feelings which accompanied iL
I was discovering an unknown part of myself, and I was eager to explore it, except, of course, its dark and scary corners. The little kid in me viewed all of this as if I had suddenly and inexplicably been caught up in a d ream, or as if I were an actor in a movie playing a part
At the same time, it was disconcerting to be "different" How many years had I conformed, doing what was necessary to be like everyone else-joining the correct college fraternity, dressing in the accepted style, blending in?
Several weeks passed and, other than basking in the glow of my newly discovered emotions, nothing of a psychic nature occurred. Then, as "coincidence" would have it, business required that I be in Reno, Nevada.
Reno is the "Greatest Little City in the World," or so we're informed by the motto em blazoned on local brochures and cocktail napkins. One of Reno's main attractions involves green, felt-covered tables where people wager on the number of dots showing uppermost at the eventual stationary position of two small, six sided, dot covered cubes thrown by one of the participants-a.k.a. craps tables!
The idea had not been entirely lost to me that if I used my psychic ability to determine the eventual outcome of a pair of dice before they were rolled, my chances of winning could be greatly enhanced. I decided to put my newfound talent to good use, while also having a little fun at the tables.
As I entered the main lobby of one of the casinos, I was aware of the drama of the moment. If this were a movie, Robert Redford would enter and look slowly around the room. After narrowing his eyes and setting his jaw, he would saunter to a table and stand next to a gorgeous woman wearing a low-cut, sequined dress.
I couldn't find the gorgeous woman!
I wandered over to a nearby table and wedged myself into a group of players who seemed to be winning, judging by the rows of chips displayed in racks in front of them. As I became absorbed in the action at the table, I had a "feeling" I was about to receive instructions of a psychic nature.
I waited.
"Don't bet until you have the dice,"suddenly whispered a firm voice inside my head. I turned around to assure myself that the voice did not originate from a nearby player... or the gorgeous woman.
"Not yet," it seemed to caution.
The dice had been held for an extended period by several players who, along with almost everyone else except the casino management, were winning a great deal of money on the majority of rolls of the dice.
Now, if you have ever been at a craps table, you know that you are in control when you throw the dice. It is an extremely exciting moment if you do well because not only are you winning money, but everyone who is betting with you is also winn ing and shouting encouragement; you become a local folk hero.
"Wait until it is your turn," nagged the inner thought. Eventually the dice were placed in front of me. It was my turn.
I placed a sizable wager on the line, picked up the dice and immediately rolled a 12.
"Craps, you lose," said the stick man to a chorus of groans. The odds are more than 30 to 1 against that happening, and, ironically, it's the most unlikely way in which to lose!
"Maybe I wasn't ready; maybe I didn't hold them right," I muttered to myself, placing a new wager, larger than the first.
I tossed the dice again, this time establishing a point of eight. All I had to do was make another eight before I rolled a seven and I would win. It was a good number because there are many combinations of ways to throw an eight.
Listening quietly, I heard the inner voice in my head say, ''You are in control!"
So I took the odds, thereby increasing my bet to the maximum amount allowed. I placed bets on all the numbers other than seven, the only number of the 11 possible which could cause me to lose all my bets. If I could roll any number other than a seven, I would win.
I rolled a seven!!!
To make a very long and painful story short, I played for awhile, attempting to isolate the same special knowing which had previously guided and informed me so successfully. I was apparently experiencing some severe technical difficulties with the audio portion of my programming because every bet I wagered I lost!
I decided to relocate to the roulette table and bet on red or black, basically 50/50 odds and much less confusing.
I bet on a color and promptly lost. I bet again. I lost again. Then I bet opposite what I thought was going to happen. I lost. I then bet opposite what I thought was going to happen, but before the ball stopped bouncing around the wheel to land on a color, I changed my bet to the opposite of that, and I still lost.
Ten times I bet; ten times I lost!
I remembered reading that the odds of winning or losing 10 times in a row are many millions to one. Was some higher source trying to tell me something? Were there lessons here?
The answer to both questions was a resounding YES! I had been presented with two concepts that took me some time to understand fully.
First, the gift I had been given was precious and was not to be misused.
As stated in Manly Hall's The Secret Teachings of All Ages, "The most dangerous form of black magic is the scientific perversion of occult power for the gratification of personal desire (italics mine) . Its less complex and more universal form is human selfishness, for selfishness is the fundamental cause of worldly evil."
We can trace the modern use of "black magic" back to the Hermes mystery schools, where it was taught that "What the mind can conceive and believe, the mind can achieve."
But Hermes did not write it as a glorification of the mind; he wrote it as a warning-a warning not to misuse it!
This gift of mine was to be used explicitly for good and rightful purposes, not for material gain, or more specifically, non-spiritual enterprises. I would later understand the specific purpose for my gift and also learn how to implement metaphysical principles for creating what I neednot for my comfort, but for my education and growth. This lesson had to be experienced, the most effective means of learning.
The second concept I was being taught was that there is no such thing as "coincidence." Virtually everything one does, everything that occurs, is for a purpose. Further, occurrences are created specifically by the person experiencing them. So, instead of believing that one's major learning events simply arise because of randomness or coincidence, consider that there is most often an explicit reason for their occurrence.
You have, no doubt, heard the expression, 'We create our own reality." It's true. The reality we create is for our experience of iL We are the creators of our own little mini universes, and we play by the rules, or belief systems, we have created.
The concept of "synchronicity," which is similar to the notion of "coincidence," suggests that we each create the significant events we experience for specific purposes. In addition, this process is often a vehicle used by our higher, spiritual self to present us with opportunities for learning lessons-the reason we are in physical form.
I have a sweatshirt, which I often wear, that states this principle in another way: "COINCIDENCE, GOD'S WAY OF REMAINING ANONYMOUS!"
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