“Since psyche and matter are contained in one and the same world, and moreover are in continuous contact with one another and ultimately rest on irrepresentable, transcendental factors, it is not only possible but fairly probable even, that psyche and matter are two different aspects of the same thing.” C.G. Jung, On the Nature of the Psyche, Collected Works Vol. 8, para. 418.
The sacred laws I’ve written about in the last five posts—correspondence, opposites, oneness, entropy, and change—come together in the Law of Synchronicity. This is something you can easily prove for yourself.
6. The Law of Synchronicity: Meaningful coincidences between our inner and outer universes occur more frequently with self-reflective practices like dreamwork and active imagination. Synchronicities are not products of “cause and effect,” but of an imaginative, heartfelt search for personal meaning which eventually produces what Jungian Monika Wikman calls, “a psychology of synchronicity instead of linearity.”
I get the ancient adage, “As above, so below”—another way of stating the Law of Correspondence—because I’ve experienced the intimate relationships between spirit and matter in so many synchronicities. These two apparent opposites work together in meaningful coincidences, and I know it.
But I never saw the same harmonious spirit-matter connection in the saying, “the story of our lives is written in the stars.” To me this sounded suspiciously like the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination: the belief that an omnipotent, punishing, Biblical, Outer/Other/God “freely and unchangeably ordained whatsoever comes to pass.” And that “God appointed the eternal destiny of some to salvation by grace, while leaving the remainder to receive eternal damnation for all their sins, even their original sin.” In other words, if you’re happy but I’m suffering it’s because you’ve been good and I’ve been bad and God likes you better than me! Really? So God’s nothing more than Santa Claus?
I don’t accept that. In fact, I think this belief and the dogma of original sin are two of the most toxic ideas religious institutions ever perpetrated. In forcing these beliefs on us they have sown fear and guilt and created untold suffering.
What I do accept is that life is a journey of tragic and unjust experiences over which no one, not even that punishing God-image, has any control. But it is also an extraordinary holy phase of humanity’s journey to the mystery we call God. In that respect, I believe the true story written in the stars is not about cause and effect, but about a loving and compassionate aspect of Spirit, metaphorically symbolized by the sacred spark of wise Sophia, that has indwelt every soul from the beginning of time in a state of oneness, a fundamental connectedness with All That Is.
I believe Sophia knows who we are, what we need, and what our journey through life is all about. From her dwelling in the unconscious she sends messages to all of us via dreams, synchronicities, intuitions and other subtle prompts. These truths of our souls are the substance of every myth ever told and every religion ever initiated by every authentic spirit person. They show us our true natures and help us unite our opposites in benevolent consciousness.
Benevolent consciousness in a state of oneness with Spirit is the holy destiny of every soul. To attain it we don’t need to believe in creeds. All we need to do is notice everything that happens to us and look for the soul’s mythic meaning beneath.
“God always speaks mythologically.” Carl Jung, Letters, Vol. 2, pg. 9.
I believe this because I can’t deny the evidence of my experiences or the knowing in my heart. I see now that the message of the Lone Ranger dream I had at the age of ten was that I was on the threshold of a spiritual journey which was, indeed, “written in the stars.” We are all meant to take this journey. This, as author Phil Cousineau calls it in his book of the same name, is The Oldest Story in the World, the story of the human soul’s evolution into consciousness.
I don’t expect you to believe this just because I’m saying it. Consciousness-raising insights only come through personal experiences. If you yearn for similar experiences, my suggestion would be to view the story of your life through mythic eyes which see the symbolic meaning of everything that has ever happened to you and ever will.
“I suddenly realized that … everything actually was all-meaningful, that every symbol and combination of symbols led not hither and yon, not to single examples, experiments, and proofs, but into the center, the mystery and innermost heart of the world, into primal knowledge. Every transition from major to minor in a sonata, every transformation of a myth or a religious cult, every classical or artistic formulation was, I realized in that flashing moment, if seen with a meditative mind, nothing but a direct route into the interior of the cosmic mystery, where in the alternation between inhaling and exhaling, between heaven and earth, between Yin and Yang, holiness is forever being created.” Hermann Hesse, “The Glass Beads Game”
13 Responses
A wink from the Universe … It does feel like that Jeanie, those lovely seemingly acausal happenings, small, large, in whatever way that makes my heart bend a little and wink when they happen!
Hesse’s Glass Bead Game and Joseph Knecht (?sp) as protagonist is one of the most extraordinary books I have ever read. I think it was June Singer who wrote about a gathering of Jungian Analysts who met up in those same mountains many years ago to tread where angels fear to tread (not really about fearing to tread – poetic licence on my side).
