Receiving a call from someone you were thinking about, being seated at the same table as the man you had a crush on at the start of the evening… Coined by psychiatrist Carl Jung, the term “synchronicity ” designates “a coincidence that is not one”. Discovery.
Thinking of someone we haven’t seen for a long time and seeing 5 seconds after they call us ; being offered a job abroad just when we were thinking of changing our lives… We have all already experienced “coincidences” that were really good and made sense. Of the signs of life who made us smile or who helped us make choices. The most Cartesian will say that these are just coincidences, others, more spiritual, will rather evoke fate-related synchronicities. Discovery with isabelle fountainpsychotherapist, specialist in intuition and synchronicities, author of the book “Transform your life with synchronicities” at Editions Eyrolles.
What is the definition of synchronicity?
The term “synchronicity” was coined by the psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung. If it does not yet appear in the dictionary, it is spreading more and more in everyday language. This term is composed of the Greek roots syn (“with”, which marks the idea of meeting) and chronos (meaning “time”). Literally, “synchronicity” means a reunion in time, a simultaneity. In Jung’s mind, a synchronicity thus corresponds to a meaningful or meaningful coincidence, that is to say one or more events which intersect and which are linked together by a link of meaning. “To simplify, I say that it is a coincidence that is not one“, specifies our interlocutor. “There are no coincidences, there are only appointments“. This famous quote from the poet Paul Eluard is also reminiscent of the concept of “synchronicity”.
Examples of Synchronicity
The most famous example of synchronicity was experienced by Carl Gustav Jung. During a session, a patient of Jung, with a rather rational profile and “blocked” in her psychoanalysis, recounts her dream during which she remembers receiving as a gift jewelry in the shape of a beetle in golden color. During the story of the dream, Jung comments on and interprets this symbol by telling his patient that in Egyptian mythology, the scarab is the symbol of inner transformation or even metamorphosis. As he formulates his explanation, Jung hears a loud noise as if someone were knocking on his office window. He turns around and sees through the window a scarab beetle “Cetonia aurata”, a beetle recognizable by its very pretty golden color, which knocked on the window as if it wanted to enter the office. Jung opens the window, lets it rest on his hand, shows it to his patient who is completely flabbergasted and who, from that moment on, will be “unblocked” in her analysis work. In everyday lifea synchronicity can be the result of receive a call from someone you were just thinking about or of come across a film set in Marseille, while you are hesitating to move there.
What is love synchronicity?
Synchronicities can occur in many areas of life: at work, in love, within one’s family, in one’s daily life, while traveling… In love, a series of significant coincidences is also possible and can occur at any time in an unpredictable way.. For example, in a wedding or a birthday, you find yourself at the same table as the person you fell in love with at the start of the evening; an acquaintance you think of while imagining a beautiful love story calls you at the precise moment…
Theoretically, a synchronicity is a simultaneous occurrence in an individual’s mind ofat least two mental events that have no physical causationbut whose association takes on meaning for the person who perceives them, a sense that can also guide her in her life path. Concretely, synchronicity is defined by two or more events:
- Without physical or logical cause: they seem as inexplicable, even “magical”
- Which, to make sense, must happen when they happened (if one of the two occurs a week before/after for example, it does not have the same meaning)
- Which generated a strong emotion in you or the feeling of experiencing something “magical”, “supernatural”, “bigger than you”. Synchronicity challenges, jostles, amazes…
- Who appeared as “nudges” or “gifts” in a situation of blockage or doubt
“Since the dawn of time, men are convinced that the universe and the external environment communicate with us and can send us signs. These signs were an integral part of the life of the Greeks, for example.. Jung theorized this notion by seeking a more symbolic meaning. Synchronicities Mean Something and are there for guide us in our personal realization, get us back in motion, confirm or invalidate a path. But still it is necessary interpret them and give them meaningunderlines our expert.
► Sometimes, the meaning is obvious and immediate. Take the example of a woman who wishes to divorce, but does not dare to take the plunge. One day, to go to her place of work, she decides to change her route. On this path that she usually never takes, she meets an old acquaintance from high school or college who happens to be a lawyer. Thanks to this “fortuitous” meeting, she will be able to find out more and initiate the divorce process. “In this example, it is as if the universe brought to this woman the sign she needed on a silver platter“, comments our interlocutor.
Above all, “you have to follow your intuition”
► Sometimes the meaning is more mysterious and seems to “resist us a little more”. In this case, interpretation is more complicated and may require a deeper investigation. “It can be interesting to look for meaning in symbols (it can be the symbol of an object that you found in the street, the symbol of a supposedly wild animal approaching you, or a person that resurfaces and the period of your life that it evokes…) and associate them with what we are currently experiencing that is important. “Where could I be stuck in my life today? What is the real important subject in my life at the moment and for which I need another look?”… For example, the butterfly symbolizes the slow transformation. Above all, “you have to follow your intuition if you feel that it makes sense to you and that it has a particular resonance with you, that’s what Jung calls numinosityWho is here particular emotional resonance that we can feel when faced with a synchronicity“, continues Isabelle Fontaine. Note that the principle of the oracles is based on synchronicity, in other words, it is the chance draw of the cards that makes sense.
What precautions should be taken ?
“I would also like to point out thatnor should we go crazy or unhinged and see synchronicities everywhere. Generally, synchronicities come in “packages”, and there is a real balance to be found. Jung also said that if meaning exists, nonsense also exists“, warns the expert. In other words, some synchronicities have a meaning or an explanation that will never appear. You have to accept it and do not insist on interpreting it at all costs. “To me they are what I call “the panache of the universe”, his sense of humor. If they do not allow us to provide a concrete answer, they have at least had the advantage of having stunned us, of having jostled our rational mind and of having set us in motion, during the time of the search for meaning. The idea is to accept that something we don’t understand comes to upset us, but not to sink into fear, illusion or the opposite excess, to lose contact with reality, which could deprive us of our capacity for autonomy, free will or action. The risk would then be to become dependent on this “help” represented by synchronicity.“, warns Isabelle Fontaine.
What are the books on synchronicity?
- Synchronicity and Paracelsica by Carl Gustav Jung (Editions Albin Michel)
- Transform your life with synchronicities by Isabelle Fontaine (Editions Eyrolles)
- Synchronicities by Catherine Testa (Michel Lafon),
- How Synchronicities Changed My Life by Dr Cornélia Gauthier (Editions Trédaniel),
- Listen to the signs that life sends you, by Géraldyne Prévot-Gigant (Leduc).
Thanks to Isabelle Fontaine, psychotherapist, specialist in intuition and synchronicities.