Synchronicity

Carl Jung’s theory of Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle is defined as the “…occurrence of a certain psychic state with one or more external events which appear as meaningful parallels to the momentary subjective state…” Fundamental to this proposal, developed with physicist Wolfgang Pauli, is the profound assertion that the acausal nature of synchronicity is “equal in rank to causality as a principle of explanation” (Jung, 1960, pp. 435,441). The epistemology of this concept is explored via literature review. Its healing value in diverse psychotherapeutic modalities ranging from analytical to indigenous is also delineated. Special attention is devoted to the connection between purported healing attributes of synchronicity and spiritual recovery from addictive process disorders and other maladies of post- modern life

In Search of Lost Meaning: Peter Zumthor Architecture
This study is a critical assessment of meaning, its role in architectural
design and its unusual production in Peter Zumthor’s architectural practice.
Architecture contains inevitably always a fictive side. Spaces, created to
serve different events/actions or even when their purpose is just mere
representation, produce multi-dimensional realities of experience. If
architecture attempts to ignore/hide its fictive side, problems start to occur.
When meaning becomes somewhat of a goal that architecture attempts to produce through models, the result is always a kind of simulation; a
familiar concept from formalism. On the other hand some buildings do not claim to make a statement but they express their meaning just through their “existence”. Since mans rather limited ability to experience and to express his experience stipulates him to establish a coalescing relationship with any given or re-produced temporality and every other dimension of space; the architecture that he is able define through this relationship proves its capacity to produce a “difference”. When the semantic coherencies in harmony with the architectural object itself, we experience an architecture synchronous with its own internal structure and ontological position. Peter Zumthor falls into this category; the loss and rediscovery of meaning lies within the synchronicity of his design. This architecture too, has a fictive side, but instead of denying, it glorifies this fiction.

Translation and interpretation of Paul Kammerer's 1919 Das Gesetz Der Serie, its implications and applications from chaos and complexity theory to multiple aspects of anomalism and the generally ineffable...co-authored with Robert Schmidt, copyright 1991-2014...introduction only...
The complete text has now been uploaded and available here as Cause and Coincidence: The Serial Structure of Reality, q.v....

Among homeopaths the common idea about a working hypothesis for homeopathic effects seems to be that, during the potentization process, 'information' or 'energy' is being preserved or even enhanced in homeopathic remedies. The organism is said to be able to pick up this information, which in turn will stimulate the organism into a self-healing response. According to this view the decisive element of homeopathic therapy is the remedy which locally contains and conveys this information. I question this view for empirical and theoretical reasons. Empirical research has shown a repetitive pattern, in fundamental and clinical research alike: there are many anomalies in high-dilution research and clinical homeopathic trials which will set any observing researcher thinking. But no single paradigm has proved stable enough in order to produce repeatable results independent of the researcher. I conclude that the database is too weak and contradictory to substantiate a local in...

This book of expert essays explores the concept of the whole as it
operates within the psychology of Jung, the philosophy of
Deleuze, and selected areas of wider twentieth-century Western
culture, which provided the context within which these two
seminal thinkers worked.
Addressing this topic from a variety of perspectives and
disciplines and with an eye to contemporary social, political, and
environmental crises, the contributors aim to clarify some of the
epistemological and ethical issues surrounding attempts, such as
those of Jung and Deleuze, to think in terms of the whole,
whether the whole in question is a particular bounded system
(such as an organism, person, society, or ecosystem) or, most
broadly, reality as a whole.

