Doug Dillon's Blog, page 61

Children, Dreams & Paranormal Coincidences

This paranormal event is almost as difficult for me to share as it was when I wrote about it in, An Explosion of Being. When my wife Barbara and I put that book together many years ago, we decided to include what you are about to read as a cautionary tale. I’m posting this experience for the same reason. The chapter from which it is taken is told from Barb’s perspective as you will see but she quickly shifts to me telling my own tale:

From intriguing to unsettling is a big step, but this terrifying dream of Doug’s and its conclusion in the physical world showed how quickly that transition can occur: “Dream after dream shot their ways past me in rapid fire succession. They made a blizzard of random movements, people, objects and colors.

“Tossing and turning, I was physically and psychologically restless. Everything moved too quickly and nothing was understandable, until the motion slowed to a comprehensible focus on a small child. It seemed as if the child was a little girl, but I wasn’t certain because she, or he, was running so fast.

“In a moment, the child’s desperation was all too clear. Someone was in pursuit, and the child was fleeing in panic. The scenes then changed too rapidly to follow, until, once more, the focus was on the child, but this time he, or she, was sitting in a blue pickup truck. Again, the child tried to escape, but as the door opened, a slashing knife seemed to cut completely through the small body.

“Before I had time to react, the child was staggering through the woods, finally stopping just in front of me, critically wounded. Crouching in pain, the child looked at me, turning my growing revulsion into an agonizing desire to help. Reaching down, I gathered the youngster in my arms and held it close. In absolute horror, I realized that I was literally holding the child together.”

“Lurching awake, I found myself trembling and in a cold sweat. Nicole must have sensed something. She had arisen, entered our room and was just standing by the bed, looking at me in the darkness. I reached out and hugged her, dissipating some of the dream’s terror.

“The next day, I began a scheduled business trip along Florida’s East Coast. On the way towards Jacksonville, a radio report, describing a child’s abduction in south Florida seemed like just another bit of the world’s negativity, so I paid little attention.

“After finally arriving at my destination and settling into the motel south of town, I went in search of a restaurant for dinner. But again, the radio blared news of that abduction. On it went, with the final chilling news that part of the child’s body had just been discovered by search teams. My hands began to shake. Pictures from the horrifying dream the night before flooded my mind.

“Instantly, I knew that the dream action of holding a child together was symbolically valid. Somehow, a part of me had spiritually stumbled into that event to help the child’s consciousness repair the damage done through the pain and fear of that gruesome killing.

“Supper that night didn’t settle very well. I left most of it still sitting on the plate and returned to the motel. Using the noise of television and the need to prepare for my meeting the next day, I was able to push thoughts of my dream and the child into the background. Sleep came much later, but only after wrestling with a piercing sadness and a raging anger at the injustice of physical life. I could still feel that trembling youngster in my arms.

“Incredibly, within the next couple of days, my original travel plans put me on a road passing the exact spot where the TV news  reported authorities had found the abducted child’s dismembered remains. That “coincidence really jarred me.Expanded awareness can be a double-edged sword.”

As Doug found out, this paranormal stuff can indeed cut two ways. On the one hand, it can clear a path for beautiful and satisfying perceptions, but on the other hand, it can reveal information that I suspect we might otherwise prefer to hide from our conscious mind. So called “psychic phenomena,” then, are perhaps just tiny bursts of recognition, both positive and negative, reminding us of the truer reality from which our physical existence springs.

One final note. The news event I talk about during this experience was national news for a very long time. Even so, I didn’t and still don’t feel comfortable mentioning the names of the people involved. That experience was so real to me at back then, it brought tears to my eyes when I told Barb about it. Still does.

If you are truly interested in all kinds of strange phenomena, you also might be like to take a look at my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Austral

 

 

Can the Dead Contact Us?

Mom, fussing at me for taking her picture before she was ready

I think paranormal events sometimes occur when we think of people who are no longer in this life. Or, maybe it happens when they think of us. Anyway, when such a thing occurs, it immediately connects me with the person and that is the beauty of it. The exact reasons why this type of thing comes about isn’t as important as the fact that, for me, it accomplishes something very important on an emotional and spiritual level.

One day as I was writing at my desk, I took a stretch break and looked through the window on the other side of my computer. That always helps to refresh me since we have a large backyard full of trees and lush tropical growth. In scanning my domain, I glanced at one of the pieces of my mom’s stained glass art we had saved after her death. It mirrors our backyard since we have some flowers and the occasional hummingbird.

