Monday, June 8, 2009

The Psycholgy of Synchronicty

The PSYCHOLOGY of SYNCHRONICITY



Most people think they have a fair idea what Synchronicity is. We are all agreed that Synchronicity is a particularly fine album by The Police for a start. But sit down and try to define the quality of these Magical moments and is it likely you will run into difficulty.


We all have examples of intriguing, significant coincidences that have happened along the way; Sting certainly does not have the monopoly on all things Mysterious! But Synchronicity is in fact quite an involved and controversial subject.


At its most sophisticated, the troublesome phenomenon of Synchronicity has been running rings around phenomenologists for aeons! Karl Jung talked about the ‘meaningful coincidence’, whilst the materialist Freud quickly dismissed all such whackery with the scathing label ‘Spook Complex’.


Liable to get the back up of the nearest Skeptic, Synchronicity seems to endanger the safe, ordered perception of the logical mind. The what-you-see-is-what-you-get factor gets short shrift when the allure of a ‘meaningful coincidence’ takes centre stage. Suddenly commonsense and rational approaches to life have to take a rain-check; and the world of the die-hard cynic potentially comes a tumbling down.

Shame…Of course, we common-folk all love the notion of a bit of Magic in our lives. It gives us a significance and meaning out side of our sometimes humdrum existence. But our general western reserve also bestows upon us an innate fear of losing the plot. We don’t want to be seen as too off-the-wall; so far too easily we dismiss our Synchronicities as mere coincidence.


The phenomenon of Synchronicity in many ways has a bad press. We are reluctant to give the ramblings of our secret delight when something cool happens too much airtime. WHY? There is indeed a danger in reading too much into every little thing, and one can no doubt go too far. But on the other hand, we risk reducing life to a purely material, painfully tedious, level if we ignore Synchronicity altogether.

I would like to suggest that we are in danger of missing out on a whole lot if we don’t begin to give Synchronicity more consideration. These moments have an energizing significant quality that connects us to each other and to the hub of life itself.

It is my belief that a greater understanding of Synchronicity unlocks our innate creativity and oomph, as well as our ability to manifest good things. Of course the Universe famously plays tricks on those who profess to understand its mysteries. But in my book, Synchronicity holds the key to decoding much of the riddle we spend our lives trying to understand. We only have to be brave enough to try a different approach. We can in fact get much closer to appreciating what’s really going on and our natural connectedness if we open up and pay just a little more attention.


We are all interconnected by an energetic World-Wide-Web, and even the cynical, pragmatic scientists who investigate quantum physics are not far off reaching the same conclusions. Well they probably already have. It will be a victorious day for the intuitive when science finally catches up; or at least admits to it.

Of course one doesn’t have to understand these meaningful coincidences in order for them to happen. But there is no denying that an awareness of Intuition, Symbols and Archetypes helps us to more readily tune into our weird and wonderful Universe. Synchronicity reflects our inner and outer reality and as such offers an apparently objective statement from the Universe that our intuitions are correct.

I do believe though that we are much more powerful than we appreciate. There is a strong argument to suggest that the more ‘Tuned-in’ to our creative essence we are, the more Synchronicity tends to enliven our existence.

Our Inner-tuition provides us with meaningful signals; which once we learn how to decipher them, can greatly enhance our understanding and experience of life.

Many of those who have researched Synchronicity, of which the most famous is probably Karl Jung, conclude that there is not much to distinguish Intuition and Synchronicity. When you know who is on the end of the line, is it a form of telepathy, Synchronicity, or both?

When you just know something beyond a shadow of a doubt, what is happening deep within? It is when our inner moments are reflected in the outer world, that our realities collide.

As Above: So Below. There is, in a moment of Synchronicity, nothing to distinguish between the two. Our Inner-tuition is reflected and validated by an external event and we feel vindicated and liberated in one fell swoop; a precious moment indeed.


I am not totally convinced that Intuition and Synchronicity are one and the same. But they are certainly linked. You don’t get one without the other generally; though it is undoubtedly possible for even the most hardened cynic to occasionally get a moment of enlightenment.

Intuition comes from somewhere within our psyche. It acts like a strong lead or indicator as to what can happen. And if you’re clairvoyant to boot, you will also get inexplicable messages (which are impossible to verify until the event) about what is actually going to happen.

Synchronicity on the other hand seems to be an external reflection of what’s going on deep inside. Perhaps you had a profound dream which is then replicated in an event the next day; or perhaps you are powerful and need to monitor your thought processes very carefully lest they reflect in external events you had not bargained for.

