Jung believed that many experiences perceived as coincidence were not merely due to chance but, instead, suggested the manifestation of parallel events or circumstances reflecting this governing dynamic one of jungs favourite quotes on synchronicity. Books about synchronicity ordering through the amazon link on the side supports this website synchronicity. In todays world we reduce all events to the principle of cause and effect causality and ask, which cause belongs to which effect. In synchronicity jung attempts to outline a principle of reality that operates beyond the natural laws of physics. Jung and the famous astronomer kepler were both intuitive thinkers and empiric scientists with strong mystic tendencies. He was a pioneer of deep psychology and a prolific author. Jung invoked the spiritual, or the supernatural, or the paranormal to explain synchronicity rather than exploring the early stages of human existence. The best explanation for synchronicity in my opinion. How logical is the theory of synchronicity by carl jung. A century ago when jung came up with the idea of synchronicity, it seemed to be an exciting, cuttingedge theory. Carl jung synchronicity term papers on psychic and. Jung believed that the more a person individuates, the more synchronicity is bound to occur, and vice versa. Synchronicity reveals the full extent of jungs research into a wide range of psychic phenomena. Jung defined synchronicity as the coincidence in time of two or more.
In his book synchronicity jung tells the following story as an example of a synchronistic event. Synchronicity, as an explicative theory, applies to phenomena from the area of parapsychology premonition, telepathy, dreams and so forth to i ching the specific method of consulting and. Synchronicity is defined as meaningful coincidence of causally unrelated events. To jung, it was a meaningful coincidence between something mental such as thinking of someone and an external event that person calls on the phone. A distinction should be made, however, regarding the manufactured coincidences that we see within movies, tv, songs books and other media, which are often erroneously labeled as synchronicity. Jung, is a book published by princeton university press in 1960. Synchronicity is a cluster of meaningful patterns that normal cause and effect has not caused. Jung spoke of synchronicity as being a pattern of connection that is not explained by causality. Synchronicity wikipedia, the free encyclopedia 11412 4. In 1923 we invited him to zurich and he spoke on the i ching or yi jing at the psychology club. Jung variously described synchronicity as an acausal connecting principle i. Robert hopcke is the author of the bestselling there are no accidents riverhead books, a book about synchronicity, the phenomenon of coincidences too coincidental to be coincidental.
Sonu shamdasani is editor of the red book and philemon professor of jung history at university college london. Jung had a lifelong interest in the paranormal that culminated in his influential theory of synchronicity. The worldfamous swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, carl jung 18751961 shared a deep interest in unexplained mysteries dealing with the power of mind and time. Synchronicity is a jungs attempt to unify the scientifically objective world with the subjective psychical world. This paperback edition of jungs classic work includes a new. Jung had a lifelong interest in the paranormal which culminated in his influential theory of synchronicity. I first met richard wilhelm at count keyserlings during a meeting of the school of wisdom in darmstadt. Jung, i ching or the book of changes richard wilhelm, translator. Synchronicity is a term originated by the swiss psychiatrist carl. Pauli interpreted the connection in terms of the content of his dreams. The unique contribution of this work is essentially threefold. Jung and pauli struck an unusual friendship, which lasted a quarter century until paulis death and resulted in the invention of synchronicity acausally connected events, which the observer experiences as having a meaningful connection on the basis of his or her. Jungs book on synchronicity behind all these phenomena he places the constellation of an archetype which, in his view, engages equally objective manifestations in the physical world. Finally, jung talks about the significant coincidences of physical and psychological phenomena that are acausal connected.
He said, synchronicity is the coincidence in time of two or more causally unrelated events which have the. It is, for many, the forgotten truth of synchronicity. Jung s synchronicity is an essay about those moments when everything just seems to come together. Second, this book explores the significant role that these events played in jung s life and work. Pauli was a famous particle physicist, who collaborated with c. Jung is an excerpt from jungs papers in which he introduces his contention that causeandeffect is not the only way reality works. Jung wrote a book on synchronicity together with theoretical physicist and nobel laureate w. Well, how could a so little scientific phenomenon interest and stimulate the mind of a scientist as pauli. Changing views of synchronicity from carl jung to robert. First, it provides a theoretical framework for the study of synchronistic phenomena a framework that enables us to view these phenomena in relation to jung s model of the psyche and his concept of psychic compensation.
