47494388 SYNCHRONICITY an Acausal Connecting Principle

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SYNCHRONICITY

An Acausal Connecting

Principle

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The Collected Works o C! "! #ung

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SYNCHRONICITY

An Acausal Connecting

Principle

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First Princeton6*ollingen Paper7ack (dition2 ./45

(8tracted rom The Structure and ,9namics o the Ps9che2 $ol! ) o the Collected

Works o C! "! #ung! All the :olumes comprising the Collected Works constitute

num7er ++ in *ollingen Series2 under the editorship o Her7ert Read ;d! ./0)<2

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'AN&FACT&R(, IN TH( &NIT(, STAT(S OF A'(RICA



SYNCHRONICITY? AN ACA&SA%CONN(CTIN" PRINCIP%(

Translated rom BS9nchroni itat als ein Prin ip akausaler Dusammenhange2B Ehich2

together Eith a monograph 79 Pro essor W! Pauli entitled B,er (in luss

archet9pischer $orstellungen au die *ildung naturEissenscha tlicher Theorien 7ei

3epler2B ormed the :olume aturerklarung und Ps9che ;Studien aus dem C! "!

#ung>Institut2 I$= Durich2 ./ G<! This :olume Eas translated as The Interpretation o

Nature and the Ps9che ;NeE York *ollingen Series %I and %ondon2 ./ <2 Eith

corrections and e8tensi:e re:isions 79 Pro essor #ung in his Chapter G2 BAn

Astrological (8periment!B These important alterations Eere not2 hoEe:er2

incorporated in the repu7lication o the monograph in the SEiss "esammelte

Werke2 $olume )? ,ie ,9namik des &n7eEussten ;Durich2 ./04<2 Ehich preser:es

the original ./ G :ersion unchanged! The monograph is here repu7lished Eith

additional re:isions 79 the (ditors and the translator2 Eith the aim o urther

clari 9ing the di icult e8position Ehile retaining the authorJs su7stance! ;The chie

re:isions occur in pars! ) 02 ))12 ))52 )/12 )/52 )/ 2 and /1.! Figs! G and 5 ha:e

7een redraEn!<

The 7rie essa9 BOn S9nchronicit9B printed in the appendi8 to Part $II2 in ra2 Eas an earlier ;./ .<

and more popular :ersion o the present Eork! Here it replaces a 7rie BResumeB Eritten 79 the

author or the ./ :ersion o the monograph!K(,ITORS!



TABLE OF CONTENTS

(,ITORIA% PR(FAC( :

FOR(WOR, 5

.! (8position

G! An Astrological (8periment @5

5! Forerunners o the Idea o S9nchronicit9

0/

@! Conclusion )/

APP(N,I+? On S9nchronicit9 .1@

*I*%IO"RAPHY ..4

IN,(+ .G





EDITORIAL PREFACE

When a 9oung man2 #ung saE a solid oak ta7le suddenl9 split right across! Soon

a terEards a strong steel kni e 7roke in pieces or no apparent reason! . His

superstitious mother2 Eho also Eitnessed 7oth these e:ents2 looked at him

signi icantl92 and this made #ung Eonder Ehat it Eas all a7out! %ater he learned

that some o his relati:es had 7een attending seances Eith a medium? the9 had

7een Eanting to ask him to Loin them!

For #ung and his mother these occurrences2 apparentl9 separate2 7ecame

linked together in a meaning ul Ea9! It Eas unlikel9 that the split ta7le and 7roken

kni e Eere caused 79 the thoughts o his relati:es or that the medium Eas seeking

to impress him magicall9 Eith her poEers! HoEe:er2 that these happenings

stimulated him to Loin in the seances and that he su7seMuentl9 undertook research

into occultism G 7ear Eitness to their e ect upon him!

#ung introduced the idea o s9nchronicit9 to strip o the antas92 magic2 and

superstition Ehich surround and are pro:oked 79 unpredicta7le2 startling2 and

impressi:e e:ents that2 like these2 appear to 7e connected! The9 are simpl9

Bmeaning ul coincidences!B In spite o this almost stark de inition2 #ungJs idea has

7een attacked or applauded in the most unsuita7le Ea9sKpro7a7l9 the ate o

most simple and direct statements in the highl9 contro:ersial ield o

paraps9cholog9! *ut #ung introduced a pu ling complication? in support o his ideahe cited #! *! RhineJs researches! RhineJs statistical anal9sis o

. #ung tells the stor9 in 'emories2 ,reams2 Re lections ;NeE York and %ondon2 ./05<2 pp! .1 6.1)2

and in a letter to Pro essor #! *! Rhine2 G4 No:! ./5@2 in C! "! #ung? %etters2 ed! "erhard Adler in

colla7oration Eith Aniela #a e2 :ol! . ;Princeton and %ondon2 ./45<2 pp! .)1 !2 Eith a photograph o

the kni e!G The research led to #ungJs dissertation or the '!,! degree2 Dur Ps9chologie und Pathologie

sogenannter occulter Phanomene ;%eip ig2 ./1G< BOn the Ps9cholog9 and Patholog9 o So>called

Occult Phenomena2B Coll! Works2 :ol! G! Also see the accounts in 'emories2 ,reams2 Re lections2

pp! .10 !6.1/ ! and in the letter to Rhine cited a7o:e!



ps9chokinetic e8periments led him to conclude a causal relation 7etEeen the

su7LectsJ BguessingB the num7ers on cards and the actual num7ers printed on

them!It might 7e maintained that it is o no signi icance Ehether the separate

e:ents in a meaning ul seMuence are caused or not2 or it is the meaning o the

entire group2 the seMuence2 that #ung emphasi ed! This2 hoEe:er2 Eas not #ungJs

idea= and so to record his astrological e8periment in Ehich no correlation Eas

statisticall9 signi icant 7ecomes rele:ant2 or it ma9 7e held that statistics can

decide Ehether the meaning ul patterns he saE Eere acausal! Whether BacausalB

and BchanceB are the same ma9 7e de7ated2 7ut Ehether the9 are or not2 it is

reMuentl9 thought that the use o statistics in the astrological e8periment is proo

or the e8istence o meaning ul coincidences! This could ne:er 7e!

In the monograph here pu7lished2 the simple idea o s9nchronicit9 is

e8tended 79 #ung2 Eith all the apparatus o his ingenious mind and great erudition2

in striking and thought>pro:oking Ea9s! The Eork is highl9 characteristic o #ungJs

insistence that 7ecause data are irrational the9 should not 7e dismissed2 7ut rather

that attempts should 7e made to integrate them 79 Ehate:er means ma9 7e at

hand! In this instance he e:ol:ed the idea o s9nchronicit92 and it deser:es

assessment 79 all in:estigators in the :arious ields on Ehich it impinges2 rom

paraps9cholog9 to the ps9cholog9 o unconscious structures and processes!

%ondon2 ./45 'ICHA(%FOR,HA'

%ate in his li e2 #ung traced his idea o s9nchronicit9 to the in luence o Al7ert

(instein2 Eho held a pro essorship in Durich in ./1/>.1 and again in ./.G>.5! #ung

Erote2 BPro essor (instein Eas m9 guest on se:eral occasions at dinner! ! ! These

Eere :er9 earl9 da9s Ehen (instein Eas de:eloping his irst theor9 o relati:it92

and it Eas he Eho irst started me o thinking a7out a possi7le relati:it9 o time

as Eell as space2 and their ps9chic conditionalit9! 'ore than thirt9 9ears later2 thisstimulus led to



m9 relation Eith the ph9sicist Pro essor W! Pauli and to m9 thesis o ps9chic

s9nchronicit9!B 5

#ung irst used the term Bs9nchronicit9B onl9 in ./512 in his memorial addressor Richard Wilhelm2 @ the translator o the I Ching2 or *ook o Changes! #ung Eas

seeking to e8plain the modus operandi o the I Ching2 Ehich he had irst come

across in the earl9 ./G1Js in an (nglish translation 79 #ames %egge ;.))G< 7ut2 as

he said2 came to understand onl9 Ehen he read WilhelmJs :ersion!

He re erred to s9nchronicit9 again in his BTa:istock %ecturesB in %ondon2

./5 ? B!!! a peculiar principle acti:e in the Eorld so that things happen together

somehoE and 7eha:e as i the9 Eere the same2 and 9et or us the9 are not!B 0

Again in the %ectures he eMuated it Eith the Chinese concept o Tao! 4

Years later2 in his oreEord ;Eritten 7e ore ./ 1< to the Wilhelm6*a9nes

translation o the I Ching2 #ung ga:e an e8position o the principle o s9nchronicit9! )

He Eas alread9 preparing an e8tended monograph2 7ut his irst ormal

presentation o the theor9 Eas a 7rie lectureKhis lastKat the (ranos Con erence

o ./ . at Ascona2 SEit erland! / The monograph Eas pu7lished the olloEing 9ear2

together Eith a monograph 79 Pauli on BThe In luence o Archet9pal Ideas on the

Scienti ic Theories o #ohannes 3epler!B .1 An (nglish translation o the :olume2 Eith

corrections and e8tensi:e re:isions 79 #ung2 Eas su7seMuentl9 pu7lished! .. #ungJs

monograph appeared in :ol! ) o the Collected Works in i/01 and2 Eith urther

re:isions 79 the translator2 in the second edition o :ol! )2 ./0/! It is the latter

:ersion that is pu7lished here!

5%etter to ,r! Carl Seelig2 G Fe7! ./ 52 in C! "! #ung? %etters2 :ol! G ;./4@<!@Included in #ung and Wilhelm2 The Secret o the "olden FloEer2 tr! Car9 F! *a9nes ;%ondon and NeE

York2 ./5.<! See Richard Wilhelm? In 'emoriam2B Coll! Works2 :ol! . 2 pars! ). !

See the Richard Wilhelm tr! rendered into (nglish 79 Car9 F! *a9nes ;NeE York and %ondon2 ./ 1=

5rd edition2 Princeton and %ondon2 ./04<!0Anal9tical Ps9cholog9? Its Theor9 and Practice ;%ondon and NeE York2 ./0)<2 p! 50! ;To 7e included

in Coll! Works2 :ol! .)!<4 I7id!2 p!40!) In the 5rd edition2 pp! 88i: != also in Coll! Works2 :ol! ..2 pars! /4G !/ In the present :ol!2 pars! /0/ !.1 Naturerklarung und Ps9che ;Studien aus dem C! "! #ung>Institut2 I$= Durich2 ./ G<!.. The Interpretation o Nature and the Ps9che2 tr! R! F! C! Hull and Priscilla Sil ;NeE York and

%ondon2 ./ <!





FOREWORD

In Eriting this paper I ha:e2 so to speak2 made good a promise Ehich or man9

9ears I lacked the courage to ul ill! The di iculties o the pro7lem and its

presentation seemed to me too great= too great the intellectual responsi7ilit9

Eithout Ehich such su7Lect cannot 7e tackled= too inadeMuate2 in the long run2 m9

scienti ic training! I I ha:e noE conMuered m9 hesitation and at last come to grips

Eith m9 theme2 it is chie l9 7ecause m9 e8periences o the phenomenon o

s9nchronicit9 ha:e multiplied themsel:es o:er decades2 Ehile on the other hand

m9 researches into the histor9 o s9m7ols2 and o the ish s9m7ol in particular2

7rought the pro7lem e:er closer to me2 and inall9 7ecause I ha:e 7een alluding to

the e8istence o this phenomenon on and o in m9 Eritings or tEent9 9ears

Eithout discussing it an9 urther! I Eould like to put a temporar9 end to this

unsatis actor9 state o a airs 79 tr9ing to gi:e a consistent account o e:er9thing I

ha:e to sa9 on this su7Lect! I hope it Eill not 7e construed as presumption on m9

part i I make uncommon demands on the open>mindedness and goodEill o the

reader! Not onl9 is he e8pected to plunge into regions o human e8perience Ehich

are dark2 du7ious2 and hedged a7out Eith preLudice2 7ut the intellectual di iculties

are such as the treatment and elucidation o so a7stract a su7Lect must ine:ita7l9

entail! As an9one can see or himsel a ter reading a





1. EXPOSITION

The disco:eries o modern ph9sics ha:e2 as Ee knoE2 7rought a7out a signi icant

change in our

scienti ic picture o the Eorld2 in that the9 ha:e shattered the a7solute :alidit9 o

natural laE and made it relati:e! Natural laEs are statistical truths2 Ehich means

that the9 are completel9 :alid onl9 Ehen Ee are dealing Eith macroph9sical

Muantities! In the realm o :er9 small Muantities prediction 7ecomes uncertain2 i

not impossi7le2 7ecause :er9 small Muantities no longer 7eha:e in accordance Eith

the knoEn natural laEs!

The philosophical principle that underlies our conception o natural laE is

causalit9! *ut i the connection 7etEeen cause and e ect turns out to 7e onl9

statisticall9 :alid and onl9 relati:el9 true2 then the causal principle is onl9 o

relati:e use or e8plaining natural processes and there ore presupposes the

e8istence o one or more other actors Ehich Eould 7e necessar9 or an

e8planation! This is as much as to sa9 that the connection o e:ents ma9 in certain

circumstances 7e other than causal2 and reMuires another principle o e8planation! .

We shall naturall9 look round in :ain in the macroph9sical Eorld or acausal

e:ents2 or the simple reason that Ee cannot imagine e:ents that are connected

non>causall9 and are capa7le

. Other than2 or supplementar9 to2 the laEs o chance!> (ditors!

.@



SYNCHRONICITY AN ACA&SA% CONN(CTIN" PRINCIP%(

o a non>causal e8planation! *ut that does not mean that such e:ents do not e8ist!

Their e8istence> or at least their possi7ilit9> olloEs logicall9 rom the premise ostatistical truth!

The e8perimental method o inMuir9 aims at esta7lishing regular e:ents

Ehich can 7e repeated! ConseMuentl92 uniMue or rare e:ents are ruled out o

account! 'oreo:er2 the e8periment imposes limiting conditions on nature2 or its

aim is to orce her to gi:e ansEers to Muestions de:ised 79 man! (:er9 ansEer o

nature is there ore more or less in luenced 79 the kind o Muestions asked2 and the

result is alEa9s a h97rid product! The so> called Bscienti ic :ieE o the EorldB 7ased

on this can hardl9 7e an9thing more than a ps9chologicall9 7iased partial :ieE

Ehich misses out all those 79 no means unimportant aspects that cannot 7e

grasped statisticall9! *ut2 to grasp these uniMue or rare e:ents at all2 Ee seem to

7e dependent on eMuall9 BuniMueB and indi:idual descriptions! This Eould result in

a chaotic collection o curiosities2 rather like those old natural histor9 ca7inets

Ehere one inds2 cheek 79 LoEl Eith ossils and anatomical monsters in 7ottles2 the

horn o a unicorn2 a mandragora manikin2 and a dried mermaid! The descripti:e

sciences2 and a7o:e all 7iolog9 in the Eidest sense2 are amiliar Eith these

BuniMueB specimens2 and in their case onl9 one e8ample o an organism2 no matter

hoE un7elie:a7le it ma9 7e2 is needed to esta7lish its e8istence! At an9 rate

numerous o7ser:ers Eill 7e a7le to con:ince themsel:es2 on the e:idence o their

oEn e9es2 that such a creature does in act e8ist! *ut Ehere Ee are dealing Eithephemeral e:ents Ehich lea:e no demonstra7le traces 7ehind them e8cept

ragmentar9 memories in peopleJs minds2 then a single Eitness no longer su ices2

nor Eould se:eral Eitnesses 7e enough to make a uniMue e:ent appear a7solutel9

credi7le! One has onl9 to think o the notorious unrelia7ilit9 o e9e>Eitness

accounts! In these circumstances Ee are aced Eith the necessit9 o inding out

Ehether the apparentl9 uniMue e:ent is reall9 uniMue in our recorded e8perience2

or Ehether the same or similar e:ents are not to 7e ound elseEhere! Here the

consensus omnium pla9s a :er9 important role ps9chologicall92 though empiricall9

it is someEhat dou7t ul2 or onl9 in e8ceptional cases does the consensus omniumpro:e to 7e o :alue in esta7lishing acts! The empiricist Eill not lea:e it out o

account2 7ut Eill do 7etter not to rel9 on it! A7solutel9 uniMue and ephemeral

.



THE NATURE AND DYNAMICS OF THE PSYCHE

e:ents Ehose e8istence Ee ha:e no means o either den9ing or pro:ing can ne:er

7e the o7Lect o empirical science= rare e:ents might :er9 Eell 7e2 pro:ided that

there Eas a su icient num7er o relia7le indi:idual o7ser:ations! The so> calledpossi7ilit9 o such e:ents is o no importance Ehate:er2 or the criterion o Ehat is

possi7le in an9 age is deri:ed rom that ageJs rationalistic assumptions! There are

no Ba7soluteB natural laEs to Ehose authorit9 one can appeal in support o oneJs

preLudices! The most that can airl9 7e demanded is that the num7er o indi:idual

o7ser:ations shall 7e as high as possi7le! I this num7er2 statisticall9 considered2

alls Eithin the limits o chance e8pectation2 then it has 7een statisticall9 pro:ed

that it Eas a Muestion o chance= 7ut no e8planation has there79 7een urnished!

There has merel9 7een an e8ception to the rule! When2 or instance2 the num7er o

s9mptoms indicating a comple8 alls 7eloE the pro7a7le num7er o distur7ances to

7e e8pected during the association e8periment2 this is no Lusti ication or assuming

that no comple8 e8ists! *ut that did not pre:ent the reaction distur7ances rom

7eing regarded earlier as pure chance! G

Although2 in 7iolog9 especiall92 Ee mo:e in a sphere Ehere causal

e8planations o ten seem :er9 unsatis actor9> indeed2 Eell>nigh impossi7le> Ee

shall not concern oursel:es here Eith the pro7lems o 7iolog92 7ut rather Eith the

Muestion Ehether there ma9 not 7e some general ield Ehere acausal e:ents not

onl9 are possi7le 7ut are ound to 7e actual acts!

NoE2 there is in our e8perience an immeasura7l9 Eide ield Ehose e8tent

orms2 as it Eere2 the counter7alance to the domain o causalit9! This is the Eorldo chance2 Ehere a chance e:ent seems causall9 unconnected Eith the coinciding

act! So Ee Eill ha:e to e8amine the nature and the Ehole idea o chance a little

more closel9! Chance2 Ee sa92 must o7:iousl9 7e suscepti7le o some causal

e8planation and is onl9 called BchanceB or BcoincidenceB 7ecause its causalit9 has

not 9et 7een disco:ered! Since Ee ha:e an in:eterate con:iction o the a7solute

:alidit9 o causal laE2 Ee regard this e8planation o chance as 7eing Muite

adeMuate! *ut i the causal principle is onl9 relati:el9 :alid2 then it olloEs that

e:en though in the :ast maLorit9 o

G C ! #ung2 Studies in Word Association!> (ditors!