"Wenn es nicht eine gigantische Verschwörung gibt, an der ungefähr dreißig Universitäts-institute in der ganzen Welt beteiligt sind und mehrere hochgeachtete Wissenschaftler in verschiedenen Gebieten (von denen viele ursprünglich den Behauptungen der Parapsycho-logie ablehnend gegenüberstanden), bleibt nur die Schlussfolgerung für den vorurteilsfreien Beurteiler übrig, dass es eine kleine Anzahl von Menschen geben muss, die Informationen über psychische Inhalte anderer Menschen oder über äußere Sachverhalte auf Wegen erhalten, die der Wissenschaft noch unbekannt sind. Anschließend bestätigte Dr. Konecci, dass sich sowohl die NASA als auch die Sowjetische Akademie der Wissenschaften aktiv an der Untersuchung telepathischer Phänomene beteiligten (die er bescheiden mit "Energieübertragung" oder "psycho-physiologischen Informationsübertragung" umschrieb). Er fügte hinzu: "Diese höchst bedeutsame Studie des Office of Advanced Research and Technology beschäftigt sich mit der Funktion der psycho-physiologischen Systeme der Informationsaufnahme,-verarbeitung und-kontrolle." Dass die ASW (Aussersinnliche Wahrnehmung) durch elektromagnetische Wellen übertragen wird, ist, wie wir sehen werden, eine höchst unwahrscheinliche Hypothese. Trotzdem: Es bleibt-mit Warren Weavers Worten-das "fast schon peinliche Unbehagen" an der Telepathie und an verwandten Phänomenen nicht nur in den Köpfen der skeptischen Opposition bestehen, sondern auch in den Köpfen derer, die widerstrebend zur Anerkennung der Tatsächlichkeit dieser Phänomene gebracht wurden-sei es durch experimentelle Beweise, sei es unter dem Eindruck von persönlichen Erfahrungen oder durch beides. Der Standpunkt legt eine streng orthodoxe, induktive Schlussfolgerung dar; und gerade das überzeugte so viele Skeptiker, insbesondere Physiker, dass ASW harte Realität ist. Die Antizufallswahrscheinlichkeiten, wie sie die Experimente von Rhine und seinen britischen Nachfolgern zeigten, erreichten in der Tat astronomische Zahlen-in der Größenordnung von Millionen, und sogar noch höher. Somit hätte nach den Spielregeln der exakten Wissen-schaften die Frage "Existiert ASW?" geklärt sein und die Diskussion des nächsten Problems "Wie funktioniert sie?" beginnen können. Und dennoch blieb das Unbehagen bestehen. ... Selbst die enthusiastischen Versuchspersonen zeigten gegen Ende einer jeden Sitzung ein deutliches Absinken der Trefferquote, und nach einigen Wochen oder Monaten intensiven Experimentierens verloren die meisten von ihnen ihre besondere Gabe ganz und gar. Anderer-seits wurde dieser "Absinkungseffekt" (vom Anfang bis Ende einer Sitzung) als zusätzlicher Beweis dafür angesehen, dass irgendein im Menschen gelegener Faktor die Trefferzahlen beeinflusste und nicht der pure Zufall. Angenommen nun, die Versuchsperson rät zweiundzwanzig statt zwanzigmal richtig, so wird darüber niemand in Aufregung geraten. Das Experiment wird fortgesetzt, bis die Versuchs-person eintausend Nennungen abgegeben hat-und wieder, nehmen wir an, sei ihre Treffer-leistung um zehn Prozent höher als die Zufallserwartung: sie erzielt also zweihundertzwanzig Treffer statt zweihundert. Nun beträgt die Wahrscheinlichkeit dafür, dass dieses nicht durch Zufall aufgetreten ist, sechs zu eins, wie die allgemein anerkannte Wahrscheinlichkeits

Il principio sincronico viene qui mostrato come figlio dell'exaíphnes platonico, che è archetipo del tempo e dell'eternità. In questa ottica, il rigore e l'appassionata spregiudicatezza delle riflessioni psico-fisico-logiche di Jung e Pauli su sincronicità ed entanglement ci prospettano la possibilità di cogliere l'unità numinosa di psyche e physis secondo un'inedita economia "temporale", l'attimalità anaionica e acronica.

Every now and then, we all have experiences that seem too meaningful to be chance but that we can't explain in any normal way. Now, philosopher Sharon Hewitt Rawlette tackles some of the hardest questions surrounding such "coincidences." For instance,

--How can we tell whether a coincidence is too improbable to be just chance?
--Is there any hard evidence that coincidences convey genuine messages from God or our deceased loved ones?
--Do ordinary people have the psychic ability to create coincidences, for themselves or others?
--Why do coincidences sometimes harm or deceive?

Rawlette brings together an immense body of research and personal experience that clearly points to a meaningful reality beyond the bounds of current science and at the same time demonstrates both the promise and peril of interpreting coincidences as signs from above. Rigorously paradigm-shattering, this volume will leave skeptics and believers alike ruminating for years to come.

This paper is an attempt to expand the Orion Correlation Theory, the decades old theory of Rober Bauval, in which he related the 3 major pyramids in Giza with the three belt stars of the constellation Orion, following the ancient Egyptian dictum, “As above, so below.”

