Recently I found myself having a conversation with someone who had just discovered that I own a Magickal Supply store. This particular individual asked me what I thought the sudden influx of dragonflies in our area meant, and I am pretty sure that they were not expecting the answer that I gave. You see, when people begin to become interested esotericism and occultism, their eyes become more open to the world around them,
which leads many to start believing in signs and synchronicities. You know how it is, and if you don't i'll give you a quick rundown. You start seeing numbers that are repeating, which leads you to look at Angel numbers and numerology, you start seeing things that have significant meanings- things such as insects that you would never have paid attention to previously. In essence, you start to wake up to the other side's messages. However if you are not careful, you can also start to interpret mundane coincidences as signs.
In my example involving the dragonflies, the current weather pattern in Australia where I live is trending towards a much warmer start to Spring than usual. This has led to many of the insects being out in larger numbers, and earlier than usual. If we were to interpret this influx of dragonflies as a magickal sign, we are actually missing the true magick which is the changing of the seasons. I do not believe that it is a sign from the universe- if anything the sign may be pointing towards global warming, but it is not a magickal sign.
This is not to say that we should all stop believing in signs, much to the contrary. Learning to recognise when a sign actually means something, makes the signs that we do receive that much more magickal (at least in my opinion).
So how do you know the difference between a sign and a mundane occurrence?
A sign is unexplainable by mundane means
As a person who has lived in my area for as long as I have, it was easy to tell why there was so many dragonflies- in fact it did not even cross my mind that there was a magickal reason- weather change= more insects (for reference the individual I was speaking to had immigrated to this country and may not have been used to the weather associatrions). This sign was explainable. On the contrary, If the sign had of been something that was not directly correlated with a mundane phenomenon, it might actually be a sign.
A sign is out of the ordinary
When something happens that is out of the ordinary, it could be a sign. For instance is you happen to start waking around 3:30am every morning and you start to see the number 3 or 33 repeating, there could be something to it. If however, you wake at 3:30 am one
morning and you then start checking your watch around 3pm every day and you happen to see the numbers repeating, it could be that you are searching for meaning that is not there.
A Sign has a particular significance to you or your culture
When my father passed away, my sister recalled a story how she had been sitting and a song that played at my father's funeral started playing. There was no context to this, it was definitely not a song that she would go looking for. In this instance, it would be seen as a sign. To anyone else, that song meant nothing and it would have just been another day. However to my sister, the song was a very personal sign.
At the end of the day, you are the only person who can decipher if what you are seeing is a sign or not. The best way to be able to interpret signs is to really get to know yourself. Start to question why you think something is a sign. Always look for the mundane first. This may seem very cynical of me, as someone who has an interest in the occult, however I have seen people who have been so caught up in looking for meanings and creating meanings in their lives that they actually miss the true magick. They are missing the signs because they cannot see the forest for the trees.
Again, as are all of my blog posts, this is simply my opinion. Something to ponder; something that I often ponder. Nothing that I say should ever be taken as fact, or personal advice. My writing is simply designed to offer my perspective. If you have anything you would like to add or you disagree, leave us a comment below.