Mom had that same piece up in her kitchen window and I smiled with the memory of how much she enjoyed her house over in Indialantic. As soon as that thought flashed through my mind, a hummingbird came out of nowhere and hovered just inches from the window. Not only that, the position of its hovering was directly behind the stained glass hummingbird. The real creature was perfectly framed by the wire oval.

The little bird, with wings blurred in stationery flight, moved his head back and forth as if inspecting the interior of my home office. That lasted for about 10 seconds and then he was gone. The event couldn’t have been scripted more perfectly.

Thanks Mom.

NOTE: For a truly fascinating update on this event, click here.

If you are truly interested in all kinds of strange phenomena, you also might be like to take a look at my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

Amazing Real Life Coincidences

 

Fascinating new book by paranormal author and investigator, Doug Dillon, brings to life Carl Jung’s personal supernatural experiences. Backed up synchronistic events and strange happenings in the lives of a large variety of other very reliable people.

Praise for Carl Jung, Hauntings, Paranormal Coincidences:

“This book is a part of all of us. The journey that we are all taking is inherently connected to those stories told in this book, written with so much joy, curiosity, and intelligence . . .”

Steven Ballou, 

Psychotherapist and Adjunct Faculty/Psychology, Southern New Hampshire University

“Wow! As an experienced and seasoned paranormal investigator (24 years), I really loved this book!”

Jill Borter,

Operations Manager and Electronic Voice Phenomena Analyst, Orlando Paranormal Investigations

“Doug Dillon’s work helps one better appreciate the magnificence of all that surrounds and defines our existence.”

Jim Caccavo, 

former NEWSWEEK, Vietnam war correspondent/photographer

“What a journey. What a litany of experiences. If you like ‘the Paranormal’, you’ll love Carl Jung, Hauntings and Paranormal Coincidences.”

Chuck Dowling, 

author of The Hammer of God Series, the Story of Arthur

“I could hardly put this book down. For anyone who has questions about what happens when we pass from the living world, I recommend this book.”

Mary Jo Fister, 

Lead Investigator and Case Manager, Offthetrails Paranormal Investigations

“This book illustrates the relationship of spirituality in everyday life with a curiosity about things we may experience and never understand.”

Kitty Mendoza, 

Psychotherapist in private practice, Longwood, Florida

“Each vignette is crafted so well that I couldn’t stop reading.”

Diane Ross, 

Hypnotist and author of Meditations for Miracles

If you are interested in reading this book, you can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Kobo (Canada)

This book is based upon a series of very popular blog posts Doug did on Carl Jung’s paranormal adventures. See links to all postings on the following lead article titled, Carl Jung Part 1: Paranormal, Coincidences and Synchronicity.

Spirit Contact on St. Simon’s Island, GA

For our anniversary in 2009, my wife Barb and I treated ourselves by spending a few days on St. Simon’s Island, Georgia. Beautiful place with  a long history that connects with St. Augustine in our home state of Florida.

In our travels on that island, we visited what’s left of Fort Frederica, a crucial British outpost just before the Revolutionary War. The fort itself is very small but the surrounding area is huge because an entire town once existed there as well. When the British abandoned the fort, the town died. All that you can see of it today are the foundations of houses and businesses.

This photo shows the elegant hallway at the entrance to the solarium.

Our home base for all of our excursions was the gorgeous King and Prince Resort. It’s a very comfortable place right on the ocean and dates back to 1935.

Maybe it was our day of exploring that eerie Fort Frederica ghost town without anyone else around but something happened at the King and Prince to make us wonder.

After dinner that evening, we decided to check out the hotel’s solarium, a sort of sun room area used for events like small banquets.

It was just Barb and me. That whole area of the hotel seemed as abandoned as the town near Fort Frederica. Totally quiet except for our conversation.

We spent some time looking at the furnishings and decor before finally plopping ourselves down in two Wingback chairs.

Shown here is the actual solarium entrance, looking back into the hallway

After a while, we both sell silent, lost in our own thoughts. It’s at that point I had a distinct sensation Barb and I weren’t alone. I kept looking around to make sense out of what I was feeling, but couldn’t. Seconds later, Barb broke the silence and told me she was having similar thoughts.

