THE HISTORY OF SYNCHRONICITY
By Trish MacGregor
July 7, 2009

[evolver.net]

"The unseen design of things is more harmonious than the seen." - Heraclitus

...........

People recognized synchronicity long before Carl Jung coined the term. It
was called names such as ostenta, moira, and destiny. There have been
theories about what causes these sudden 'coincidental' occurrences for
millennia. Heraclitus, a Greek phlosopoher in the fourth century B.C., saw
all things being inter-related, or following 'cosmic reason.' He believed
that events were not isolated happenings but had repercussions across the
entire fabric of existence. All things were linked by a web of organization
created by the Logos.

Hippocrates, who was born twenty years after Heraclitus died, expressed
similar thoughts in a unique way. He said: "There is one common flow, a
common breathing. Everything is in sympathy. The whole organism and each one
of its parts are working together for the same purpose. The great principle
extends to the most extreme part, and from the extremest part returns again
to the great principle."

Philo of Alexandria, a contemporary of Jesus, perpetuated Heraclitus's
concept of the Logos as an intermediatry between God and humans. As such, he
more or less saw meaningful coincidence as the way the Creator interacts
with his creatures. The self-evidence of these acts proved the existence of
God, he argued, but conceded these acts of providence didn't reveal the
enigma of his existence or his identity. It's believed that Philo found his
ideas in the mystery schools that existed during and before his time.

Like Heraclitus, he used the term enthousiasmos, which means having God
within oneself. The term also dismissed the notion of God as a bearded,
autocrat wielding omnipotence and enthroned in the clouds. Instead, God is
the unifying spirit of existence that dwells within everyone and everything,
the invisible thread tying everything in the universe together.

Frank Joseph in Synchronicity and You in referring to enthousiasmos says:
"The term certainly helps define synchronicty, which operates on the
principle of meaningful connections established by some unseen force between
our inner being and our outer experience."

Two centuries later, the Roman scholar Agrippa referred to a Fifth Essence,
something beyond earth, air, fire and water that held existence together. He
also referred to it as the World Soul, which penetrates all things and is a
thing in itself. Agrippa's contemporary Plotinus, wrote: "Chance has no
place in life, but only harmony and order reign therein."

In the Middle Ages the idea was known as 'unus mundum' -- a collective
knowledge that exists independently of us, yet available to us. Meaningful
coincidence hence existed beyond our conscious awareness and egos, located
at the place where our psyche or spirit and the outside world touch.

Carl Jung first devised the term in 1949 when he wrote the introduction to
the Richard Wilhelm edition of the I Ching. He brought the term
synchronicity into wider use when he presented a paper in 1952 discussing
meaningful coincidence. Amongst his findings were the idea that numbers have
much deeper significance than simply for counting items. He said that this
is why so many divination systems like the I Ching use numbers to
synchronously provide the knowledge and answers we need to know.

Jung also saw synchronicity as the reason why independent researchers can
come up with the same results or knowledge at the same time. Congealing in
the unconscious is the need for answers. So, searching for a solution in
their own ways, researchers resolve the problem at the same time. This is
known as 'simultaneous discovery.'

............

For a breakthrough look at the world of signs and synchronicities, check out
Robert Perry's new book, "Signs":

[bit.ly]

You can also find Robert on Twitter at this address:

[www.twitter.com]

Kwan.....You're getting pretty deep on us. I've got to
look into this a little more. I keep bumping into the same people.
Does that count?....WY

One of Jung's favourite quotes on synchronicity was from Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, in which the White Queen says to Alice: "It's a poor sort of memory that only works backwards"

>Kwan.....You're getting pretty deep on us. I've got to
look into this a little more. I keep bumping into the same people.
Does that count?....WY<

LOL! Me, deep? I wish. ;-p WY, I get a kick out of your subtle sense of humor.

That article just kind of appealed to me. Hey, maybe we should start a synchronicity thread and share our synchronicity experiences. I bet people on this board have a lot of neat ones to share.

Sharrhan:


[www.facebook.com]

Kwan and Wy,
Both of your post are synchronatic for me right now.

I have been thinking about synchronicity so much lately. Really it started a couple years back when I watched the Secret. Because of the many changes taking place in my life in the last couple months, I have been thinking about it a lot deeper. Thnaks for posting this Kwan.

WY, when I read about the "Through the Looking Glass" quote it blew my mind. The kids and I just finished "Alice in Wonderland" and we are starting "Through the Looking Glass" today. I have never read them before and the first one was really perfect for my mental state. It just made no sense. My daughter said, "Most books make sense. This one is cool, it's different."

I think it is interesting that all the events in my life are tying together in a certain way lately. I have some things to write in that synchronicity thread Kwan suggested. My life is on the fastest part of the roller coaster at the moment, and it is interesting how things are still falling into place even though I can't see where I am going.

I use to ruminate on this topic often, and have forgotten to do so of late. Thanks for posting, kwan.