My reading, research and personal experiences have convinced me that unseen influences can and do interfere with and sabotage people’s lives. There is another side to this: unseen influences can have a beneficial effect. This kind of interference can induce positive paranoia, where it seems that the universe is staging things for one’s personal benefit.
Strangers in public places may be used to inconvenience, frighten and attack people; they may also be used in a positive way: this is the other side of the story. I have personal experience of what might be called positive interference or reverse sabotage. This article contains some of the best examples from my memories.
The case of the children and the beautiful sailing ships
There was a time in my life when I was continually looking for new attractions and places to take children to. Rather than disappoint them and waste time and money, I used to investigate a possible venue first to see if it was worth visiting.
On one occasion, I went to see what an indoor market that had recently reopened had to offer. It was much bigger and better than I had expected; it was full of attractions that my young friends would love. I was delighted. I bought some soup from an African food stall to celebrate. The soup was very warming and nourishing, and combined with the pleasant surprise energised me so much that I decided to walk to another attraction not too far away and check that out too.
This place was not nearly as good as the first one, but at least I discovered this in advance. I realised that it was near a canal that I could follow to a place where I could catch a Riverbus. As I walked beside the water, I encountered a group of young children who were trying to catch fish even though it was raining. They stopped me because they wanted to show me their catch: they had a glass jar with a few tiny silver fish inside. One fish was floating upside down; I decided not to tell them that it was dead!
They kept me talking for a while; I resumed my walk beside the canal. When I got to the pier, I saw the back of a departing Riverbus: I had missed it by a few seconds because of those children, and would need to wait a while for the next one.
Strangers in public places may be used to inconvenience, frighten and attack people; they may also be used in a positive way: this is the other side of the story. I have personal experience of what might be called positive interference or reverse sabotage. This article contains some of the best examples from my memories.
The case of the children and the beautiful sailing ships
There was a time in my life when I was continually looking for new attractions and places to take children to. Rather than disappoint them and waste time and money, I used to investigate a possible venue first to see if it was worth visiting.
On one occasion, I went to see what an indoor market that had recently reopened had to offer. It was much bigger and better than I had expected; it was full of attractions that my young friends would love. I was delighted. I bought some soup from an African food stall to celebrate. The soup was very warming and nourishing, and combined with the pleasant surprise energised me so much that I decided to walk to another attraction not too far away and check that out too.
This place was not nearly as good as the first one, but at least I discovered this in advance. I realised that it was near a canal that I could follow to a place where I could catch a Riverbus. As I walked beside the water, I encountered a group of young children who were trying to catch fish even though it was raining. They stopped me because they wanted to show me their catch: they had a glass jar with a few tiny silver fish inside. One fish was floating upside down; I decided not to tell them that it was dead!
They kept me talking for a while; I resumed my walk beside the canal. When I got to the pier, I saw the back of a departing Riverbus: I had missed it by a few seconds because of those children, and would need to wait a while for the next one.
I saw that people were gathering by the water's edge and realised that something exciting was about to happen. Tower Bridge opened - this was something I had always wanted to see, but I had never been in the area at the right time.
A group of beautiful sailing ships came through; it was a wonderful sight. They sailed around for a while before departing to take part in a round-the-world race. Just as they left, the next Riverbus arrived. I felt that everything had been arranged to get me in the right place at the right time.
I had been thinking about what entertainment I could provide for some children, and some children had found some entertainment for me. Perhaps it really is true that you get back what you put out.
The case of the free ticket
Not long afterwards, I went to visit an exhibition. I had to stand on one side while I tried to find some money for the entrance fee: everything had fallen out of my purse into the bottom of my bag. It took a while as I was rather distracted. I was thinking about getting some tickets for a children’s event; I usually tried to find free attractions to take children to, but was considering buying tickets for once.
While I was scrabbling around, a woman came up to me and gave me a ticket for the exhibition: she had a spare one. I don’t know why I was chosen. I was thinking about getting tickets for other people, and someone gave a ticket to me. I got back what I was putting out.
The case of the Americans and the Italian national anthem
Another example of help from strangers features the Italian National Anthem, which once had great significance for me. I was thinking about the past and trying to remember the tune, which I had not heard for a very long time.
It was a beautiful autumn day. I decided to get out and enjoy the sunshine before the fine weather changed. I just could not decide where to go; I wasted time while thinking about several possibilities. Eventually I made a decision to visit St. James’s Park and see their flower displays.
I arrived at the park only to find that I could not cross the road to get in: there were barriers and large crowds everywhere. I could see some green, white & red flags, and guessed that the Irish President was making a state visit. I could not see what was happening very well. Suddenly, a group of American tourists, who were standing in front of me and blocking my view, decided to leave: they said that they must go now, they were already very late. They left a big gap, and I was able to get a place right in the front row from where I had a very good view of the show.
At that exact moment, a mounted band came past and played the Italian National Anthem. The Italian flag is similar to the Irish flag, which explains my mistake and subsequent delight.