Realizing we were both on the same track, we decided to just sit silently for a while and tune in to whatever seemed to be happening near or around us. This we did for about five minutes and then shared whatever sensations, thoughts or feelings bubbled up in the quiet.

The result was fascinating. I would say a few words, then Barb, and then me again–back and forth as if we were both describing the exact same scene. When we got done speaking, we just looked at each other in wonder.

What we had jointly described were the sights and sounds of a party going on in the solarium. It was as if people were walking around–people of a bygone era. There was music, laughter, food and drink being served and some people were playing games. Glasses, dishes and utensils clinked. Amazing. It gave us chills.

No we didn’t actually see or hear those things. It was more like we were tuning into a television program but a reality show in which we were somehow distant participants.

Our conclusion? We as human beings are connected to all that is, has been and will be. Sometimes, especially in the stillness and quiet of the moment, we are privileged to perceive some of those connections.That night we were simply thankful to have received such a gift. A further explanation simply wasn’t needed.

If you are truly interested in all kinds of strange phenomena, you also might be like to take a look at my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

 

Synchronicity in Cassadaga, Florida

In our investigations into the paranormal, my wife Barbara and have come to the conclusion that no events are truly coincidental. Having that belief is one thing but seeing it demonstrated in a highly dramatic way tends to really grab your attention. This is the recent story about such a happening.

The book Barb and I wrote about the paranormal was originally published by an imprint of Prentice Hall back in 1984. When we brought An Explosion of Being back to life through Old St. Augustine Publications in the fall of 2011, I began to wonder about the people who read that first edition. Did the book have any lasting effect on them? Did anyone actually keep a copy or did they just give it away? Questions like that.

Two days later, the phone rang. The caller ID said, “Cassadaga Camp.” Cassadaga? Barb and I hadn’t had any actual connection with that Spiritualist town just north of us since we went there for a psychic reading in 1979. In our book, we wrote about our visit to Cassadaga and the medium, Mae Graves Ward, but I couldn’t see how this phone call could relate to that in any way. Much to my amazement, I soon discovered how wrong I was.

It turned out that the caller, was Selene Green, the manager for the Cassadaga Camp Bookstore and Information Center. This is what she said: “You probably don’t remember me but I was the manager of the B. Dalton’s bookstore in Gainesville, Florida when you and your wife did a book signing there back in 1985.” She went on to say that she still had her copy of our book we signed for her at the time and she believed that it led her to her present position in Cassadaga.

Spirit Pond in Cassadaga, FL. Photo by Marla Chirnside

To say I was astounded doesn’t begin to explain how I felt. Before I had time to recover, Selene put another woman on the phone. “Hi Doug, I’m Marla Chirnside and I hired your wife to work in the Seminole County Chamber of Commerce back in 1985.”

My phone connection with Cassadaga was getting weirder by the moment. Marla’s name rang a bell in my startled brain and Barb had indeed worked at the Seminole County Chamber.

Left-Marla Chirnside, Right-Selene Green

“I know you won’t believe this,” Marla went on to say, “but I’m living in Mae Graves Ward’s house here in Cassadaga, the medium you and Barb visited. I’m also a healer and serve on the Board of Trustees for the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp.”

What a double-barelled surprise! Talk about getting your questions answered and making a point about there being no coincidences! A few weeks after that phone conversation, Barb and I went to Cassadaga and had dinner with both Selene and Marla. We had a wonderful time catching up on the intervening years, talking about what brought us all together again, and discussing the paranormal.

Enough said about that experience. I think it speaks for itself. If you want to know more about Cassadaga, see my two previous posts, one of which is a photo gallery. My next post will highlight the Cassadaga Bookstore and Information Center.

For more information on Cassadaga, click on any of the following links:

A Cassadaga Photo Gallery

Cassadaga, A Spiritualist Community

Cassadaga Bookstore and Information Center

If you are truly interested in all kinds of strange phenomena, you also might be like to take a look at my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

Synchronicity as Warning Signs?

Should you pay attention when a coincidence, or coincidences, seems to point to a possible danger? And if you pay attention, what action(s) should you take, if any, to avert that danger?

My wife Barb and I are serious believers in the idea that everything in existence is connected and also linked to unseen worlds, dimensions, universes, etc., etc. This boils down to the understanding that no event is fully random even though we may not understand how this comes about. For us, it’s just something we accept as a demonstration of such connectivity and we don’t have to prove causation to ourselves or anybody else. Nor do we question why something happened very much. Once in a great while, however, we are forced to look more closely.

