Omen or Coincidence? How to tell the difference

Right this is a bit of a weird one (unless you’re like me, in which it will make total sense). We’ve all been there, right? When your stresssssed and your heads battered and you don’t know which way to turn and you go ‘Please God, please just tell me what the hell am I meant to do???’ and God, coz he’s a busy kind of dude, you know, managing the galaxy and all that, goes ‘Mmmm, leave it with me’ while you wait, frustratingly banging your head against the wall, non the wiser.

However, I noticed a few years ago that weird coincidences were always happening round me. I’ve been aware of omens since I got into to all this witchy stuff as a teenager. No I didn’t strip naked and dance like a weirdo in the moonlight (even during my cider swilling days) But that mystical stuff always fascinated me. The power of the mind. The power to heal. To give hints about the future.

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So I know a bit about omens: black cats crossing your path. Counting magpies. Seeing money spiders and all that Jazz. But, I’m very strong willed so when the Gods send me a message, they need to really hammer it home in order for me to accept it. So in 2011, I started seeing the number eleven.

Everywhere.

Like proper stalked by it.

I’d wake up at 01:10. My checkout bill would come to £29.29 (I see variations of 11 too). I moved in to a house #65. My radio would rescan itself and stop on a station with 11’s in it. Like, it was proper ridiculous and I wrote about what keep seeing the number 11 means HERE.

But what that experience taught me was that God, the universe, your higher self, your angel team, whoever you believe guides your life, is listening. And more importantly, they are trying to help. 

But, because life is weird they like to leave you cryptic messages. You know, just to make it interesting.

So what does that mean for you? Well I’m going to teach you how to spot an omen. First of all it will be something that makes you go ‘mmmm that was weird’ like if you’re thinking about your mate who owns a red car. And then you see three cars all lined up at the traffic lights all the exact same cherry red colour that your mate absolutely loves and you go ‘hmm, that’s weird’ Then you need to call your mate. ASAP.

And I guarantee your mate will go, ‘I was just thinking about you’ or ‘I’m so glad you called I’m feeling really down at the minute’

Another example was I was thinking of writing to someone I lost contact with. It was a weird situation and we had a lot of unfinished business and I really wanted to put it all to rest. But I wasn’t sure if it would be a good idea or open a big can of worms so I said a little prayer. ‘Can you show me a sign please, I’m a bit confused’ and 10 minutes later, as I was walking my children to school, a big black crow flew passed followed by a single magpie.

Now if I wasn’t open to receiving (cryptic) messages, I probably wouldn’t have noticed the birds at all. But because I was actively looking for a sign I was primed to look for things that were unusual and stood out. So when the two birds flew overhead, I remembered that black crows, in Norse mythology are messenger birds and are linked to death and crossing over into the next world. And magpies, well, everyone knows the rhyme:

One for sorrow,

Two for joy,

Three for a girl,

Four for a boy,

Five for silver,

Six for gold,

Seven for a secret never to be told

 So a black grow followed by a magpie for me was an omen that read: If you send the message, sorrow will follow.

So I didn’t send it. I trusted those things that were left unsaid will be dealt with further down the tapestry of my life.

Now, did you clever folks out there noticed that I used the word primed to see omens? Because in psychology we know that when you are focused on something, you see more of it. Ever thought of buying a new car, then you see that exact make and model everywhere?!

That’s because your clever little brain was primed to think about it, so your subconscious was constantly on the look out for it.

That’s why shifting your mindset is so damn important because then your primed for success and happiness and will see those opportunities around you. If you remain primed on fear and anger, you find a million things a day to piss you off and therefore remain focused in that negative energy.

Anyway, back to omens. So I took my little birdies as an omen because it made me go, hhmmmm that was weird. Which in turn made me think about what I knew about birds and how that message would relate to me. (This is where your higher self comes in)

But how do I know when a sign is a true omen? Or a message from my guardian angels (or whatever) and not just a primed coincidence?

Well think about it. What were the chances of 2 different species of birds flying so close together, the messenger bird in front and a sorrow bird behind. There was no birds or trees around. Why were they flying over a quiet road at the exact moment I turned the corner and looked up in time to see them flying overhead?

Not a coincidence. Definitely an omen.

An omen is one that I like to think has been pre arranged. A coincidence, is one that is just priming. For example, I am going away to Belfast in a couple of weeks. As I was crossing a road, I was thinking maybe I should put the trip off because my little girl is very clingy at the moment. I’m not going with my family, just me and my Mum.

So as I was crossing the road, a Guinness wagon went passed. Definitely an omen, not a coincidence. For that lorry to take that route and to stop at the traffic lights just as I was crossing thinking about Ireland, was definitely not a coincidence. And I’m almost sure we’re not living in Matrix.

