The Mind Is A Powerful Thing

Personal opinion warning: Because of the widespread and blatant fraud that surrounds so many professional psychics, fortune tellers and mediums, I don't have confidence in this aspect of the mysterious.  I believe in premonitions, intuition, bursts of insight, predictive dreams and prophetic visions. But it just seems to me that in my personal investigations of the matter, the pros have to resort to trickery in order to make and maintain a reputation.

The story I am about to relate, which was reported by the Associated Press back in 1965 and based on an article in the British Medical Journal, concerns a fortune teller who accurately predicted a woman's death.

The prediction was 38 years old when it came to pass. A five year old girl was told "you will die when you're 43." How nice to say such a thing to someone so young! Only that girl and her sister knew about this prophecy.

Fast forward 38 years and the little girl, now a woman, is facing a minor operation. Yet, having lived with the fortune teller's prediction, she confided to her sister that she felt she wouldn't wake up from the anesthesia. And when the day came for the operation the unnamed woman also told a nurse she was sure she was going to die.

Shortly after the operation was completed internal bleeding began and the woman lost consciousness and died. The doctors found no apparent reason that this happened.

The British Medical Association opined that

"There is no medical explanation to account for this. It seems rather like the case of natives who die on the date at the time which doctors predict."

Yes, I would say, exactly like that.

The doctors who performed the operation offered this:

"We wonder if the severe emotional tensions of this patient superimposed  physiological stress of the surgery had any bearing on her death."

Which brings me to the title of this post: The mind is a powerful thing.

Hey, I'm as skeptical as most people about such long term predictions. (Perhaps that's because I'm not a fatalist.) But here it is. Just as I firmly believe in the placebo effect, in mind over matter (to a reasonable extent), I believe a prediction like this can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Just as positive thoughts bring positive results, so negative thoughts bring about negative results.

The Long Arm Of Coincidence

The wit Mark Twain observed: "Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities, truth isn't."

Below is a very old newspaper clipping which expands on this thought. 

For those of us look at life, our own lives especially, and find that many of the incidents in it seem just too coincidental to be mere coincidence, we suspect there is purpose and intention. The general order of the universe is our basis for faith in the idea of a Supreme Intelligence behind it.

Life seems to have a flow, a tide if you will, within which one can swim according to or against. I'm not arguing that going with the flow of your life will mean everything is always hunky-dory. Life isn't that way in general. The price of admission to this fantastic experience is that there will highs along with lows, sadness alternating with gladness and dark places  here and there in the light places.

The patterns are all there. Our intuition can be our guide if sought and relied upon. Life has often been referred to as a game. How we play it has everything to do with how it plays out.

A House. A Prayer. A Voice.

Anecdotal evidence is suspect to many people. I've written often that for me it is the preponderance of the anecdotal evidence that moves me. That coupled with my personal experiences brings about  a sense of conviction. The more personally I know a person (or people) the more persuasive their anecdotes are.

In this post I want to relate a story about my former neighbors, a young couple raising a small family. They lived beside me for over a year, until they were notified their lease would not be renewed. This was sad for me because they were good neighbors and genuinely nice people.

The young man has an interesting and truly inspiring story. A recovering drug addict who found deliverance by calling on a higher power. A bad drug deal left him in the hospital at the point of death. His parents, ever supportive, placed him in a long term recovery program. He was able to get clean and so far stay clean. His wife is a sweet young lady who has been supportive. Together they have faced troubles in life with their often sick infant. But they are people who have come around to a faith worldview. They believe in and live accordingly to the power of prayer.

When they were told they would have to move, it seemed a dire situation. Money is tight because of medical expenses. At first their plan was to move in with his parents in order to put aside some money for another place. But the couple looked around anyway for another house.

The husband found one that seemed right, but would be a bit of a struggle on a tight budget. His wife was encouraged, but they both felt they should pray for guidance before moving in. While that was happening, the house was rented out. It was yet another disappointment in an increasing run.

