September 2011 - Synchronicities

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Have you ever had a synchronistic event take place you can’t explain? We all experience them, but we often cast them off as simply a coincidence. I remembered years ago hearing a lovely definition of synchronicity: “It’s God’s way of remaining anonymous”. There are so many inspiring stories about synchronicities.

Many of us have had the experience of needing information or help with something and as you’re walking down the isle of a library, a book falls off the shelf onto the floor and when you pick it up it is exactly what you needed to know or read. Or, perhaps we’re thinking of an old friend we haven’t talked to in years and the phone rings and there they are. Is it possible that there are invisible forces, helpers or support we don’t normally see or sense in our everyday lives?

I’d like to share a short story about “The Coincidental Synchronicity of Carl Jung, from the book: “Touched By The Extraordinary” by Susan Barbara Apollon.

“Carl Jung, a renowned Swiss psychiatrist, wrote of coincidental synchronicity, a concept that seemed to flow naturally from his theory that we all have access to a collective unconscious, which is similar to a wealth of pooled knowledge. Coincidental synchronicities assure us of our commonality; that is, our connective links with another. According to Judith Orloff in her book, Second Sight, Jung defines coincidental synchronicity as “a meaningful coincidence of the past outer and inner events that are not causally related.” Joining the ranks of the great teachers of the past 3000 years and those of the quantum physicists, Jung adhered to the belief, as I do, that all of life is connected and that we are all tapping into a collective unconscious.

The classic Jung story that supports his belief regarding synchronicity is another favorite of mine. It deals with a patient of his whose excessive tendencies to being rational and cognitive were interfering with her therapeutic treatment. Puzzled by a dream that dealt with the appearance of a scarab, also known as a beetle, she shared her dream with Jung. Just after explaining that a scarab is the Egyptian symbol for rebirth, both he and his patient heard something tapping on the window of his office. As he opened his window a beautiful golden-green scarab, very rare in Vienna at the time, flew into his office. The synchronicity, or “too coincidental” timing of events, deeply moved the woman, causing her to change course in her therapy. She released her need to rationalize and met with greater therapeutic success.

Arnold Mandell, who continued Jung’s work, expanded the understanding of synchronicity even further. Not only are synchronicities meaningful, but “they occur at peak experiences, times of transformations, births, deaths, falling in love, psychotherapy, intense creative work or even changes in profession.” I have found this to be absolutely true in the research and interviews I have conducted since 1990. Take a moment, if you will, and consider the timing of your own extraordinary moments – the ones that you never can forget!

Morse, in Where God Lives, supports Jung’s belief of a state of interconnectedness that binds everyone together. He notes that Niels Bohr, the father of quantum physics, supported Jung’s theory. The idea of interconnectedness was a concept of primary importance for Bohr.

It makes sense that if one is thinking of someone or something, such a thought may become a part of the collective unconscious which, in turn, provides one with an appropriate response from this pool of knowledge – or what is called by some the Universal Mind. Renowned biologist Rupert Sheldrake, author of Dogs Who Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home, explains such experiences using his morphogenetic theory. The collective unconscious is, I believe, essentially the same as the morphogenetic field – Universal Mind.

The quantum physicist and physician, Larry Dossey, explains the concepts of collective unconscious, morphogenetic field and Universal Mind using the term nonlocal mind, a state of consciousness that exists without attachment to time, place or person.”

What synchronicities have happened in your life? Your thoughts and desires are powerful and often the answers to what you’ve asked for will show up in so many ways, through people, resources, and events. The secret is, are you paying attention?

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