Synchronicity as Divine Intervention: When Myths Speak

BY NICOLE LAU

You dream of a scarab beetle, and the next day a rare scarab-like insect taps on your window during therapy (Jung's actual experience). You're thinking of someone you haven't seen in years, and they call moments later. You're struggling with a decision, and you randomly open a book to the exact passage that answers your question. These are not coincidences—they're SYNCHRONICITIES, meaningful coincidences that reveal the hidden connection between psyche and matter, inner and outer, self and world. Jung called synchronicity an "acausal connecting principle"—events connected not by cause-and-effect but by MEANING. Synchronicity is the Self speaking through the world, the unconscious orchestrating outer events to match inner process, the moment when myths stop being stories and become LIVED REALITY. Understanding synchronicity transforms your relationship with reality—the world is not separate from your psyche, it's RESPONSIVE to it, speaking to you in symbols, guiding you through meaningful coincidences.

The Constant: The Unity of Psyche and World

Synchronicity validates a profound truth:

Psyche and matter are not separate—they're TWO ASPECTS of one reality.

Meaning connects events, not just causality—the universe is MEANINGFUL, not just mechanical.

The Self orchestrates synchronicities—they're not random, they're GUIDANCE.

When you're individuating, synchronicities INCREASE—the Self is actively guiding you.

This is Constant Unification Theory at the ontological level: Synchronicity, divine intervention in myths, the Tao's "way," karma, and meaningful coincidences in your life are not different—they're all expressions of the same invariant constant: reality is fundamentally MEANINGFUL, and psyche and world are unified in a deeper order that transcends causality.

Jung's Synchronicity: The Concept

What Is Synchronicity?

Jung defined synchronicity as:

"The simultaneous occurrence of two meaningfully but not causally connected events."

Breaking It Down:

1. Simultaneous (or close in time):
- An inner event (thought, dream, feeling) and an outer event (something happens in the world)
- They occur at the same time or very close together

2. Meaningfully connected:
- The connection is through MEANING, not cause
- The inner and outer events MIRROR each other symbolically
- Example: You dream of death, and someone dies—not because your dream caused it, but because both express the same archetypal pattern

3. Not causally connected:
- There's no physical cause-and-effect
- Your thought didn't CAUSE the phone to ring
- Your dream didn't CAUSE the death
- The connection is ACAUSAL—beyond causality

The Acausal Connecting Principle:
- Jung proposed a FOURTH principle (alongside space, time, and causality)
- This principle is MEANING
- Events can be connected by meaning even without causal connection
- This is a radical claim—it challenges the materialist worldview

Jung's Scarab: The Classic Example

The Story:

Jung was treating a highly rational woman who was stuck in her analysis. She told him a dream:

The Dream: "I was given a golden scarab."

As she spoke, Jung heard a tapping on the window. He opened it, and a scarab-like beetle (a rose chafer, rare in Switzerland) flew in. He caught it and said to her:

"Here is your scarab."

The Result:
- The woman's rationalism BROKE
- She could no longer deny the irrational, the meaningful
- Her analysis progressed—she could now access the unconscious
- The synchronicity was the BREAKTHROUGH

The Analysis:
- Inner event: The dream of the scarab (symbol of rebirth in Egyptian mythology)
- Outer event: The actual scarab appearing
- Meaning: REBIRTH—her psyche needed to be reborn, to break through rationalism
- The Self orchestrated this synchronicity to facilitate her transformation

Types of Synchronicity

1. Coincidence of Inner and Outer Events

Example:
- You think of someone, they call
- You dream of a symbol, you see it the next day
- You're pondering a question, you randomly hear the answer

Meaning:
- The inner (thought, dream) and outer (call, symbol, answer) mirror each other
- This shows the UNITY of psyche and world

2. Precognitive Synchronicity

Example:
- You dream of an event, it happens later
- You have a premonition, it comes true
- You "know" something before it happens

Meaning:
- Time is not absolute—the psyche can access future events
- The unconscious is not bound by linear time
- This challenges our understanding of causality

3. Synchronicity with the Dead

Example:
- You dream of a deceased person, and learn they died at that moment
- You think of someone who died, and something of theirs appears
- A sign from the deceased appears at a meaningful moment

Meaning:
- The psyche is not limited to the living
- There's a connection beyond physical death
- The unconscious transcends individual boundaries

Synchronicity and the Self

The Self as Orchestrator:

Jung believed synchronicities are orchestrated by the SELF:

Why the Self Creates Synchronicities:

1. Guidance:
- The Self is guiding your individuation
- Synchronicities are MESSAGES, SIGNS, CONFIRMATIONS
- They show you you're on the right path (or warn you you're not)

2. Breakthrough:
- When you're stuck (like Jung's patient), the Self creates a synchronicity to BREAK THROUGH
- The synchronicity shatters your limited worldview
- It opens you to the irrational, the numinous, the unconscious

3. Compensation:
- If you're too one-sided (too rational, too material), the Self compensates
- Synchronicities remind you of the OTHER side—the irrational, the spiritual
- They restore balance

4. Confirmation:
- When you're individuating, synchronicities CONFIRM you're on track
- They're the Self saying "Yes, this is the way"
- They provide numinous validation

When Synchronicities Increase:
- During major life transitions
- During intense individuation work
- During crisis or breakthrough
- When you're aligned with the Self

Synchronicity in Myth and Religion

Synchronicity is the modern term for what myths call "divine intervention":