.0




cases an apparentl9 chance series can 7e causall9 e8plained2 there must still

remain a num7er o cases Ehich do not shoE an9 causal connection! We are

there ore aced Eith the task o si ting chance e:ents and separating the acausalones rom those that can 7e causall9 e8plained! It stands to reason that the

num7er o causall9 e8plica7le e:ents Eill ar e8ceed those suspected o acausalit92

or Ehich reason a super icial or preLudiced o7ser:er ma9 easil9 o:erlook the

relati:el9 rare acausal phenomena! As soon as Ee come to deal Eith the pro7lem

o chance the need or a statistical e:aluation o the e:ents in Muestion orces itsel

upon us!

It is not possi7le to si t the empirical material Eithout a criterion o

distinction! HoE are Ee to recogni e acausal com7inations o e:ents2 since it is

o7:iousl9 impossi7le to e8amine all chance happenings or their causalit9 The

ansEer to this is that acausal e:ents ma9 7e e8pected most readil9 Ehere2 on

closer re lection2 a causal connection appears to 7e inconcei:a7le! As an e8ample I

Eould cite the Bduplication o casesB Ehich is a phenomenon Eell knoEn to e:er9

doctor! Occasionall9 there is a tre7ling or e:en more2 so that 3ammerer 5 can speak

o a BlaE o series2B o Ehich he gi:es a num7er o e8cellent e8amples! In the

maLorit9 o such cases there is not e:en the remotest pro7a7ilit9 o a causal

connection 7etEeen the coinciding e:ents! When or instance I am aced Eith the

act that m9 tram ticket 7ears the same num7er as the theatre ticket Ehich I 7u9

immediatel9 a terEards2 and I recei:e that same e:ening a telephone call during

Ehich the same num7er is mentioned again as a telephone num7er2 then a causalconnection 7etEeen these e:ents seems to me impro7a7le in the e8treme2

although it is o7:ious that each must ha:e its oEn causalit9! I knoE2 on the other

hand2 that chance happenings ha:e a tendenc9 to all into aperiodic groupings>

necessaril9 so2 7ecause otherEise there Eould 7e onl9 a periodic or regular

arrangement o e:ents Ehich Eould 79 de inition e8clude chance!

3ammerer holds that though BrunsB @ or successions o chance e:ents are not

su7Lect to the operation o a common cause2 i!e!2 are acausal2 the9 are

ne:ertheless an e8pression o

5 Paul 3ammerer2 ,as "eset der Serie! @ I7id!2 p! .51!

Pp! 502 /5 !2 .1G !

.4




inertia> the propert9 o persistence! 0 The simultaneit9 o a Brun o the same thing

side 79 sideB he e8plains as Bimitation!B 4 Here he contradicts himsel 2 or the run o

chance has not 7een Bremo:ed outside the realm o the e8plica7le2B)

7ut2 as EeEould e8pect2 is included Eithin it and is conseMuentl9 reduci7le2 i not to a

common cause2 then at least to se:eral causes! His concepts o serialit92 imitation2

attraction2 and inertia 7elong to a causall9 concei:ed :ieE o the Eorld and tell us

no more than that the run o chance corresponds to statistical and mathematical

pro7a7ilit9! / 3ammererJs actual material contains nothing 7ut runs o chance

Ehose onl9 BlaEB is pro7a7ilit9= in other Eords2 there is no apparent reason Eh9 he

should look 7ehind them or an9thing else! *ut or some o7scure reason he does

look 7ehind them or something more than mere pro7a7ilit9 EarrantsK or a laE o

serialit9 Ehich he Eould like to introduce as a principle coe8istent Eith causalit9

and inalit9! This tendenc92 as I ha:e said2 is in no Ea9 Lusti ied 79 his material! I

can onl9 e8plain this o7:ious contradiction 79 supposing that he had a dim 7ut

ascinated intuition o an acausal arrangement and com7ination o e:ents2

pro7a7l9 7ecause2 like all thought ul and sensiti:e natures2 he could not escape

the peculiar impression Ehich runs o chance usuall9 make on us2 and there ore2 in

accordance Eith his scienti ic disposition2 took the 7old step o postulating an

acausal serialit9 on the 7asis o empirical material that la9 Eithin the limits o

pro7a7ilit9! &n ortunatel9 he did not attempt a Muantitati:e e:aluation o serialit9!

Such an undertaking Eould undou7tedl9 ha:e throEn up Muestions that are

di icult to ansEer! The in:estigation o indi:idual cases ser:es Eell enough or thepurpose o general orientation2 7ut onl9 Muantitati:e e:aluation or the statistical

method promises results in dealing Eith chance!

Chance groupings or series seem2 at least to our present Ea9

0BThe laE o series is an e8pression o the inertia o the o7Lects in:ol:ed in its repetitions ;i!e!2

producing the series<! The ar greater inertia o a comple8 o o7Lects and orces ;as compared to

that o a single o7Lect or orce< e8plains the persistence o an identical constellation and the

emergence2 connected thereEith2 o repetitions o:er long periods o timeB ;p! ..4<!4p! .51 ) p!/@

/ The term Bpro7a7ilit9B there ore re ers to the pro7a7ilit9 on a chance h9pothesis ;Null

H9pothesis<! This is the sense in Ehich the term is most o ten used in this paper!> (ditors!

.)




o thinking2 to 7e meaningless2 and to all as a general rule Eithin the limits o

pro7a7ilit9! There are2 hoEe:er2 incidents Ehose Bchance ulnessB seems open to

dou7t! To mention 7ut one e8ample out o man92 I noted the olloEing on April .2./@/? Toda9 is Frida9! We ha:e ish or lunch! Some7od9 happens to mention the

custom o making an BApril ishB o someone! That same morning I made a note o

an inscription Ehich read? B(st homo totus medius piscis a7 imo!B In the a ternoon

a ormer patient o mine2 Ehom I had not seen or months2 shoEed me some

e8tremel9 impressi:e pictures o ish Ehich she had painted in the meantime! In

the e:ening I Eas shoEn a piece o em7roider9 Eith ish>like sea>monsters in it! On

the morning o April G another patient2 Ehom I had not seen or man9 9ears2 told

me a dream in Ehich she stood on the shore o a lake and saE a large ish that

sEam straight toEards her and landed at her eet! I Eas at this time engaged on a

stud9 o the ish s9m7ol in histor9! Onl9 one o the persons mentioned here kneE

an9thing a7out it!

The suspicion that this must 7e a case o meaning ul coincidence2 i!e!2 an

acausal connection2 is :er9 natural! I must oEn that this run o e:ents made a

considera7le impression on me! It seemed to me to ha:e a certain numinous

Mualit9! .1 In such circumstances Ee are inclined to sa92 BThat cannot 7e mere

chance2B Eithout knoEing Ehat e8actl9 Ee are sa9ing! 3ammerer Eould no dou7t

ha:e reminded me o his Bserialit9!B The strength o an impression2 hoEe:er2

pro:es nothing against the ortuitous coincidence o all these ishes! It is2

admittedl92 e8ceedingl9 odd that the ish theme recurs no less than si8 timesEithin tEent9> our hours! *ut one must remem7er that ish on Frida9 is the usual

thing2 and on April . one might :er9 easil9 think o the April ish! I had at that time

7een Eorking on the ish s9m7ol or se:eral months! Fishes reMuentl9 occur as

s9m7ols o unconscious contents! So there is no possi7le Lusti ication or seeing in

this an9thing 7ut a chance grouping! Runs or

.1 The numinosit9 o a series o chance happenings groEs in proportion to the num7er o its terms!

&nconscious> pro7a7l9 archet9pal> contents are there79 constellated2 Ehich then gi:e rise to the

impression that the series has 7een BcausedB 79 these contents! Since Ee cannot concei:e hoE this

could 7e possi7le Eithout recourse to positi:el9 magical categories2 Ee generall9 let it go at the7are impression!

./






All the e:ents in a manJs li e Eould accordingl9 stand in tEo undamentall9

di erent kinds o connection? irstl92 in the o7Lecti:e causal connection o the

natural process= secondl92 in a su7Lecti:e connection Ehich e8ists onl9 in relationto the indi:idual Eho e8periences it2 and Ehich is thus as su7Lecti:e as his oEn

dreams! !!!That 7oth kinds o connection e8ist simultaneousl92 and the sel same

e:ent2 although a link in tEo totall9 di erent chains2 ne:ertheless alls into place in

7oth2 so that the ate o one indi:idual in:aria7l9 its the ate o the other2 and

each is the hero o his oEn drama Ehile simultaneousl9 iguring in a drama oreign

to him>this is something that surpasses our poEers o comprehension2 and can

onl9 7e concei:ed as possi7le 79 :irtue o the most Eonder ul pre>esta7lished

harmon9! .0

In his :ieE Bthe su7Lect o the great dream o li e!!! is 7ut one2B .4 the

transcendental Will2 the prima causa2 rom Ehich all causal chains radiate like

meridian lines rom the poles and 7ecause o the circular parallels2 stand to one

another in a meaning ul relationship o simultaneit9! .) Schopenhauer 7elie:ed in

the a7solute determinism o the natural process and urthermore in a irst cause!

There is nothing to Earrant either assumption! The irst cause is a philosophical

m9thologem Ehich is onl9 credi7le Ehen it appears in the orm o the old parado8

Q UV 2 as unit9 and multiplicit9 at once! The idea that the simultaneous points

in the causal chains2 or meridians represent meaning ul coincidences Eould onl9

hold Eater i the irst cause reall9 Eere a unit9! *ut i it Eere a multiplicit92 Ehich is Lust as likel92 then SchopenhauerJs Ehole e8planation collapses2 Muite apart rom

the act2 Ehich Ee ha:e onl9 recentl9 reali ed2 that natural laE possesses a merel9

statistical :alidit9 and thus keeps the door open to indeterminism! Neither

philosophical re lection nor e8perience can pro:ide an9 e:idence or the regular

occurrence o these tEo kinds o connection2 in Ehich the same thing is 7oth

su7Lect and o7Lect! Schopenhauer thought and Erote at a time Ehen causalit9 held

so:ereign sEa9 as a categor9 a priori and had there ore to 7e dragged in to

e8plain meaning ul coincidences! *ut2 as Ee ha:e seen2 it can do this Eith some

degree o pro7a7ilit9 onl9 i Ee ha:e recourse to the

.0 p! @ ! Ir:ine2 pp! @/ ! .4 p! @0! Ir:ine2 p! 1!.) Hence m9 term Bs9nchronicit9!B

G.






a:oid a too di icult task! ./ SchopenhauerJs attempt is the more remarka7le in that

it Eas made at a time Ehen the tremendous ad:ance o the natural sciences had

con:inced e:er97od9 the causalit9 alone could 7e considered the inal principle oe8planation! Instead o ignoring all those e8periences Ehich re use to 7oE doEn to

the so:ereign rule o causalit92 he tried2 as Ee ha:e seen2 to it them into his

deterministic :ieE o the Eorld! In so doing2 he orced concepts like pre iguration2

correspondence2 and pre>esta7lished harmon92 Ehich as a uni:ersal order

coe8isting Eith the causal one ha:e alEa9s underlain manJs e8planations o

nature2 into the causal scheme2 pro7a7l9 7ecause he elt> and rightl9> that the

scienti ic :ieE o the Eorld 7ased on natural laE2 though he did not dou7t its

:alidit9 ne:ertheless lacked something Ehich pla9ed a considera7le role in the

classical and medie:al :ieE ;as it also does in the intuiti:e eelings o modern

man<!

The mass o acts collected 79 "urne92 '9ers2 and Podmore G1 inspired three

other in:estigators> ,arie82 G. Richet2 GG and Flammarion G5> to tackle the pro7lem in

terms o a pro7a7ilit9 calculus! ,arie8 ound a pro7a7ilit9 o . ? @2..@2 @ or

telepathic precognitions o death2 Ehich means that the e8planation o such a

Earning as due to BchanceB is more than our million times more impro7a7le than

e8plaining it as a Btelepathic2B or acausal2 meaning ul coincidence! The astronomer

Flammarion reckoned a pro7a7ilit9 o no less than . ? )1@20GG2GGG or a

particularl9 Eell>o7ser:ed instance o Bphantasms o the li:ing!B G@ He Eas also the

irst to link up other suspicious happenings Eith the general interest in phenomenaconnected Eith death! Thus he relates G that2 Ehile Eriting his 7ook on the

atmosphere2 he Eas Lust at the chapter on Eind> orce Ehen a sudden gust o Eind

sEept all his paper o the ta7le and 7leE them out o the EindoE! He also cites as

an e8ample o triple coincidence2 the edi 9ing stor9 o

./ Here I must make an e8ception o 3ant2 Ehose treatise ,reams o a Spirit Seer2 Illustrated 79

,reams o 'etaph9sics pointed the Ea9 or Schopenhauer!G1(dmund "urne92 Frederic W! H! '9ers2 and Frank Podmore2 Phantasms o the %i:ing!G. +a:ier ,arie82 B%e Ha ard et la telepathicBGG

Charles Richet2 BRelations de di:erses e8periences sur transmission mentale la lucidite2 et autresphenomenes non e8plica7le par les donnees scienti iMues actuelles!BG5Camille Flammarion2 The &nknoEn2 pp! ./. !G@I7id!2 p! G1G! G Pp! ./G !

G5




'onsieur de Fortgi7u and the plum>pudding! G0 The act that he mentions these

coincidences at all in connection Eith the pro7lem o telepath9 shoEs that

Flammarion had a distinct intuition2 al7eit an unconscious one2 o a ar morecomprehensi:e principle!

The Eriter Wilhelm :on Schol G4 has collected a num7er o stories shoEing

the strange Ea9s in Ehich lost or stolen o7Lects come 7ack to their oEners! Among

other things2 he tells the stor9 o a mother Eho took a photograph o her small son

in the *lack Forest! She le t the ilm to 7e de:eloped in Strass7urg! *ut oEing to

the out7reak o Ear2 she Eas una7le to etch it and ga:e it up or lost! In ./.0 she

7ought a ilm in Frank urt in order to take a photograph o her daughter2 Eho had

7een 7orn in the meantime! When the ilm Eas de:eloped it Eas ound to 7e

dou7l9 e8posed? the picture underneath Eas the photograph she had taken o her

son in ./.@ The old ilm had 7een de:eloped and had somehoE got into

circulation again among the neE ilms! The author comes to the understanda7le

illusion that e:er9thing points to the Bmutual attraction o related o7Lects2B or an

Belecti:e a init9!B He suspects that these happenings are arranged as i the9 Eere

the dream o a Bgreater and more comprehensi:e consciousness2 Ehich is

unknoEa7le!B

The pro7lem o chance has 7een approached rom the ps9chological angle

79 Her7ert Sil7erer! G) He shoEs that apparentl9 meaning ul coincidences are partl9

unconscious arrangements2 and partl9 unconscious2 ar7itrar9 interpretations! He

takes no account either o paraps9chic phenomena or o s9nchronicit92 andtheoreticall9 he does not go much 7e9ond the causalism o Schopenhauer! Apart

rom its :alua7le ps9chological criticism o our methods o e:aluating chance2

Sil7ererJs

G0Pp! ./@ ! A certain '! ,eschamps2 Ehen a 7o9 in Orleans2 Eas once gi:en a piece o plum>

pudding 79 a '! de Fortgi7u! Ten 9ears later he disco:ered another plum> pudding in a Paris

restaurant2 and asked i he could ha:e a piece! It turned out hoEe:er2 that the plum>pudding Eas

alread9 ordered> 79 '! de Fortgi7u! 'an9 9ears a terEards '! ,eschamps Eas in:ited to partake o

a plum>pudding as a special rarit9! While he Eas eating it he remarked that the onl9 thing lacking

Eas '! de Fortgi7u! At that moment the door opened and an old2 old man in the last stages o

disorientation Ealked in? '! de Fortgi7u2 Eho had got hold o the Erong address and 7urst in on the

part9 79 mistake!G4,er Du all? (ine $or orm des Schicksals!G) ,er Du all und die 3o7oldstreiche des &n7e8:ussten!

G@




stud9 contains no re erence to the occurrence o meaning ul coincidences as here

understood!

,ecisi:e e:idence or the e8istence o acausal com7ination o e:ents has7een urnished2 Eith adeMuate scienti ic sa eguards onl9 :er9 recentl92 mainl9

through the e8periments o #! Rhine and his elloE>Eorkers2 G/ Eho ha:e not2

hoEe:er2 recogni ed the ar>reaching conclusions that must 7e draEn rom their

indings! &p to the present no critical argument that cannot 7e re uted has 7een

7rought against these e8periments! The e8periment consists2 in principle2 in an

e8perimenter turning up2 one a ter another2 a series o num7ered cards 7earing

simple geometrical patterns! At the same time the su7Lect2 separated 79 a screen

rom the e8perimenter2 is gi:en the task o guessing the signs as the9 are turned

up! A pack o tEent9> i:e cards is used2 each i:e o Ehich carr9 the same sign!

Fi:e cards are marked Eith a star2 i:e Eith a sMuare2 i:e Eith a circle2 i:e Eith

Ea:9 lines2 and i:e Eith a cross! The e8perimenter normall9 does not knoE the

order in Ehich the pack is arranged nor has the su7Lect an9 opportunit9 o seeing

the cards! 'an9 o the e8periments Eere negati:e2 since the result did not e8ceed

the pro7a7ilit9 o i:e chance hits! In the case o certain su7Lects2 hoEe:er2 some

results Eere distinctl9 a7o:e pro7a7ilit9! The irst series o e8periments consisted

in each su7Lect tr9ing to guess the cards )11 times! The a:erage result shoEed 0!

hits or G cards2 Ehich is .! more than the chance pro7a7ilit9 hits! The

pro7a7ilit9 o there 7eing a chance de:iation o .! rom the num7er Eorks out

at . ? G 12111! This proportion shoEs that the pro7a7ilit9 o a chance de:iation isnot e8actl9 high2 since it is to 7e e8pected onl9 once in G 12111 cases! The results

:ar9 according to the speci ic gi t o the indi:idual su7Lect! One 9oung man2 Eho in

numerous e8periments scored an a:erage o .1 hits or e:er9 G cards ;dou7le the

pro7a7le num7er<2 once guessed all G cards correctl92 Ehich

G/ #! *! Rhine2 (8tra> Sensor9 Perception and NeE Frontiers o the 'ind! #! "! Pratt2 #! *! Rhine2 C! (!

Stuart2 X! '! Smith2 and #! A! "reenEood2 (8tra>Sensor9 Perception a ter Si8t9 Years! A general

sur:e9 o the indings in Rhine2 The Reach o the 'ind2 and also in the :alua7le 7ook 79 "! ! '!

T9rrell2 The Personalit9 o 'an! A short resume in Rhine2 BAn Introduction to the Work o (8tra>

Sensor9 Perception!B S! "! Soal and F! *ateman2 'odern (8periments in Telepath9!

G




gi:es a pro7a7ilit9 o . ?G/)21G52GG52)402/ 52.G ! The possi7ilit9 o the pack

7eing shu led in some ar7itrar9 Ea9 is guarded against 79 an apparatus Ehich

shu les the cards automaticall92 independentl9 o the e8perimenter!A ter the irst series o e8periments the spatial distance 7etEeen the

e8perimenter and the su7Lect Eas increased2 in one case to G 1 miles! The

a:erage result o numerous e8periments amounted here to .1!. hits or G cards!