In the form of a travelogue narrative, the author shows that all the major stars making up the constellation of Orion have a corresponding locus on Egyptian soil, one to which the paper attributes ancient Egyptian intent, or modern mystic guidance from the "Alpha and Omega" a term the author uses for divine guidance.

It is thus obvious that this is not strictly a "scientific" academic article. It is a travelogue of the author's attempt to pursue the extension of the Orion Correlation Theory. By documenting what transpired in this pursuit, intended to be scientific, the "nonscientific" aspects of divine guidance and synchronicity were not discounted. This documentation, then, leads to some powerful real-world conclusions.

Carl Gustav Jung, psychiatre suisse collaborateur de Freud dont il s'est dissocié, est l'auteur du concept de synchronicité définit comme une coïncidence de faits simultanés survenant sans lien causal mais liés entre eux par le sens. La synchronicité se distingue du simple synchronisme par cette parenté de sens qui offre à celui qui l'expérimente un éclairage nouveau sur son vécu. Le concept de synchronicité présuppose que l'univers est régi par un principe d'unité que C.G.Jung appelle l'unus mundus. En vertu de cette unité, nous sommes engagés, par l'entremise de l'inconscient, dans un dialogue avec l'univers qui nous entoure. L'inconscient suscite des coïncidences qui nous révèlent qui nous sommes et font écho à nos questions les plus intimes. Temps, espace, et conscience se font complices dans la synchronicité, nous donnant ainsi l'impression saisissante qu'un Sens plus grand que notre moi nous interpelle, nous indique la voie à suivre et nous éclaire dans nos décisions. Nous avons tous vécu ce genre de coïncidences inexplicables par le simple hasard. Cet article résume la théorie de C.G.Jung sur ce phénomène qu'il nomme la synchronicité et sur son rôle dans le développement psychique et la prise de conscience du Soi. Abstract Carl Gustav Jung, Swiss psychiatrist, Freud's collaborator from whom he parted, is the author of the concept of synchronicity. It is defined as a coincidence of simultaneous facts, occurring without causal connection, but linked together through meaning. Synchronicity is different from simple synchronism because of this meaningful connection, offering those who experience it, new insights about their life.

Jung coined the term "synchronicity" to refer to personally-meaningful coincidences which give the impression of revealing an "acausal orderedness." Lacan formalized the distinction between the registers of the Imaginary, Symbolic and the Real—with synchronicity occurring when the Real overlaps with the Imaginary in such a way as to elevate mundane reality to the level of the numinous. This essay explores the notion of coincidence as guiding light, orienting and reorienting us on our journeys away from outmoded beliefs and into new ways of living.

Seit einigen Jahren nimmt das Interesse am Begriff der Synchronizität zu. Der Begriff wird damit verstärkt kontrovers diskutiert. Der vorliegende Text sucht dessen philosophische und psychologischen Wurzeln auf und zeichnet nach, wie Jung zur Idee seiner revolutionären Begriffsbildung kam. Dazu gehört eine kritische Analyse dessen, wie sich bei Jung das Verständnis dessen, was er mit Synchronizität umschrieb, im Laufe von über 30 Jahren verändert hat. Dies ist nicht nur von begriffshistorischem, sondern auch von therapeutischem Interesse, insbesondere für Themen wie Sinn und Zeit.