Such a time came a couple of years ago when we got a letter from our electrician warning all his customers about the possibility of fire if they had a particular circuit breaker box made in the 1970’s.

Since our house was built in 1976, we paid close attention.

Sure enough, we were the proud owners of one of the breaker boxes in question. That kind of shook me up because during the previous week I had two experiences with electrical fires: one at my chiropractor’s office and one in a nursing home where I visit Hospice patients. Those fires were small and did little damage but the fact that they both happened with me present now made me sit up and take notice. Besides, the stink of burning wires from each fire was still fresh in my memory and the warning letter seemed to glare at me from its place on my desk.

When I called the electrician, he said that during all those years since the ’70s, the company did make some faulty breakers but all-in-all, not too many fires occurred, and there had not been a general recall. His assessment was that a slight danger did exist but probably not much to worry about. He told me he felt obligated to send out the notice he himself had received but since a new box would cost right around $1,000, it was highly questionable whether the minimal danger warranted such a high expense.

I liked what he had to say because I sure didn’t want to shell out that kind of money if I could help it. Still, I went on the Internet to research the situation myself. I came up with a mixed bag of results. The search verified much of what my electrician told me but I also read reports by other electricians who said the breaker boxes in question were crap, they wouldn’t have them in their homes and and they wouldn’t install one. Not so good but I still didn’t want to pay $1,000 if I could help it.

Just as I had that thought about not paying the money, the power in the entire house flickered on and off. Woops. A power shift when I’m researching electrical problems and almost deciding to not get a new breaker box? Uh, that was a little too coincidental for comfort. As a result, I did another Google search and came up with a newsletter published by a civic association for the the Village of Westover. Location? Very near Harrisburg, PA.

The entire front page was about my breaker box and how many of the homes in the community were originally constructed in the 1970’s using identical equipment. Evidently, enough fires had begun because of those boxes that quite a few families in the Village of Westover purchased new equipment. One woman talked about how fire started in her home built in 1976–the same year mine was constructed.

After reading that woman’s story, I happened to glance at the list of officers for the civic association.  The last name for the immediate past president? Dillon, my last name. Not an overly common name. Yes, I did a double-take on that one. Click here to see that newsletter.

In discussing this all with Barb, we decided there were just too many linkages to ignore. As much as we hated to do it, we reluctantly agreed to get a new breaker box installed. It didn’t happen right away. I think it was a combination of my not wanting to part with all that money and just being overly busy.

A couple of weeks later while doing my usual walk around the neighborhood for exercise, I passed what was left of a house just up the street from us. For whatever reason, I had forgotten the thing burned up a year or two before. Since no repairs were made for so long,  I guess I just accepted its looks as normal until that moment when the word fire suddenly sprang to mind. My neighborhood. 1970’s. Oh my God!

After she arrived home from work that evening, I reminded Barb about the burned out house near us and my new reaction to it. Like me, she had put it out of her mind but she immediately got on the Internet. After an extensive search, she found our city’s report giving details about the house fire in question. In the document she read, it cited the cause as faulty circuit breakers. Within a week, we had a new breaker panel, the one pictured above. Sometime you just gotta stop fighting the problem and go with the flow.

Update: May 23, 2012

A couple of months after having the new breaker box installed, our clothes dryer stopped working. So naturally, I called in repair guy. Turns out he had nothing to repair. He said I must have a faulty circuit breaker. What? No way. Sure enough, he had me feel it and damn if the thing wasn’t warm–a sure indication that a problem existed.

I immediately got the electrician back who installed our brand new breaker panel worth $1000. “Yup,” he said, “that’s weird. Shouldn’t happen.” He aslso said he didn’t think it really put us in any danger but he replaced the breaker for no charge.

SO –  what does this say about interpreting a series of coincidences and acting on them? All the indicators pointed to danger so we acted, right? But what if our interpretation was wrong? If there was indeed a message in all those coincidental events, it is conceivable this was it: By All Means, Do Not Buy A New Breaker Panel. It will contain a Faulty Breaker and This Will Put You in Danger.