I met with a friend of mine on Sunday in Cape Town to whom I passed on some material I’d gathered. She is part of SAAJA, the SA Ass. of Jungian Analysts. In among the material for archival purposes was a letter from Dr. Vera Buhrmann, the person who started SAAJA in the 1980’s. It was a letter to me to thank me for the visit and in it she stated about how she writes from the heart and prevents the negative animus. Now, Sheila and I had been talking about someone else and how in her the negative animus always appears and how disruptive it is. So we were talking about that on our own before being joined by others for lunch. I’d phoned my husband to bring that file that I’d left behind. He brought it when he joined us, so we were going through it. And there was the letter which I read to Sheila. For me, the first time in years that I’d re-read it. It was BINGO! O how we laughed!
Ah, that unity in all things … thank you Jeanie, a lovely post! Which is also synchronistic given my very recent experience of it …
That’s a great example of a recent synchronicity. For me that “wink” elicits awe and wonderment, an “Aha” feeling that Spirit/God/Sophia is talking to me, saying, “You are known and loved.” It’s Sophia’s spark that you feel with your whole body, that makes you feel connected to the oneness where everything is connected. The first time I felt that wink/spark was at the age of 17. It ignited my spiritual seeking and I’ve been trying to figure out how to describe it ever since.
But how do you describe an experience that defies the known laws of physics? You didn’t do something to make it happen, at least not something you’re aware of. Unless your yearning for meaning was enough to light the spark — a felt awareness of something benevolent in and around you that fills you with joy and hope. I guess it’s that feeling you’re chasing. Once you’ve felt it, you want to feel it again. It’s as if the moon suddenly casts a pale beam of light on a tiny sign on a narrow dark road. And the sign points you to another road that seems to be taking you closer to your destination, so you get excited. But you’re still not there. So you keep paying attention to everything going on around you, and then you see another sign that leads to another road that takes you a bit further, and you’re excited again. Sometimes between signs you get discouraged and forget about the spark. And maybe you just stop for awhile. But if the yearning never goes away, it happens again, and the longer you travel the more that happens, over and over again until all the roads begin to merge into one vast connected network and you realize that all the roads have been leading you to the same place all along. In fact, you were already there. It’s always been in you. You just couldn’t see it.
Thank you for writing, Susan. Just responding to your comment has helped me clarify it for myself a bit more…. 🙂
I so love your poetic response Jeanie, thank you – that the first experience lights the spark that leads onwards even if there are dry spells in between. Those feelings of connectedness and interconnectedness can feel a bit overwhelming at times – almost too good to be true, but they are to be trusted. They happen often enough to give them validity. Thank you again Jeanie 🙂
Dear Jeanie,
How this for two different aspects of the same thing with a huge dash of synchronicity thrown into the mix! This morning as I open the ‘land of the little blue bird’ app (in other words Twitter) next to your last post is ‘Women’s Art’ latest image post which for me beautifully illustrates the connection between synchronicity and benevolent consciousness. I’ve re-posted both now on my Twitter profile page @liberatedsheep so others can see what I saw first thing!
Wow, I love your true description of ‘the mythic, sacred sparks and oneness of wise Sophia’ and resonate deeply. For what Odyssean adventures and journeying we all must take … the oldest story in the world indeed! That you quoted from Herman Hesse’s amazing ‘The Glass Bead Game’ (one of my top ten books ever!) filled my heart and soul with delight! I love that book and thanks for the nudge which I’m sure will send me over to my book shelves.
I think this morning as I woke and recalled and wrote down my dream I definitely felt ‘in the flow’ and as your words and images and that of another flashed up before me in pure synchronicity I felt a wow moment and the need to bring them together! This is a brilliant, insightful post as always Jeanie! Thank you so much for sharing these sacred laws of the psyche with us! Love that mythological quote by Jung, it’s so true! Love and light, Deborah.
I love your synchronicity just this morning. Wow, that was fast! I can’t wait to check out your twitter profile page to see what you saw.
A confession: Although I adore Herman Hesse and loved both Siddhartha and Narcissus and Goldmund, I’ve never read ‘The Glass Bead Game.” But now that I know you and Susan love it, (another synchronicity?) I must read it. I shall order it the moment I finish this comment! 🙂
A big “Yes!” to how synchronicities fill you with the need to pull the two threads together and create something new out of them. That’s exactly it. That happened to me yesterday, in fact. I always write my Tuesday posts on Monday afternoon. When I sat down to write, anticipating a full six hours in which to get this one written, I remembered that I had discovered only last week that I could quickly find my old posts about whatever topics I’ve written about by clicking on a key word in my tag cloud. In the ten years I’ve been writing this blog I never knew that. Sometimes I’ve spent hours just scrolling through old posts to see if I’ve written something I can rework! Sometimes it’s a huge annoyance.