And then one day as she was driving around the wife noticed a house for rent . She drove past at first, mindful of the recent disappointment and fairly resigned to moving in with the in-laws.  But a voice in her head kept telling her to go back. Heeding the voice she did go back to take a look and get the phone number.

It turned out the rent was much lower than what they had been paying here, lower than the first house they had looked at - so low, in fact, the couple feared there might problems with the house. After looking at the house and talking with the owners, it turned out to be a matter of the house needing a little work (which would be done along the way).

Problem solved. They could now move out before their lease expired. They would not have to move in with his parents, which is an important thing to any young people starting out in life. The lower rent still allowed them time to improve their financial situation.

The subject of religion is a touchy one. I sometimes think more people pray than are religious in the conventional sense of the word. And to me that's fine. Spirituality for me is not creeds and associations. For me, spirituality is about a deeper sense of living, a deeper sense of self and others, and a deeper appreciation for the Supreme Mind.

So I believe in the power of prayer. I believe in seeking and finding divine guidance in life. My life has improved dramatically since I left my former cynicism behind and allowed myself to explore the spiritual realm with an open mind. And personal experiences - especially those of people I know - strengthen my faith.

Sting Of The Butterfly

If there is one saying that sums up the career of the "dancing master" of boxing Muhammad Ali it is "float like a butterfly sting like a bee," as performed in the above video by Ali and his assistant trainer Drew "Bundini" Brown.

Yesterday as I was reading about plans for Ali's upcoming funeral I came across this story of the strangest coincidence.

In the late champ's hometown at the Ali Center where mourners were gathering, a swarm of bees had settled in a tree beside a sign carrying the famous float slogan. For pictures click this link.

Beekeeper Kevin McKinney, who had been called in to help, called the event an "exceptional coincidence."

But it was the CEO and president of the Ali Center Donald Lassere who perhaps put it in a better perspective:

"The Muhammad Ali Center has always experienced what we have come to know as, 'Muhammad Magic,' but I cannot even conceive as to the genesis of those bees. However, it's possible his spirit is watching over the center, and he is wanting his fans to know that he is still 'floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee.'"

Was that swarm off bees attracted by that "Muhammad Magic" in order to make a statement?

Muhammad Ali: Boxing Oracle

It was with sadness I received news of the death of Muhammad Ali. I had followed his professional career since I was a young boy. Brokenheartedly I watched as he overstayed on the boxing stage.

In keeping with the spirit of my blog, I wanted to post something about Ali's uncanny ability predict his victories: "They all must fall in the round I call."

This little shtick of his began very early in his career, while he was still know by his birth name, Cassius Clay. He had gone to a professional wrestling card in a packed-to-overflowing arena that was barely half-filled for his fight the next day.

The difference was in that master of self-promotion, Gorgeous George. Ali took notes and soon began employing the arrogant and obnoxious persona that earned him the nickname, the Louisville Lip.

His first prediction was in his sixth fight against LaMar Clark on 19 April, 1961. Ali predicted Clark would fall in two, and he did.

Several fights later he took on the ill-fated Sonny Banks (who later died of brain damage after another boxing match) and predicted a fourth round stoppage. Although he had to pick himself up off the canvas after his first professional knockdown, Ali did fulfill his prediction.

His very next fight was against Don Warner. Of that fight Ali (Clay) afterwards said:  "I would have let it go five as I predicted, but he wouldn't shake my hand and that made me mad."

George Logan was next in April 1962. Of him the prediction was for an end in four rounds. Logan did fall in four.

However, a month later his prediction failed for the first time when he faced a game Bill Daniels. In Associated Press coverage of the fight it was noted that Daniels was cut on the eye and bleeding from the third round on. The prediction was for a round five stoppage, but the fight went on until round seven. Correct outcome, wrong round.

In his very next fight Ali took on Alejandro Lavorante, another fighter who was later killed in the ring. The prediction was for a fifth round stoppage and that is exactly what went down. Next up. was to be former light heavyweight champion Archie Moore.