A fictional work has various perspectives that are indispensable to construct a particular possible world.  The reader is supposed to surmise the principle mechanism that is associated with all the elements of the fictional world, together with the semantic extension behind the individual events.  In some speculative works those world axes can be quite different from the ones that establish our own phenomenal world.  But authors with very reflective turn sometimes attempt to create a quite vague fictional world that will not disclose its genre peculiarity easily, by means of presenting only limited number of information that may suggest the existence of world axes, in order to give the audience the feeling that they are witnessing just only partial phase of an unknown world.  Such is the directing strategy adopted in the anime show, Madlax.
In Madlax, the audience has to gather information through the characteristic property of the minutely detailed descriptions portrayed just as coincidental phenomena.  A fictional work has the creative demand to be adopted as constructing a peculiar “fictional meaning” through a series of events that scientific view of the world might just dispose of as “mere coincidence”.  The claim of detecting the fundamental meaning that has been orchestrated in the contingency in fictional description, reversely suggests the existence of a comprehensive global solution formula to be accepted by introducing an unknown mechanism, that enables us to comprehend the organic continuum of the whole universe where matter and mind are inseparably linked.
But the fictional world Madlax presents, is densely organized with rich “hyper-real” concrete details, so as to avoid being determined easily as the semantic projection incorporated into existing conceptual category, and establishes the sense that the work must belong to some unknown category with the basic axes loaded with uncertainties of another possible world.  The audience is forced to continue to check the fictional specific phenomena full of contaminants revealed one by one, without being able to corroborate the coordinate origin, in search of unified meaning all the way through.  But one is never sure whether the show is attempting to present a meta subject overthrowing the conventional commitments of reading the implicit meaning in the work, or establishing another meta subject that an integrated meaning construction of further high-dimensional perspective is to be disclosed.
In Madlax, genre axes are dislocated so as to annihilate the distinction of existence, phenomenon and individuality.  This anime surprisingly innovates the motif of division of personality and generation of shadow adopted in many fantasy works since 19th century, in a manner very reflective of contemporary worldview infused with the ideas that construct the quantum physics.

Based on his dreams and visions, Wolfgang Pauli, the co-founder of quantum physics and Nobel Prize laureate in 1945, believed that, symbolically speaking, he carried both Johannes Kepler, the founder of modern natural science, and Robert Fludd, the hermetic alchemist and magician, within himself. Moreover, he was convinced that it was his task to resolve the conflict between these two contradictory world views, natural science on the one hand, and the magical hermetic-alchemical one on the other

Can one really claim to be devoted to science without being fastidious about facts? Who would take a contractor seriously who boasted of building the finest quality homes in town but was notorious for cutting corners on materials to save money and increase his profit margin? Isn't it the same sort of thing building arguments upon supposed facts you got wrong because you failed to look them up? These are the questions I often find myself puzzling over when reading the energetic bloviations of atheist apologists like Richard Dawkins. In his illuminating book The Science Delusion, the atheist writer Curtis White accuses Richard Dawkins, and another atheist writer of similar notoriety, of missing the point that "their critics are not only talking about their scholarly limitations but about their errors, errors that a more informed or careful critic wouldn't make…". 1 My purpose here is to examine a single, rather striking, example of the kinds of errors White describes.

In 1978, the Grateful Dead traveled to Egypt for three historic shows at the Giza Sound and Light Theater beside the Sphinx at the foot of the Great Pyramid during an eclipse. The eclipse itself marks the climax of many synchronicities that led the Dead to and through Egypt. But this eclipse also held cosmic, mythological, and ritual significance unfathomed by the band. This immensity was felt by the band, crew, and audience at the time of the performance: profound, yet mysterious. The profundity of the trip added a vital and dynamic facet to the Grateful Dead’s always evolving identity, spawning new rhythms and tones in their music, and inspiring artists to add Egyptian-inflected images to their iconography. For decades, the trip and its mysteries have captivated the imaginations of band members, artists, and fans alike. Eventually the trip’s allure led bassist Phil Lesh to look further into the mysterious aspects of the event. In his book, Searching for the Sound (2005), Lesh reveals that he "stumbled upon... the astronomical and spiritual meaning behind the myth of Osiris and discovered that [the Grateful Dead] had played a role in the return of the gods." Lesh’s explanation is tantalizingly mystical and deliberately opaque; yet it gestures towards a hidden meaning beyond its opacity. That gesture confirms a deeper profundity to the Egypt trip, and suggests that the interested reader might pursue that insight themselves. The path to that insight leads down a trail that is stranger than fiction. It positions the Grateful Dead at the intersection of mythology and reality, playing a key role in a tale that unfolds over millennia, spanning multiple continents, and aligning at one particular moment in time: beside the Sphinx, at the foot of the Great Pyramid, under a lunar eclipse, on September 16, 1978.

www.ryanslesinger.com/grateful-dead-in-egypt

One of the most prospective directions of study of C.G. Jung’s synchronicity phenomenon
is reviewed considering the latest achievements of modern science. The attention is
focused mainly on the quantum entanglement and related phenomena – quantum
coherence and quantum superposition. It is shown that the quantum non-locality capable
of solving the Einstein-Podolsky-Rosen paradox represents one of the most adequate
physical mechanisms in terms of conformity with the Jung’s synchronicity hypothesis. An
attempt is made on psychophysiological substantiation of synchronicity within the context
of molecular biology. An original concept is proposed, stating that biological molecules
involved in cell division during mitosis and meiosis, particularly DNA may be considered
material carriers of consciousness. This assumption may be formulated on the basis of
phenomenology of Jung’s analytical psychology