In another series o e8periments2 Ehen e8perimenter and su7Lect Eere in the same

room2 the score Eas ..!@ or G = Ehen the su7Lect Eas in the ne8t room2 /!4 or

G = Ehen tEo rooms aEa92 .G!1 or G ! Rhine mentions the e8periments o F! %!

&sher and (! %! *urt2 Ehich Eere conducted Eith positi:e results o:er a distance o

/01 miles! 51 With the aid o s9nchroni ed Eatches e8periments Eere conducted

7etEeen ,urham2 North Carolina2 and Dagre72 Yugosla:ia2 a7out @2111 miles2 Eith

eMuall9 positi:e results! 5.

The act that distance has no e ect in principle shoEs that the thing in

Muestion cannot 7e a phenomenon o orce or energ9 or otherEise the distance to

7e o:ercome and the di usion in space Eould cause a diminution o the e ect2 and

it is more than pro7a7le that the score Eould all proportionatel9 to the sMuare o

the distance! Since this is o7:iousl9 not the case2 Ee ha:e no alternati:e 7ut to

assume that distance is ph9sicall9 :aria7le2 and ma9 in certain circumstances 7e

reduced to :anishing point 79 a ps9chic condition!

(:en more remarka7le is the act that time is not in principle a prohi7iting

actor either= that is to sa92 the scanning o a series o cards to 7e turned up in theuture produces a score that e8ceeds chance pro7a7ilit9! The results o RhineJs

time e8periments shoE a pro7a7ilit9 o . in @1121112 Ehich means a considera7le

pro7a7ilit9 o there 7eing some actor independent o time! The9 point2 in other

Eords2 to a ps9chic relati:it9 o time2 since the e8periment Eas concerned Eith

perceptions o e:ents Ehich had not 9et occurred! In these circumstances the time

actor seems to ha:e 7een eliminated 79 a ps9chic unction or ps9chic condition

Ehich is also capa7le o a7olishing the time actor! I 2 in the spatial e8periments2

Ee Eere o7liged to admit that energ9 does not decrease Eith distance2 then the

51 The Reach o the 'ind ;./ @ edn!<2 p! @)!5. Rhine and *ett9 '! Humphre92 BA Transoceanic (SP (8periment!B

G0




time e8periments make it completel9 impossi7le or us e:en to think o there 7eing

an energ9 relationship 7etEeen the perception and the uture e:ent! We must gi:eup at the outset all

e8planations in terms o energ92 Ehich amounts to sa9ing that e:ents o this kind

cannot 7e considered rom the point o :ieE o causalit92 or causalit9 presupposes

the e8istence o space and time in so ar as all o7ser:ations are ultimatel9 7ased

upon 7odies in motion!

Among RhineJs e8periments Ee must also mention the e8periments Eith

dice! The su7Lect has the task o throEing the dice ;Ehich is done 79 an

apparatus<2 and at the same time he has to Eish that one num7er ;sa9 5< Eill turn

up as man9 times as possi7le! The results o this so>called P3 ;ps9chokinetic<

e8periment Eere positi:e2 the more so the more dice Eere used at one time! 5/ I

space and time pro:e to 7e ps9chicall9 relati:e2 then the mo:ing 7od9 must

possess2 or 7e su7Lect to2 a corresponding relati:it9!

One consistent e8perience in all these e8periments is the act that the

num7er o hits scored tends to sink a ter the irst attempt2 and the results then

7ecome negati:e! *ut i 2 or some inner or outer reason2 there is a reshening o

interest on the su7LectJs part2 the score rises again! %ack o interest and 7oredom

are negati:e actors= enthusiasm2 positi:e e8pectation2 hope2 and 7elie in the

possi7ilit9 o (SP make or good results and seem to 7e the real conditions Ehich

determine Ehether there are going to 7e an9 results at all! In this connection it isinteresting to note that the Eell>knoEn (nglish medium (ileen #! "arrett2 achie:ed

7ad results in the Rhine e8periments 7ecause2 as she hersel admits2 she Eas

una7le to sum up an9 eeling or the BsoullessB test>cards!

These eE hints ma9 su ice to gi:e the reader at least a super icial idea o

these e8periments! The a7o:e> mentioned 7ook 79 "! ! '! T9rrell2 late president

o the Societ9 or Ps9chical Research2 contains an e8cellent summing>up o all

e8periences in this ield! Its author himsel rendered great ser:ice to (SP research!

From the ph9sicistJs side the (SP e8periments ha:e 7een e:aluated in a positi:e

sense 79 Ro7ert A!

5/ The Reach o the 'ind2 pp! 4 !

G4




'cConnell in an article entitled B(SP> Fact or Fanc9 B 55 As is onl9 to 7e e8pected2

e:er9 concei:a7le kind o attempt has 7een made to e8plain aEa9 these results2

Ehich seem to 7order on the miraculous and rankl9 impossi7le! *ut all suchattempts come to grie on the acts2 and the acts re use so ar to 7e argued out o

e8istence! RhineJs e8periments con ront us Eith the act that there are e:ents

Ehich are related to one another e8perimentall92 and in this case meaning ull92

Eithout there 7eing an9 possi7ilit9 o pro:ing that this relation is a causal one2

since the BtransmissionB e8hi7its none o the knoEn properties o energ9! There is

there ore good reason to dou7t Ehether it is a Muestion o transmission at all! The

time e8periments rule out an9 such thing in principle2 or it Eould 7e a7surd to

suppose that a situation Ehich does not 9et e8ist and Eill onl9 occur in the uture

could transmit itsel as a phenomenon o energ9 to a recei:er in the present! 5@ It

seems more likel9 that scienti ic e8planation Eill ha:e to 7egin Eith a criticism o

our concepts o space and time on the one hand2 and Eith the unconscious on the

other! As I ha:e said2 it is impossi7le2 Eith our present resources2 to e8plain (SP2 or

the act o meaning ul coincidence2 as a phenomenon o energ9! This makes an

end o the causal e8planation as Eell2 or Be ectB cannot 7e understood as

an9thing e8cept a phenomenon o energ9! There ore it cannot 7e a Muestion o

cause and e ect2 7ut o a alling together in time2 a kind o simultaneit9! *ecause

o this Mualit9 o simultaneit92 I ha:e picked on the term Bs9nchronicit9B to

designate a h9pothetical actor eMual in rank to causalit9 as a principle o

e8planation! In m9 essa9 BOn the Nature o the Ps9che2B5

I considereds9nchronicit9 as a ps9chicall9 conditioned relati:it9 o space and time! RhineJs

e8periments shoE that in relation to the ps9che space and time are2 so to speak2

BelasticB and can apparentl9 7e reduced almost to :anishing point2 as though the9

Eere dependent on ps9chic conditions and did not e8ist in themsel:es 7ut Eere

onl9 BpostulatedB 79 the conscious mind! In manJs original :ieE o the Eorld2 as Ee

55 Pro essor Pauli Eas kind enough to draE m9 attention to this paper2 Ehich appeared in ./@/!5@3ammerer has dealt2 not altogether con:incingl92 Eith the Muestion o the JJcounter> e ect o the

succeeding state on the preceding oneB ;c ! ,as "eset der Serie2 pp! .5. !<!

5 C ! a7o:e2 par! @@1!

G)




ind it among primiti:es2 space and time ha:e a :er9 precarious e8istence! The9

7ecome B i8edB concepts onl9 in the course o his mental de:elopment2 thankslargel9 to the introduction o measurement! In themsel:es2 space and time consist

o nothing! The9 are h9postati ed concepts 7orn o the discriminating acti:it9 o

the conscious mind2 and the9 orm the indispensa7le co>ordinates or descri7ing

the 7eha:ior o 7odies in motion! The9 are2 there ore2 essentiall9 ps9chic in origin2

Ehich is pro7a7l9 the reason that impelled 3ant to regard them as a priori

categories! *ut i space and time are onl9 apparentl9 properties o 7odies in

motion and are created 79 the intellectual needs the o7ser:er2 then their

relati:i ation 79 ps9chic conditions is no longer a matter or astonishment 7ut is

7rought Eithin 7ounds o possi7ilit9! This possi7ilit9 presents itsel Ehen the

ps9che o7ser:es2 not e8ternal 7odies2 7ut itsel ! That is precisel9 Ehat happens in

RhineJs e8periments? the su7LectJs ansEer is not the result o his o7ser:ing the

ph9sical cards2 it is a product o pure imagination2 o BchanceB ideas Ehich re:eal

the structure o that Ehich produces them2 namel9 the unconscious! Here I Eill

onl9 point out that it is the decisi:e actors in the conscious ps9che2 the

archet9pes2 Ehich constitute the structure o the collecti:e unconscious! The latter

represents a ps9che that is identical in all indi:iduals! It cannot 7e directl9

percei:ed or Brepresented2B in contrast to the percepti7le ps9chic phenomena2 and

on account o its Birrepresenta7leB nature ha:e called it Bps9choid!B

The archet9pes are ormal actors responsi7le or the organi ation ounconscious ps9chic processes? the9 are Bpatterns o 7eha:ior!B At the same time

the9 ha:e a Bspeci ic chargeB and de:elop numinous e ects Ehich e8press

themsel:es as a ects! The a ect produces a partial a7aissement du ni:eau mental

or although it raises a particular content to a supernormal degree o luminosit92 it

does so 79 EithdraEing so much energ9 rom other possi7le contents o

consciousness that the9 7ecome darkened and e:entuall9 unconscious! OEing to

the restriction o consciousness produced 79 the a ect so long as it lasts2 there a

corresponding loEering o orientation Ehich in its turn gi:es the unconscious a

a:ora7le opportunit9 to slip into the space :acated! Thus Ee regularl9 ind that

une8pected or otherEise inhi7ited unconscious contents 7reak through and ind

e8pression

G/




in the a ect! Such contents are :er9 o ten o an in erior or primiti:e nature and

thus 7etra9 their archet9pal origin! As I shall shoE urther on2 certain phenomena

o simultaneit9 or s9nchronicit9 seem to 7e 7ound up Eith the archet9pes! That isthe reason Eh9 I mention the archet9pes here!

The e8traordinar9 spatial orientation o animals ma9 also point to the ps9chic

relati:it9 o space and time! The pu ling time>orientation o the palolo Eorm2 or

instance2 Ehose tail>segments2 loaded Eith se8ual products2 alEa9s appear on the

sur ace o the sea the da9 7e ore the last Muarter o the moon in Octo7er and

No:em7er2 50 might 7e mentioned in this connection! One o the causes suggested

is the acceleration o the earth oEing to the gra:itational pull o the moon at this

time! *ut2 or astronomical reasons2 this e8planation cannot possi7l9 7e right! 54 The

relation Ehich undou7tedl9 e8ists 7etEeen the human menstruation period and

the course o the moon is connected Eith the latter onl9 numericall9 and does not

reall9 coincide Eith it! Nor has it 7een pro:ed that it e:er did!

The pro7lem o s9nchronicit9 has pu led me or a long time2 e:er since the

middle tEenties2 5) Ehen I Eas in:estigating the phenomena o the collecti:e

unconscious and kept on coming across connections Ehich I simpl9 could not

e8plain as chance groupings or Bruns!B What I ound Eere BcoincidencesB Ehich

Eere connected so meaning ull9 that their BchanceB concurrence Eould representa degree o impro7a7ilit9 that Eould ha:e to 7e e8pressed 79 an astronomical

igure! *9 Ea9

50 To 7e more accurate2 the sEarming 7egins a little 7e ore and ends a little a ter this da92 Ehen the

sEarming is at its height! The months :ar9 according to location! The palolo Eorm2 or EaEo2 o

Am7oina is said to appear at ull moon in 'arch! ;A! F! 3ramer2 &7er den *au der 3orallenri e!<54 Frit ,ahns2 B,as SchEarmen des Palolo!B

5) (:en 7e ore that time certain dou7ts had arisen in me as to the unlimited applica7ilit9 o the

causal principle in ps9cholog9! In the oreEord to the .st edn! o Collected Papers on Anal9tical

Ps9cholog92 I had Eritten ;p! i8<? BCausalit9 is onl9 one principle and ps9cholog9 essentiall9 cannot

7e e8hausted 79 causal methods onl92 7ecause the mind ps9che li:es 79 aims as Eell!B Ps9chic

inalit9 rests on a Bpre>e8istentB meaning Ehich 7ecomes pro7lematical onl9 Ehen it is an

unconscious arrangement! In that case Ee ha:e to suppose a BknoEledgeB prior to all

consciousness! Hans ,riesch comes to the same conclusion ;,ie BSeeleB als elementarer

Natur aktor2 pp! )1 !<!

51




o e8ample2 I shall mention an incident rom m9 oEn o7ser:ation! A 9oung Eoman

I Eas treating had2 at a critical moment2 a dream in Ehich she Eas gi:en a golden

scara7! While she Eas telling me this dream I sat Eith m9 7ack to the closedEindoE! Suddenl9 I heard a noise 7ehind me2 like a gentle tapping! I turned round

and saE a l9ing insect knocking against the EindoE>pane rom outside! I opened

the EindoE and caught the creature in the air as it leE in! It Eas the nearest

analog to a golden scara7 that one inds in our latitudes2 a scara7aeid 7eetle2 the

common rose>cha er ;Cetonia aurata<2 Ehich contrar9 to its usual ha7its had

e:identl9 elt an urge to get into a dark room at this particular moment! I must

admit that nothing like it e:er happened to me 7e ore or since2 and that the dream

the patient has remained uniMue in m9 e8perience! 5)a

I should like to mention another case that is t9pical o a certain categor9 o

e:ents! The Ei e o one o m9 patients2 a man in his i ties2 once told me in

con:ersation that2 at the deaths o her mother and her grandmother2 a num7er o

7irds gathered outside the EindoEs o the death>cham7er! I had heard similar

stories rom other people! When her hus7andJs treatment Eas nearing its end2 his

neurosis ha:ing 7een cleared up2 he de:eloped some apparentl9 Muite innocuous

s9mptoms Ehich seemed to me2 hoEe:er2 to 7e those o heart>disease! I sent

along to a specialist2 Eho a ter e8amining him told me in Eriting that he could ind

no cause or an8iet9! On the Ea9 rom this consultation ;Eith the medical report in

his pocket< m9 patient collapsed in the street! As he Eas 7rought d9ing2 his Ei e

Eas alread9 in a great state o an8iet9 7ecause soon a ter her hus7and had goneto the doctor2 a Ehole lock o 7irds alighted on their house! She naturall9

remem7ered similar incidents that had happened at the death o her relati:es2 and

eared the Eorst!

Although I Eas personall9 acMuainted Eith the people concerned and knoE

:er9 Eell that the9 acts here reported are true I do not imagine or a moment that

this Eill induce an97od9 Eho is determined to regard such things as pure BchanceB

to change his mind! '9 sole o7Lect in relating these tEo incidents

5)a The case is discussed more ull9 7eloE2 par! /)G!K(ditors!

5.




is simpl9 to gi:e some indication o hoE meaning ul coincidences usuall9 present

themsel:es in practical li e! The meaning ul connection is o7:ious enough in the

irst case in :ieE o the appro8imate identit9 o the chie o7Lects ;the scara7 andthe 7eetle<= 7ut in the second case the death and the lock o 7irds seem to 7e

incommensura7le Eith one another! I one considers2 ace hoEe:er2 that in the

*a79lonian Hades the souls Eore a B eather dress2B and that in ancient (g9pt the

7a2 or soul2 Eas thought o as a 7ird2 5/ it is not too ar> etched to suppose that

there ma9 7e some archet9pal s9m7olism at Eork! Had such an incident occurred

in a dream2 that interpretation Eould 7e Lusti ied 79 the comparati:e ps9chological

material! There also seems to 7e an archet9pal oundation to the irst case! It Eas

an e8traordinaril9 di icult case to treat2 and up to the time o the dream little or no

progress had 7een made! I should e8plain that the main reason or this Eas m9

patientJs animus2 Ehich Eas steeped in Cartesian philosoph9 and clung so rigidl9

to its oEn idea o realit9 that the e orts o three doctors> I Eas the third> had not

7een a7le to Eeaken it! (:identl9 something Muite irrational Eas needed Ehich Eas

7e9ond m9 poEers to produce! The dream alone Eas enough to distur7 e:er so

slightl9 the rationalistic attitude o m9 patient! *ut Ehen the Bscara7B came l9ing

in through the EindoE in actual act2 her natural 7eing could 7urst through the

armor o her animus possession and the process o trans ormation could at last

7egin to mo:e! An9 essential change o attitude signi ies a ps9chic reneEal Ehich

is usuall9 accompanied 79 s9m7ols o re7irth in the patientJs dreams and antasies!

The scara7 is a classic e8ample o a re7irth s9m7ol! The ancient (g9ptian *ook oWhat Is in the NetherEorld descri7es hoE the dead sun>god changes himsel at the

tenth station into 3hepri2 the scara72 and then2 at the tEel th station2 mounts the

7arge Ehich carries the reLu:enated sun>god into the morning sk9! The onl9

di icult9 here is that Eith educated people cr9ptomnesia o ten cannot 7e ruled out

Eith certaint9 ;although m9 patient did not happen to knoE this s9m7ol<! *ut this

does not alter the act that the ps9chologist is continuall9 coming up against cases

Ehere the emergence o

5/ In Homer the souls o the dead BtEitter!B Od9sse92 *ook 8i!K(ditors!

5G




s9m7olic parallels @1 cannot 7e e8plained Eithout the h9pothesis o the collecti:e

unconscious!'eaning ul coincidences> Ehich are to 7e distinguished rom meaningless

chance groupings @.> there ore seem to rest on an archet9pal oundation! At least

all the cases in m9 e8perience >and there is a large num7er o them> shoE this

characteristic! What that means I ha:e alread9 indicated a7o:e! @G Although an9one

Eith m9 e8perience in this ield can easil9 recogni e their archet9pal character2 he

Eill ind it di icult to link them up Eith the ps9chic conditions in RhineJs

e8periments2 7ecause the latter contain no direct e:idence o an9 constellation o

the archet9pe! Nor is the emotional situation the same as in m9 e8amples!

Ne:ertheless2 it must 7e remem7ered that Eith Rhine the irst series o

e8periments generall9 produced the 7est results2 Ehich then Muickl9 ell o ! *ut

Ehen it Eas possi7le to arouse a neE interest in the essentiall9 rather 7oring

e8periment2 the results impro:ed again! It olloEs rom this that the emotional

actor pla9s an important role! A ecti:it92 hoEe:er2 rests to a large e8tent on the

instincts2 Ehose ormal aspect is the archet9pe!

There is 9et another ps9chological analog9 7etEeen m9 tEo cases and the

Rhine e8periments2 though it is not Muite so o7:ious! These apparentl9 Muite

di erent situations ha:e as their common characteristic an element o

Bimpossi7ilit9!B The patient Eith the scara7 ound hersel in an BJimpossi7leB

situation 7ecause the treatment had got stuck and there seemed to 7e no Ea9 outo the impasse! In such situations2 i the9 are serious enough2 archet9pal dreams

are likel9 to occur Ehich point out a possi7le line o ad:ance one Eould ne:er ha:e

thought o onesel ! It is this kind o situation that constellates the archet9pe Eith

the greatest regularit9! In certain cases the ps9chotherapist there ore sees himsel

o7liged to disco:er the

@1Naturall9 these can onl9 7e :eri ied Ehen the doctor himsel has the necessar9 knoEledge o

s9m7olog9!@. Statistical anal9sis is designed to separate out groupings ;termed dispersions< due to random

acti:it9 rom signi icant dispersions in Ehich causes ma9 7e looked or! On Pro essor #ungJsh9pothesis2 hoEe:er2 dispersions due to chance can 7e su7di:ided into meaning ul and

meaningless! The meaningless dispersions due to chance are made meaning ul 79 the acti:ation o

the ps9choid archet9pe!K (ditors!@5C ! par! )@.= also BOn the Nature o the Ps9che2B par! @1@ !