The band was followed by horse-drawn carriages containing the Queen, Princess Margaret and the President of Italy. I saw them all and heard the anthem thanks to those Americans, who missed everything but held a place for me. I arrived at exactly the right time, thanks to my earlier indecision. It all seemed arranged for my benefit.
Two more examples of perfect timing
On a similar occasion, I stood in the street dithering over which way to go and which errand to perform first. After a few false starts, I decided to leave buying some birthday presents until later, and go to a large nearby bank. I went inside, and wondered why a lot of people were standing around. Then suddenly Princess Diana came past saying, “Haven’t you got any work to do?”
If I had arrived a few seconds later, I would have missed everything. I had not been thinking about her at all, but I was able to get a very good view of her smart clothes.
I have lost much of my love of pageantry, but I got my fair share of it while it lasted. I remember suddenly deciding to walk down a particular street, to find a beautiful horse-drawn carriage waiting outside an embassy there. I watched it move off, taking a new ambassador to Buckingham Palace to present his credentials to the Queen.
These sightings helped to compensate me for times when I might have missed an unpleasant encounter if only I had been a few minutes, or even seconds, earlier or later.
The case of the bird-watching enthusiast, the bird-loving ambassador and the forgotten tape
It seems that the universe does look after people’s interests, provided that they have earned it, no one is harmed and no universal laws are broken. If you are meant to have something, a way will be found to get it to you.
I had a colleague, Mr W, who was also interested in metaphysical matters. We used to compare notes about coincidences, synchronicity and strange experiences. He was very interested in bird-watching and photography, and travelled around inside the UK in pursuit of his hobbies: his health had prevented him from going overseas.
Mr W ‘by chance’ met a very pleasant young woman on a train, and they got talking. He arranged to meet her once or twice outside her place of work, which was the Foreign Office in historic Whitehall. On one occasion, she produced a present for him: it was the typescript and copy of a tape. The background story is that one of the ambassadors had borrowed a tape-recorder from her office before going on a journey to some tropical location. The ambassador came back, returned the recorder then went off on his travels again. ‘By chance’ he had left a tape in the recorder: it was a detailed record of the exotic birds that he had seen during his recent visit. He too was a great bird enthusiast.
The young woman had typed it all up so that the record would not be lost, and, knowing his love of birds, made a copy for my colleague Mr W, who found it very interesting. I told him that this was a wonderful example of how the universe would give you something on a plate, provided that you play your cards right and behave yourself.
When he told me about many similar incidents that he had experienced, I said that he must have cleaned up his act. He had done a lot of inner work and this was reflected in and rewarded by the outer world.
The case of the owl and the fully-booked guest house
The universe did Mr W another favour not long afterwards, while he was on holiday. By a series of coincidences he ended up meeting someone who gave him something that he wanted very much but had never managed to achieve: an opportunity to take detailed photographs of an owl.
The unexpected chance to capture an owl on film came about because his usual guest house was for once fully booked; the owner referred him to a woman with a spare room who would let it to a suitable, recommended guest if their usual place of accommodation could not fit them in.
This woman 'by chance' knew someone who owned a pet owl – this is quite uncommon as the owner needs a licence – and was happy to perform an introduction. When he was waiting at the station before returning home after his holiday, thinking hard about how he would soon be meeting someone who owned an owl, he suddenly looked up and saw a man with an owl sitting on his arm walk past – this was not the owner he was later to meet. Be careful what you dwell on continuously, it may well manifest in your life.
The photo session went very well, but this was not the end of the story. The woman Mr W stayed with had been performing various metaphysical practices, but did not know much about the theory. She had decided that it was time she did some background reading, but did not know where to start. Mr W asked my advice, and I passed on some books that I had finished with. She was delighted with them: they were exactly what she needed.
It is important to give as well as take, and to play the same positive part in other people’s lives that they play in yours. It is also important to appreciate the small things first: this is the way to earn something better. Mr W and the woman with the spare room ended up getting married. The universe really does work in mysterious ways.
The case of the Harris hawk
The visit to see the man who owned an owl went so well that Mr W arranged to visit a nearby bird of prey centre, the place where the owl had originally come from. He took a lot of photos, including a good one of a Harris hawk, a bird that had particularly impressed him.
He decided to get the hawk picture enlarged (this was before digital cameras and images became common), but was not satisfied with the result as the processing company had got some dust on the negative. He was walking through a busy square on his way to the post office near his place of work, thinking about Harris hawks and carrying a package containing the negative, the enlargement and a letter of complaint to post back to the developers, when he looked up and saw a man with a Harris hawk sitting on his arm.
Hawks were being brought in to deal with the pigeon problem in several places, but this was the first time that Mr W had seen any instances of this. The hawk’s handler was very friendly and they talked for a long time. Mr W was given some very interesting information about birds of prey, and he arranged for them to meet again for a photo session.
Be very careful what you dwell on: it may manifest in your life. It seemed that the universe was compensating him for the disappointing photo and giving him more of what he had been wishing for and thinking about.