Here is where it get interesting, and the above well photograph which has appeared in books, newspapers and magazines everywhere attest to the fact that Ali had the future mapped out. It was to be Moore in four and the then heavweight Champ Sonny Liston in eight.

That latter prediction seemed particularly ludicrous, as Liston seemed near invincible. He had only lost once, a decision he dropped while fight with a broken jaw.  But Moore did indeed go in four. But a Liston fight was still in the future.

Next Ali took on a former pro footballer named Charley Powell. The newspaper coverage of this fight proclaimed Ali the "Champ of Prophecy" for calling for and delivering a third round KO of Powell.

On 13 March 1964 Ali faced the very tough Doug Jones in the famous Madison Square Garden. A tough crowd. Ali had predicted a sixth round KO. But it went the distance. It was a close and controversial decision that went to Ali. He was loudly booed another prediction failed.

Now Ali went to England to battle the rugged slugger Henry Cooper. He was predicting a fifth round knockout (It's no jive, Henry Cooper will go in five"). Yet it was Cooper who floored Ali in the third round. He was in bad shape upon rising to his feet, but a delay caused by the need replace his torn glove gave Ali time to recover. He fought on busting up Cooper's eye and forcing a stoppage in the predicted round.

Finally it was time for his title shot against Liston. He had been predicting he would beat "the Big Ugly Bear" in eight. I have found newspaper reports that he also predicted "Sonny will be all mine in nine."

Few gave the Louisville Lip a chance. Liston had a prediction of his own: Clay (Ali) would fall in two.

In fact Liston lost his title in a colossal upset, retiring at the end of round 6.

Ali would say Liston quit early to just to foil his prediction. There is little doubt had Liston not quit when he did, he could not have gone on much longer as he was out of gas and banged up pretty severely.

After this and especially during the time when he was facing prosecution as a draft dodger the predictions faded from his act. Later he offered predictions again after his three and a half year forced exile from boxing, but the magic was gone. His predictions failed time and again.

At the very least I have to think Muhammad Ali enjoyed a finely tuned intuition. It must be remembered that Ali was the light-heavy weight, not heavy weight champion in the 1960 Olympics. He was light for heavyweight (often under 200 pounds) in his first pro fights. He was never known as a devastating puncher. He didn't usually set for a punch, choosing instead to dance on his toes and throw punches in bunches. He could wear an opponent down through sheer accumulation of punches, or maybe cut him up, but was not know as man who would you out with one punch. Which makes his correct knockout predictions all the more remarkable.

I'm not arguing for anything paranormal about Ali's penchant for calling his early fights. I don't think intuition is anything other than natural. But I feel he did once possess a unique psychic gift. Perhaps one might think of the Law of Attraction, the philosophy of willing things into existence. It's fair to point out that there are records of his forecasts of fight outcomes he was not involved in and he was clearly poor at that.

I just can't convince myself that sheer luck can account for Ali's ability to accurately predict his fight outcomes in his early career. I think he once was a true oracle.

"This Is My Last Game And I'm Going To Strike Out This Time"

Those were the words Bill Klem, the man most responsible for making Major League Baseball umpiring the profession it is today, when foretelling his death.

For thirty-six years he served the National League as ump. For Klem baseball was more than a game, "it was like a religion."

But after two years of declining health from heart problems and a month of hospitalization, Klem was ready to put his house in order. His baseball metaphors referring to his premonition of death were relayed to his lawyer a week before the end came.

I'm fascinated by the occurrence of death premonitions. It isn't an usual thing at all, but rather common.  In fact, I've collected a sizable amount of these stories.  

It has become my personal conviction that we all have spirit guides and angels that can aid and direct us in our lives. Perhaps the majority of people are unaware of this, yet still are often directed by "voices" and strong "gut feelings."

Wild as that idea might seem at first blush, I find it more satisfying than the idea of all these thing being lucky guesses. Also, there is a vast amount of NDE data which suggest that often one is sent back to this life by dead loved ones or divine entities because it isn't time for one's death. That seems to me to be a corollary.

However one understands this death premonition phenomenon, undeniably it is a strange and interesting aspect of human existence.