55




rationall9 insolu7le pro7lem toEards Ehich the patientJs unconscious is steering!

Once this is ound2 the deeper la9ers o the unconscious2 the primordial images2

are acti:ated and the trans ormation o the personalit9 can get under Ea9!In the second case there Eas the hal >unconscious ear and the threat o a

lethal end Eith no possi7ilit9 o an adeMuate recognition o the situation! In RhineJs

e8periment it is the Bimpossi7ilit9B o the task that ultimatel9 i8es the su7LectJs

attention on the processes going on inside him2 and thus gi:es the unconscious a

chance to mani est itsel ! The Muestions set 79 the (SP e8periment ha:e an

emotional e ect right rom the start2 since the9 postulate something unknoEa7le

as 7eing potentiall9 knoEa7le and in that Ea9 take the possi7ilit9 o a miracle

seriousl9 into account! This2 regardless o the su7LectJs skepticism2 immediatel9

appeals to his unconscious readiness to Eitness a miracle2 and to the hope2 latent

in all men2 that such a thing ma9 9et 7e possi7le! Primiti:e superstition lies Lust

7eloE the sur ace o e:en the most tough minded indi:iduals2 and it is precisel9

those Eho most ight against it Eho are the irst to succum7 to its suggesti:e

e ects! When there ore a serious e8periment Eith all the authorit9 o science

7ehind it touches this readiness2 it Eill ine:ita7l9 gi:e rise to an emotion Ehich

either accepts or reLects it Eith a good deal o a ecti:it9! At all e:ents an a ecti:e

e8pectation is present in one orm or another e:en though it ma9 7e denied!

Here I Eould like to call attention to a possi7le misunderstanding Ehich ma9

7e occasioned 79 the term Bs9nchronicit9!B I chose this term 7ecause the

simultaneous occurrence o tEo meaning ull9 7ut not causall9 connected e:entsseemed to me an essential criterion! I am there ore using the general concept o

s9nchronicit9 in the special sense o a coincidence in time o tEo or more causall9

unrelated e:ents Ehich ha:e the same or a similar meaning2 in contrast to

Bs9nchronism2B Ehich simpl9 means the simultaneous occurrence o tEo e:ents!

S9nchronicit9 there ore means the simultaneous occurrence o a certain

ps9chic state Eith one or more e8ternal e:ents Ehich appear as meaning ul

parallels to the momentar9 su7Lecti:e state> and2 in certain cases2 :ice :ersa! '9

tEo e8amples illustrate this in di erent Ea9s! In the case o the scara7 the

simultaneit9 is immediatel9 o7:ious2 7ut not in the second

5@






e8ample? An acMuaintance o mine saE and e8perienced in a dream the sudden

death o a riend2 Eith all the characteristic details! The dreamer Eas in (urope at

the time and the riend in America! The death Eas con irmed ne8t morning 79telegram2 and ten da9s later a letter con irmed the details! Comparison o

(uropean time Eith American time shoEed that the death occurred at least an

hour 7e ore the dream! The dreamer had gone to 7ed late and not slept until a7out

one oJclock! The dream occurred at appro8imatel9 tEo in the morning! The dream

e8perience is not s9nchronous Eith the death! (8periences o this kind reMuentl9

take place a little 7e ore or a ter the critical e:ent! #! W! ,unne @@ mentions a

particularl9 instructi:e dream he had in the spring o ./1G2 Ehen ser:ing in the

*oer War! He seemed to 7e standing on a :olcanic mountain! It Eas an island2

Ehich he had dreamed a7out 7e ore and kneE Eas threatened 79 a catastrophic

:olcanic eruption ;like 3rakatoa<! Terri ied2 he Eanted to sa:e the our thousand

inha7itants! He tried to get the French o icials on the neigh7oring island to

mo7ili e all a:aila7le shipping or the rescue Eork! Here the dream 7egan to

de:elop the t9pical nightmare moti s o hurr9ing2 chasing2 and not arri:ing on time2

and all the Ehile there ho:ered 7e ore his mind the Eords? BFour thousand people

Eill 7e killed unless>B A eE da9s later ,unne recei:ed Eith his mail a cop9 o the

,ail9 Telegraph2 and his e9e ell on the olloEing headlines?

$O%CANO ,ISAST(R

IN 'ARTINIZ&(>

ToEn SEept AEa9

>

An a:alanche o lame

>

Pro7a7le %oss o O:er @12111 %i:es

The dream did not take place at the moment o the actual catastrophe2 7ut onl9

Ehen the paper Eas alread9 on its Ea9 to

@@An (8periment Eith Time ;Gnd edn!<2 pp! 5@ !

50




him Eith the neEs! While reading it2 he misread @12111 as @2111! The mistake

7ecame i8ed as a paramnesia2 so that Ehene:er he told the dream he in:aria7l9

said @2111 instead o @12111! Not until i teen 9ears later2 Ehen he copied out thearticle2 did he disco:er his mistake! His unconscious knoEledge had made the

same mistake in reading as himsel !

The act that he dreamed this shortl9 7e ore the neEs reached him is

something that happens airl9 reMuentl9! We o ten dream a7out people rom

Ehom Ee recei:e a letter 79 the ne8t post! I ha:e ascertained on se:eral occasions

that at the moment Ehen the dream occurred the letter Eas alread9 l9ing in the

post>o ice o the addressee! I can also con irm2 rom m9 oEn e8perience2 the

reading mistake! ,uring the Christmas o ./.) I Eas much occupied Eith Orphism2

and in particular Eith the Orphic ragment in 'alalas2 Ehere the Primordial %ight is

descri7ed as the BTrinitarian 'etis2 Phanes2 (ricepaeus!B I consistentl9 read

(ricapaeus instead o (ricepaeus as in the te8t! ;Actuall9 7oth readings occur!< This

misreading 7ecame i8ed as a paramnesia2 and later I alEa9s remem7ered the

name as (ricapaeus and onl9 disco:ered thirt9 9ears a terEards that 'alalasJ te8t

has (ricepaeus! #ust at this time one o m9 patients2 Ehom I had not seen or a

month and Eho kneE nothing o m9 studies2 had a dream in Ehich an unknoEn

man handed her a piece o paper2 and on it Eas Eritten a B%atin

h9mn to a god called (ricipaeus! The dreamer Eas a7le to Erite this h9mn doEn

upon Eaking! The language it Eas Eritten Eas a peculiar mi8ture o %atin2 French2

and Italian! The lad9 had an elementar9 knoEledge o %atin2 kneE a 7it moreItalian and spoke French luentl9! The name B(ricipaeusB Eas completel9 unknoEn

to her2 Ehich is not surprising as she had no knoEledge o the classics! Our tEo

toEns Eere a7out i t9 miles apart2 and there had 7een no communication 7etEeen

us or a month! Oddl9 enough2 the :ariant o the name a ected the :er9 same

:oEel Ehich I too had misread ;a instead o e<2 7ut her unconscious misread it

another Ea9 ;i instead o e<! I can onl9 suppose that she unconsciousl9 BreadB not

m9 mistake 7ut the te8t in Ehich the %atin transliteration B(ricepaeusB occurs2 and

Eas e:identl9 put o her stroke 79 m9 misreading!

S9nchronistic e:ents rest on the simultaneous occurrence o tEo di erent

ps9chic states! One o them is the normal2 pro7a7le

54




state ;i!e!2 the one that is actuall9 e8plica7le<2 and the other2 the critical

e8perience2 is the one that cannot 7e deri:ed causall9 rom the irst! In the case o

sudden death the critical e8perience cannot 7e recogni ed immediatel9 as Be8tra>sensor9 perceptionB 7ut can onl9 7e :eri ied as such a terEards! Yet e:en in the

case o the Bscara7B Ehat is immediatel9 e8perienced is a ps9chic state or ps9chic

image Ehich di ers rom the dream image onl9 7ecause it can 7e :eri ied

immediatel9! In the case o the lock o 7irds there Eas in the Eoman an

unconscious e8citation or ear Ehich Eas certainl9 conscious to me and caused me

to send the patient to a heart specialist! In all these cases2 Ehether it is a Muestion

o spatial or o temporal (SP2 Ee ind a simultaneit9 o the normal or ordinar9 state

Eith another state or e8perience Ehich is not causall9 deri:a7le rom it2 and Ehose

o7Lecti:e e8istence can onl9 7e :eri ied a terEards! This de inition must 7e 7orne

in mind particularl9 Ehen it is a Muestion o uture e:ents! The9 are e:identl9 not

s9nchronous 7ut are s9nchronistic2 since the9 are e8perienced as ps9chic images

in the present2 as though the o7Lecti:e e:ent alread9 e8isted! An une8pected

content Ehich is directl9 or indirectl9 connected Eith some o7Lecti:e e8ternal

e:ent coincides Eith the ordinar9 ps9chic state? this is Ehat I call s9nchronicit9 and

I maintain that Ee are dealing Eith e8actl9 the same categor9 o e:ents Ehether

their o7Lecti:it9 appears separated rom m9 consciousness in space or in time! This

:ieE is con irmed 79 RhineJs results in so ar as the9 Eere not in luenced 79

changes in space or time! Space and time2 the conceptual co>ordinates o 7odies in

motion2 are pro7a7l9 at 7ottom one and the same ;Ehich is Eh9 Ee speak o a longor short Bspace o timeB<2 and Philo #udaeus said long ago that Bthe e8tension o

hea:enl9 motion is time!B @ S9nchronicit9 in space can eMuall9 Eell 7e concei:ed as

perception in time2 7ut remarka7l9 enough it is not so eas9 to understand

s9nchronicit9 in time as spatial2 or Ee cannot imagine an9 space in Ehich uture

e:ents are o7Lecti:el9 present and could 7e e8perienced as such through a

reduction o this spatial distance! *ut since e8perience has shoEn that under

certain conditions space and time can 7e reduced almost to ero2 causalit9

disappears along Eith them2 7ecause causalit9 is 7ound up Eith

@ ,e opi icio mundi2 G0! ;B[\V] ^_` ^ b b ` b f\ ] ] j b b !B<

5)




the e8istence o space and time and ph9sical changes2 and consists essentiall9 in

the succession o cause and e ect! For this reason s9nchronistic phenomenacannot in principle 7e associated Eith an9 conceptions o causalit9! Hence the

interconnection o meaning ull9 coincident actors must necessaril9 7e thought o

as acausal!

Here2 or Eant o a demonstra7le cause2 Ee are all too likel9 to all into the

temptation o positing a transcendental one! *ut a BcauseB can onl9 7e a

demonstra7le Muantit9! A Btranscendental causeB is a contradiction in terms2

7ecause an9thing transcendental cannot 79 de inition 7e demonstrated! I Ee donJt

Eant to risk the h9pothesis o acausalit92 then the onl9 alternati:e is to e8plain

s9nchronistic phenomena as mere chance2 Ehich 7rings us into con lict Eith

RhineJs (SP disco:eries and other Eell>attested acts reported in the literature o

paraps9cholog9! Or else Ee are dri:en to the kind o re lections I descri7ed a7o:e2

and must su7Lect our 7asic principles o e8planation to the criticism that space and

time are constants in an9 gi:en s9stem onl9 Ehen the9 are measured Eithout

regard to ps9chic conditions! That is Ehat regularl9 happens in scienti ic

e8periments! *ut Ehen an e:ent is o7ser:ed Eithout e8perimental restrictions2 the

o7ser:er can easil9 7e in luenced 79 an emotional state Ehich alters space and

time 79 Bcontraction!B (:er9 emotional state produces an alteration o

consciousness Ehich #anet called a7aissement du ni:eau mental= that is to sa9

there is a certain narroEing o consciousness and a corresponding strengthening othe unconscious Ehich2 particularl9 in the case>o strong a ects2 is noticea7le e:en

to the la9man! The tone o the unconscious is heightened2 there79 creating a

gradient or the unconscious to loE toEards the conscious! The conscious then

comes under the in luence o unconscious instinctual impulses and contents! These

are as a rule comple8es Ehose ultimate 7asis is the archet9pe2 the Binstinctual

pattern!B The unconscious also contains su7liminal perceptions ;as Eell as

orgotten memor9>images that cannot 7e reproduced at the moment2 and perhaps

not at all<! Among the su7liminal contents Ee must distinguish perceptions rom

Ehat I Eould call an ine8plica7le BknoEledge2B or an Bimmediac9B o ps9chicimages! Whereas the sense>perceptions can 7e related to pro7a7le or possi7le

sensor9 stimuli 7eloE the threshold o

5/




consciousness2 this BknoEledge2B or the Bimmediac9B o unconscious images2

either has no recogni a7le oundation or else Ee ind that there are recogni a7le

causal connections Eith certain alread9 e8isting2 and o ten archet9pal2 contents!*ut these images2 Ehether rooted in an9 alread9 e8isting 7asis or not2 stand in an

analogous or eMui:alent ;i!e!2 meaning ul< relationship to o7Lecti:e occurrences

Ehich ha:e no recogni a7le or e:en concei:a7le causal relationship Eith them!

HoE could an e:ent remote in space and time produce a corresponding ps9chic

image Ehen the transmission o energ9 necessar9 or this is not e:en thinka7le

HoEe:er incomprehensi7le it ma9 appear2 Ee are inall9 compelled to assume that

there is in the unconscious something like an a priori knoEledge or an Bimmediac9B

o e:ents Ehich lacks an9 causal 7asis! At an9 rate our conception o causalit9 is

incapa7le o e8plaining the acts!

In :ieE o this complicated situation it ma9 7e EorthEhile to recapitulate the

argument discussed a7o:e2 and this can 7est 7e done Eith the aid o our

e8amples! In RhineJs e8periment I made the assumption that2 oEing to the tense

e8pectation or emotional state o the su7Lect2 an alread9 e8isting2 correct2 7ut

unconscious image o the result ena7les his conscious mind to score a more than

chance num7er o hits! The scara7 dream is a conscious representation arising

rom an unconscious2 alread9 e8isting image o the situation that Eill occur on the

olloEing da92 i!e!2 the recounting o the dream and the appearance o the rose>

cha er! The Ei e o the patient Eho died had an unconscious knoEledge o the

impending death! The lock o 7irds e:oked the corresponding memor9>images andconseMuentl9 her ear! Similarl92 the almost simultaneous dream o the :iolent

death o the riend arose rom an alread9 e8isting unconscious knoEledge o it!

In all these cases and others like them there seems to 7e an a priori2 causall9

ine8plica7le knoEledge o a situation Ehich at the time is unknoEa7le!

S9nchronicit9 there ore consists o tEo actors? a< An unconscious image comes

into consciousness cither directl9 ;i!e!2 literall9< or indirectl9 ;s9m7oli ed or

suggested< in the orm o a dream2 idea2 or premonition2 7< An o7Lecti:e situation

coincides Eith this content! The one is as pu ling as the other! HoE does the

unconscious image arise2 and hoE the coincidence I understand onl9 too Eell Eh9

people

@1




pre er to dou7t the realit9 o these things! Here I Eill onl9 pose the Muestion! %aterin this stud9 I Eill tr9 to ansEer it!

As regards the role Ehich a ects pla9 in the occurrence o s9nchronistic

e:ents2 I should perhaps mention that this is 79 no means a neE idea 7ut Eas

alread9 knoEn to A:icenna and Al7ertus 'agnus! On the su7Lect o magic2 Al7ertus

'agnus Erites?

I disco:ered an instructi:e account o magic in A:icennaJs %i7er se8tus naturalium2 Ehich

sa9s that a certain poEer @0 to alter things indEells in the human soul and su7ordinates the

other things to her2 particularl9 Ehen she is sEept into a great e8cess o lo:e or hate or

the like! @4 When there ore the soul o a man alls into a great e8cess o an9 passion2 it can7e pro:ed 79 e8periment that it the e8cess 7inds things magicall9 and alters them in

the Ea9 it Eants2 @) and or a long time I did not 7elie:e it2 7ut a ter I had read the

nigromantic 7ooks and others o the kind on signs and magic2 I ound that the

emotionalit9 @/ o the human soul is the chie cause o all these things2 Ehether 7ecause2

on account o her great emotion2 she alters her 7odil9 su7stance and the other things

toEards Ehich she stri:es2 or 7ecause2 on account o her dignit92 the other2 loEer things

are su7Lect to her2 or 7ecause the appropriate hour or astrological situation or another

poEer coincides Eith so inordinate an emotion2 and Ee in conseMuence 7elie:e that Ehat

this poEer does is then done 79 the soul! 1 Whoe:er Eould learn the secret o doing and

undoing these things must knoE that e:er9one can in luence e:er9thing magicall9 i healls into a great e8cess and he must do it at that hour Ehen the e8cess 7e alls him2 and

operate Eith the things Ehich the soul prescri7es! For the soul is then so desirous o the

matter she Eould accomplish that o her oEn accord she sei es on the more signi icant

and 7etter astrological hour Ehich also rules o:er the things suited to that matter! ! ! !

Thus it is the soul Eho desires a thing more intensel92 Eho makes things more e ecti:e

and more like Ehat comes orth! Such is the manner o production Eith e:er9thing the

soul intensel9 desires! (:er9thing she does Eith that aim in :ieE possesses moti:e poEer

and e icac9 or Ehat the soul desires! .

@0B:irtusB@4BMuando ipsa ertur in magnum amoris e8cessum aut odii aut alicuius talium!B@)B ertur in grandem e8cessum alicuius passionis in:enitur e8perimento mani esto Muod ipse ligat

res et alterat ad idem Muod desideratB@/Ba ectioB1 Bcum tali a ectione e8terminata concurrat hora con:eniens aut ordo coelestis aut alia :irtus2 Muae

Muod:is aciet2 illud reputa:imus tunc animam acere!B. ,e mira7ili7us mundi ;.@) <!

@.