In this volume roderick main brings together a selection of jungs writings on topics from wellknown and less accessible sources to explore the close relationship between them. An acausal connecting principle 1955 publication of the interpretation of nature and the psyche by c. In the book published with pauli, jung presents an analogy of synchronicity through the ancient experience of the chinese iching. Jungs synchronicity is an essay about those moments when everything just seems to come together. Combining extracts taken from the collected works, letters, seminars. Working with the great quantum physicist wolfgang pauli, jung sought to reveal these coincidences as phenomena that involve mind and matter, science and spirit, thus providing rational explanations for parapsychological events like telepathy, precognition.
Carl jung coined the term synchronicity to describe meaningful coincidences that conventional notions of time and causality cannot explain. We had basically agreed in the past on the possibility and usefulness and also, in view of the rhine experiments, on the necessity of. The psychology of carl gustav jung your vision will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. It is an example of what jung called synchronicity, a coincidence in time of two or more causally unrelated events which have the same or similar meaning in athills case, the surprising. Specifically, jung thought that his work on synchronicity demonstrated the need to expand the current conception of science in order to include, in addition to the classical concepts of time, space, and causality, a principle of acausal connection through meaning jung, 1952b, pars. Carl jung s books go beyond a simple analysis of human behavior. Jung defined synchronicity as the coincidence in time of two or more causally unrelated events which have the same meaning. When you hear the word, if you are familiar with, it probably conjures up images of mystical, magical, metaphysical interpretation, or just a belief in something silly. Jung that attempts to explain the paradoxical occurrence of events that are tied together without obvious cause but have intrinsic meaning to the person experiencing them. Jungs synchronicity was my breakthrough book with the prisoners. Synchronicity an acausal connecting principle jung. Jung introduces some concepts from schopenhauer, leibniz, kant and the tao in relation with synchronicity.
Synchronicity is a concept first developed in the 1920s by the swiss psychologist carl gustav jung 18751961. His work contains a wonderful alchemy of psychoanalysis, spirituality, religion, philosophy, and the dream world. Jungs lifelong interest in the paranormal contributed significantly to the development of his influential but controversial theory of synchronicity. Earlier i wrote that a synchronicity was a meaningful coincidence. The difficulty lay in the fact that she always knew better about everything. Atom, archetype, and the invention of synchronicity. Carl jung discusses synchronicity, clairvoyance, esp, telekinesis, and other psychic phenomena in scientific terms. Unfortunately for jung, it is one of many fruitless quasiscientific ideas in. Carl jung, the swiss psychologist, coined the term synchronicity and explored it in his later work in an effort to find an underlying reality principle that is not causal. In simple terms, synchronicity refers to the simultaneous occurrence of psychic and physical events which do not appear to be linked by some normal cause, basically personality types. My example concerns a young woman patient who, in spite of efforts made on both sides, proved to be psychologically inaccessible.
Excerpt we can understand synchronicity in two basic senses, one soft, one hard. Synchronicity postulates a meaning which is a priori in relation to human consciousness and apparently exists outside man. On april 1, 1949, i made a note in the morning of an inscription containing a figure that was half man and half fish. In a searching introduction he addresses all the main aspects of. The worldfamous swiss psychiatrist and founder of analytical psychology, carl jung 18751961 shared a deep interest in unexplained mysteries dealing with the power of mind and time jung was also fascinated with the subject of. He draws on scientific experiments, other published works, and personal examples, and touches on the relationship of synchronicity to the timespace. Energizing jungs ideas about synchronicity scholar roderick main describes his passion for jungs views of synchronicity. Jung accounts for an exemplar synchronicity involving a grouping of events. Since the notion of causality cannot explain the occurrence of meaningful, connected experiences, jung hopes to find a separate principle of explanation an acausal orderedness. Jung introduced the concept as early as the 1920s but only gave a full statement.
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