Synchronicity is a term originated by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl. G. Jung that attempts to explain the paradoxical occurrence of events that are tied together without obvious cause but have intrinsic meaning to the person experiencing them. Jung said, "(Synchronicity is) the coincidence in time of two or more causally unrelated events which have the same meaning." (Peat, n.d.). An example would be thinking of someone when suddenly the phone rings and it is them, or perhaps considering a new course of action and finding that very endeavor mentioned repeatedly in conversations, on TV or in the news.

Ziel dieses Papiers ist es, den Jungschen Begriff der Synchronizität als Theorie bildende Metapher aus dem rein psychischen Bereich herauszuholen, um ihn auch in anderen Bereichen einzuführen. Dazu werden zunächst die Verbindungen zwischen den physikalischen Begriffen der Komplementarität und Kausalität dargestellt, um dann eine Beschreibung der Synchronizität zu versuchen, die sich stark an diese beiden durch die Quantenphysik geprägten Begriffe anlehnt. Die Beschreibung wird mit Beispielen unterfüttert. Darüber hinaus wird die Bedeutung von Synchronizitäten für die Kreativität herausgearbeitet und deren strukturierenden Funktionen im Unus Mundus beschrieben. Die vorliegende Abhandlung ist auf naturwissenschaftlichem Hintergrund entstanden und versucht so eine modifizierte Sichtweise auf die Begriff Synchronizität und Unus Mundus. Synchronicity The aim of this paper is to show that Jung's notions of synchronicity and the unus Mundus can be used as metaphors for other theories than psychology as well. To achieve this, the close correspondence between synchronicity and the quantum mechanical notions of complementarity and causality will be shown together with a comprehensive list of examples to illustrate the wide range of the synchronicity concept from physics, the individuation process, to history of science, politics and biology. This paper arose against a scientific backdrop and thus can be considered as an attempt to approach synchronicity and unus mundus from an altered perspective.

As a Tarot card reader the question of authenticity is an important one. The scientific scepticism and theological prejudice that both tarot reading and divination in general endure, often exists as a ‘hangover from history’ - a negative position inherited by people today regardless of their religious beliefs or scientific credentials. For such people the authenticity of Tarot cards and tarot ‘reading’ may well be difficult to prove. Yet regardless of the historical consensus, Tarot reading does still retain a place in modern popular culture for those intrigued by the divinatory act and its potential revelations. The irony of the sceptical position may be seen in the history and evolution of ‘divinatory consciousness’, in the movement away from the ancient world’s obsession with uncovering the ‘will of the Gods’, to what divination actually reveals for us here today. Those willing to take a seat in front of a Tarot card reader will often wait nervously in anticipation for the latest update, not from Zeus but on what is perhaps the modern minds most beloved subject - themselves!

Carl Jung and Wolfang Pauli called synchronicities the meaningful coincidences that reveal a deep interconnection between mind and outside events. Dubbed 'acausal', this interconnection seems to develop independently of Newtonian space-time and to transcend causal mechanisms.
The Semantic Fields Theory (SFT) views the mind as a complex Mind-Body-Psyche system, that is, a lattice comprising numerous dynamical networks, called Semantic Constellations (or SeCos). SFT further poses that the mind (the SeCos) instantiates specific nonlocal dynamics and properties, and pertains to a global semantic dimension. The semantic dimension, non-dependent of space-time, can only be described by semantic parameters, one of which, semantic proximity, allows network linkage between minds independently of distance, thus basing a low-level, mostly unconscious, exchange of psi information between them.
All material or living systems are endowed with a semantic organizational level, that is, a semantic field. Consequently the mind-matter problem is recast in the interaction between the mind’s semantic field (the SeCos) and matter’s semantic fields. In SFT, a single ‘connective dynamic,’ independent of space-time and therefore nonlocal, creates spontaneous linkages between distant semantic fields, thus instantiating both an exchange of information and an (acausal) inter-influence. This nonlocal dynamical interconnection, fuelled with the organizing force of consciousness, offers a theoretical basis for synchronicities. Thus the mind-brain is in continuous nonlocal interconnection, at a deep level, with other minds (the collective unconscious) and the environment (the Earth and Gaia).

