Not Out