Synchronicity: Creating miracles out of coincidence
I became intrigued by synchronicity’s influence in shaping my own life's trajectory recently. It was appearing at crucial points along the way that forever altered my direction. Synchronicities that appear to swarm during transformational cycles and times of highly charged emotion.
The term synchronicity was coined by the Swiss psychiatrist, Carl Jung, to express a concept that he had: a significant coincidence of physical and psychological phenomena that are acausally (not arising from a cause) connected. A crosstalk between mind and matter, if you will. Also known as “meaningful coincidence,” a synchronicity can organize a life experience so powerful it can completely reconstruct our lives and effect profound change, aka a miracle.
This notion was inspired to him by a patient that was in a situation of a standstill in treatment. She had dreamt of a golden scarab. The next day, during the psychotherapy session, a real insect, hit against Jung's cabinet window. Jung caught it and discovered surprisingly that it was a golden scarab; a very rare presence for that climate.
So, the idea is all about coincidence: in this case, between the scarab dreamt by the patient and its appearance in reality, in the psychotherapy cabinet.
Jung came to believe that synchronicities mirror deep psychological processes, carry messages similar to the way dreams do. He believed that synchronicities take on a meaning and provide guidance to the degree they match emotional states and inner experiences.
For example, you’re trying to decide whether to say yes or no to a particular opportunity and while scrolling Facebook you see a post from someone that simply says “Just Do It!”
Or perhaps you’re struggling to focus your energies, you have too many projects going on and have been spreading yourself very thin, the suddenly your laptop charger quits charging your laptop - rendering ⅓ of your projects dead in the water (for the time being).
Synchronicity is the phenomenon where an inner thought, fantasy, image, or dream is matched by an event in outer reality, but with no chance of one event causing the other. If there is no causal connection between the two events, what is the connecting principle between them? Jung proposed such events are connected by meaning.
This concept that meaning can be a connecting and organizing principle of reality is extreme because it suggests meaning is not only something humans create but also something that exists objectively, in nature, apart from human influence. This dives in the face of the random, impersonal universe most scientists propose.
“According to Vedanta, there are only two symptoms of enlightenment, just two indications that a transformation is taking place within you toward a higher consciousness. The first symptom is that you stop worrying. Things don't bother you anymore. You become light-hearted and full of joy. The second symptom is that you encounter more and more meaningful coincidences in your life, more and more synchronicities. And this accelerates to the point where you actually experience the miraculous. (quoted by Carol Lynn Pearson in Consider the Butterfly)”
Among shamanic cultures, synchronicities are viewed as a kind of homing beacon. Similar to a radio directional signal indicating that the right methods and techniques are being used. Meaning, the more you experience the more you can be assured you are on the right path in life.
Hindus believe synchronicity is a manifestation of Brahman or the fundamental connection of all living things within the universe, quantum physicists attribute it to the “non-local” mind (or universal consciousness).
Skeptics call it Apophenia, or the practice of seeing links and patterns in random and/or meaningless data. Synchronicities seem to be minor miracles, little mysteries that point to a bigger one, perhaps a central one. In examining synchronicities, don’t just wonder at the laws of probability, but admire their meaning.
Synchronicity reveals the meaningful connection between the subjective and objective world. ~ Carl Jung
Synchronicity, as an explicative theory, applies to phenomena from the area of parapsychology, prevision, and premonition, to I Ching, to astrology and many other borderline fields.
Synchronicity manifests itself in
names
numbers
words
objects
symbols
events
This experience seems far too significant to be a mere day-to-day meaningless encounter. Most of us have experienced various synchronicities in our lives before, common explanations for the origins of synchronicity include the following:
Unconscious mind. Similar to our dreams, elements of our waking life could also be subtle manifestations of your unconscious mind which are trying to guide you, teach you, or warn you about something.
Psychic abilities. Synchronicity is also thought to be a small manifestation of psychic abilities where, for example, we intuit that a certain person will call us or significant event will befall us, and it does.
Harmony of energy. As everything consists of tiny vibrating atoms or energy, synchronicity could also be a manifestation life harmony, where the frequencies and vibrations of the moment sync together in perfect equilibrium, or Oneness, producing such experiences.
Law of attraction. This theory essentially states that whatever good or bad events in life happen are caused by your thoughts and feelings. Thus “like attracts like”, which possibly explains the origins of synchronicity.
Welcoming synchronicity is simple:
Awareness. Practice alertness and pay attention. Be present in your moments.
Openness. Maintain an open-mind towards synchronicity.
Humility. Sometimes what you desire or think is best for yourself, is actually not.
Trust. Trust the small voice within to guide you when the time or situation feels right. Learn to trust yourself, trust your intuition.
Listen. Listen to what your gut is telling you – your unconscious mind is vast and limitless.
Doors are being opened for us continuously. When we listen to our instincts, trust our intuition, and become aware of these synchronicities we can use them to create miracles in our lives, from the inside out.
If nothing else synchronicities are like the flash of some wild animal rarely seen or the return of your wallet by some wonderful human being. A moment completely detached from the mundaneness that seems to define such an immense portion of daily life. Synchronicities help reconnect us to our sense of wonder, and ourselves.