I bring this up to remind myself and everyone else how difficult it is to tease specific meaning out of coincidental events.  This is one area where humanity has tripped itself up over the eons by assigning way too much meaning through the use of seers, oracles and psychics. If the Multiple Universes Theory of quantum physics is correct, perhaps the strong indicators we see in a series of coincidental events may have a probable meaning but it may have stronger or weaker shades of probability according to the universe in which you live. A huge caution sign.

Am I now second guessing our decision to install a new breaker box? I did for a few seconds but as I weighed the two interpretations, I realized I would do the same thing again. Choices. It’s all about choices but based upon as much cool analysis as possible.

If you are truly interested in all kinds of strange phenomena, you might be like to take a look at my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

 

Children, Dreams & Synchronicity

This paranormal event is almost as difficult for me to share as it was when I wrote about it in, An Explosion of Being. When my wife Barbara and I put that book together many years ago, we decided to include what you are about to read as a cautionary tale. I’m posting this experience for the same reason. The chapter from which it is taken is told from Barb’s perspective as you will see but she quickly shifts to me telling my own tale:

From intriguing to unsettling is a big step, but this terrifying dream of Doug’s and its conclusion in the physical world showed how quickly that transition can occur: “Dream after dream shot their ways past me in rapid fire succession. They made a blizzard of random movements, people, objects and colors.

“Tossing and turning, I was physically and psychologically restless. Everything moved too quickly and nothing was understandable, until the motion slowed to a comprehensible focus on a small child. It seemed as if the child was a little girl, but I wasn’t certain because she, or he, was running so fast.

“In a moment, the child’s desperation was all too clear. Someone was in pursuit, and the child was fleeing in panic. The scenes then changed too rapidly to follow, until, once more, the focus was on the child, but this time he, or she, was sitting in a blue pickup truck. Again, the child tried to escape, but as the door opened, a slashing knife seemed to cut completely through the small body.

“Before I had time to react, the child was staggering through the woods, finally stopping just in front of me, critically wounded. Crouching in pain, the child looked at me, turning my growing revulsion into an agonizing desire to help. Reaching down, I gathered the youngster in my arms and held it close. In absolute horror, I realized that I was literally holding the child together.”

“Lurching awake, I found myself trembling and in a cold sweat. Nicole must have sensed something. She had arisen, entered our room and was just standing by the bed, looking at me in the darkness. I reached out and hugged her, dissipating some of the dream’s terror.

“The next day, I began a scheduled business trip along Florida’s East Coast. On the way towards Jacksonville, a radio report, describing a child’s abduction in south Florida seemed like just another bit of the world’s negativity, so I paid little attention.

“After finally arriving at my destination and settling into the motel south of town, I went in search of a restaurant for dinner. But again, the radio blared news of that abduction. On it went, with the final chilling news that part of the child’s body had just been discovered by search teams. My hands began to shake. Pictures from the horrifying dream the night before flooded my mind.

“Instantly, I knew that the dream action of holding a child together was symbolically valid. Somehow, a part of me had spiritually stumbled into that event to help the child’s consciousness repair the damage done through the pain and fear of that gruesome killing.

“Supper that night didn’t settle very well. I left most of it still sitting on the plate and returned to the motel. Using the noise of television and the need to prepare for my meeting the next day, I was able to push thoughts of my dream and the child into the background. Sleep came much later, but only after wrestling with a piercing sadness and a raging anger at the injustice of physical life. I could still feel that trembling youngster in my arms.

“Incredibly, within the next couple of days, my original travel plans put me on a road passing the exact spot where the TV news  reported authorities had found the abducted child’s dismembered remains. That “coincidence really jarred me.Expanded awareness can be a double-edged sword.”

As Doug found out, this paranormal stuff can indeed cut two ways. On the one hand, it can clear a path for beautiful and satisfying perceptions, but on the other hand, it can reveal information that I suspect we might otherwise prefer to hide from our conscious mind. So called “psychic phenomena,” then, are perhaps just tiny bursts of recognition, both positive and negative, reminding us of the truer reality from which our physical existence springs.

One final note. The news event I talk about during this experience was national news for a very long time. Even so, I didn’t and still don’t feel comfortable mentioning the names of the people involved. That experience was so real to me at back then, it brought tears to my eyes when I told Barb about it. Still does.