Greek Mythology: Divine Signs

Example:
- Odysseus prays for a sign, Zeus sends thunder
- A hero needs guidance, a god appears in disguise
- An omen appears at the crucial moment

Psychological Reading:
- The "gods" are archetypes, aspects of the Self
- The "signs" are synchronicities
- The myth is describing the same phenomenon Jung identified

Biblical: God's Providence

Example:
- Moses and the burning bush
- Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus
- The star guiding the Magi

Psychological Reading:
- "God" is the Self (the divine within)
- "Providence" is synchronicity
- The Self orchestrates events to guide the individual

Taoism: The Way

The Tao:
- "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao"
- The Tao is the underlying order, the way things naturally unfold
- Wu wei (non-action) = aligning with the Tao, letting synchronicity guide you

Psychological Reading:
- The Tao = the Self, the natural order of the psyche
- Wu wei = surrendering to the Self, following synchronicities
- Living in the Tao = living in alignment with synchronicity

Hinduism/Buddhism: Karma

Karma:
- Actions have consequences, but not just causal ones
- There's a MEANINGFUL connection between action and result
- The universe is morally/meaningfully ordered

Psychological Reading:
- Karma = synchronicity on a larger scale
- The meaningful connection between inner state and outer events
- What you are INSIDE manifests OUTSIDE (not causally, but synchronistically)

The I Ching and Synchronicity

Jung was fascinated by the I Ching (Book of Changes):

How the I Ching Works:
- You ask a question
- You throw coins or yarrow stalks (random process)
- The result gives you a hexagram
- The hexagram's meaning addresses your question

Why It Works (Jung's Explanation):
- The I Ching operates on SYNCHRONICITY, not causality
- Your inner state (the question) and the outer event (the coin toss) are MEANINGFULLY connected
- The hexagram that appears is the one you NEED, not by chance but by synchronicity
- The Self orchestrates the "random" result

Jung's Experiment:
- Jung consulted the I Ching about the I Ching itself
- He asked: "What do you think of my intention to present you to the Western world?"
- The hexagram: "The Cauldron" (transformation, nourishment)
- The judgment: "Supreme good fortune. Success."
- Jung took this as synchronistic confirmation

Recognizing Synchronicity

How to Know It's Synchronicity:

1. Numinosity:
- It feels SIGNIFICANT, charged with meaning
- You get chills, a sense of awe
- It's not just "oh, that's weird"—it's "this MATTERS"

2. Symbolic Resonance:
- The outer event MIRRORS the inner symbolically
- Not literal (you think of pizza, pizza arrives—that's just coincidence)
- But symbolic (you dream of rebirth, a scarab appears—that's synchronicity)

3. Timing:
- It happens at the EXACT right moment
- When you most need guidance, confirmation, breakthrough
- The timing is too perfect to be random

4. Impossibility:
- The odds are astronomically low
- It's so unlikely it can't be dismissed as chance
- Example: Jung's scarab in Switzerland in winter

5. Transformative Impact:
- It CHANGES you
- It breaks through your worldview
- It guides your next step
- It's not just interesting—it's INITIATORY

Working With Synchronicity

1. Pay Attention:
- Notice meaningful coincidences
- Don't dismiss them as "just chance"
- The Self is speaking—LISTEN

2. Record Them:
- Keep a synchronicity journal
- Write down the inner event and the outer event
- Reflect on the meaning
- Patterns will emerge

3. Ask for Guidance:
- You can ASK the Self for synchronistic guidance
- Pose a question, then pay attention
- The answer will come synchronistically
- This is how divination works (I Ching, Tarot, etc.)

4. Follow the Signs:
- When synchronicity points a direction, FOLLOW it
- The Self is guiding you
- Trust the process
- This is wu wei—aligning with the Tao

5. Don't Force It:
- You can't MAKE synchronicity happen
- You can only be OPEN to it
- Forcing it is ego—synchronicity comes from the Self
- Relax, trust, receive

The Danger: Synchronicity Inflation

Warning:

Synchronicity can lead to INFLATION if misunderstood:

Inflation:
- Seeing EVERYTHING as synchronicity
- "The universe is speaking to ME constantly"
- Ego identifying with the Self
- Losing grounding in reality

Healthy Synchronicity:
- Occasional, meaningful, numinous
- Guides but doesn't control
- Humbles the ego ("I'm being guided") rather than inflates it ("I'm special")

Unhealthy Synchronicity:
- Constant, obsessive, paranoid
- "Everything means something about ME"
- Ego inflation, loss of reality testing
- This is psychosis, not individuation

The Gift of Synchronicity

Understanding synchronicity transforms your worldview:

The world is not dead matter—it's ALIVE, MEANINGFUL, RESPONSIVE.

You're not separate from the world—psyche and matter are UNIFIED.

The Self guides you through synchronicity—you're not alone.

Myths are not just stories—they're PATTERNS that manifest in your life through synchronicity.

This is Constant Unification Theory embodied: Synchronicity, divine intervention, the Tao, karma, and meaningful coincidences are not different—they're all expressions of the same constant: reality is fundamentally meaningful, psyche and world are unified, and the Self orchestrates events to guide individuation. Pay attention. The myths are speaking. The Self is guiding. Synchronicity is real.

The scarab taps. The phone rings. The book opens. The sign appears. The myth speaks. This is not chance. This is synchronicity. This is the Self. This is guidance. Pay attention. Record it. Follow it. Trust it. The world is speaking. The psyche is listening. They are one.