This te8t shoEs clearl9 that s9nchronistic ;BmagicalB< happenings are regarded as

7eing dependent on a ects! Naturall9 Al7ertus 'agnus2 in accordance Eith the

spirit o his age2 e8plains this 79 postulating a magical acult9 in the soul2 Eithoutconsidering that the ps9chic process itsel is Lust as much BarrangedB as the

coinciding image Ehich anticipates the e8ternal ph9sical process! This image

originates in the unconscious and there ore 7elongs to those Bcogitationes Muae

sunt a no7is independentes2B Ehich2 in the opinion o Arnold "eulinc82 are

prompted 79 "od and do not spring rom our oEn thinking! G "oethe thinks o

s9nchronistic e:ents in the same BmagicalB Ea9! Thus he sa9s2 in his con:ersations

Eith (ckermann? BWe all ha:e certain electric and magnetic poEers Eithin us and

oursel:es e8ercise an attracti:e and repelling orce2 according as Ee come into

touch Eith something like or unlike!B 5

A ter these general considerations let us return to the pro7lem o the

empirical 7asis o s9nchronicit9! The main di icult9 here is to procure empirical

material rom Ehich Ee can draE reasona7l9 certain conclusions2 and

un ortunatel9 this di icult9 is not an eas9 one to sol:e! The e8periences in

Muestion are not read9 to hand! We must there ore look in the o7scurest corners

and summon up courage to shock the preLudices o our age i Ee Eant to 7roaden

the 7asis o our understanding o nature! When "alileo disco:ered the moons o

#upiter Eith his telescope he immediatel9 came into head>on collision Eith the

preLudices o his learned contemporaries! No7od9 kneE Ehat a telescope Eas and

Ehat it could do! Ne:er 7e ore had an9one talked o the moons o #upiter! Naturall9e:er9 age thinks that all ages 7e ore it Eere preLudiced2 and toda9 Ee think this

more than e:er and are Lust as Erong as all pre:ious ages that thought so! HoE

o ten ha:e Ee not seen the truth condemned It is sad 7ut un ortunatel9 true that

man learns nothing rom histor9! This melanchol9 act Eill present us Eith the

greatest di iculties as soon as Ee set a7out collecting empirical material that

Eould throE a little light on this dark su7Lect2 or Ee shall 7e Muite certain to ind it

Ehere all the authorities ha:e assured us that nothing is to 7e ound!

G 'etaph9sica :era2 Part iii2 BSecunda scientia2B in Opera philosophica2 ed! 79 %and2 ii2 pp! .)4 !5 (ckermannJs Con:ersations Eith "oethe2 trans! 79 'oon2 pp! .@ ! ;modi ied<!

@G




Reports o remarka7le isolated cases2 hoEe:er Eell authenticated2 are unpro ita7le

and lead at most to their reporter 7eing regarded as a credulous person! (:en the

care ul recording and :eri ication o a large num7er o such cases2 as in the Eorko "urne92 '9ers2 and Podmore2 @ ha:e made ne8t to no impression on the

scienti ic Eorld! The great maLorit9 o Bpro essionalB ps9chologists and

ps9chiatrists seem to 7e completel9 ignorant o these researches!

The results o the (SP and e8periments ha:e pro:ided a statistical 7asis or

e:aluating the phenomenon o s9nchronicit92 and at the same time ha:e pointed

out the important part pla9ed 79 the ps9chic actor! This act prompted me to ask

Ehether it Eould not 7e possi7le to ind a method Ehich Eould on the one hand

demonstrate the e8istence o s9nchronicit9 and2 on the other hand2 disclose

ps9chic contents Ehich Eould at least gi:e us a clue to the nature o the ps9chic

actor in:ol:ed! I asked m9sel 2 in other Eords2 Ehether there Eere not a method

Ehich Eould 9ield measura7le results and at the same time gi:e us an insight into

the ps9chic 7ackground o s9nchronicit9! That there are certain essential ps9chic

conditions or s9nchronistic phenomena Ee ha:e alread9 seen rom the (SP

e8periments2 although the latter are in the nature o the case restricted to the acto coincidence and onl9 stress its ps9chic 7ackground Eithout illuminating it an9

urther! I had knoEn or a long time that there Eere intuiti:e or BmanticB methods

Ehich start Eith the ps9chic actor and take the e8istence o s9nchronicit9 as sel >

e:ident! I there ore turned m9 attention irst o all to the intuiti:e techniMue or

grasping the total situation Ehich is so characteristic o China2 namel9 the I Ching

or *ook o Changes! 0 &nlike the "reek>trained Western mind2 the Chinese mind

does not aim at grasping details or their oEn sake2 7ut at a :ieE Ehich sees the

detail as part o a Ehole! For o7:ious

@See p! .@2 supra!

Recentl9 Pascual #ordan has put up an e8cellent case or the scienti ic in:estigation o spatial

clair:o9ance ;BPositi:istische *emerkungen u7er die paraps9chischen (rscheinungenB<! I Eould also

draE attention to his $erdrangung und 3omplementaritat2 concerning the relations 7etEeen

microph9sics and the ps9cholog9 o the unconscious!0 Trans2 79 Car9 F! *a9nes rom the Richard Wilhelm translation!

@5




reasons2 a cogniti:e operation o this kind is impossi7le to the tided intellect!

#udgment must there ore rel9 much more on the irrational unctions o

consciousness2 that is on sensation ;the Bsens du reelB< and intuition ;perception79 means o su7liminal contents<! The I Ching2 Ehich Ee can Eell call the

e8perimental oundation o classical Chinese philosoph92 is one o the oldest

knoEn methods or grasping a situation as a Ehole and thus placing the details

against a cosmic 7ackground> the interpla9 o Yin and Yang!

This grasping o the Ehole is o7:iousl9 the aim o science as Eell2 7ut it is a

goal that necessaril9 lies :er9 ar o 7ecause science2 Ehene:er possi7le2

proceeds e8perimentall9 and in all cases statisticall9! (8periment2 hoEe:er2

consists in asking a de inite Muestion Ehich e8cludes as ar as possi7le an9thing

distur7ing and irrele:ant! It makes conditions2 imposes them on Nature2 and in this

Ea9 orces her to gi:e an ansEer to a Muestion de:ised 79 man! She is pre:ented

rom ansEering out o the ullness o her possi7ilities since these possi7ilities are

restricted as ar as practica7le! For this purpose there is created in the la7orator9 a

situation Ehich is arti iciall9 restricted to the Muestion and Ehich compels Nature to

gi:e an uneMui:ocal ansEer! The Eorkings o Nature in her unrestricted Eholeness

are completel9 e8cluded! I Ee Eant to knoE Ehat these Eorkings are2 Ee need a

method o inMuir9 Ehich imposes the eEest possi7le conditions2 or i possi7le no

conditions at all2 and then lea:es Nature to ansEer out o her ullness!

In the la7orator9 e8periment2 the knoEn and esta7lished procedure orms

the sta7le actor in the statistical compilation and comparison o the results! In theintuiti:e or BmanticB e8periment>Eith>the>Ehole2 on the other hand2 there is no

need o an9 Muestion Ehich imposes conditions and restricts the Eholeness o the

natural process! It is gi:en e:er9 possi7le chance to e8press itsel ! In the I Ching

the coins all Lust as happens to suit them! 4 From the point o :ieE o an o7ser:er2

an unknoEn Muestion is olloEed 79 a rationall9 unintelligi7le ansEer! Thus ar the

conditions or a total reaction are positi:el9 ideal! The disad:antage2 hoEe:er2

leaps to the e9e? in contrast to the scienti ic e8periment one does not knoE Ehat

4 I the e8periment is made Eith the traditional 9arroE stalks2 the di:ision o the ort9>nine stalks

represents the chance actor!

@@




has happened! To o:ercome this draE7ack2 tEo Chinese sages2 3ing Wen and the

,uke o Chou2 in the tEel th centur9 7e ore our era2 7asing themsel:es on the

h9pothesis o the unit9 o nature2 sought to e8plain the simultaneous occurrence oa ps9chic state Eith a ph9sical process as an eMui:alence o meaning! In other

Eords2 the9 supposed that the same li:ing realit9 Eas e8pressing itsel in the

ps9chic state as in the ph9sical! *ut2 in order to :eri 9 such an h9pothesis2 some

limiting condition Eas needed in this apparentl9 limitless e8periment2 namel9 a

de inite orm o ph9sical procedure2 a method or techniMue Ehich orced nature to

ansEer in e:en and odd num7ers! These2 as representati:es o Yin and Yang2 are

ound 7oth in the unconscious and in nature in the characteristic orm o opposites

as the BmotherB and B atherB o e:er9thing that happens2 and the9 there ore orm

the tertium comparationis 7etEeen the inner Eorld and the ph9sical outer Eorld!

Thus the tEo sages de:ised a method 79 Ehich an inner state could 7e

represented as an outer one and :ice :ersa! This naturall9 presupposes an intuiti:e

knoEledge o the meaning o each oracle igure! The I Ching2 there ore2 consists o

a collection o si8t9> our interpretations in Ehich the meaning o each o the

possi7le Yin>Yang com7inations is Eorked out! These interpretations ormulate the

inner unconscious knoEledge that corresponds to the state o consciousness at the

moment2 and this ps9chological situation coincides Eith the chance results o the

method2 that is2 Eith the odd and e:en num7ers resulting rom the all o the coins

or the di:ision o the 9arroE stalks! )

The method2 like all di:inator9 or intuiti:e techniMues2 is 7ased on an acausalor s9nchronistic connecti:e principle! / In practice2 as an9 unpreLudiced person Eill

admit2 man9 o7:ious cases o s9nchronicit9 occur during the e8periment2 Ehich

could 7e rationall9 and someEhat ar7itraril9 e8plained aEa9 as mere proLections!

*ut i one assumes that the9 reall9 are Ehat the9

) See also in ra2 par! /)0!/ I irst used this term in m9 memorial address or Richard Wilhelm ;deli:ered 'a9 .12 ./512 in

'unich<! The address later appeared as an appendi8 to The Secret o the "olden FloEer2 Ehere I

said? BThe science o the 6 Ching is not 7ased on the causalit9 principle2 7ut on a principle ; h itherto

unnamed 7ecause not met Eith among us< Ehich I ha:e tentati:el9 called the s9nchronisticprincipleB ;p! .@.<! C ! BRichard Wilhelm? In 'emoriam2B par! ).!

@




appear to 7e2 then the9 can onl9 7e meaning ul coincidences or Ehich2 as ar as

Ee knoE2 there is no causal e8planation! The method consists either in di:iding the

ort9>nine 9arroE stalks Into tEo heaps at random and counting o the heaps 79threes and i:es2 or in throEing three coins si8 times2 each line o the he8agram

7eing determined 79 the :alue o o7:erse and re:erse ;heads 52 tails G<! 01 The

e8periment is 7ased on a triadic principle ;tEo trigrams< and contains si8t9> our

mutations2 each corresponding to a ps9chic situation! These are discussed at

length in the te8t and appended commentaries! There is also a Western method o

:er9 ancient origin 0. Ehich is 7ased on the same general principle as the I Ching2

the onl9 di erence 7eing that in the West this principle is not triadic 7ut2

signi icantl9 enough2 tetradic2 and the result is not a he8agram 7uilt up o Yang

and Yin lines 7ut si8teen igures composed o odd and e:en num7ers! TEel:e o

them are arranged2 according to certain rules2 in the astrological houses! The

e8periment is 7ased on @ 8 @ lines consisting o a random num7er o points Ehich

the Muestioner marks in the sand or on paper rom right to le t! 0G In true Occidental

ashion the com7ination o all these actors goes into considera7l9 more detail

than the I Ching! Here too there are an9 amount o meaning ul coincidences2 7ut

the9 are as a rule harder to understand and there ore less o7:ious than in the

latter! In the Western method2 Ehich Eas knoEn since the thirteenth centur9 as

the Ars "eomantica or the Art o Punctation 05 and enLo9ed a Eidespread :ogue2

there are no real commentaries2 since its use Eas onl9 mantic and ne:er

philosophical like that o the I Ching! Though the results o 7oth procedures point in the desired direction2 the9 do

not pro:ide an9 7asis or a statistical e:aluation! I ha:e2 there ore2 looked round

or another intuiti:e techniMue and ha:e hit on astrolog92 Ehich2 at least in its

modern orm2 claims to gi:e a more or less total picture o the indi:idualJs

character! There is no lack o commentaries here= indeed2

01 I Ching2 pp! 4G. !0. 'entioned 79 Isidore o Se:ille in his %i7er et9mologiarum2 $III2 i82 .5!0G"rains o corn or dice can also 7e used!

05 The 7est account is to 7e ound in Ro7ert Fludd ;. 4@>.054<2 ,e arte geomantica! C ! %9nn Thorndike2 A Histor9 o 'agic and (8perimental Science2 II2 p! ..1!

@0




Ee ind a 7eEildering pro usion o them> a sure sign that interpretation is neither

simple nor certain! The meaning ul coincidence Ee are looking or is immediatel9

apparent in astrolog92 since the astronomical data are said 79 astrologers tocorrespond to indi:idual traits o character= rom the remotest times the :arious

planets2 houses2 odiacal signs2 and aspects ha:e all had meanings that ser:e as a

7asis or a character stud9 or or an interpretation o a gi:en situation! It is alEa9s

possi7le to o7Lect that the result does not agree Eith our ps9chological knoEledge

o the situation or character in Muestion2 and it is di icult to re ute the assertion

that knoEledge o character is a highl9 su7Lecti:e a air2 7ecause in characterolog9

there are no in alli7le or e:en relia7le signs that can 7e in an9 Ea9 measured or

calculatedKan o7Lection that also applies to grapholog92 although in practice it

enLo9s Eidespread recognition!

This criticism2 together Eith the a7sence o relia7le criteria or determining

traits o character2 makes the meaning ul coincidence o horoscope structure and

indi:idual character postulated 79 astrolog9 seem inapplica7le or the purpose

here under discussion! I 2 there ore2 Ee Eant astrolog9 to tell us an9thing a7out the

acausal connection o e:ents2 Ee must discard this uncertain diagnosis o

character and put in its place an a7solutel9 certain and indu7ita7le act! One such

act is the marriage connection 7etEeen tEo persons! 0@

Since antiMuit92 the main traditional astrological and alchemical

correspondence to marriage has 7een the conLunctio Solis ; < et %unae ; <2 the

conLunctio %unae et %unae2 and the conLunction o the moon Eith the ascendent!0

There are others2 7ut these do not come Eithin the main traditional

0@Other o7:ious acts Eould 7e murder and suicide! Statistics are to 7e ound in Her7ert :on

3loeckler ; Astrologie als Erfahrungswissenschaft 2 pp! G5G t! and G01 !<2 7ut un ortunatel9 the9 ail

to gi:e comparisons Eith normal a:erage :alues and cannot 7e used or our purpose! On the other

hand2 Paul Flam7art ; Preuves et bases de I'astrologie scientifique pp! 4/ t!< shoEs a graph o

statistics on the ascendants o .G5 outstandingl9 intelligent people! ,e inite accumulations occur at

the corners o the air9 trigon ; 2 2 <! This result Eas con irmed 79 a urther 511 cases!0 This :ieE dates 7ack to Ptolem9? BApponit Ptolemaeus autem tres gradus concordiae? Primus

cum Sol in :iro2 et Sol :el %una in emina2 aut %una in utrisMue2 uerint in locis se respicienti7us

trigono2 :el he8agono aspectu! Secundus cum in :iro %una2 in u8ore Sol eodem modo disponuntur! Tertius si cum hoc

@4




stream! The ascendant>descendent a8is Eas introduced into the tradition 7ecause

it has long 7een regarded as ha:ing a particularl9 important in luence on the

personalit9! As I shall re er later to the conLunction and opposition o 'ars ; ♂<and $enus ; ♀<2 I ma9 sa9 here that these are related to marriage onl9 7ecause the

conLunction or opposition o these tEo planets points to a lo:e relationship2 and

this ma9 or ma9 not produce a marriage! So ar as m9 e8periment is concerned2

Ee ha:e to in:estigate the coincident aspects 2 2 and Asc! in the horoscopes

o married pairs in relation to those o unmarried pairs! It Eill2 urther2 7e o

interest to compare the relation o the a7o:e aspects to those o the aspects Ehich

7elong onl9 in a minor degree to the main traditional stream! No 7elie in astrolog9

is needed to carr9 out such an in:estigation2 onl9 the 7irth>dates2 an astronomical

almanac2 and a ta7le o logarithms or Eorking out the horoscope!

alter alterum recipiat!B ;Ptolem9 postulates three degrees o harmon9! The irst is Ehen the sun in

the manJs horoscope 2 and the sun or moon in the EomanJs2 or the moon in 7oth2 are in their

respecti:e places in a trine or se8tile aspect! The second degree is Ehen the moon in a manJs

horoscope and the sun in a EomanJs are constellated in the same Ea9! The third degree is Ehen

the one is recepti:e to the other!< On the same page2 Cardan Muotes Ptolem9 ;,e iudiciis astrorum<?

BOmnino :ero constantes et diurni con:ictus permanent Muando in utriusMue conLugis genitura

luminaria contigerit con igurata esse concorditerB ;"enerall9 speaking2 their li e together Eill 7e

long and constant Ehen in the horoscopes o 7oth partners the luminaries sun and moon are

harmoniousl9 constellated<! Ptolem9 regards the conLunction o a masculine moon Eith a eminine

sun as particularl9 a:ora7le or marriage!K#erome Cardan2 Commentaria in Ptolemaeum de

astrorum iudiciis2 *ook I$ ;in his Opera omnia2 $2 p! 55G<!00 The practicing astrologer can hardl9 suppress a smile here2 7ecause or him these

correspondences are a7solutel9 sel >e:ident2 a classic e8ample 7eing "oetheJs connection Eith

Christiane $ulpius? q 4q !

I should perhaps add a eE e8planator9 Eords or those readers Eho do not eel at home

Eith the ancient art and techniMue o astrolog9! Its 7asis is the horoscope2 a circular arrangement o

sun2 moon2 and planets according to their relati:e positions in the signs o the odiac at the

moment o an indi:idualJs 7irth! There are three main positions2 :i !2 those o sun ; <2 moon ; <2 and

the so>called ascendant ;Asc<= the last has the greatest importance or the interpretation o a

nati:it9? the Asc! represents the degree o the odiacal sign rising o:er the eastern hori on at the

moment o 7irth! The horoscope consists o .G so>called Bhouses2B sectors o 51q each! Astrological

tradition ascri7es di erent Mualities to them as it does to the :arious Baspects2B i!e!2 angular

relations o the planets and the luminaria ;sun and moon ; <2 and to the odiacal signs!

@)




As the a7o:e three mantic procedures shoE2 the method 7est adapted to the

nature o chance is the numerical method! Since the remotest times men ha:e

used num7ers to esta7lish meaning ul coincidences2 that is2 coincidences that can7e interpreted! There is something peculiar2 one might e:en sa9 m9sterious2 a7out

num7ers! The9 ha:e ne:er 7een entirel9 ro77ed o their numinous aura! I 2 so a

te8t>7ook o mathematics tells us2 a group o o7Lects is depri:ed o e:er9 single

one o its properties or characteristics2 there still remains2 at the end2 its num7er2

Ehich seems to indicate that num7er is something irreduci7le! ;I am not concerned

here Eith the logic o this mathematical argument2 7ut onl9 Eith its ps9cholog9 <

The seMuence o natural num7ers turns out to 7e une8pectedl9 more than a mere

stringing together o identical units? it contains the Ehole o mathematics and

e:er9thing 9et to 7e disco:ered in this ield! Num7er2 there ore2 is in one sense an

unpredicta7le entit9! Although I Eould not care to undertake to sa9 an9thing

illuminating a7out the inner relation 7etEeen tEo such apparentl9

incommensura7le things as num7er and s9nchronicit92 I cannot re rain rom

pointing out that not onl9 Eere the9 alEa9s 7rought into connection Eith one

another2 7ut that 7oth possess numinosit9 and m9ster9 as their common

characteristics! Num7er has in:aria7l9 7een used to characteri e some numinous

o7Lect2 and all num7ers rom \ to / are Bsacred2B Lust as .12 .G2 .52 .@2 G)2 5G2 and

@1 ha:e a special signi icance! The most elementar9 Mualit9 a7out an o7Lect is

Ehether it is one or man9! Num7er helps more than an9thing else to 7ring order

into the chaos o appearances! It is the predestined instrument or creating order2or or apprehending an alread9 e8isting2 7ut still unknoEn2 regular arrangement or

Borderedness!B It ma9 Eell 7e the most primiti:e element o order in the human

mind2 seeing that the num7ers . to @ occur Eith the greatest reMuenc9 and ha:e

the Eidest incidence! In other Eords2 primiti:e patterns o order are mostl9 triads

or tetrads! That num7ers ha:e an archet9pal oundation is not2 79 the Ea92 a

conLecture o mine 7ut o certain mathematicians2 as Ee shall see in due course!

