The Number 23 and The Gods of Coincidence

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Homicidal Pacifist
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The Number 23 and The Gods of Coincidence

Post by Homicidal Pacifist »

The Number 23 is a film starring Jim Carey and it focuses on the sudden prominence and recurring tendencies of the number 23 in his character's daily life and the question of coincidence versus significance.

Numerology in general and "obsesssion" with this particular number are nothing new. Many people have claimed to have some kind of relationship with recurring numbers.

Up until the time that I established what I consider to be a genuine relationship with The Creator (unless of course I'm delusional) I had not been exposed to serious incidences of coincidence, but in the following days (2004) and indeed ever since I have been haunted (in a good but scary way) by "coincidences" on a level that I feel I would be a fool to ignore or placate or title as meaningless/random occurences.

I saw the film in 2007 and since then I too have come to believe that there is some spooky **** involving the number 23 and the existence of coincidence. I seriously feel hunted. From 2004-2008 I repeatedly witnessed the number 911 and in 2007, 23 began to take over. 24 has recently joined the ranks (as to say that it does not end with 23; there is awareness, understanding, progression, and then transcendence).

I make no claims of flawless sanity but I do not believe that I am a complete madman either. I also seek truth in everything - devastating as it can be - and am not so bored that I have to create illusion to spice things up or make myself feel special. I am aware of how many people do indulge in these kinds of insanity and self-deception but that does not necessarily mean that there is no validity to some of these theories.

Some people will look for a number, for example, and as a result they will find it everywhere and say that some other-worldy force is driving these occurences. They create delusion. "If you look hard enough for any number, you will find it in every place you look and it will drive you mad." I have found myself searching for 23 and I quickly end that behavior. I only look because it (or whatever) began this game. Typically, I am not looking for it or thinking about it and yet it appears, boldly proclaiming its name and outlawing denial.

A vast array of multi-genre coincidences infultrate my life. I will provide a list of memories if asked but for now let's leave it with this - how would you react if you were suddenly and consistently attacked by the same number and fell victim to countless overwhelming "coincidences"? Such things are supposed to be rare. When things that are at a chance rate of 1 in a million happen to you every day, multiple times a day for years on end, what should you make of that?

It is the irony of the specific timing that freaks me out so much. Ex: I can go a decade without hearing a reference to Houdini and then hear of him two or three times from unrelated sources in the same day while several other, more high scale coincidences abound. I can say a word or phrase that I utter only once or twice in a lifetime and that I hear just as rarley and as if in echo the radio or T.V. will repeat that same utterance one second later; and these types of things will happen dozens or hundreds of times per year.

My interpretation is that (and go ahead and laugh; everyone I know does, except for my girlfriend because she too has been personally exposed all this) God is assertively involving Himself in my life. Why? Especially when these occurences usually seem to be of little or no significance outside of themselves? My belief is that He is providing some kind of constant, much needed reassurance for me. He is reminding me that there is much, much more to this life than meets the eye and significant meaning for life and the little things is abundant. He is helping me in a subtle way to be open-minded towards the absurd and comforting me with the knowledge/seemingly solid assumtpion that I am never alone, even when I am by myself.

It is God responding to my attempt at establishing and developing a relationship with Him. It is Divine intervention done in such a way so as to not violate free-will by forcing me to believe that it is God speaking to me because after all I could just be delusional or reading too much into things. In the absence of proof we find the powerful existence of faith. Note: I did not say BLIND faith and I will also say that though false hope can bring many smiles, those smiles are misled and should have been based on the sincerity of truth and a stubborn grin can last through the suffering.

Yes I need this, but again, that does not mean that I have created this. I am merely responding.

I have never met or heard of a person who is anywhere near as flooded by "coincidence" I am. I would stake my life that either God or the devil is speaking to me in this way.

In any case, watch the movie and its special features or do an internet search of the creepiness that is the number 23.

Keep your third eye open.
- Coincidence Man


P.S. - The following is a bit of dialogue from my first screenplay Trip To Dream (2004)...

"There is a drastic difference between excessively attempting to out-think coincidence in order for it to favor you and simply possessing a calm enough will to know how to control it without the distraction of thought."
"There is one thing stronger than all the armies of the world,
and that is an idea whose time has come."
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LibraScorpioCusper
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Re: The Number 23 and The Gods of Coincidence

Post by LibraScorpioCusper »

I also stumble upon the number 23 regularily throughout the day and not just on clocks (when it is on clocks its always my birthday 10/23). Two examples that come to mind, I found an amazing therapist who specialized in a few random issues I needed help with, when I went to see her, she was on the 23rd floor, suite 2323. Another time I was apartment hunting and was brought to apartment #23 for my walkthrough, coincidence? Maybe, but I feel strongly that theres some greater signifigance to it all.
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Spiral Out
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Re: The Number 23 and The Gods of Coincidence

Post by Spiral Out »

We tend to find what we are looking for.
Dedicated to the fine art of thinking.
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Hereandnow
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Favorite Philosopher: the moon and the stars

Re: The Number 23 and The Gods of Coincidence

Post by Hereandnow »

have never met or heard of a person who is anywhere near as flooded by "coincidence" I am. I would stake my life that either God or the devil is speaking to me in this way.
Hello Homicidal pacifist. Despite your strange name, I should tell you that you are not alone on this issue. Have you read Carl Jung's Synchronicity. It's probably online somewhere. He thinks that coincidences are signs of an undelying significance. I believe his argumetn is that when circumstances exceed the laws of probability, we need to account for it because probability (causality) cannot. so if you are waiting for a plane, notice 12 black moths flying overhead agaist the window, decide not to fly and the next day you read that the flight you were going to take crashed and all 12 passengers died; then Jung would say you are right to suspect something other than mere chance. I have to read it again, but I do like Jung.

-- Updated July 24th, 2012, 8:01 am to add the following --

Also, I am the third eye; that's right. But one must be careful about one's interpretations. I mean experiences can be very weird and vreepy, but it is your job to make sure your thinking does not EXCEED warrant. Let the world speak to you, I say; but don't impose upon the world things that are merely there, part of your religion or part of the way some institution told you things are. Fair enough? It is good to have the third eye! Not good to be interpretatively foolish.
Phibamarih
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Re: The Number 23 and The Gods of Coincidence

Post by Phibamarih »

Apophenia is the experience of detecting what seem to be patterns and links where there are non and finding significance and meaning in these perceived links. The number 23 is a good example of this so is the 27 club. Coincidences happen all the time, it is the mind of the person, who is usually paranoid or mentally ill that causes them to link things and make the significance stick.
Unsay
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Re: The Number 23 and The Gods of Coincidence

Post by Unsay »

There is nothing special about these numbers. What is special is our ability to home in on and lock in place a particular set of symbols that we look for subconsciously and consciously. There have been times where I was able to wake up at the same time multiple times in a row until my mood and attitude changed over the days, then I would only lose that mental lockdown on that particular symbol of time. We are able to see what we choose to see, and become oblivious to everything around it. Train your mind to see a particular colour, then try scoping out a room to see how quickly your mind locks onto that specific colour. It is nothing special, or spiritual, but rather a unique and useful function of the human mind. This function happens to be the reason why the prayer illusion exists, where people only notice the 0.1% of 'miracles' while forgetting about 99.9% of the treacheries.
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