I was attending a meeting with the Denver Tarot Meetup north group on Saturday, 13 June 2015. The topic was "intuition in tarot" or something along those lines. It's been a hot topic this week in reader circles, in part because of a blog post written by Fiona Benjamin earlier in the week. Natch, I had occasion to wear my "psychic readings" t-shirt, just for fun. The meeting went well, with discussion around the table and then groups of 4 being paired off to do "intuitive" readings at 2 minute intervals. We then came back together as a group to discuss followed by a tarot chain game around the room. Good time was had by all, I think, as per usual. I even had an opportunity to give out my first business card! Long story short, I was walking out to my car in the parking lot of the coffee shop after the meeting had adjourned. As I reached into my purse to grab my keys, my hand brushed my brand new, three day old phone. I had a momentary thought that if I grab my keys out, my phone will fall out. And my phone screen will break. Yes, this quote from The Shining comes to mind whenever something happens in the blink of an eye: "a momentary loss of muscular coordination. A few extra
foot-pounds of energy per second, per second." Egads, it happened. Just like I imagined. Just like the words that went through my mind in that split second of a split second. It was like all the cliches you can think of for such an instance: time stood still; time slowed down; I was watching it fall in slow motion; my heart was in my throat. You get the picture. And then it was the cliched Schrodinger's cat scenario. There lay my phone where it fell flat. Literally, flat. I couldn't duplicate that 180 degree landing if my life depended on it. Was it shattered, just as I had imagined when I brushed aside that intuition? Was it whole & unscathed, surviving one of those "Whew, that was a close one" moments? I knew the answer before I even bent down to retrieve the much depreciated device. Shattered. There was the teeny tiniest divot in the screen protector from which emanated a hundred cracks in every direction. Who would imagine that the teeny tiniest pebble could wreak such destruction. I'm not kidding when I say, it had to have been the size of a pin -not a pin head, but the pointy end of the pin. Ugh. What the heck, man.
So my immediate thought devolved into a kind of internal discussion wondering about Schrodinger's cat theory vs the power of thought vs premonition vs fate. Did I have a premonition about my phone and then it happened? In which case, why did I choose to ignore my intuition? Did I "will" it to happen because of my thoughts? If I had intentionally thought that my phone wasn't going to fall, or that it wouldn't shatter, would that have made a difference?
Regarding fate, did I have a choice in the matter? You know that physics law from Newton about inertia: a body in motion remains in motion.... My hand was in motion and it remained in motion; could I have stopped it midthought in that microsecond of premonition? It certainly felt like a forward motion that wouldn't be stopped: an inevitable accident that I saw through a slow motion lens.
If I look at it from the point of premonition, why didn't I just stop what I was doing? I was aware enough to have the thought of the accident. Which leads me back to fate. Was it fated or did I just willfully ignore that warning? I've been having alot of premonitions lately. Just fun stuff like thinking about something before someone else says it. Random things, not the kind of things that would logically follow from a common discussion. For instance, at work today, I was thinking that I would like to talk to my friend about a current event -something that we've never discussed. But I didn't want to be the one to bring it up. Not ten minutes later she walked by, talking about the very topic I had in mind. Premonitions like that. Nothing earth shattering or life saving; just fun to see unfold after I get a "hit"/premonition.
This leads me to the power of thought. Is it a premonition? Or is it that my thoughts control my environment? My perceptions alter my conciousness. "And so it is", a phrase that I've heard bandied about in the metaphysical circles. "So mote it be", a similar phrase in the wiccan circles.
I'm a firm believer in premonitions, precognitions, using one's "clairs" to perceive things that others do not. Skills that anyone can cultivate, I think, but most do not. I'm also a firm believer in the power of thought. I've seen it at work in my own life. As much as I'd like to think that there is "fate", I also think that fate has a certain "victim mentality" to it. "I had no choice", "It just happened". If I believe in fate, I can blame someone else or another outside entity for anything bad that happens in my life. On the flip side, I cannot take credit of anything good that happens if it's fated. "Shit happens" is probably the most accurate phrase for fate. I prefer, "I think, therefore I am". "I am". I have control over my actions, thoughts, perceptions. Now how to listen to my premonitons when I get them instead of shrugging them off. More often than not, when I ignore my gut feelings something goes awry that could have been avoided. I'm working on it. I'll let you know how I progress.
Have you had experiences like this? Do you think fate is the ruling force in our lives or do we have free will?
