Synchronicity – an acausal connecting principle

A meaningful coincidence?

C.G. Jung observed that in the therapeutic process, it happened sometimes that an outer event co-incided with an inner event, often in periods of crisis and transformation in the patient’s life. Healing was hastened in that a new orientation to the crisis being faced was brought about to the patient’s benefit. The individual has a sense that there was something more beyond mere randomness, that ‘grace’ seemed to operate in a mysterious way.

Jung described a classic example of synchronicity with one of his analysands. She was highly intellectual, well educated, rational in the extreme and inaccessible to matters of the psyche. Her dream the night before was about a gift given to her, an expensive piece of jewelry in the shape of a golden scarab. Jung was listening to her rhetoric, when he heard a sound behind him, tapping on the window pane. He opened the window and a beetle flew into the darkened room, which he caught in its flight. Its colour, a golden green, was very similar to that of the golden scarab. He handed the beetle to his patient saying ‘here is your scarab’.

From this moment, her analysis could continue effectively as she realised immediately the significance of the outer (objective reality) event mirroring  her dream – her inner, subjective reality. Her intellectual armour was pierced. She was able to move from her one-sided and fixed view of life towards a more whole and integrated view. I would also add that the beetle coming in from the outside (light) into the darkened room has meaning in that light was shed on the inner darkness.

There would appear to be no determinable cause for such a happening, hence acausal.

The Egyptian symbolic meaning of the beetle is of rebirth and transformation. .

We have all, at some stage, had experiences of synchronicity operating in our lives. A more mundane experience is that of thinking of someone for no particular reason and the phone rings and it is that very person. Or you suddenly see them somewhere as you are thinking of them. Or the same numbers seem to pop up all the time. Or you have a song in your head and switch on the car radio and that very song is playing. Or a book in the book store falls at your feet – and it is the very book that you ‘needed’ at that moment even if it wasn’t the one you were looking for.

Mundane perhaps, though the sacred often appears in the mundane.

What is going on when such events happen? Are these happenings only the tip of the iceberg and if we paid more attention and were more open to them, would they occur more frequently? Is there some sort of governing principle at play that could awaken us from an egocentric perspective to an awareness of Unus Mundus if we are alert and aware to acausal happenings?

Synchronicity has psychological and philosophical implications and as Marie Louise von Franz, one of Jung’s student and close associates stated towards the end of her life ‘that the work which has now to be done is to work out the concept of synchronicity. I don’t know the people who will continue it. They must exist, but I don’t know who they are’.*

* Cosmos and Psyche: Intimations of a New World View. Richard Tarnas. Plume. Published by Penguin Group. 2007, pg 59

15 Comments on synchronicity

  1. Hi,
    And I believe you are one of those people who should work on the concept of Synchronicity. You are an ideal candidate for such a massive work.
    Thank you for a very enlightening article about what I would call the invisible world that parallel the world that we see. In the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse three say that the world was framed by the word of God so that things which we see are not made from the things that do appear. It sounds like a dichotomy but it is not. I have experienced many situations where events have occurred and have been released in my outside world through occurrences that have taken place spiritually or as you say by ‘Grace.’ In fact, I believe that everything that happens to us stems from our thought life and our thought life when synchronized with our words become our reality, but this reality takes place first in that world that we cannot see or understand with our own minds.
    So, my dear Susan, I am waiting on your study and conclusions of synchronicity written down in book form. I will be one of the first to buy it.
    Great article. I love this series. Keep at it Lady.
    Ciao,
    Patricia

    • Hi Patricia, thank you for your comment! Always so thoughtful and well-expressed. And a bit of synchronicity has just occurred in that I read somewhere just recently (today) that it always a pity that people do not QUOTE the Book, chapter and verse from the Bible when in debate or whatever and here you quote the Book, chapter and verse …which is exactly what we need to ‘hear’ and pay attention to! Perhaps it is a paradox and it may seem like a dichotomy but it is so not so!
      It is a beautiful chapter on faith .. and your words are a direct quote from it.
      mmmmm, write a book on synchronicity? Thank you for your faith that I could do such a thing Patricia …
      All best to you,
      Susan

    • Patricia — You are absolutely right about Susan’s writing a book on the phenomenon of synchronicity. And I appreciate your knowledgeable comment/quote from Hebrews about this parallel, unseen world, and that of Arlee’s, too. I wish that certain others, who consider themselves spiritual leaders would open their minds to consider all aspects of this phenomenon.