If you are truly interested in all kinds of strange phenomena, you also might be like to take a look at my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Austral

Facebook Synchronicity

I write a lot about how coincidences often show the true paranormal nature of the world in which we live. These events, especially when there are a serious of them related to each other, can be a bit startling. Even so, over the years I’ve gotten fairly used to them. Once in a while, though, something will happen that really makes my jaw drop in wonder. That’s what happened to me just a few minutes ago.

Let me back up here. A few days ago, I published a short article on my blog titled, “Paranormal Coincidences: The Hummingbird and Stained Glass”. It was all about a set of simultaneous events involving a hummingbird right outside the window of my home office. Today, I decided to post that piece on Facebook because it was a warm, touching story related to my deceased mother. If you want to read that article, I’ve provided a link at the bottom of all this text. The picture on the left, however, is one of those I used in the article.

Now back to a few minutes ago. Right after dinner, I checked my emails and noticed I had received a Google Alert. I have them set up so that Google scours the Internet for me on all kinds of subjects including, Doug Dillon. Tonight, the Google email said, “Join Doug Dillon on Facebook.”

Bridge of Lions Photo courtesy of              Greg Dillon-Photography by Greg

Figuring it must be the hummingbird posting I did today, I clicked on it. Sure enough, the hummingbird picture came up. The thing is, it wasn’t my hummingbird. The color of the flowers was wrong.  In fact, this picture filled a good chunk of the screen with a smaller version of itself where my Facebook profile photo usually sits. For a few seconds, I was really disoriented because my cover photo is actually a  nighttime picture of the Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Even so, it still said, “Doug Dillon.”

Finally, I tore my eyes away from the pictures and looked at the profile. That’s when I discovered I was looking at a description of another Doug Dillon. That’s what I said, another DOUG DILLON. Not only that, but this other Doug Dillon and I have these items in common:

We both are retired
We both are retired from a school system
We are both retired from a school system in the state of Florida
We both like history
We both went to public universities in the state of Florida

See why I really jumped up and took notice? As I look at the other Doug Dillon’s Facebook timeline, I see this entire event as a giant cosmic exclamation point-one I will now  have to insert into my original posting on the hummingbird and stained glass.

If you would like to see the other Doug Dillon’s Facebook timeline, click here. I don’t know how long he will keep that hummingbird picture up, but I hope he keeps it there long enough for you to take a look at it. Oh. I immediately sent Doug # 2 a Friend Request. I think this event will blow his socks off. It will be interesting to talk to him.

If you would like to see  that previous posting, click here.

UPDATE: The other Doug Dillon responded to me on Facebook where we are now friends. He read this article and found it pretty startling. This was especially true since he had some things to add to the string of coincidences listed above and here they are:

Like me, he was a district level school administrator
Through his job back in those days, he visited Orange County Public School’s district office in Orlando where I worked. During that day, he happened to walk by MY DESK.  He noticed my nameplate and stopped short. When he asked if I was around., someone told him I was away at a conference. So, Doug and I think that for whatever reason, we were destined to make contact. The thing is, it sure did take a long time. I would like to meet him one of these days.

If you are truly interested in all kinds of strange phenomena, you also might be like to take a look at my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

 

Do Coincidences Have Meaning?

Fascinating new book by paranormal author and investigator, Doug Dillon, brings to life Carl Jung’s personal supernatural experiences. Backed up synchronistic events and strange happenings in the lives of a large variety of other very reliable people.

Praise for Carl Jung, Hauntings, Paranormal Coincidences:

“This book is a part of all of us. The journey that we are all taking is inherently connected to those stories told in this book, written with so much joy, curiosity, and intelligence . . .”

Steven Ballou, 

Psychotherapist and Adjunct Faculty/Psychology, Southern New Hampshire University

“Wow! As an experienced and seasoned paranormal investigator (24 years), I really loved this book!”

Jill Borter,

Operations Manager and Electronic Voice Phenomena Analyst, Orlando Paranormal Investigations

“Doug Dillon’s work helps one better appreciate the magnificence of all that surrounds and defines our existence.”

Jim Caccavo, 

former NEWSWEEK, Vietnam war correspondent/photographer

“What a journey. What a litany of experiences. If you like ‘the Paranormal’, you’ll love Carl Jung, Hauntings and Paranormal Coincidences.”

Chuck Dowling, 

author of The Hammer of God Series, the Story of Arthur

“I could hardly put this book down. For anyone who has questions about what happens when we pass from the living world, I recommend this book.”

