Theos-Talk Archives (February 1995 Message tl00084)

Hi all,

        AB wrote:

> The title of Jung's book, so far as I recall, is "Synchronicity,
> an acausal connecting principle."

        Yes, that is basically correct (a ":" instead of the ","
     though :-) )

> It would be helpful perhaps if someone could upload Jung's own
> definition as given in his book, by way of a citation.  I would
> do this, but I parted with my copy some years ago.

        From the Bollingen Series, the Princeton/Bollingen
        Paperback edition, translated by R.F.C.  Hull, and
        published in 1973 (cita- tion quoted without the author's
        ;-), translator's, or publisher's permission :-( ):

        Page 25, paragraph 850 --

               Synchronicity therefore means the simultane-
               ous occurrence of a certain psychic state
               with one or more external events which appear
               as meaningful parallels to the momentary sub-
               jective state -- and, in certain cases, vice
               versa. ...

        And from page 29, paragraph 855, the 11th line on the
        page --

               ... In all these cases ... we find a simul-
               taneity of the normal or ordinary state with
               another state or experience which is not
               causally derivable from it, and whose objec-
               tive experience can only be verified after-
               wards.  This definition must be borne in mind
               particularly when it is a question of future
               events.  They are evidently not *synchronous*
               but are *synchronistic*, since they are ex-
               perienced as psychic images *in the present*,
               as though the objective event already exist-
               ed.  An unexpected content which is directly
               or indirectly connected with some objective
               external event coincides with the ordinary
               psychic state: this is what I call synchroni-
               city, and I maintain that we are dealing with
               exactly the same category of events whether
               their objectivity appears separated from my
               consciousness in space or in time. ...

        I hope this is what was desired and I hope I don't get
        flamed or sued for posting excerpts from copyrighted
        material.  :-) May you grok it in fullness ...

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