Hence it is not such an audacious conclusion a ter all i Ee de ine num7er

ps9chologicall9 as an archet9pe o order Ehich has 7ecome conscious! 04

Remarka7l9 enough2 the ps9chic

04 C ! BOn the Ps9cholog9 o (astern 'editation2B par! /@G!

@/




images o Eholeness Ehich are spontaneousl9 produced 79 the unconscious2 the

s9m7ols o the sel in mandala orm2 also ha:e a mathematical structure! The9 are

as a rule Muaternities ;or their multiples<!0) These structures not onl9 e8pressorder2 the9 also create it! That is Eh9 the9 generall9 appear in times o ps9chic

disorientation in order to compensate a chaotic state or as ormulations o

numinous e8periences! It must 7e emphasi ed 9et again that the9 are not

in:entions o the conscious mind 7ut are spontaneous products o the unconscious2

as has 7een su icientl9 shoEn 79 e8perience! Naturall9 the conscious mind can

imitate these patterns o order2 7ut such imitations do not pro:e that the originals

are conscious in:entions! From this it olloEs irre uta7l9 that the unconscious uses

num7er as an ordering actor!

It is generall9 7elie:ed that num7ers Eere in:ented or thought out 79 man2

and are there ore nothing 7ut concepts o Muantities2 containing nothing that Eas

not pre:iousl9 put into them 79 the human intellect! *ut it is eMuall9 possi7le that

num7ers Eere ound or disco:ered! In that case the9 are not onl9 concepts 7ut

something more> autonomous entities Ehich somehoE contain more than Lust

Muantities! &nlike concepts2 the9 are 7ased not on an9 ps9chic conditions 7ut on

the Mualit9 o 7eing themsel:es2 on a Bso>nessB that cannot 7e e8pressed 79 an

intellectual concept! &nder these conditions the9 might easil9 7e endoEed Eith

Mualities that ha:e still to 7e disco:ered! I must con ess that I incline to the :ieE

that num7ers Eere as much ound as in:ented2 and that in conseMuence the9

possess a relati:e autonom9 analogous to that o the archet9pes! The9 Eould thenha:e2 in common Eith the latter2 the Mualit9 o 7eing pre>e8istent to

consciousness2 and hence2 on occasion2 o conditioning it rather than 7eing

conditioned 79 it! The archet9pes too2 as a priori orms o representation2 are as

much ound as in:ented? the9 are disco:ered inasmuch as one did not knoE o

their unconscious autonomous e8istence2 and in:ented inasmuch as their presence

Eas in erred rom analogous representational structures! Accordingl9 it Eould

seem that natural num7ers ha:e an archet9pal character! I that is so2 then not

onl9 Eould certain num7ers and com7inations o num7ers ha:e a relation

0) C ! BA Stud9 in the Process o Indi:iduationB and BConcerning 'andala S9m7olism!B

1




to and an e ect on certain archet9pes2 7ut the re:erse E also 7e true! The irst

case is eMui:alent to num7er magic2 7ut the second is eMui:alent to inMuiringEhether num7ers in conLunction Eith the com7ination o archet9pes ound in

astrolog92 Eould shoE a tendenc9 to 7eha:e in a special Ea9!

.



2. AΝ ASTROLOGICAL EXPERIMENT

As I ha:e alread9 said2 Ee need tEo di erent acts2 one o Ehich represents the

astrological constellation2 and the other the married state!

The material to 7e e8amined2 namel9 a Muantit9 o marriage horoscopes2

Eas o7tained rom riendl9 donors in Durich2 %ondon2 Rome2 and $ienna! Originall9

the material had 7een put together or purel9 astrological purposes2 some o it

man9 9ears ago2 so that those Eho gathered the material kneE o no connection

7etEeen its collection and the aim o the present stud92 a act Ehich I stress

7ecause it might 7e o7Lected that the material Eas speciall9 selected Eith that aim

in :ieE! This Eas not so= the sample Eas a random one! The horoscopes2 or rather

the 7irth data2 Eere piled up in chronological order Lust as the post 7rought them

in! When the horoscopes o .)1 married pairs had come in2 there Eas a pause in

the collection2 during Ehich the 501 horoscopes Eere Eorked out! This irst 7atch

Eas used to conduct a pilot in:estigation2 as I Eanted to test out the methods to

7e emplo9ed!

Since the material had 7een collected originall9 in order to test the empirical

oundations o this intuiti:e method2 a eE more general remarks ma9 not 7e out

o place concerning the considerations Ehich prompted the collection o the

material!

'arriage is a Eell>characteri ed act2 though its ps9chological

G



SYNCHRONICITY? AN ACA&SA% CONN(CTIN" PRINCIP%(

aspect shoEs e:er9 concei:a7le sort o :ariation! According to the astrological

:ieE2 it is precisel9 this aspect o marriage that e8presses itsel most markedl9 inthe horoscopes! The possi7ilit9 that the indi:iduals characteri ed 79 the

horoscopes married one another2 so to sa92 79 accident Eill necessaril9 recede into

the 7ackground= all e8ternal actors seem capa7le o astrological e:aluation2 7ut

onl9 inasmuch as the9 are represented ps9chologicall9! OEing to the :er9 large

num7er o characterological :ariations2 Ee Eould hardl9 e8pect marriage to 7e

characteri ed 79 onl9 one astrological con iguration= rather2 i astrological

assumptions are at all correct2 there Eill 7e se:eral con igurations that point to a

predisposition in the choice o a marriage partner! In this connection I must call the

readerJs attention to the Eell>knoEn correspondence 7etEeen the sun>spot periods

and the mortalit9 cur:e! The connecting link appears to 7e the distur7ances o the

earthJs magnetic ield2 Ehich in their turn are due to luctuations in the proton

radiation rom the sun! These luctuations also ha:e an in luence on Bradio

EeatherB 79 distur7ing the ionosphere that re lects the radio Ea:es! . In:estigation

o these distur7ances seems to indicate that the conLunctions2 oppositions2 and

Muartile aspects o the planets pla9 a considera7le part in increasing the proton

radiation and thus causing electromagnetic storms! On the other hand2 the

astrologicall9 a:ora7le trine and se8tile aspects ha:e 7een reported to produce

uni orm radio Eeather!

These o7ser:ations gi:e us an une8pected glimpse into a possi7le causal7asis or astrolog9! At all e:ents2 this is certainl9 true o 3eplerJs Eeather

astrolog9! *ut it is also possi7le that2 o:er and a7o:e the alread9 esta7lished

ph9siological e ects o proton radiation2 ps9chic e ects can occur Ehich Eould ro7

astrological statements o their chance nature and 7ring them Eithin range o a

causal e8planation! Although no7od9 knoEs Ehat the :alidit9 o a nati:it9

horoscope rests on2 it is Lust concei:a7le that there is a causal connection 7etEeen

the planetar9 aspects and the ps9cho>ph9siological disposition! One Eould

there ore do Eell not to regard the results o astrological o7ser:ation as

s9nchronistic phenomena2 7ut to take them as

. For a comprehensi:e account o this2 see 'a8 3noll2 BTrans ormations o Science in Our Age2B in

'an and Time!

5




possi7l9 causal in origin! For2 Ehere:er a cause is e:en remotel9 thinka7le2

s9nchronicit9 7ecomes an e8ceedingl9 dou7t ul proposition!For the present2 at an9 rate2 Ee ha:e insu icient grounds or 7elie:ing that

the astrological results are more than mere chance2 or that statistics in:ol:ing

large num7ers 9ield a statisticall9 signi icant result! G As large>scale studies are

lacking2 I decided to in:estigate the empirical 7asis o astrolog92 using a large

num7er o horoscopes o married pairs Lust to see Ehat kind o igures Eould turn

up!

Pilot In:estigation

With the irst 7atch assem7led2 I turned irst to the conLunctions ; < and

oppositions ; < o sun and moon2 5 tEo aspects

GC ! the statistical results in ! ! 3ra t and others2 %e Premier Traite dJastro>7iologie2 pp! G5 t! and

passim!5Although the Muartile2 trine and se8tile aspects and the relations to the 'edium and Imum Coeli

ought reall9 to 7e considered2 i ha:e omitted them here so as not to make the e8position undul9complicated! The main point is not Ehat marriage aspects are2 7ut Ehether the9 can 7e detected in

the horoscope!

@




regarded in astrolog9 as 7eing a7out eMuall9 strong ;though in opposite senses<2

i!e!2 as signi 9ing intensi:e relations 7etEeen the hea:enl9 7odies! Together Eiththe ; ♂<2 ;♀<2 Asc2 and ,esc! conLunctions and oppositions2 the9 9ield i t9 di erent

aspects! @

The reasons Eh9 I chose these com7inations Eill 7e clear to the reader rom

m9 remarks on the astrological traditions in the pre:ious chapter! I ha:e onl9 to

add here that2 o the conLunctions and oppositions2 those o 'ars and $enus are ar

less important than the rest2 as Eill readil9 7e appreciated rom the olloEing

consideration? the relation o 'ars to $enus can re:eal a lo:e relation2 7ut a

marriage is not alEa9s a lo:e relation and a lo:e relation is not alEa9s a marriage!

'9 aim in including the conLunction and opposition o 'ars and $enus Eas

there ore to compare them Eith the other conLunctions and oppositions!

These i t9 aspects Eere irst studied or .)1 married couples! It is clear that

these .)1 men and .)1 Eomen can also 7e paired o into unmarried couples! In

act2 since an9 one o the .)1 men could 7e paired o Eith an9 one o the .4/

Eomen to Ehom he Eas not married2 it is clear that Ee can in:estigate .)1 8 .4/

5G2GG1 unmarried pairs Eithin the group o .)1 marriages! This Eas done ;c !

Ta7le I<2 and the aspect anal9sis or these unmarried pairs Eas compared Eith that

or the married pairs! For all calculations2 an or7it o )q either Ea9 Eas assumed2

clockEise and anticlockEise2 not onl9 inside the sign 7ut e8tending 7e9ond it!

%ater2 tEo more 7atches o GG1 and )5 marriages Eere added to the original 7atch2so that2 in all2 @)5 marriages2 or g00 horoscopes2 Eere e8amined! (:aluation o the

7atches shoEed that the most reMuent aspect in the irst Eas a sun>moon

conLunction ;.1 <2 in the second a moon>moon conLunction ;.1!/ <2 and in the

third a moon> Asc! conLunction ;/!0 <!

To 7egin Eith2 Ehat interested me most Eas2 o course2 the Muestion o

pro7a7ilit9? Eere the ma8imum results that Ee o7tained Bsigni icantB igures or

not Kthat is2 Eere the9 impro7a7le or not Calculations undertaken 79 a

mathematician shoEed unmistaka7l9 that the a:erage reMuenc9 o .1 in all

three 7atches is ar rom representing a signi icant igure! Its

@Fig! . ;p! @0.< sets out clearl9 the 1 di erent aspects as the9 actuall9 occurred in the .)1 married

pairs!




pro7a7ilit9 is much too great= in other Eords2 there is no ground or assuming that

our ma8imum reMuencies are more than mere dispersions due to chance!

Anal9sis o First *atch

First Ee counted all the conLunctions and oppositions 7etEeen , , ♂, ♀, Asc! and

,esc! or the .)1 married and the 5G2GG1 unmarried pairs! The results are shoEn

in Ta7le I2 Ehere it Eill 7e o7ser:ed that the aspects are arranged 79 reMuenc9 o

their occurrence in the married and unmarried pairs!

Clearl92 the reMuencies o occurrence shoEn in columns G and @ o Ta7le I

or o7ser:ed occurrences o the aspects in married and unmarried pairs

respecti:el9 are not immediatel9 compara7le2 since the irst are occurrences in

.)1 pairs and the second in 5G2GG1 pairs! In column 2 there ore2 Ee shoE the

igures in column @ multiplied 79 the actor .)165G2G11! Ta7le II shoEs the ratios

7etEeen the igures in columns G and o Ta7le I arranged according to

reMuenc9= e!g!2 the ratio or moon>sun conLunction is .) ? )!@ G!.@!

To a statistician2 these igures cannot 7e used to con irm an9thing2 and so

are :alueless2 7ecause the9 are chance dispersions! *ut on ps9chological grounds I

ha:e discarded the idea that Ee are dealing Eith mere chance num7ers! In a total

picture o natural e:ents2 it is Lust as important to consider the e8ceptions to the

rule as the a:erages! This is the allac9 o the statistical picture? it is one>sided2inasmuch as it represents onl9 the a:erage aspect o realit9 and e8cludes the total

picture! The statistical :ieE o the Eorld is a mere a7straction and there ore

incomplete and e:en allacious2 particularl9 so Ehen it deals Eith manJs

ps9cholog9! Inasmuch as chance ma8ima and minima occur2 the9 are acts Ehose

nature I set out to e8plore!

In this Ea9 a rough control group is o7tained! It Eill2 hoEe:er2 7e appreciated that it is deri:ed

rom a much larger num7er o pairs than the married pairs? 5G2GG1 as compared Eith .)1! This

leads to the possi7ilit9 o shoEing the chance nature o the .)1 pairs! On the h9pothesis that all the

igures are due to chance2 Ee Eould e8pect a ar greater accurac9 in the greater num7er andconseMuentl9 a much smaller range in the igures! This is so2 or the range in the .)1 married pairs

is .) K G .02 Ehereas in the .)1 unmarried pairs Ee get /!0 K 4!@ G!G! K(ditors!

0




4




)




/




What strikes us in Ta7le II is the uneMual distri7ution o the reMuenc9 :alues! The top se:en and 7ottom si8 aspects 7oth shoE a airl9 strong dispersion2 Ehile

the middle :alues tend to cluster round the ratio . ? .! I shall come 7ack to this

peculiar distri7ution Eith the help o a special graph ;Fig! G<!

01




An interesting point is the con irmation o the traditional astrological and

alchemical correspondence 7etEeen marriage and the moon>sun aspects?

; em!< moon ;masc!< sun G!.@ ? .

; em!< moon ;masc!< sun .!0. ? .

Ehereas there is no e:idence o an9 emphasis on the $enus>'ars aspects!

O the i t9 possi7le aspects2 the result shoEs that or the married pairs there

are i teen such con igurations Ehose reMuenc9 is Eell a7o:e the proportion .?.!

The highest :alue is ound in the a orementioned moon>sun conLunction2 and the

tEo ne8t>highest iguresK.!)/ ? . and .!0) ? .Kcorrespond to the conLunctions

7etEeen ; em!< Asc! and ;masc!< $enus2 or ; em!< moon and ;masc!< Asc!2 thus

apparentl9 con irming the traditional signi icance o the ascendant!

O these i teen aspects2 a moon aspect occurs our times or Eomen2

Ehereas onl9 si8 moon aspects are distri7uted among the thirt9> i:e other possi7le

:alues! The mean proportional :alue o all moon aspects amounts to .!G@ ? .! The

a:erage :alue o the our Lust cited in the ta7le amounts to .!4@ ? .2 as compared

Eith .!G@ ? . or all moon aspects! The moon seems to 7e less emphasi ed or men

than or Eomen!

For men the corresponding role is pla9ed not 79 the sun 7ut 79 the Asc!>,esc! a8is! In the irst i teen aspects o Ta7le II2 these aspects occur si8 times or

men and onl9 tEice or Eomen! In the ormer case the9 ha:e an a:erage :alue o

.!@G ? .2 as compared Eith .!GG ? . or all masculine aspects 7etEeen Asc! or ,esc!

on the one hand and one o the our hea:enl9 7odies on the other!

Figures G and 5 gi:e a graphic representation o the reMuencies shoEn

respecti:el9 in columns G and o Ta7le I rom the point o :ieE o the dispersion

o aspects!

This arrangement ena7les us not onl9 to :isuali e the dispersion in the

reMuenc9 o occurrence o the di erent aspects 7ut also to make a rapid estimate

o the mean num7er o occurrences per aspect2 using the median as an estimator!

Whereas2 in order to get the arithmetic mean2 Ee ha:e to total the aspect

reMuencies and di:ide 79 the num7er o aspects2 the median

0.




0G




05




reMuenc9 is ound 79 counting doEn the histogram to a point Ehere hal the

sMuares are counted and hal are still to count! Since there are i t9 sMuares in thehistogram2 the median is seen to 7e )!12 since G sMuares do not e8ceed this :alue

and G sMuares do e8ceed it ;c ! Fig! G<!

For the married pairs the median amounts to ) cases2 7ut in the

com7inations o unmarried pairs it is more2 namel9 )!@ ;c ! Fig! 5<! For the

unmarried the median coincides Eith the arithmetic meanK7oth amount to )!@K

Ehereas the median or the married is loEer than the corresponding mean :alue o

)!@2 Ehich is due to the presence o loEer :alues or the married pairs! A glance at

Figure G Eill shoE that there is a Eide dispersion o :alues Ehich contrasts

strikingl9 Eith those clustered round the mean igure o )!@ in Figure 5! Here there

is not a single aspect Eith a reMuenc9 greater than /!0 ;c ! Fig! 5<2 Ehereas among

the married one aspect reaches a reMuenc9 o nearl9 tEice as much2 namel9 .)

;c ! Fig! G<!

0@




Comparison o all 7atches

On the supposition that the dispersion apparent in Figure G Eas due to

chance2 I in:estigated a larger num7er o marriage horoscopes 79 com7ining the

irst 7atch o .)1 and the second 7atch o GG1 married pairs2 thus making @11 in

all ;or )11 indi:idual horoscopes<! The results are shoEn in Ta7le III2 though I ha:e

con ined m9sel here to the ma8imal igures that clearl9 e8ceed the median!

Figures are gi:en in percentages!

The .)1 couples in the irst column represent the results o the irst

collection2 Ehile the GG1 in the second column Eere collected more than a 9ear

later! The second column not onl9 di ers rom the irst in its aspects2 7ut shoEs a

marked sinking o the reMuenc9 :alues! The onl9 e8ception is the top igure2

representing the classical ! It takes the place o the eMuall9 classical in

the irst column! O the ourteen aspects in the irst column onl9 our come up

again in the second2 7ut o these no less than three are moon aspects2 and this is

in accord Eith astrological e8pectations! The a7sence o correspondence 7etEeen

the aspects o the irst and second columns indicates a great ineMualit9 o

material2 i!e!2 there is a Eide dispersion! One can see this in the aggregate igures

or the @11 married pairs? as a result o the e:ening out o the dispersion the9 all

shoE a marked decrease! This is 7rought out still more clearl9 in Ta7le I$2 Ehere

the third 7atch is added!

