June 21, 1998: Nuclear Contamination - Linda Moulton Howe | Synchronicity - Phil Cousineau
Cousineau joins to discuss his book "Soul Moments," exploring the distinction between ordinary coincidence and what Carl Jung termed synchronicity. He shares remarkable stories, including a shipwreck tale involving three survivors centuries apart all named Hugh Williams, and a personal experience where his estranged father sent him the same book he had just discovered, with identical favorite passages marked.
Cousineau connects synchronicity to Joseph Campbell's philosophy of following one's bliss, suggesting that meaningful coincidences serve as confirmations of being on the right life path. Callers share their own uncanny experiences with dreams, animals, and chance encounters that changed their lives.
Key Moments
Russian sub steel and Cs-137 contamination: Linda Moulton Howe relays a listener's first-hand account from the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard: U.S. workers refused to recycle Russian submarines because they were 'so hot' with radiation throughout, raising the alarm that Russia sold those subs to other countries which are now scrapping them with no controls.
Tsunami a mile high to the Appalachians: Dr. Edward Teller's colleague Dr. Taliaferi tells Howe that a mile-wide asteroid impact would generate a tidal wave a mile high moving 600 mph, sweeping the entire U.S. East Coast inland to the Appalachians and a good part of Europe.
Campbell on synchronicity and the right path: Cousineau recounts asking Joseph Campbell on camera in Honolulu whether synchronicity has anything to do with the hero's journey or following one's bliss; Campbell answers that synchronicity is the confirmation that you are on your right life's path.
Doctor's vow and the Salk Institute site: Cousineau tells the story of a San Diego doctor friend who, after a near-fatal pediatric surgery, drove to a headland near Scripps and vowed to build a hospital there for poor children but never managed to; years later Jonas Salk took him to the same exact spot and built what became the Salk Institute on it.
The square wheels earthquake dream: Cousineau shares Catherine Van Horn's dream of driving on 'square wheels' the night before the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake - that afternoon, mid-carpool on a Bay Area bridge, her car and her children all literally felt the square-wheel sensation as the quake hit.