Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Weird Moments When Disparate Paths Become One

First a little background. Those of you who have been around a while know that I am a pretend cowboy. That is, I dress up as a cowboy and shoot real guns in competition known as Cowboy Action Shooting. Those that don't know that can go read up on it here. Go on. We'll wait. Everybody else, smoke'em if you've got'em. Hmm, hmm, la la la. So, how's everybody been? Can you believe the weather? What about...wha...oh, you're back. Good. So now everybody knows about the cowboy thing, right?

A little more background. I personally have an open mind when it comes to history. Especially ancient history. I don't think we know everything that went down and I don't believe there's a particularly high degree of certainty about the things that we do know went down. I don't care how many degrees or how authoritative the expert *ologists are. There are simply too many unexplainable things all around the world and a couple of pot shards here and there just aren't going to explain it. Ever since I read "Chariots of the Gods" when I was a kid I've been fascinated by the possibilities and I enjoy reading speculative theories. Theories that in many ways do a better job of explaining the past that the BS fed to us by the established, respected, mainstream experts. So I was reading a book over the weekend by Graham Hancock and I was in a section where he was discussing ancient Egypt. He was going into great detail about their creation myth and talking about their gods, Osirus, Ra, Set, Isis, and so forth.

So here I am on Saturday, Cowboy Bruce walking through the kitchen with ancient Egyptian gods on my mind (okay, the weirdness of the previous sentence sums me up pretty well). I glance on the counter and spot my daughter's American Lit textbooks. (WARNING. The following sentence contains an extremely high degree of SARCASM and may not be suitable for younger audiences) Now this is HIGHLY unusual because my kids NEVER, EVER leave any of their things lying around. For some reason I decided to open the book and check it out. I cracked it somewhere in the middle and thumbed through a few pages. With the book lying on the counter opened to a random page this is the first thing my eyes fell on:

I Am a Cowboy in the Boat of Ra
by Ishmael Reed


I won't post the text of the poem but here is a link to it on another site. Maybe not everybody's cup of tea, but I liked it. A lot. Mr. Reed is a contemporary African American novelist, poet and essayist that is known for his off-beat satirical commentary on American society. He is considered controversial by some.

I thought this alone was an interesting bit of coincidence, synchronicity, serendipity, whatever. Then I read the poem and a line in the seventh stanza stood out, "I am a cowboy in the boat of Ra. Lord of the lash, the Loup Garou Kid. Half breed son of Pisces and Aquarius." I'm a Pisces and my wife is an Aquarius. It's our daughter's book. Hmmm (okay, it's son in the poem not daughter but still...Hmmm).

As if that wasn't enough, it continued getting weirder. I decided to look up more information about Mr. Reed and discovered that he is credited as being the first (or at least one of the first) to refer to Bill Clinton as "America's First Black President" in an April 1998 column in the Baltimore Sun. Given that this very issue had come up recently in the Democratic Primary contest I thought it appropriate to take a "Whoa" moment and allow that little tingly shiver to pass.

My point in sharing this story? None really. Except maybe to remind you to keep your mind open to possibilities. Every once in a while some weird stuff crosses your path.

What do you suppose it all means?

14 comments:

Kitty said...

I think Carl Gustav Jung would have appreciated the synchronicity you encountered the other evening.

As you know, I'm your general hippie type, and am a big fan of all thing synchronous and serendipitous. It's nice when it happens. It reaffirms for me that we're part of this big universe, which has strands tying us all together in profound and invisible ways.

Is that really you in that old post about the cowboy stuff? Looking good there Bruce ;-) x

Malach the Merciless said...

It means you have discovered you higher purpose, and can come back to Malach now.

Bruce, a work in progress said...

Kitty, I'm big on the whole synchronous thing too. I've always thought it interesting that Jung was a believer in Tarot based on his theroy of synchronicity. I have a science background but as you know I also follow astrology and tarot. I've come up with a scientific rationalization for those sorts of things that I personally am comfortable with. Someday I'll blog about it.
And yes, that's me. Thank ya kindly ma'am for the compliment.

Mal no. I can't I've found my higher purpose but I can't leave until I'VE FOUND MY SPECIAL PURPOSE!!! (Movie reference time).

Mike said...

Ever since I read an essay by Jung, I have been fascinated by the concept of synchronicity. It just baffles the mind and I think some of the most creative works of art and literature have come about as a result of that concept.

Nice post Bruce and damn well done.

Bruce, a work in progress said...

Thank you Mike. I felt the same way after reading his ideas and I agree with you.
Isn't it interesting that here in blogland our favorite "regular" bloggers turn out having so much in common with ourselves? I know we learn a little more about each other the longer we hang out on each other's blogs but we knew nothing at the beginning beyond a feeling or a reaction we had after reading just a few written words. Synchronicity?

Malicious Intent said...

It's sorta like thinking about infinity...fun...but damn it always gives me a headache! :) I love history, especially Egyptian history. I can sit and read about it or watch it on TV all day and never get bored. What I really love is that my youngest boy, age 9 now, loves to sit and watch history with me. I love that! I hope it goes with him into adult hood.

I agree, that we cannot take everything writen as gospel. As they say, the winners always write history...so who knows what really happened. You have to keep an open mind, closed ones cannot take in new information.

Good read, and you are a damn fine looking cowboy! (I am kinda scared of guns...bad experiences in previous relationships, but I think properly done make a great hobby for some.)

I have known folks who do civil war reenactments, and I so wish I cold get involved in that. Living history programs are awesome!
Did you get my email?

Forrest Proper said...

You don't seem to have my pal Cissy Strutt on your blogroll, so I'll quote her intro, which you reminded me of-

"I took these photos with my Lumix camera. It has a Leica lens. Leica was the first dog in space. Dogs In Space is an Australian film made in 1986. My friend Fiona played Barbara the Socialist. Now my friend Miss Simons lives two doors from the house where Dogs In Space was shot in Melbourne."

Biscuit said...

Don't you love those "whoa" moments?

Bruce, a work in progress said...

MI, yeah this sorta made my head hurt too. And yes the winners do indeed write history. In addition, there's also the history that happened so long ago that the people the did write it down didn't understand it so they made it into myths and cryptic stories.
And thank you for the kind words about my cowboy duds. This group isn't into historical reenactment but a lot of them are into historical accuracy with the costumes. There are a lot of women involved and they go all out with the clothes. Damn good shooters too.
Yes, I got your email. Both of them. Didn't you get my reply?

Col, I have missed out on Cissy. I will have to correct that. I love that little piece of circular sychronnicity. Thanks.

Bruce, a work in progress said...

Hi Biscuit. How've you been. All better? I do like those times that make you stop and ponder.

Malicious Intent said...

Bruce, no reply...as I suspected, email issues. Try again? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Hungry Mother said...

Maybe previous lives? Maybe ESP? Maybe alternative universes? In any event, it's very cool and interesting.

Synchronicity said...

This kinda stuff happens to me all the time. Of course the why and what does it mean? were always a mystery to me. However, I've finally discovered that it's a kind of cosmic tap on the shoulder to let you know when you're generally on the right path... whatever that might mean to you.

Bruce, a work in progress said...

HM it is interesting. I think it probably happens to all of us a lot more than we realize. It's just that we're not always paying attention and therefore don't see it.

Welcome Luke. Mystery to me too. But I like mysteries. I like playing "what if...".
A cosmic tap on the shoulder. Cool. I hope you're right. I'm on the path. Don't know where it's going but I'm enjoying the scenery.