So I had just clicked on the tag “synchronicity” to see if I could find anything in my old posts to help me with this one, when my daughter texted me and asked me if I could pick up my granddaughter from school in a half hour. For a moment I was a bit torn, worried that the hour and a quarter it takes me to do that would take too big a chunk out of my writing time. But I really wanted to help my daughter out and see my granddaughter, so I said yes, and told myself to trust that it would all work out well.
Although I hadn’t yet connected the two threads, it couldn’t have worked better, because when I got back home, for the first time ever, I had five old posts that mentioned synchronicity all lined up and waiting for me on my computer. That was the first thread. Agreeing to do what felt more important to me (picking up my granddaughter and trusting the “universe” to help me get my post written in less time than usual) was the second. Yesterday it took less than three hours to write, find images, and schedule this post, because the way had already been paved for me. All I had to do was stop worrying, step out and do what I felt led to do, and trust.
I know that might not feel like a big deal to people who can easily juggle several balls at once without stressing, but I’m not that person! For me, it was as if two prayers were answered at once, completely naturally and effortlessly, without my ego having to plan ahead or be in charge. Without even formally praying. All I did was trust. Maybe trust IS a prayer. Anyway, for me, that was a huge gift, and I was very grateful for it.
Thank you, Deborah, for being someone who’s so easy to “talk” to, and always manages to draw new insights out of me!
Jeanie
“The Glass Bead Game” is at times a frustrating read yet so glorious with it! I do remember throwing the book across the room in weariness at one stage but thankfully retrieved it and carried on reading this literary masterpiece! Well, I’m definitely going to dig it out and add it to my bedtime reading pile now!
Yesterday after reading the Weinstein trial and seeing Women’s Art post next to yours in my feed your quote “Synchronicity is an ever-present reality for those who have eyes to see.” seemed perfect to use! This afternoon when I posted a tree poem, one minute later someone posts something by Elaine on trees too.
Reading your rich comments and replies helps me so much too! Thank you so much Jeanie for sharing your synchronicity and benevolent consciousness with us today. “Trust is a prayer”, I love that!
Reblogged this on lampmagician.
Thank you very much, Aladin. 🙂
You are so much appreciated and I am much honoured dear Jean ?❤?❤?
THANK YOU DEAR JEANIE, for the beautiful, well-spoken reminder.
Thank you, Sally. Writing about these things is a good reminder for me too. It’s so easy to get distracted and forget our interonnectedness with everything. And it’s so healing to remember.
This is wonderful, Jeanie. I love your faith in spirit and psyche. I’ve been tested the last few years, but isn’t that true for all of us? I miss living with a man whose life was peppered with synchronicity and who loved to explore his experiences with me.
I’m thinking of my last strong synchronicity experience and again realize that my major pathway into the unconscious is dreams. My recent post about the Tree Goddess came from a dream, and as I explored the dream, I could see how the image guides my life–but I wouldn’t call it synchronicity. More intuition. Or maybe I need to broaden my definitions.
Each time I dare to open the manila file of letters Vic wrote to me (pre-computer plus handwritten notes), I receive a message, usually something I need to take in right then. It takes so much energy and emotional effort (translate that into tears) to go through those old letters, so I tend to avoid or read one at a time. I just rearranged furniture in my house, so maybe when I take that file out of the box and refile it in its new location, I’ll dare to read a letter or two. If it contains a synchronicity, I’ll let you know. It amazes me that I haven’t re-read all those letters, but I hesitate. It has something to do with re-opening the wounds–the very place where we find synchronicity. Reading your piece may be the impetus I need.
Thank you, Elaine. I think your uncanny ability to see, face and live with your pain and suffering while knowing when it’s good for you to revisit them and when it isn’t, is an example of benevolent consciousness.
I think that your respectful and accepting attitude toward your “tests” shows a great deal of faith in spirit and psyche.
I think that if you’re not noticing many synchronicities at the moment it may be because your cochlear implant requires so much emotional energy that you are choosing not to open old wounds that will simply create more suffering than you can healthily bear.
I think that’s a wise and benevolent way to treat yourself, and not an indication that you lack faith in spirit and psyche….if that’s what you’re suggesting. Staying connected is always hardest for me when I’m feeling ill. Perhaps it’s enough that we recognize our limitations and don’t beat ourselves over the head about them. Even Jesus said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” I think that staying fully connected all the time is the hardest thing in the world for humans, especially during our “tests.”
I think that when your current tests abate you’ll revisit Vic’s letters out of a strong felt need to, not because you think you should, and when that happens, you’ll experience more synchronicities and feel the spiritual connection all over again.
I think you’re amazing.
Jeanie