Mary Jo Fister, 

Lead Investigator and Case Manager, Offthetrails Paranormal Investigations

“This book illustrates the relationship of spirituality in everyday life with a curiosity about things we may experience and never understand.”

Kitty Mendoza, 

Psychotherapist in private practice, Longwood, Florida

“Each vignette is crafted so well that I couldn’t stop reading.”

Diane Ross, 

Hypnotist and author of Meditations for Miracles

If you are interested in reading this book, you can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Kobo (Canada)

This book is based upon a series of very popular blog posts Doug did on Carl Jung’s paranormal adventures. See links to all postings on the following lead article titled, Carl Jung Part 1: Paranormal, Coincidences and Synchronicity.

Ripley’s St. Augustine & Spirit Contact

This story is the king of all paranormal coincidences. Well, so far, for me anyway. It’s a fascinating tale but complex to describe. You gotta bear with me as I set this thing up. You will also find some selected text underlining here. That’s because I’m pointing out key elements of the story that all fit together for a total package.

In 2011, I published Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy, my paranormal/historical novel for young adults titled, Sliding Beneath the Surface.

The story mostly takes place in the St. Augustine, FL neighborhood called the Abbott Tract just north of the Castillo de San Marcos–the old old Spanish fort.

Right at the edge of that neighborhood sits the original Ripley’s Believe it or Not Museum. At night, Ripley’s runs their Ghost Train Adventure that begins and ends there at the museum.

In Sliding, the main character, fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, mentions he’s been to Ripley’s and there he saw a carved Chinese puzzle ball like the one Lobo, an old Native American shaman once handed to him. I had Jeff say all that because in my research travels to St. Augustine, I saw a large puzzle ball at Ripley’s and decided to use it as a key paranormal symbol–hence it’s appearance on the Sliding cover above.

Photo of the puzzle ball I took at Ripley’s several years ago.

In continuing first person comments, Jeff makes clear his dislike for all the tourists who flood St. Augustine and go on silly ghost tours like the one at Ripley’s. Then Jeff describes times during terrifying paranormal exploits when he and his girlfriend, Carla:

Ride their bikes past the historic St. Francis Barracks that houses the Florida National Guard Headquarters
Encounter a soldier in front of the National Guard building
Go to the St. Augustine National Cemetery just down the street from the National Guard building
View the historical marker there erected by the West Point Society of North Florida in relation to the Second Seminole War
View the 3 coquina pyramids that cover the remains of over 1400 soldiers killed in all the Seminole Wars
Learn about the start of the Second Seminole War from Lobo, the old shaman
Encounter a cannon used in the Second Seminole Wars

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon 

In writing Sliding, I mention in the book:

How some of the officers killed in the first battle of the Second Seminole War were West Point Graduates and
That my father, Walt Dillon, graduated from West Point. (Both my parents are buried there)

Now, many years ago, my wife Barbara and I wrote our nonfiction book titled, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, originally published by an imprint of Prentice Hall.

When I published the Sliding book in 2011, I also brought out a new edition of Explosion through my own publishing company. That book is dedicated to my father and describes his funeral at West Point. Dad’s death started Barb and me on our investigations of the paranormal and resulted in the writing of Explosion.

The Ripley’s mansion on San Marco Avenue

Just after the first of this year, 2012, I contacted a friend of mine, Dave Lapham. Dave wrote two books on the ghosts of St. Augustine. I called him because I wondered how he had marketed his books.

Turns out, one thing Dave did was to set up book signings at Ripley’s right there up the street from the neighborhood where all my fictional  characters live. Dave suggested I gave Ripley’s a call. Ripley’s?  I had thought about book signings in St. Augustine but not at Ripley’s. How interesting.

At the time though, I was so swamped with other things that the thought of working St. Augustine book signings into my schedule just then seemed overwhelming. Dave’s idea was a good one but it took me until  the week of May 14 to do anything about it. Here’s where the coincidences really come flying at me. Yup, everything you’ve read up to this point has been prologue.

Early in that week, my friend Chuck Dowling, another author but a writer mostly of military fiction, emailed me. He asked if I had ever thought of doing book signings in St. Augustine. I replied and said, yes, I had just put it on my calendar to call Ripley’s on Friday based on Dave’s suggestion.

Florida National Guard Headquarters

A day or so later, I got an emailed newsletter from the Seminole Wars Foundation based in Bushnell, FL, of which I am a member. In doing research on the Second Seminole War for Sliding, I found the group’s goals and activities very worthy.