This ta7le shoEs the reMuenc9 igures or the three constellations that occurmost o ten? tEo lunar conLunctions and one lunar opposition! The highest a:erage

reMuenc92 that or the

0




original .)1 marriages2 is )!. = or the GG1 collected and Eorked out later the

a:erage ma8imum drops to 4!4 = and or the )5 marriages that Eere added stilllater the a:erage amounts to onl9 !0 ! In the original 7atches o .)1 and GG1 the

ma8ima still lie Eith the same aspects2 , 2 7ut in the last 7atch o )5 it

turned out that the ma8ima la9 Eith di erent aspects2 namel9 Asc. , ♀, ♂,

and Asc. Asc! The a:erage ma8imum or these our aspects is )!4 ! This high igure

e8ceeds our highest a:erage o )!. or the irst 7atch o .)12 Ehich onl9 pro:es

hoE ortuitous our B a:ora7leB initial results Eere! Ne:ertheless it is Eorth pointing

out that2 amusingl9 enough2 in the last 7atch the ma8imum o /!0 lies2 as Ee said

earlier2 0 Eith the Asc! aspect2 that is2 Eith another lunar aspect Ehich is

supposed to 7e particularl9 characteristic o marriage! A lusus naturae2 no dou7t2

7ut a :er9 Mueer one2 since according to tradition the ascendant or Bhoroscopus2B

together Eith sun and moon2 orms the trinit9 that determines ate and character!

Had one Eanted to alsi 9 the statistical indings so as to 7ring them into line Eith

tradition one could not ha:e done it more success ull9!

Ta7le $ gi:es the ma8imal reMuencies or unmarried pairs!

The irst result Eas o7tained 79 m9 co>Eorker2 ,r! %iliane Fre9>Rohn2 putting the

menJs horoscopes on one side and the EomenJs on the other2 and then com7ining

each o the pairs that happened to lie on top! Care Eas naturall9 taken that a real

married pair Eas not accidentall9 com7ined! The resultant reMuenc9 o 4!5 is

prett9 high in comparison Eith the much

0 Par! ))1! /!0 ) such aspects in )5 married pairs! See par! /1G and App!2 ;7<>

(ditors!

00




more pro7a7le ma8imal igure or the 5G2GG1 unmarried pairs2 Ehich is onl9 !5!

This irst result seemed to me someEhat suspicious! 4 I there ore suggested that Ee

should not com7ine the pairs oursel:es2 7ut should proceed in the olloEing Ea9?

5G menJs horoscopes Eere num7ered2 the num7ers Eere Eritten on separate

slips2 throEn into a pot2 and mi8ed up! Then a person Eho kneE nothing o

astrolog9 and ps9cholog9 and e:en less o these in:estigations Eas in:ited to draE

the slips one 79 one out o the pot2 Eithout looking at them! The num7ers Eere

each com7ined Eith the topmost on the pile o EomenJs horoscopes2 care 7eing

again taken that married pairs did not accidentall9 come together! In this Ea9 5G

arti icial pairs Eere o7tained! The resultant 0! is rather nearer to pro7a7ilit9! Still

more pro7a7le is the result o7tained or the @11 unmarried pairs! (:en so2 this

igure ;0!G< is still too high!

The someEhat curious 7eha:ior o our igures led to a urther e8periment

Ehose results I mention here Eith all the necessar9 reser:e2 though it seems to me

to throE some light on the statistical :ariations! It Eas made Eith three people

Ehose ps9chological status Eas accuratel9 knoEn! The e8periment consisted in

taking @11 marriage horoscopes at random and pro:iding G11 o them Eithnum7ers! TEent9 o these Eere then draEn 79 lot 79 the su7Lect! These tEent9

married pairs Eere

4HoE su7tle these things can 7e is shoEn 79 the olloEing incident? Recentl9 it ell to m9 colleague

to make the ta7le arrangement or a num7er o people Eho Eere in:ited to dinner! She did this Eith

care and discretion! *ut at the last moment an esteemed guest2 a man2 une8pectedl9 turned up

Eho had at all costs to 7e suita7l9 placed! The ta7le arrangement Eas all upset2 and a neE one had

to 7e hastil9 de:ised! There Eas no time or ela7orate re lection! As Ee sat doEn to ta7le2 the

olloEing astrological picture mani ested itsel in the immediate :icinit9 o the guest?

Four marriages had arisen! '9 colleague2 o course2 had a thorough knoEledge o astrological

marriage aspects2 and she Eas also acMuainted Eith the horoscopes o the people in Muestion! *ut

the speed Eith Ehich the neE ta7le arrangement had to 7e made le t her no opportunit9 or

re lection2 so that the unconscious had a ree hand in secretl9 arranging the Bmarriages!B

04






case as the hieros gamos or conLunctio o supreme opposites! ) The ps9chic and

ph9sical e:ent ;namel92 the su7LectJs pro7lems and choice o horoscope<correspond2 it Eould seem2 to the nature o the archet9pe in the 7ackground and

could there ore represent a s9nchronistic phenomenon! m Inasmuch as I am not

:er9 Eell up in the higher mathematics2 and had there ore to rel9 on the help o a

pro essional2 I asked Pro essor 'arkus Fier 2 o *asel2 to calculate the pro7a7ilit9 o

m9 ma8imal igures! This he :er9 kindl9 did2 and using the Poisson distri7ution he

arri:ed at a pro7a7ilit9 o . ? .12111 or the irst tEo ma8ima2 and o . ? .511 or

the third!)B %ater2 on checking the calculation2 he ound an error Ehose correction

raised the pro7a7ilit9 o the irst tEo ma8ima to . ? . 11! / A urther check pro:ed

the pro7a7ilities o the three ma8ima to 7e2 respecti:el92 . ? .1112 . ? .121112 . ?

1! .1 From this it is clear that although our 7est resultsK , K are airl9

impro7a7le in practice2 the9 are theoreticall9 so pro7a7le that there is little

Lusti ication or regarding the immediate results o our statistics as an9thing more

than chance! I or instance there is a . ? .111 pro7a7ilit9 o m9 getting the

telephone connection I Eant2 I shall pro7a7l9 pre er2 instead o Eaiting on the o >

chance or a telephone con:ersation2 to Erite a letter! Our in:estigation shoEs that

not onl9 do the reMuenc9 :alues appro8imate to the a:erage Eith the greatest

num7er o married pairs2 7ut that an9 chance pairings produce similar statistical

proportions! From the scienti ic point o :ieE the result o our in:estigation is in

some respects not encouraging or astrolog92 as e:er9thing seems to indicate thatin the case o large num7ers the di erences 7etEeen the reMuenc9 :alues or the

marriage aspects o married and unmarried pairs disappear altogether! Thus2 rom

the scienti ic

) C ! the nuptials o sun and moon in alchem9? Ps9cholog9 and Alchem92 inde82 s!:! BSol and %una!B)a See in ra2 pars! /)/>gi!K(ditors!/ Pro essor Fier Eishes to correct this sentence as olloEs? B%ater on he called m9 attention to the

act that the seMuence o the 5 aspects does not matter! As there are " possi7le seMuences2 Ee

ha:e to multipl9 our pro7a7ilit9 79 02 Ehich gi:es . ? . 11!B To this I repl9 that I ne:er suggested

an9thing o the kind The seMuence2 i!e!2 the Ea9 in Ehich the 5 conLunctions olloE each other2 has

no importance at all!.1 See App!2 ;7<! This passage has 7een reEritten to include the three sets o pro7a7ilities supplied

79 Pro essor Fier !K(ditors!

0/




point o :ieE2 there is little hope o pro:ing that astrological correspondence is

something that con orms to laE! At the same time2 it is not so eas9 to counter theastrologerJs o7Lection that m9 statistical method is too ar7itrar9 and too clums9 to

e:aluate correctl9 the numerous ps9chological and astrological aspects o

marriage!

So the essential thing that remains o:er rom our astrological statistics is the

act that the irst 7atch o .)1 marriage horoscopes shoEs a distinct ma8imum o

.) or and the second 7atch o GG1 a ma8imum o G@ or . These tEo

aspects ha:e long 7een mentioned in the old literature as marriage characteristics2

and the9 there ore represent the oldest tradition! The third 7atch o )5 9ields a

ma8imum o ) or Asc! These ma8ima2 as Ee ha:e said2 ha:e pro7a7ilities o

a7out . ? .1112 . ? .121112 and . ? 1 respecti:el9! I should like to illustrate Ehat

has happened here 79 means o an e8ample?

You take three match7o8es2 put .2111 7lack ants in the irst2 .12111 in the

second and 1 in the third2 together Eith one Ehite ant in each2 shut the 7o8es2

and 7ore a hole in each o them2 small enough to alloE onl9 one ant to craEl

through at a time! The irst ant to come out o each o the three 7o8es is alEa9s

the Ehite one!

The chances o this actuall9 happening are e8tremel9 impro7a7le! (:en inthe irst tEo cases2 the pro7a7ilit9 Eorks out at . ? .111 8 .121112 Ehich means

that such a coincidence is to 7e e8pected onl9 in one case out o .121112111! It is

impro7a7le that it Eould e:er happen in an9oneJs e8perience! Yet in m9 statistical

in:estigation it happened that precisel9 the three conLunctions stressed 79

astrological tradition came together in the most impro7a7le Ea9!

For the sake o accurac92 hoEe:er2 it should 7e pointed out that it is not the

same Ehite ant that is the irst to appear each time! That is to sa92 although there

is alEa9s a lunar conLunction and alEa9s a BclassicalB one o decisi:e signi icance2

the9 are ne:ertheless di erent conLunctions2 7ecause each time the moon is

associated Eith a di erent partner! These are o course the three main

components o the horoscope2 namel9 the ascendant2 or rising degree o a odiacal

sign2 Ehich characteri es the moment2 the moon2 Ehich characteri es the da92 and

the sun2 Ehich characteri es the month o 7irth! Hence2 i Ee consider onl9 the irst

tEo 7atches2 Ee must assume tEo Ehite ants

41




or each 7o8! This correction raises the pro7a7ilit9 o the coinciding lunar

conLunctions to . ? G2 112111! I Ee take the third 7atch as Eell2 the coincidence othe three classical moon aspects has a pro7a7ilit9 o . ? 0G2 112111! The irst

proportion is signi icant e:en Ehen taken 79 itsel 2 or it shoEs that the

coincidence is a :er9 impro7a7le one! *ut the coincidence Eith the third lunar

conLunction is so remarka7le that it looks like a deli7erate arrangement in a:or o

astrolog9! I 2 there ore2 the result o our e8periment should 7e ound to ha:e a

signi icantKi!e!2 more than merel9 chanceKpro7a7ilit92 the case or astrolog9

Eould 7e pro:ed in the most satis actor9 Ea9! I 2 on the contrar92 the igures

actuall9 all Eithin the limits o chance e8pectation2 the9 do not support the

astrological claim2 the9 merel9 imitate accidentall9 the ideal ansEer to astrological

e8pectation! It is nothing 7ut a chance result rom the statistical point o :ieE2 9et

it is meaning ul on account o the act that it looks as i it :alidated this

e8pectation! It is Lust Ehat I call a s9nchronistic phenomenon! The statisticall9

signi icant statement onl9 concerns regularl9 occurring e:ents2 and i considered

as a8iomatic2 it simpl9 a7olishes all e8ceptions to the rule! It produces a merel9

a:erage picture o natural e:ents2 7ut not a true picture o the Eorld as it is! Yet

the e8ceptionsKand m9 results are e8ceptions and most impro7a7le ones at thatK

are Lust as important as the rules! Statistics Eould not e:en make sense Eithout

the e8ceptions! There is no rule that is true under all circumstances2 or this is the

real and not a statistical Eorld! *ecause the statistical method shoEs onl9 thea:erage aspects2 it creates an arti icial and predominantl9 conceptual picture o

realit9! That is Eh9 Ee need a complementar9 principle or a complete description

and e8planation o nature!

I Ee noE consider the results o RhineJs e8periments2 and particularl9 the

act that the9 depend in large measure on the su7LectJs acti:e interest2 .. Ee can

regard Ehat happened in our case as a s9nchronistic phenomenon! The statistical

material shoEs that a practicall9 as Eell as theoreticall9 impro7a7le chance

com7ination occurred Ehich coincides in the most remarka7le Ea9 Eith traditional

astrological e8pectations! That

.. C ! "! Schmiedler2 BPersonalit9 Correlates o (SP as ShoEn 79 Rorschach Studies!B The author

points out that those Eho accept the possi7ilit9 o (SP get results a7o:e e8pectation2 Ehereas

those Eho reLect it get negati:e results!

4.




such a coincidence should occur at all is so impro7a7le and so incredi7le that

no7od9 could ha:e dared to predict an9thing like it! It reall9 does look as i the

statistical material had 7een manipulated and arranged so as to gi:e the

appearance o a positi:e result! The necessar9 emotional and archet9pal

conditions or a s9nchronistic phenomenon Eere alread9 gi:en2 since it is o7:ious

that 7oth m9 co>Eorker and m9sel had a li:el9 interest in the outcome o the

e8periment2 and apart rom that the Muestion o s9nchronicit9 had 7een engaging

m9 attention or man9 9ears! What seems in act to ha:e happenedKand seems

o ten to ha:e happened2 7earing in mind the long astrological traditionKis that Ee

got a result Ehich has presuma7l9 turned up man9 times 7e ore in histor9! Had the

astrologers ;Eith 7ut eE e8ceptions< concerned themsel:es more Eith statistics

and Muestioned the Lustice o their interpretations in a scienti ic spirit2 the9 Eouldha:e disco:ered long ago that their statements rested on a precarious oundation!

*ut I imagine that in their case too2 as Eith me2 a secret2 mutual conni:ance

e8isted 7etEeen the material and the ps9chic state o the astrologer! This

correspondence is simpl9 there like an9 other agreea7le or anno9ing accident2 and

it seems dou7t ul to me Ehether it can 7e pro:ed scienti icall9 to 7e an9thing more

than that! .G One ma9 7e ooled 79 coincidence2 7ut one has to ha:e a :er9 thick

skin not to 7e impressed 79 the act that2 out o i t9 possi7ilities2 three times

precisel9 those turned up as ma8ima Ehich are regarded 79 tradition as t9pical!

As though to make this startling result e:en more impressi:e2 Ee ound thatuse had 7een made o unconscious deception! On irst Eorking out the statistics I

Eas put o the trail 79 a num7er o errors Ehich I ortunatel9 disco:ered in time!

A ter o:ercoming this di icult9 I then orgot to mention2 in the SEiss edition o this

7ook2 that the ant comparison2 i applied to our e8periment2 onl9 its i respecti:el9

tEo or three Ehite ants are assumed each time! This considera7l9 reduces the

impro7a7ilit9 o our results! Then2 at the ele:enth hour2 Pro essor Fier 2 on

.G As m9 statistics shoE2 the result 7ecomes 7lurred Eith larger igures! So it is :er9 pro7a7le that i

more material Eere collected it Eould no longer produce a similar result! We ha:e there ore to 7e

content Eith this apparentl9 uniMue lusus naturae2 though its uniMueness in no Ea9 preLudices theacts!

4G




checking his pro7a7ilit9 calculations 9et again2 ound that he had 7een decei:ed

79 the actor ! The impro7a7ilit9 o our results Eas again reduced2 though Eithoutreaching a degree Ehich one could ha:e descri7ed as pro7a7le! The errors all tend

to e8aggerate the results in a Ea9 a:ora7le to astrolog92 and add most

suspiciousl9 to the impression o an arti icial or raudulent arrangement o the

acts2 Ehich Eas so morti 9ing to those concerned that the9 Eould pro7a7l9 ha:e

pre erred to keep silent a7out it!

I knoE2 hoEe:er2 rom long e8perience o these things that spontaneous

s9nchronistic phenomena draE the o7ser:er2 79 hook or 79 crook2 into Ehat is

happening and occasionall9 make him an accessor9 to the deed! That is the

danger inherent in all paraps9chological e8periments! The dependence o (SP on

an emotional actor in the e8perimenter and su7Lect is a case in point! I there ore

consider it a scienti ic dut9 to gi:e as complete an account as possi7le o the result

and to shoE hoE not onl9 the statistical material2 7ut the ps9chic processes o the

interested parties2 Eere a ected 79 the s9nchronistic arrangement! Although2

Earned 79 pre:ious e8perience2 I Eas cautious enough to su7mit m9 original

account ;in the SEiss edition< to our competent persons2 among them tEo

mathematicians2 I alloEed m9sel to 7e lulled into a sense o securit9 too soon!

The corrections made here do not in an9 Ea9 alter the act that the ma8imal

reMuencies lie Eith the three classical lunar aspects!

In order to assure m9sel o the chance nature o the result2 I undertook onemore statistical e8periment! I 7roke up the original and ortuitous chronological

order and the eMuall9 ortuitous di:ision into three 7atches 79 mi8ing the irst . 1

marriages Eith the last . 12 taking the latter in re:erse order= that is to sa92 I put

the irst marriage on top o the last2 and then the second on top o the last 7ut one2

and so on! Then I di:ided the 511 marriages into three 7atches o a hundred! The

result Eas as olloEs?

45




The result o the irst 7atch is amusing in so ar as onl9 i teen o the 511marriages ha:e none o the i t9 selected aspects in common! The second 7atch

9ields tEo ma8ima2 o Ehich the second again represents a classical conLunction!

The third 7atch 9ields a ma8imum or Asc2 Ehich Ee alread9 knoE as the third

BclassicalB conLunction! The total result shoEs that another chance arrangement o

the marriages can easil9 produce a result that de:iates rom the earlier total2 7ut

still does not Muite pre:ent the classical conLunctions rom turning up!

The result o our e8periment tallies Eith our e8perience o mantic

procedures! One has the impression that these methods2 and others like them2

create a:ora7le conditions or the occurrence o meaning ul coincidences! It is

Muite true that the :eri ication o s9nchronistic phenomena is a di icult and

sometimes impossi7le task! RhineJs achie:ement in demonstrating2 Eith the help

o une8ceptiona7le material2 the coincidence o a ps9chic state Eith a

corresponding o7Lecti:e process must there ore 7e rated all the higher! ,espite

the act that the statistical method is in general highl9 unsuited to do Lustice to

unusual e:ents2 RhineJs e8periments ha:e ne:ertheless Eithstood the ruinous

in luence o statistics! Their results must there ore 7e taken into account in an9assessment o s9nchronistic phenomena!