  2. Synchronicity is a fascinating topic. I think it occurs more often than many of us realize because somehow in many cases the event is so natural as to totally slip by us. Much of the day proceeds with greater fluidity and less complication due to the natural synchronous vibe of our lives. I can sense that in a way.

    • Thank you Arlee. You express it so well, that it is so natural that ‘…the event is so natural as to totally slip by us’.
      May your day be filled with synchronous events.

  3. Nice blog. Yep, I’m often amazed at how synchronicity occurs. Wonder if we’re all a part of it, conscious or otherwise.

    • Thanks Mike .. I like this quote by Jung: “Synchronicity is an ever present reality for those who have eyes to see”.

  4. Dear Susan, You remind us that the stuff of life is meaningful in all its marvous details. And, why ever not?

  5. Susan,
    Scanning your website I find words that resonate with me–such as y synchronicity. I wish I could find time to read and converse, but I am so–o behind in my quest for publication of several manuscripts, and I cannot find time to do any new work.

    I will return and read, but doubt I can do more.
    Beautiful work.
    Thank you. Gwendoline

    • Thank YOU Gwendolyn. I checked your web page and I wish you fortitude in getting your manuscripts together. I love what you say about when two are gathered it is a political situation. Yes, everything in all spheres of our lives are political – hopefully take a stand on those issues as they affect each and everyone of us.

  6. As always Susan, I LOVE your postings. I have a couple of thoughts here. One, as with your talk about dreaming, I frequently deal with “issues” roaming around in my subconscious through dreams. I believe it is a way for me to examine and accept or change what is going on in my life.

    But, then with your sychronicity, for example… a little over a year ago I moved into a new neighborhood. The woman at the end of the street has an absolutely incredible garden. I was telling a friend I have know since I was 18 about this garden so she came to look at it. My friend and the woman with the garden it turn out grew up together. Plus, the woman with the garden, her grandchildren live in the same neighborhood as my grandchildren and go to the same school. She’s a retired teacher and I volunteer with schools. We even run into one another on the ferry when we happen to be headed over to visit the kids. I believe there is a reason for this woman to be in my life.

    Plus, my next door neighbor is the preschool teacher for my daughter’s best friend’s children, and we only just discovered it. I feel like the odd strings in my life are being woven together for me. There is a purpose for me to be here at this time… I love it!

    I do so enjoy your writing as you continue to make me think! Thank you. Gwynn

    • Hello Gwynn and thank you for posting – also about your own experiences and saying so aptly about ‘odd strings being woven together … ‘ and ‘purpose’ to be here at this time.
      Thank you!

  7. I hope the work will continue too. It is a fascinating subject and one that so many relate to. I am sure you read my post on Spirituality and Lady Bugs; Lady Bugs being beautiful beetles. There I noted that if one is looking and aware of themselves and their role in the Universe there are so many events on a regular basis that fall into the category of synchronicity. I laugh because there are truly exceptions; citing my sister-in-law who goes way over-board with what I would consider coincidence. I think there is a difference! She once saw me at the grocery store and went on and on about it. (we live in the same neighbourhood 😉 )

    • Hello Lesley and thank you for your comment. Yes I remember your lovely post about ladybugs! I am always so pleased when I see them.
      So amusing about your sister-in-law thinking what an extraordinary synchronicity seeing you in the grocery store!!

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