The article brings to light many points of agreement between Jungian psychology and the Neoplatonic worldview of Late Antiquity. Also the worldview of Emanuel Swedenborg is compared with Jungian ideas. Swedenborg ought to be regarded as Jung's true spiritual father. The technique of active imagination, practiced by Swedenborg and Jung, is reevaluated. The ideal of worldly fulfilment is criticized. The idealistic world of Neoplatonism belongs in the unconscious, but not in the outer world.

Keywords: Neoplatonism, Swedenborg, Proclus, C.G. Jung, unus mundus, active imagination, synchronicity, correspondence, spiritual influx, analytical psychology.

Having previously read Freud's cold clinical analysis of the uncanny, or what Jung would term  as synchronicity, I felt that Freud too swiftly condemns synchronous events which stir our unconscious mind as coincidence and the result of an over active 'subconscious'. Jung and his associates approach, on the other hand, through exploration of what they have termed the 'unconscious' mind is much a more accepting attitude to these symbols and archetypes which dwell and influence us through our unconscious mind.

http://www.whenthenewsstops.org/2012/07/man-and-his-symbols-by-carl-g-jung.html

Parapsychology plays a major role in Arthur Koestler’s life: not only did he entertain a life-long interest in parapsychology, he wrote several books or book-chapters on parapsychology and/or related topics, and he bequeathed the major portion of his estate to parapsychology by endowing a chair at a university.
Parapsychology, on the other hand, has a poor reputation among the ill-informed of the scientific community, and there are many misconceptions and misunderstandings about parapsychology within the public at large.  Thus it may not be inappropriate to commence by a short chapter on what parapsychology is, and, perhaps more importantly, was parapsychology not is.

Master's Thesis. Grade: 12 (A).
Why do people experience that drinking a psychedelic brew teaches them about themselves? If the visions that people see are “hallucinations”, then how can it teach them anything about reality? This was the initial wonderment that inspired this thesis entitled The Reality of Illusion and the Illusion of Reality ‒ An Anthropological Study of Entheogenic Ceremonies in a Dutch Spiritual Group. The thesis explores the understandings of consciousness, soul and reality among members of the spiritu-al group called ‘Ontmoeting met jezelf’ (i.e. OMJ, Dutch for ‘Meeting with yourself’).
OMJ is a less dogmatic branch of the Brazilian Santo Daime Church. The group con-ducts ceremonies consuming the sacrament Daime ‒ a plant medicine with entheogenic properties. The psychedelic brew creates altered states of consciousness including hallucinations that some experience as divine visions. The thesis is based upon three-and-a-half months of fieldwork among OMJ participants in the Netherlands including participant observation at 11 ceremonies, 21 inter-views and two focus group interviews. The thesis seeks to answer the questions:
With a specific focus on their concepts of ‘consciousness’ and ‘soul’, what is the spiritual group ‘Ontmoeting met jezelf’s’ cosmological understanding of reality and how does this understanding guide their ‘lifeworld’? How can an analysis of their cosmology contribute to an expanded anthro-pological understanding of the human condition, including the use of Daime in a ceremonial con-text, and as part of an anthropological methodology?
The introduction gives an overview of the empirical field and theoretical context of the so-called ‘ontological turn’, while challenging the anthropological tradition of ‘methodological atheism’. Chapter One details the course of a ceremony, introduces the topic of altered states of consciousness, and explores the identities and experiences of the Daimistas – people who drink the Daime. It also investigates the empirical phenomenon of ‘synchronicity’ and argues for a transition to a ‘post-materialist’ paradigm when studying spiritual phenomena. The second chapter investi-gates OMJ’s ‘cosmology’ evolving within the group based on their Daime experiences. The histori-cal influences of Catholicism, shamanism and other esoteric traditions are also considered, which leads to the concepts of ‘perspectivism’ and ‘multinaturalism’ (Viveiros de Castro) to create a theo-retical framework for understanding the ‘cosmology’ in focus. The concept of ‘liminality’ (V. Turner) is shown to be applicable to the ceremonies, as a state the Daimistas learn to master, rather than a naturally given part of a ritual. The third chapter investigates how the ‘lifeworld’ of the Daimistas are influenced by ‘moral practice’ in their daily lives beyond the ceremonies. The fourth
chapter explores data gathering and discusses methodologies for a better understanding of mystical phenomena, experienced as ‘acausal’ and non-logical by participants. It is the author’s belief that anthropology is hampered by ‘methodological atheism’ and should aspire to a ‘decolonization of thought’ (Viveiros de Castro); and when the empirical reality allows, take a ‘leap of faith’ (Kierke-gaard) in order to create the ‘wonderment’ (Scott) that destabilises Western scientific “truths” that only encompass a limited version of the broad variety of the experiences of what reality is.
Finally, OMJ is shown to be a spiritual group with a non-dogmatic cosmology with ‘perspectivist’ traits. Based on ‘holistic experiences’ in the ceremonies, in which the Daimistas ex-perience that everything is interconnected, the subject is understood as ultimately decentralised. Thus the ceremonies in their essence are concerned with the purification of the attendees for the goal of reaching a state of being that is closer to the divine.
It might be an ultimately impossible task to perfectly translate spiritual experiences of a mystical character into a rationalistic theoretical framework. Nonetheless, it is concluded that an-thropology should attempt this, since the aim of understanding ‘the other’ is a prime goal of our discipline. Thus anthropology can contribute to science at large by creating scholarly wonderment and destabilizing scientific truths.

