A pious caterpillar believes; an enlightened caterpillar knows that the winged life requires metamorphosis. —Kevin Anderson
This morning, like so many mornings, I woke up and was lingering in a half-comatose state before opening my eyes. A slow entry like many mornings. When I finally sat up and looked over at the clock, I smiled; it was 5:17 AM Mountain Time.
In numerology, this date today totals the sum of 10, which reduces to the single digit of 1. The No. 1 represents a new beginning, a starting over. Many believe that numerology is woo-woo; I did too when I first learned of it in the 1990s.
I mused to myself, ‘Is this the last year I see the Alchemy of 5/17?’
My birthday this year reduces to the same single digit, the No. 1.
This past year has reinforced a ‘knowing’ in me. A ‘knowing’ that my life has transitioned to a new trajectory. It has sure taken long enough! Well, nine years anyway. The last time was in 2013. That was a hell of a year. Enough said.
The year I moved to The Land of Enchantment was a Year No. 8 for me, my birth year number. That was 2011, actually December of 2010 to be exact.
I called my Dad from near Tucson, Arizona, in January of 2011.
‘Dad, you will not believe how beautiful New Mexico is. Remember Goody’s auction at the Adolphus Hotel in Dallas, and remember that Greer Garson was there?’ He replied, ‘Yes.”
‘You and Mom must come out. The Ranch where she raised her Santa Gertrudis is only a few miles from where we live outside of Santa Fe.’ He said that he and my Mother would hope to make a trip out to New Mexico in 2012.
The trip never happened. He died that May of 2012. That day was a No. 9; the No. 9 is an ending.
One time he asked me, ‘Have you ever heard of someone named Nikola Tesla?’
‘Why? Yes, of course,’ I replied. ‘“If you want to find the secrets to the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration.”’ I conveyed this quote of Tesla to my Dad. We would discuss this further before he passed.
I never had a chance to tell him of ‘morphic resonance,’ but am certain he would have related. I also never had an opportunity to tell him of synchronicity, that coined by Carl Jung.
However, that’s why the Alchemy of 5/17 started occurring within two years after his passing. I’m certain of it.
In 2021, I was inundated with synchronicity. According to Julie Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, one must be aware of these occurrences. I first read her book in 2006 and journaled my way through her thoughts ever since. I found her workshop in Santa Fe in September of 2011. Came to know her insight throughout those 12 weeks.
But, 2021 was the year that I finally came to ‘know’ what she really was trying to tell me.
A few years prior to 2021, I was fly fishing on the Pecos River; it was the Fall of the year, 2019. I decided to take a break, drink some water. It was mid-morning. A slight breeze was blowing. The leaves were golden. My fishing guide said he was going to walk up the river and cast. I walked onto a bridge that passed into private property and watched him make his way up the river.
He eventually found the perfect spot. I observed him for a while. Then, a bright yellow bush closer to the bridge caught my eye. I would vacillate from observing Bob’s casting skills and the awareness of the almost golden and shimmering bush; the breeze created a very slight movement of the leaves.
This back-and-forth observation on my part took place over the course of maybe 15 minutes. I would watch Bob cast, then my awareness would move back to the bush. All of a sudden, the bush took flight, and a-seeming hundreds of yellow butterflies took flight, moving in tandem until disappearing from sight.
Immediately, I knew that this was significant, though I knew not why. I would know in the following February of 2020. An officer of a State organization of women, to which I have belonged for nigh on 30 years? She called me one day. She asked, ‘Would you co-chair the planning of our New Mexico State convention for 2022? It’s a two-year process.”
She told me that her theme for the convention that year when she would preside as President, Dreams Taking Flight. The logo was a yellow butterfly.
These past two years have been the most insightful of my entire life. Most particularly 2021 into 2022; the Convention came off like a ‘Dream Taking Flight’ in April.
Many of us discount synchronicity; most haven’t even heard the word itself. My Dad was instrumental in these years of synchronicity, even before he passed in 2012. I really cannot recall if I ever told my Dad about Carl Jung, though we discussed many things spiritually.
The Truth I have come to know is contained in the understanding of believing vs. knowing; by way of synchronicity; and in acceptance and observation.
The one constant in realizing this Truth has been my Dad.
Let the Alchemy of 5/17 live on.
—Kimberly B. Gray, Santa Fe, New Mexico, May 17, 2022. Material is Copyrighted.
Kimberly B. Gray 