Salisbury Synchronicity

This winter I wrote a short story about one of my personal heroines, "Ela of Salisbury" for the HerStory Anthology published in March.  It was synchronized by Pagan Writers Press and editor Tara Chevresett to coincide with Women's History Month.  I am delighted to be a part of their project.  We have been submitting blog posts for the HerStory blog each month to expand our thinking as women about our many and varied stories.  I am working on one for them about my neighbor's mother who escaped Russia in a wagon during WWII and ended up in Belgium after serving on a Polish farm and even experiencing a German "camp". My neighbor was born in a wagon on the road. 
I also wrote about my Ela, and how I came to write the story after a tour of Salisbury Cathedral in 2010.  I was so impressed by our tour guide that I did more research and began Ela's story when the call for submissions came in the last winter.  I may write more about her.  She deserves a novel.
Imagine how thrilled I was this week when I discovered the noted children's author Cornelia Funke had written a YA novel that included Ela and her husband William Longspee as spirits in Ghost Knight. (You should follow the link to Funke's website.  Very cool!) I quickly bought it for my Kindle and read it practically over night.  It is fun and well written.  Her research parallels mine.  I was reading about people and places I knew.
When I finished the book, I read her account of going to Salisbury Cathedral and learning about Ela and William from the German guide there.  Funke is German.  Well I know that guide!  It is Roger, the man who practically adopted Eric and I for a 3 hour private tour of Salisbury Cathedral.  He told us all about Ela and William and that he usually gives the German tours..  No wonder Funke's work and mine run along the same train track!  What a coincidence!
Of course I do not really believe in coincidence.  I was an investigator for too many years for that.  And spiritually speaking, the word is synchronicity. The disparate things come together for a reason, even if it is just a good laugh.  On the other hand, right now I seem to have many writing projects all coming together at once.  I feel challenged to balance all of them and juggle the PR. At a recent moon circle with my pagan community, I received a message from my grandfather.  I wrote about it a few days ago in my pagan blog Anemone's Assays. It seems my Grandfather Russell was the Earl of  Salisbury in a past life.  He said he would help my promote my books.  I know that probably makes me sound alike a daft old bat, but past life regression is one of the skills my partner Eric and I have.  We conducted a workshop in it last weekend.  Oh!  Another coincidence! (I am starting to laugh here.)
Overall, I have a couple three months of head shaking to figure out.  Of all the heroic women I picked Ela to write about, mostly because of the tour we took in Salisbury.  I signed up for Goodreads by accident really, and found The Ghost Knight there.  I read it immediately and saw the author knew all the same things I knew (and a few more) about Ela.  I checked her out and realized she had been inspired by the same tour guide.  I had hinted Roger the tour guide might have been William reincarnated, but then received a message from my own grandfather that it was he, and there would be help forthcoming for my writing career. Then I had another short story accepted and a nibble on my novel.  And all this happened as I prepared another workshop on past life recall and Earth School, how we travel in soul groups and help each other through our lessons.  Yes, I got that.  Sort of . I think.

Me on the streets of Salisbury 2010. photo by Eric Reynolds