Cark Gustav Jung coined the term SYNCHRONICITY in connection with the Chinese I Ching. Jung believed that this ancient method of foretelling the future worked because there was some unseen and unknown link between the mind and the physical world that influenced the coins or other objects used in this practice of divination.
However, synchronicity is not restricted to the I Ching or any other method of fortune telling for that matter. Synchronicity, in its wider sense, is simply MEANINGFUL CONNECTEDNESS. That is linked images, sounds or anything that have no discernible meaning apart, but viewed together produce something that is mysteriously connected.
EXAMPLE:
Philip Bannister of Leyland, Preston UK was walking along the beach at the seaside resort or Morecambe in Lancashire. Floating on the waves in the sea he saw a surf-board. This surf-board washed up on the sand close to where Philip was standing. Realising that this was a relatively expensive item that had undoubtedly been lost, he picked it up and placed it in his van intending to take it to the local police station. However, as he did this he noticed a metal plaque on the board that gave the address of the owners as a school in North Wales. So Philip decided to telephone them later when he got home and arrange to return their surf-board.
Later that very evening, back home in Leyland, the telephone rang at Philip's home. It was a call from an old friend that he had not heard of for many years. The friend told Philip he was driving up to Preston the following day and wanted to visit. When Philip asked what his friend had been doing over the years he replied that he was a caretaker at a school in North Wales. It was the very school that was inscribed on the plaque on the surf-board. The next day Philip handed the board to his old friend who duly returned it to the school sports department.
That is an example of SYNCHRONICITY. There was a meaningful connection between the finding of the surf-board and the friend of Philip Bannister at the North Wales school.
The question is how did this happen? Was it just pure co-incidence?
As the above case seemed to me, John G. Sutton, to be synchronicity in action I posted the story to the synchronicity news group and received two very different but constructive responses. Here, for your information, they are:
1st Response:
I enjoyed reading the post.
My perspective after 30 years of studying and categorizing "synchronicity"
is
that there are 3 different
classes. Two of them, man made or chance/probability
does not seem enough
to dismiss the above posting.
The "other class" is very interesting but contains many theories, concepts
and underlying considerations that most people would have a difficult time
swallowing.
The facts if separated from the classes or interpretations fall into morphologies of different categories. One is "ringolivio" where people seem to come together inadvertently or under unusual circumstances which involve some separate "meaningful binding." Rather than get long winded I suspect that there is something similar to an "octet rule" where more than one "atom" shares the same orbit. This saves time and effort also hels reinforce the operations of communications between the separate and the unity.
Sincerely,
Rey
2nd Response:
While I do not disagree with you nor with the concept of synchronicity, I would like to point out that the event in question is not terribly difficult to understand, and I believe that it is not an example of synchronicity.
A few years ago, I became familiar
with a concept called The Six Degrees of Separation. This principle states
that I know, or have known, or will know a given set of people who knows,
has known, or will know an entirely different set of people. This third
degree becomes acquainted with a fourth, and so
on until, by the sixth degree,
the entire population of the globe is accounted for.
To illustrate, I give this example: Say that I, in my 36 years, have only made 10 new acquaintances per year. Realistically, the number is MUCH larger. That limits the size of the numbers sufficiently, yet makes the point. From the 360 acquaintances, followed through the sixth degree (360 carried to the sixth power), there exist opportunities for nearly 218 trillion friendships, or about 3600 times the estimated current world population.
I agree with the idea you presented of the octet rule in principle, that is, the sharing of the "orbits." However, as the event in question was isolated to the British Isles, the sphere of influence relative to the surfboard was greatly reduced. Mathematically, it would have been nearly impossible for Phillip Bannister to NOT find someone with ties to school is some fashion or the other. The fact that it was an old acquaintance is of little relevance.
Ben Rowland
"Imagination is more important
than knowledge." -Albert Einstein
So there you have it, the two best responses from the news group dedicated to investigating and considering the theory of synchronicitu as expounded by Carl Gustav Jung.
Have look yourself by selecting: alt.psychology.synchronicity as a News Group and subscribe to this very interesting and informative discussion group.
If you think you have ever
experienced anything like the above example. If you have then you too have
had a Psychic Encounter.