Depth psychology cannot compensate for the loss of spiritual tradition, nor can God make his abode in the psyche. Today, spiritual symbols are often misinterpreted in psychological terms. To remedy this, psychological theory must be developed to accommodate spiritual transcendence as complementary to psychology’s worldly perspective. The path of worldly withdrawal and spiritual contemplation is equally important as cultural expression and the psychic integration of the unconscious. The article discusses various spiritual traditions and takes a critical look at the Hermetic tradition. The nature of faith is discussed.

Keywords : religiosity, faith, Neoplatonism, Hermeticism, metaphorical unconscious, mysticism, Wasteland, animism, synchronicity, Baining people, Pseudo-Dionysius, Kirpal Singh, Carl Jung, David Tacey.

This article explores the connections between the Classic of Changes (Yijing) and analytical psychology (fenxi xinlixue) in contemporary China. With the spread of Western modern science in late imperial China, old Chinese words were combined to create new terms that stood for new imported fields of study. This process enabled a mutual influence between the traditional indigenous concepts and modern ones, as well as the adoption of the “Chinese origins of Western learning” (Xixue Zhongyuan) formula as a paradigm for cross-cultural understanding. Taking the works of contemporary Jungian analysts Shen Heyong and Gao Lan as primary sources, it will be argued that in post-socialist China a similar trend can be observed in relation to the recovering of the Classic of Changes in connection to the spread of analytical psychology. This resulted in a dialogic hybridisation of Western and Chinese terms, which will finally be shown in relation to Jung’s theory of ‘synchronicity’ and the traditional indigenous notion of ‘harmonious unity of man with Heaven’ (tian ren heyi).

Data driven, criteria-based science on dream-like experiences, spiritual emergence processes, and the Jungian concept of synchronicity is presented in a hermeneutic literature review and multiple case studies, based on a recent dissertation from Saybrook University, San Francisco.  The article covers as well some of the experiential and personal accounts of the above phenomena according to the study participants, and certain philosophical and theoretical aspects of Jungian hermeneutics.

This presentation will trace the arc of the Jungian process of synchronicity exploring its depth in the cosmic Self. It will focus on the dynamic of the psyche as (ProcessMind) field and the unus mundi. Synchronicity has a “vertical” and “horizontal” depth integrating all awareness a-temporally/a-spatially/a-locally. This theme will be developed through personal, sentient experience, including examples of synchronicity—e.g., an out of body experience, significant dreams and foretelling’s.
The last part of the paper will explore how synchronicity is integral and a leap into a new cosmic awareness that is also a responsibility for the individual. I will also look at how synchronicity is seen as subjective from the currently predominant Mental-Rational consciousness, but is integrally connected across the cosmic field, as Jung would see it from a magic/mythic/mental awareness. Jung’s subjective focus goes beyond the subjective, the psyche, in its presencing with the field of the unus mundi.

