What is Synchronicity?
Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. The term was coined by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung to describe coincidences that carry psychological or symbolic significance but cannot be explained by conventional notions of cause and effect. Unlike simple coincidence, synchronicity implies an underlying pattern or connection between the inner psychological state of an observer and external events in the physical world. Jung defined it as “the simultaneous occurrence of two meaningfully but not causally connected events” or alternatively as “acausal parallelism.”
The phenomenon typically involves an external event coinciding with a psychological state, dream, thought, or need in ways that feel profoundly significant to the person experiencing it. Examples might include thinking of someone moments before they unexpectedly call, encountering the same symbol repeatedly during a period of psychological transition, or having a dream that corresponds precisely with a distant event the dreamer could not have known about through normal means.
Origins & Lineage
Carl Jung first introduced the concept of synchronicity in the 1920s during his intellectual separation from Sigmund Freud, though he did not publish his major theoretical work on the subject until 1952. His seminal essay “Synchronizität als ein Prinzip akausaler Zusammenhänge” (Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle) appeared in a volume with physicist Wolfgang Pauli, with whom Jung had collaborated for over two decades exploring connections between psychology and quantum physics.
Jung’s development of synchronicity was influenced by several sources: his clinical observations of patients’ uncanny coincidences during analysis, his own personal experiences (including his famous “scarab beetle” incident with a patient in 1920s Zürich), Richard Wilhelm’s translation of the I Ching (which Jung wrote a foreword for in 1949), and his correspondence with Pauli about quantum mechanics and the limits of causality. The physicist’s concept of quantum entanglement and the breakdown of strict causality at the subatomic level provided Jung with a scientific parallel to his psychological observations.
Jung also drew from earlier philosophers including Arthur Schopenhauer, Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (whose pre-established harmony concept influenced Jung’s thinking), and the medieval concept of correspondentia between microcosm and macrocosm. Eastern philosophical systems, particularly the Taoist concept of the Tao and Chinese correlative cosmology underlying the I Ching, profoundly shaped Jung’s formulation.
How It’s Practiced
Synchronicity is not a practice in the conventional sense but rather a mode of perception and interpretation. Individuals who work with synchronicity cultivate attentiveness to meaningful coincidences as guidance or confirmation in their lives. This typically involves maintaining heightened awareness of one’s inner psychological state while simultaneously noting correspondences with external events, symbols, or encounters.
Common approaches include keeping a synchronicity journal to document patterns over time, working with divination systems like the I Ching or Tarot that operate on synchronistic principles (where the random fall of coins or cards is understood to correspond meaningfully with the questioner’s situation), and engaging in depth psychological work that examines how external events mirror internal processes. Dream work often intersects with synchronicity practice, as practitioners note when dream imagery appears unexpectedly in waking life.
In therapeutic contexts influenced by Jungian analysis, synchronicities are explored for their symbolic meaning and what they might reveal about the individuation process. Some practitioners view synchronicities as messages from the collective unconscious or indicators that one is aligned with one’s authentic path.
Synchronicity Today
Contemporary engagement with synchronicity spans multiple communities. Jungian analysts and depth psychologists continue to work with synchronicity in clinical practice, particularly at institutions like the Jung Institute in Zürich and various Jungian training centers worldwide. The concept has been popularized through books like James Redfield’s “The Celestine Prophecy” (1993) and more scholarly works by Jungian analysts such as Jean Shinoda Bolen’s “The Tao of Psychology” (1979) and Robert Aziz’s “C.G. Jung’s Psychology of Religion and Synchronicity” (1990).
The spiritual and New Age communities have widely adopted synchronicity as a framework for understanding guidance from the universe, spirit, or higher self. Retreat centers, consciousness workshops, and transformational festivals often reference synchronicity as evidence of interconnectedness or divine order. However, this popularization has sometimes diluted Jung’s original formulation, which was a rigorously conceived psychological and philosophical hypothesis.
Contemporary physics discussions about quantum entanglement, non-locality, and observer effects have renewed interest in Jung and Pauli’s original dialogue, though mainstream physics does not validate synchronicity as a scientific principle. Researchers like Bernard Beitman have attempted to bring empirical study to coincidence phenomena through surveys and statistical analysis.
Common Misconceptions
Synchronicity is not simply any coincidence. Jung specifically distinguished between mere chance occurrences and events that carry numinous, symbolic significance for the observer. The meaning is subjective and psychological, not objectively verifiable.
Synchronicity is not evidence of supernatural intervention, divine will, or “the universe sending messages.” Jung proposed it as a natural principle operating alongside causality, not as proof of a guiding cosmic intelligence. His formulation was psychological and philosophical, concerned with how meaning arises in human experience.
Synchronicity does not imply that one can manifest desired outcomes through thought alone, despite its frequent conflation with “law of attraction” concepts. Jung’s principle describes observation of meaningful correspondences, not a mechanism for causing external events through intention.
Finally, synchronicity is not scientifically validated. While Jung sought to ground it in contemporary physics, the concept remains controversial and unproven by empirical standards. It functions more effectively as an interpretive framework than as a testable hypothesis.
How to Begin
Those interested in exploring synchronicity should begin with Jung’s original essay “Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle” (1952), available in various editions and in Volume 8 of his Collected Works. For a more accessible introduction, Jean Shinoda Bolen’s “The Tao of Psychology” offers a readable overview connecting Jung’s ideas with Taoist philosophy and everyday experience.
Maintain a dedicated journal noting unusual coincidences along with your psychological state, preoccupations, and life circumstances when they occur. Over weeks and months, patterns may emerge. Work with a Jungian analyst or depth psychologist trained to explore these phenomena in context of your broader psychological development. The C.G. Jung Foundation and regional Jungian societies offer lectures, workshops, and referrals to qualified analysts.
Engage seriously with the I Ching using a reliable translation such as Richard Wilhelm’s version (with Jung’s foreword) or the more recent Rutt’s “The Book of Changes.” Approach it not as fortune-telling but as a mirror for psychological states and patterns. Finally, read widely in the intersection of psychology, philosophy, and the nature of consciousness—synchronicity exists at the boundary of these domains.