Anyway, one particular article in the newsletter really caught my eye. Their next meeting was coming up and here’s what it said, boiled down to the following bullet points:

The meeting will:

Be held on August 18, 2012
Be held in St. Augustine
Be held in recognition of the 160th anniversary of the 1842 interment of all Seminole War casualties buried in the St. Augustine National Cemetery

Annual Reenactment of the Dade battle that started the Second Seminole War

Be held at the Florida National Guard Headquarters–the old St. Francis Barracks
Involve The West Point Society of North Florida, in addition to one other military organization
Involve the entire group walking from the National Guard Headquarters to the St. Augustine National Cemetery
Involve a ceremony at the 3 coquina pyramids
Involve the firing of the cannon from the Dade Battlefield park museum, like the one Jeff and Carla encountered

I’m telling you what. I read that piece over several times, marveling at the fall meeting’s connections with both my books and my father. To say all that was startling is to do it an injustice. I had yet to attend a meeting of the Foundation but this one I could not miss.

For a few minutes, I just had to sit back and marvel at how many things could come together like that. Even believing at least some coincidences have significance, as is my thinking pattern, I was no where near prepared for such a rush of multiple, connected events. Synchronicty at its best. Carl Jung would have loved it.

BUT WAIT! It doesn’t end there. Back to Ripley’s.

As planned on Friday, May 18 , I called them. Ripley’s that is. There I spoke to Ralf who was very receptive to the  book signing idea. In fact, he said, it might be good for me to do one on a Saturday evening when there are a ton of their Ghost Train folks coming through the museum, and then again during the next day on Sunday. After looking at my calendar and checking with my wife, the dates of July 14 and 15 were open for both of us and for Ralf so I immediately scheduled them. Perfect.

But that also got me to thinking. I would be going up to St. Augustine on Saturday August 18 for the Seminole Wars event during the day, right? That led me to ask Ralf about doing a book signing that same night and then the following Sunday. Again, both dates were open and I immediately scheduled them as well as those two days in July.

Actually, it was only after speaking with Ralf that the enormity of what I would experience on August 18 truly hit me. Wow. With the Seminole Wars event during the day and signing both books at Ripley’s that night, I had scheduled myself into living out all those coincidences within about an eighteen-hour span of time. And it had taken less than a week from the time my friend Chuck called asking me about St. Augustine book signings until I finally set everything up with Ralf . Quite a whirlwind of activity.

Photo courtesy of NASA

The universe had spoken and emphatically so, but why? Was there any purpose in all this happening in such a linked way, assuming it all fell together as planned? Was I being guided somehow if nothing more than a higher aspect of my own being? To be perfectly honest, I would like to think that it was some sort of confirmation of my efforts in writing and studying the paranormal. Maybe yes, maybe no.

But the universe is a tricky place and when you try to interpret it’s intentions, it can very easily smack you upside the head. Some of those folks who study synchronicity suggest that intense coincidental events partially, at the very least, reflect your own thinking and observational patterns.

The idea is that you increasingly play a part in creating “coincidences” on a quantum level without realizing it.  This can result in delusional cycles of self-reinforcement instead of revelation. Here is where people interpret series of coincidences that mirror their beliefs that the world will soon end and are just a bit disillusioned to find it hasn’t gone away on schedule.

So, for now, I’m just going to be very thankful that I was privileged to watch such amazing patterns emerge out of our everyday world and fuse themselves into a structure in which I will be a grateful participant. No matter what, it’s going to b e fun to see it all unfold.

By the way, all the location photos you see here I took a number of years ago in my research for writing Sliding Beneath the Surface. Under the category Photo Galleries here on my website blog, you will find a number of groupings that relate to the Dade battle–the one that started the second Seminole War in 1835. Or you can find them under the Florida History category.

If you are truly interested in all kinds of strange phenomena, you also might be like to take a look at my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, The Book Depository

Here are some interesting links if you care to check them out.

Click here for another interesting series of “coincidences”.

Click here for the spring newsletter of the Seminole Wars Foundation. See page 3.

Click here for the Seminole Wars Foundation.

Click here for the West Point Society of North Florida.

Click here for the St. Augustine National Cemetery.

Click here for the Florida National Guard.

Click here for Ripley’s.