Unlike his dream theory and theory of archetypes, Carl Jung's notion of synchronicity hasn't met with success. The metaphysical system surrounding the hypothesis includes notions of supernaturalism (transcendence). This is a religio-philosophical viewpoint, rather than a scientific. The deleterious consequences are obvious. It undermines scientific respectability, promotes superstition, and has kindled obsolete polytheistic ideas in the post-Jungians. There is to date no scientific evidence to support synchronicity. But the strongest argument against the synchronistic notion is the fact that it hasn't proved helpful in any respect. Jung's unitarian model of the human Self is criticized. The Self really consists of two complementary aspects, a worldly and a spiritual. It is akin to the Christological notion of hypostasis. This would call for an altered view of reality, according to a paradigm of "dual wholeness".

Keywords: meaningful coincidence, archetype, unus mundus, psychoid, transcendental, polytheism, hypostatic union, Platonism, complementarian self.

Theoretical approaches in parapsychology: Chaired symposium at the combined 58th Annual Convention of the Parapsychological
Association and 39th International Society for Psychical Research Annual Conference, University of Greenwich, 16-19th July.

Mario P. Varvoglis & Peter Bancel - Micro-psychokinesis: Exceptional or universal?

John Palmer - Synchronicity and psi: A controlled comparison

George Williams - Are different standards warranted to evaluate psi?

Robert Fludd (1574-1637) was a physician from England who wrote expansive books on nearly every subject of human inquiry. In these works are beautiful copperplate engravings that are easily recognized as the hieroglyphic illustrations of Fludd's visual alchemy. Drawing from his richly detailed polemic with Johannes Kepler, this article examines Fludd's pictures in the context of 17th century science. My goal is to clarify the nuances of Fludd's syncretic philosophy with the help of a number of recent studies.

In this lecture, I show my path to what I call synchronistic living. It was many synchronicities that led me on this path. In other words, they spoke out of themselves and thus showed me that instead of causally, thanks to the will, one can shape one's life based on meaningful coincidences thanks to "preconscious knowledge" (C.G. Jung) and thus grow into one's destiny. The first transformation of consciousness consists is renouncing personal will and thus finding out what destiny wants from one. "Become who you are".

This essay is an exposition of the inner journey through the unconscious and the process of self-realization. The sections in this essay are: the inner journey, the hero’s journey, the psyche, the call, dark night of the soul, dream symbols, individuation, the Self, synchronicity and Self-realization.

This article follows a first presentation of the 'dance steps' between therapist and client, which appeared in the Spring 2017 issue of this journal, and gives a clinical example of how this phenomenological and aesthetic observational tool works in practice. The research path of the tool is also sketched. This contribution is presented in the frame of reference of psychotherapists' political and social response-ability today. For the author, a main clinical problem today derives from the lack of recognition from the other, which makes bodily desensitisation evident in our clients. This brings Gestalt therapists to focus on the reciprocity of their interactions with clients, instead of on how the client makes contact, because there, in the actual dance between them, is the possibility of revitalising the contact boundary, where the self is co-created.

Clinical Parapsychology: Extrasensory Exceptional Experiences is a graduate-level textbook designed to facilitate more reliable diagnosis, classification, treatment, and research. It is designed for clinicians, educators, and researchers challenged with investigating into the nature of distressing extrasensory (psychic) exceptional experiences. This textbook assists in interpreting extrasensory experiences reported in a wide diversity of context that are often viewed as religious, spiritual, anomalous, or transpersonal, and that vary greatly in subjective experience. This textbook is a valuable resource for both students and experienced professionals and is designed to be utilized by both individuals and educational institutions. Part I: Diagnosis (Differential & Co-Diagnosis), Part II: Classification (Dimensional & Categorical), Part III: Treatment Options (Recovery & Prevention), and Part IV: Research Methods & Measures.

The article investigates the Neoplatonic Self notion. In the historical record the ideal of personality and the psychological notion of Self have taken many forms. Also the modern ideals of Self are discussed and criticized, such as the 'puer aeternus' (eternal youth) and the 'primal' or 'uroboric' Self. The author argues that Carl Jung's notion of Self is one-sidedly immanent—there is also a transcendental aspect of Self. In the heated debate between Porphyry and Iamblichus, both were right in their own way.

Keywords: Plotinus, Neoplatonism, primary narcissism, grandiose self, ego-Self axis, Erich Neumann, Michael Fordham, psychoanalysis, puer aeternus, Romantic era.