Wanna another example? I’ve got a client who runs a very successful café and has a lot of investment properties. She’s had a series of really bad life upheavals and is having a really tough time. I did two coaching sessions with her then haven’t heard from her for weeks. This often happens though when I help people along their journey. Once they’re over their hurdle they can keep moving forward so I always take it as no news is good news.

So this morning, I was thinking I really need to pop in and see how she’s getting on (and maybe get a brekkie in the process)

And as I was thinking this, as I turned the corner her husbands car was parked right there in front of me and he was getting out the car at the exact moment I turned the corner. And he said ‘Can you call in and see her she’s been trying to get hold of you but lost your number when she replaced her phone’.

Again it could have been a coincidence but I knew it wasn’t. Because I have never, ever seen her husband on that corner or any other road I travel down when I’m walking my children to school and the chances of me actually thinking about her at the time I turned the corner is uncanny.

Now you could say it was the law of attraction. I was thinking about her so the opportunity to see her turned up. But I was debating seeing her another day and going straight to my office instead. But when I got there she had some really good news to tell me. She had been wanting to see me too. So her husband had been moved into my path in order to convey the message that I needed to hear. To reaffirm what my gut instinct was telling me: to go and see her today instead of tomorrow.

Now what made it even more fantastic was while I was enjoying my rare cup of tea (im a coffee junky through and through) I kept wanting to leave. But every time I’d get ready to put my coat on the rain would come pelting down. And because I hate the cold, I stayed where I was.

Three times this happened and after the second time I took it as an omen. Stay where you are. Not because I’m a weird little witch who believes everything is a sign, but because with each down pour I felt a little pull in my gut. A little tingle along my spidey senses

Stay it whispered.

The feeling getting stronger every time I wanted to leave.

So I stayed, and ordered another brew and began writing this blog waiting for whoever or whatever was meant to cross my path to turn up.

Not long after the two ladies at the next table stood up to leave. The younger one, groaned in pain as she rose. ‘Mum, my backs still killing me’ she said.

I glanced to the new baby at their side.

‘Is he yours?’ I casually asked.

‘No he’s mine’ said the mother ‘I’ve got four. (Like me) He’s my youngest. She’s my eldest’

‘I’ve got two myself’ said the daughter (she was about 22)

So I told them both about how your hips change position when you’re pregnant. How your spine becomes misaligned. Of how carrying a baby around on your hip, then a toddler for a couple of years on top of leaning forward pushing a pram for two years can really mess up your back. I told her about how I go and see a chiropractor after every pregnancy in order to realign my spine and how doctors will, unfortunately only treat the symptom with pain relief.

And do you know what happened then? We got talking and it turns out the daughter is suffering from general anxiety and how she hates going out the house. So I told her about depression and anxiety and how your brain gets stuck on traumatic events and what she needs to tell her doctor so she can get referred to CBT as it really helped me get over my PTSD.

Then as we got chatting some more her Mum mentioned that she lost her Mum during her pregnancy and she’s really not coping with the loss. So I was able to explain to her how I lost my dad during my last pregnancy too and how I know how sad and hard that is. I also told her that her mum was with her and how she can raise her vibration in order to make it easier to sense her mum.

(you do this by thinking of all the happy times, not focusing on that one day or the sadness when they left)

And as it turned out this lady was my daughters dinner lady and her son was in my sons class but we’d never properly met because I pick my daughter up first.

More coincidences kept popping up (her name is Claire too), reaffirming to me how this conversation was an important turning point for them. How the daughter would be able to get help for her depression and anxiety which in turn will make her a happier parent. How the Mum can now ease the suffering in her heart at the loss of her own mum, especially as Mothers Day is not far off. And how all the terrible things I’ve overcome has allowed me to help those two women on their way which made me feel good too.

But imagine if I hadn’t paid attention to those omens. If I hadn’t listened to my gut.

Your life is important.

You are important. This journey that you’re on, will change the world and I believe, with everything I have learned so far, that we are guided.

That we are nudged in the right direction.

That we are shown little crumbs to help us along our path.

I also believe that spirit teams also enjoy fucking with our heads a bit too!

So watch out for those omens.

Pay attention to reoccurring weird things. To that tingle in your spidey sense or that little pull in your gut. When something stands out of place in the world take note, pay attention to it.

Try to figure out what it means for you.

You will eventually develop your own language of code. And once you start learning your code, it’s much easier to follow your path and find fulfillment in your destiny.

Even if it does feel like you’re playing charades some days!