I got a big warning about this one day, and have been VERY careful ever since; especially as I have seen the phenomenon play-out many times in different ways. Several years ago, I was bored one night in my job as Hostess of U2’s Kitchen nightclub and innocently made a slapstick joke to the security guys to; give Bono’s NEW Mercedes a flat tyre. I don’t know what possessed me, but clearly something did. I was horrified to then arrive the next evening to find the manager of The Clarence Hotel changing the monstrous wheel of Bono’s new pride and joy. OOPS! Now, was I picking up the event, or did I in some bizarre way make it happen; that is the question… (It’s okay he’s forgiven me)

There is no doubt that Synchronicity and Intuition can occur simultaneously. Like when you think of someone you haven’t seen for a long time and they then appear before you on a crowded street within minutes.

Often enough, our inner and outer worlds collide with such Synchronicities, if only we care to notice. But it is worth also being aware that we can receive false intuitions that are never destined to lead to a Synchronicitous event.

My client list used to be full of people who had received misleading information from readings which were in essence a mish-mash of inaccurate nonsense. People do waste a lot of energy waiting for Synchronicities that are never going to happen. Just because you have been told something is going to happen, doesn’t mean it’s actually going to. So be careful out there, and wait for your OWN Synchronicities to kick-in…

The Skeptics would also point out to us that there are 101 coincidences happening on a daily basis, which do not register as meaningful to us. Think of all the times we DON’T get run over when we run for the bus. This would of course be the cynic’s view of Synchronicity. But there IS something to be said for caution around the subject.

It is only too easy to get caught up in the excitement of our coincidences that we sometimes read too much meaning into them. We may even be inclined to make huge life changing decisions based on what just happened. Certainly intuitive people are quite likely to do this. Personally I make decisions in this way all of the time. There is no doubt that it has led me into some very interesting, illogical, but Magical scenarios. But it is not a straightforward route through life, and there are definitely blind alleys we can all too easily waltz down. There is a likelihood of chasing too many rainbows if one gives too much credence to coincidences at the expense of good old commonsense.

Finding the balance deep within is crucial to our success with this thorny subject. And if we are not willing to be objective, grounded and measured as we feel our way with it, getting hooked up on Synchronicity is in all honesty a recipe for disaster.

Psychologists are agreed that intuitive people are the ones more likely to experience Synchronicity. They are receptive, sensitive and some might say gullible people, who are inclined to give coincidences a lot more airtime than the pragmatic, logical types who need the proof of the pudding. It is my view that both extremes get it wrong.

It is all to easy to throw the baby out with the bath water and miss the subtle nuances and messages of the Universe if we close off completely to Synchronicity. Equally, it is easy enough to wander down a very colourful garden path which leads us into delusional territory, and from which it is very difficult to return to normality.

An unbalanced perception of such Universal phenomenon can make one very withdrawn and vulnerable to all sorts of dubious energies. It is quite easy to begin to read meaning into far too much and as a result become delusional and God forbid psychotic in the eyes of the normal world. That may sound a bit harsh, but it does reflect the extreme of what can happen when one goes too far down roads that are designed to quite literally do our heads in.

The healthy energetic approach to Synchronicity kicks in when an individual becomes as Jung defined it:

INDIVIDUATED. This level of maturity and unity with the universe is difficult to achieve, and one may indeed have to go down some of the blind alleys on offer, before one gets to the point where one is empowered and truly oneself. Everyone’s personal journey is different. But what one might call being-in-one’s-power is when the full force and Magic of Synchronicity kicks in.

The INDIVIDUATED individual is a formidable force indeed. This person has a sophisticated knowledge of symbols and usually has the ability to analyze, but not over-interpret, life’s Synchronicitous moments. Likely to have heightened psychic and spiritual ability, the Individuated person knows the value of meditation, silence and humour. Usually such a person has reached a sense of oneness within, and is enviably self-contained.

The phenomenon of Synchronicity is important, but not the be all and end all. Too often we assume that Synchronicity reassures us that our lives have inherent meaning; that there is a pattern outside of ourselves that really does give our lives a Magical quality. This is indeed the case; but we do become spiritually off balance if we give it too much importance.

Yes, Synchronicity in the right hands can become a highly effective form of guidance from our Guides, Higher-Self, and God too. But where do we go during those times when the Magic dies down? The answer is always within’. For it is there we find our Inner-tuition, the power centre that always knows what to do next.

Never mind external events; learn to access what you want, need and desire. Be creative, honour your dreams, hopes and visions, then get busy manifesting.

Conscious people must be careful. The potential power of our thoughts, words and deeds is daunting. And our Synchronicity moments underline the fact that we are creative beings who structure our own lives powerfully from minute to minute.

Project the good stuff into the ether, whilst remaining open and receptive. Then your rewards will be bountiful and your Synchronicity-moments tangible.

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