In :ieE o the le:eling in luence Ehich the statistical method has on the

Muantitati:e determination o s9nchronicit92 Ee must ask hoE it Eas that Rhine

succeeded in o7taining positi:e results! I maintain that he Eould ne:er ha:e got

the results he did i he had carried out his e8periments Eith a single su7Lect2 .5 or

onl9 a eE! He needed a constant reneEal o interest2 an emotion Eith its

characteristic a7aissement mental2 Ehich tips the scales in a:or o the

unconscious! Onl9 in this Ea9 can space and time 7e relati:i ed to a certain

e8tent2 there79 reducing the chances o a causal process! What then happens is a

kind o creatio e8 nihilo2 an act o creation that is not causall9 e8plica7le! The

mantic procedures oEe their e ecti:eness to

.5 *9 Ehich i mean a su7Lect chosen at random2 and not one Eith speci ic gi ts!

4@




this same connection Eith emotionalit9? 79 touching an unconscious aptitude the9

stimulate interest2 curiosit92 e8pectation2 hope2 and ear2 and conseMuentl9 e:okea corresponding preponderance o the unconscious! The e ecti:e ;numinous<

agents in the unconscious are the archet9pes! *9 ar the greatest num7er o

spontaneous s9nchronistic phenomena that I ha:e had occasion to o7ser:e and

anal9 e can easil9 7e shoEn to ha:e a direct connection Eith an archet9pe! This2 in

itsel 2 is an irrepresenta7le2 ps9choid actor .@ o the collecti:e unconscious! The

latter cannot 7e locali ed2 since either it is complete in principle in e:er9 indi:idual

or is ound to 7e the same e:er9Ehere! You can ne:er sa9 Eith certaint9 Ehether

Ehat appears to 7e going on in the collecti:e unconscious o a single indi:idual is

not also happening in other indi:iduals or organisms or things or situations! When2

or instance2 the :ision arose in SEeden7orgJs mind o a ire in Stockholm2 there

Eas a real ire raging there at the same time2 Eithout there 7eing an9

demonstra7le or e:en thinka7le connection 7etEeen the tEo! . I certainl9 Eould

not like to undertake to pro:e the archet9pal connection in this case! I Eould onl9

point to the act that in SEeden7orgJs 7iograph9 there are certain things Ehich

throE a remarka7le light on his ps9chic state! We must assume that there Eas a

loEering o the threshold o consciousness Ehich ga:e him access to Ba7solute

knoEledge!B The ire in Stockholm Eas2 in a sense2 7urning in him too! For the

unconscious ps9che space and time seem to 7e relati:e= that is to sa92 knoEledge

inds itsel in a space>time continuum in Ehich space is no longer space2 and timeis no longer time! I 2 there ore2 the unconscious should de:elop or maintain a

potential in the direction o consciousness2 it is then possi7le or parallel e:ents to

7e percei:ed or BknoEn!B

Compared Eith RhineJs Eork the great disad:antage o m9 astrological

statistics lies in the act that the entire e8periment Eas carried out on onl9 one

su7Lect2 m9sel ! I did not e8periment Eith a :ariet9 o su7Lects= rather2 it Eas the

:aried material that challenged m9 interest! I Eas thus in the position o a su7Lect

Eho is at irst enthusiastic2 7ut a terEards cools o 2 79

.@C ! BOn the Nature o the Ps9che2B pars! @i4 !. This case is Eell authenticated! See report in 3antJs ,reams o a Spirit>Seer2 Illustrated 79 ,reams

o 'etaph9sics!

4




7ecoming ha7ituated to the (SP e8periment! The results there ore deteriorated

Eith the groEing num7er o e8periments2 Ehich in this case corresponded to the

e8position o the material in 7atches2 so that the accumulation o larger num7ers

onl9 7lurred the B a:ora7leB initial result! (Muall9 m9 inal e8periment shoEed that

the discarding o the original order and the di:ision o the horoscopes into ar7itrar9

7atches produce2 as might 7e e8pected2 a di erent picture2 though its signi icance

is not altogether clear!

RhineJs rules are to 7e recommended Ehere:er ;as in medicine< :er9 large

num7ers are not in:ol:ed! The interest and e8pectanc9 o the in:estigator might

Eell 7e accompanied s9nchronisticall9 79 surprisingl9 a:ora7le results to 7egin

Eith2 despite e:er9 precaution! These Eill 7e interpreted as BmiraclesB onl9 79

persons insu icientl9 acMuainted Eith the statistical character o natural laE! .0

I K and it seems plausi7leK the meaning ul coincidence or Bcross>

connectionB o e:ents cannot 7e e8plained causall92 then the connecting principlemust lie in the eMual signi icance o parallel e:ents= in other Eords2 their tertium

comparationis is meaning! We are so accustomed to regard meaning as a ps9chic

process or content that it ne:er enters our heads to suppose that it could also e8ist

outside the ps9che! *ut Ee do knoE at least enough a7out the ps9che not to

attri7ute to it an9 magical poEer2 and still less can Ee attri7ute an9 magical poEer

to the conscious mind! I 2 there ore2 Ee entertain the h9pothesis that one and the

same ;transcendental< meaning might mani est itsel simultaneousl9 in the human

ps9che and in the arrangement o an e8ternal and independent e:ent2 Ee at once

come into con lict Eith the con:entional scienti ic and epistemological :ieEs! We

ha:e to remind oursel:es o:er and o:er again o the merel9 statistical :alidit9 o

natural laEs and o the e ect o the statistical method in eliminating all unusual

occurrences2 i Ee Eant to lend an ear to such an h9pothesis! The great di icult9 is

that Ee ha:e a7solutel9 no scienti ic means o pro:ing the e8istence o an

o7Lecti:e meaning Ehich is not Lust a ps9chic

.0 C ! the interesting re lections o "! Spencer *roEn? B,e la recherche ps9chiMue consideree comme

un test de la theorie des pro7a7ilities!B

40






hea:enl9 7odies to 7e called a conLunction ;e!g!2 sun moon<2 one o them must lie Eithin an arc o

.0q! ;Since the onl9 concern Eas to test the character o the distri7ution2 an arc o . q Eas taken

or con:enience!<

NoE2 all positions on a circle o 501q are eMuall9 pro7a7le! So the pro7a7ilit9 ` that the

hea:enl9 7od9 Eill lie on an arc o . b is

;.<

This pro7a7ilit9 a holds or e:er9 aspect!

%et n 7e the num7er o particular aspects that Eill occur in married pairs i the pro7a7ilit9

that it Eill occur in one married pair 7e `!

Appl9ing the 7inomial distri7ution2 Ee get?

;G<

In order to o7tain a numerical e:aluation o W n2 ;G< can 7e simpli ied! This results in an error2

Ehich2 hoEe:er2 is not important! The simpli ication can 7e arri:ed at 79 replacing ;G< 79 the

Poisson distri7ution?

;5<

This appro8imation is :alid i ` ma9 7e regarded as :er9 small in comparison Eith .2 Ehile 8 is

inite!

&pon the 7asis o these considerations the olloEing numerical results can 7e arri:ed at?

;a< The pro7a7ilit9 o 2 2 Asc! turning up simultaneousl9 is?

;@<

;7< The pro7a7ilit9 or the ma8imal igures in the three 7atches is?

.! .) aspects in .)1 married pairs2 P . ? .2111

G! G@ aspects in GG1 married pairs2 . ? .12111

5! ) aspects in )5 married pairs2 . ? 1!

K(ditors

4)




3. FORERUNNERS OF THE IDEA OF SYNCHRONICITY

The causalit9 principle asserts that the connection 7etEeen cause and e ect

is a necessar9 one! The s9nchronicit9 principle asserts that the terms o a

meaning ul coincidence are connected 79 simultaneit9 and meaning! So i Ee

assume that the (SP e8periments and numerous other o7ser:ations are

esta7lished acts2 Ee must conclude that 7esides the connection 7etEeen cause

and e ect there is another actor in nature Ehich e8presses itsel in the

arrangement o e:ents and appears to us as meaning! Although meaning is an

anthropomorphic interpretation it ne:ertheless orms the indispensa7le criterion o

s9nchronicit9! What that actor Ehich appears to us as BmeaningB ma9 7e in itsel

Ee ha:e no possi7ilit9 o knoEing! As an h9pothesis2 hoEe:er2 it is not Muite so

impossi7le as ma9 appear at irst sight! We must remem7er that the rationalistic

attitude o the West is not the onl9 possi7le one and is not all>em7racing2 7ut is in

man9 Ea9s a preLudice and a 7ias that ought perhaps to 7e corrected! The :er9

much older ci:ili ation o the Chinese has alEa9s thought di erentl9 rom us in this

respect2 and Ee ha:e to go 7ack to Heraclitus i Ee Eant to ind something similar

in our ci:ili ation2 at least Ehere philosoph9 is concerned! Onl9 in astrolog92alchem92 and the mantic procedures do Ee ind no di erences o principle 7etEeen

our attitude and the Chinese! That is Eh9 alchem9 de:eloped along parallel lines in

(ast and

4/




West and Eh9 in 7oth spheres it stro:e toEards the same goal Eith more or less

identical ideas!.

In Chinese philosoph9 one o the oldest and most central ideas is that o Tao2

Ehich the #esuits translated as B"od!B *ut that is correct onl9 or the Western Ea9

o thinking! Other translations2 such as BPro:idenceB and the like2 are mere

makeshi ts! Richard Wilhelm 7rilliantl9 interprets it as Bmeaning!B G The concept o

Tao per:ades the Ehole philosophical thought o China! Causalit9 occupies this

paramount position Eith us2 7ut it acMuired its importance onl9 in the course o the

last tEo centuries2 thanks to the le:eling in luence o the statistical method on the

one hand and the unparalleled success o the natural sciences on the other2 Ehich

7rought the metaph9sical :ieE o the Eorld into disrepute!

%ao>t u gi:es the olloEing description o Tao in his cele7rated Tao Teh

Ching? 5

There is something ormless 9et complete

That e8isted 7e ore hea:en and earth!

HoE still HoE empt9

,ependent on nothing2 unchanging

All per:ading2 un ailing

One ma9 think o it as the mother o all things under hea:en!

I do not knoE its name2*ut I call it B'eaning!B

I I had to gi:e it a name2 I should call it BThe "reat!B

Ch! ++$!

Tao Bco:ers the ten thousand things like a garment 7ut does not claim to 7e

master o:er themB;Ch! +++I$<! %ao>t u descri7es it as BNothing2B @ 79 Ehich he

means2 sa9s Wilhelm2 onl9 its Bcontrast Eith the Eorld o realit9!B %ao>t u descri7es

its nature as olloEs?

. C ! Ps9cholog9 and Alchem92 par! @ 52 and BThe Spirit 'ercurius2B par! G45! Also the doctrine o

chen>9en in Wei Po>9ang BPhil! Tree2B pars! @5G !2 and '9sterium2 pars! @/12 4..n and in Chuang>

t u!G #ung2 BCommentar9 on The Secret o the "olden FloEer2B par! G)2 and Wilhelm2

Chinesische %e7ensEeisheit!5 Zuotations rom Arthur Wale9Js The Wa9 and Its PoEer2 Eith occasional slight changes to it

WilhelmJs reading!KTrans!@ Tao is the contingent2 Ehich Andreas Speiser de ines as Bpure nothingB ;B&7er die FreiheitB<!

)1




We put thirt9 spokes together and call it a Eheel=

*ut it is on the space Ehere there is nothing that the utilit9 o the Eheel depends!We turn cla9 to make a :essel=

*ut it is on the space Ehere there is nothing that the utilit9 o the :essel depends!

We pierce doors and EindoEs to make a house=

And it is on these spaces Ehere there is nothing that the utilit9 o the house

depends!

There ore Lust as Ee take ad:antage o Ehat is2 Ee should recogni e the utilit9 o

Ehat is not!

Ch! +%

BNothingB is e:identl9 BmeaningB or Bpurpose2B and it is onl9 called Nothing

7ecause it does not appear in the Eorld o the senses2 7ut is onl9 its organi er!

%ao>t u sa9s?

*ecause the e9e ga es 7ut can catch no glimpse o it2

It is called elusi:e!

*ecause the ear listens 7ut cannot hear it2

It is called the rare ied!

*ecause the hand eels or it 7ut cannot ind it2

It is called the in initesimal! ! ! ! These are called the shapeless shapes2

Forms Eithout orm2

$ague sem7lances!

"o toEards them2 and 9ou can see no ront=

"o a ter them2 and 9ou see no rear!

Ch! +I$!

Wilhelm descri7es it as Ba 7orderline conception l9ing at the e8treme edge o

the Eorld o appearances!B In it2 the opposites Bcancel out in non>discrimination2B

7ut are still potentiall9 present! BThese seeds2B he continues2 Bpoint to something

that corresponds irstl9 to the :isi7le2 i!e!2 something in the nature o an image=

secondl9 to the audi7le2 i!e!2 something in the nature o Eords= thirdl9 to e8tension

in space2 i!e!2 something Eith a orm! *ut these three things are not clearl9

distinguished and de ina7le2 the9 are a non>spatial and non>temporal unit92 ha:ing

no a7o:e and 7eloE or ront and 7ack!B As the Tao Teh Ching sa9s?

Wilhelm2 Chinesische %e7ensEeisheit2 p! . ? BThe relation 7etEeen meaning ;Tao< and realit9

cannot 7e concei:ed under the categor9 o cause and e ect!B

).




Incommensura7le2 impalpa7le2

Yet latent in it are orms=Impalpa7le2 incommensura7le2

Yet Eithin it are entities!

ShadoE9 it is and dim!

Ch! ++I!

Realit92 thinks Wilhelm2 is conceptuall9 knoEa7le 7ecause according to the

Chinese :ieE there is in all things a latent Brationalit9!B 0 This is the 7asic idea

underl9ing meaning ul coincidence? it is possi7le 7ecause 7oth sides ha:e the

same meaning! Where meaning pre:ails2 order results?

Tao is eternal2 7ut has no name=

The &ncar:ed *lock2 though seemingl9 o small account2

Is greater than an9thing under hea:en!

I the kings and 7arons Eould 7ut possess themsel:es o it2

The ten thousand creatures Eould lock to do them homage=

Hea:en and earth Eould conspire

To send SEeet ,eE=

Without laE or compulsion men Eould dEell in harmon9!

Ch! +++II!

Tao ne:er does=

Yet through it all things are done!

Ch! +++$II!

Hea:enJs net is Eide=

Coarse are the meshes2 9et nothing slips through!

Ch! %++III!

Chuang>t u ;a contemporar9 o PlatoJs< sa9s o the ps9chological premises

on Ehich Tao is 7ased? BThe state in Ehich ego and non>ego are no longer opposed

is called the pi:ot o Tao!B 4 It sounds almost like a criticism o our scienti ic :ieE o

the Eorld Ehen he remarks that BTao is o7scured Ehen 9ou i8 9our e9e on little

segments o e8istence onl92B ) or B%imitations are not originall9 grounded in the

meaning o li e! Originall9 Eords had no i8ed meanings! ,i erences onl9 arose

through looking at things su7Lecti:el9!B / The sages o old2 sa9s Chuang>t u2 Btook

as their starting>point a state Ehen the e8istence o things had not 9et 7egun! That

is indeed the e8treme

0I7id!2 p! ./!4,as Eahre *uck :om sudlichen *lutenland2 trans2 79 R! Wilhelm2 II2 5!) I7id!2 II2 5! / II2 4!

)G






There is one common loE2 one common 7reathing2 all things are in s9mpath9! The

Ehole organism and each one o its parts are Eorking in conLunction or the samepurpose ! ! ! the great principle e8tends to the e8tremest part2 and rom the

e8tremest part it returns to the great principle2 to the one nature2 7eing and not>

7eing! .

The uni:ersal principle is ound e:en in the smallest particle2 Ehich there ore

corresponds to the Ehole!

In this connection there is an interesting idea in Philo ;G *!C!>A!,! @G<?

"od2 7eing minded to unite in intimate and lo:ing elloEship the 7eginning and

end o created things2 made hea:en the 7eginning and man the end2 the one the

most per ect o imperisha7le o7Lects o sense2 the other the no7lest o things

earth7orn and perisha7le2 7eing2 in :er9 truth2 a miniature hea:en! He 7ears a7out

Eithin himsel 2 like hol9 images2 endoEments o nature that correspond to the

constellations! ! ! ! For since the corrupti7le and the incorrupti7le are 79 nature

contrar9 the one to the other2 "od assigned the airest o each sort to the

7eginning and the end2 hea:en ;as I ha:e said< to the 7eginning2 and man to the

end! .0

Here the great principle.4

or 7eginning2 hea:en2 is in used into man themicrocosm2 Eho re lects the star>like natures and thus2 as the smallest part and

end o the Eork o Creation2 contains the Ehole!

According to Theophrastus ;54.>G)) *!C!< the suprasensuous and the

sensuous are Loined 79 a 7ond o communit9! This 7ond cannot 7e mathematics2

so must presuma7l9 7e "od! .) Similarl9 in Plotinus the indi:idual souls 7orn o the

one World Soul are related to one another 79 s9mpath9 or antipath92 regardless o

distance! ./ Similar :ieEs are to 7e ound in Pico della 'irandola?

. ,e alimento2 a tract ascri7ed to Hippocrates! ;Trans2 79 #ohn Precope in Hippocrates on ,iet and

H9giene2 p! .4@2 modi ied!< Bw b\` _j`2 ] _U b\` _j`2 UV ` ] _U` x̀ f` V _ b vb_ vj^

UV ` f` V _x b y ` fV] _x \ _ x` U b \ x zb ! ! ! ` _ zVv^ x] ` b _x b

`{\f x `\2 | ] V b _x b \ ` _ zVv^ `{\f x `\2 _j` { ]\ j `\ f`\ _^ j `\B.0 ,e opi icio mundi2 )G ;trans2 79 F! H! Colson and "! H! Whitaker2 I2 p! 04<!.4 B` _ zVv^B.) (duard Deller2 ,ie Philosophic der Oriechen2 II2 part ii2 p! 0 @!./ (nneads2 I$2 52 ) and @2 5G ;in A! C! H! ,reEs2 Plotin und der &ntergang der

antiken Weltanschauung2 p! .4/<!

)@




Firstl9 there is the unit9 in things Ehere79 each thing is at one Eith itsel 2 consists

o itsel 2 and coheres Eith itsel ! Secondl9 there is the unit9 Ehere79 one creatureis united Eith the others and all parts o the Eorld constitute one Eorld! The third

and most important ;unit9< is that Ehere79 the Ehole uni:erse is one Eith its

Creator2 as an arm9 Eith its commander! G1

*9 this three old unit9 Pico means a simple unit9 Ehich2 like the Trinit92 has three

aspects= Ba unit9 distinguished 79 a three old character2 9et in such a Ea9 as not to

depart rom the simplicit9 o unit9!B G. For him the Eorld is one 7eing2 a :isi7le "od2

in Ehich e:er9thing is naturall9 arranged rom the :er9 7eginning like the parts o

a li:ing organism! The Eorld appears as the corpus m9sticum o "od2 Lust as the

Church is the corpus m9sticum o Christ2 or as a Eell>disciplined arm9 can 7e

called a sEord in the hand o the commander! The :ieE that all things are

arranged according to "odJs Eill is one that lea:es little room or causalit9! #ust as

in a li:ing 7od9 the di erent parts Eork in harmon9 and are meaning ull9 adLusted

to one another2 so e:ents in the Eorld stand in a meaning ul relationship Ehich

cannot 7e deri:ed rom an9 immanent causalit9! The reason or this is that in

either case the 7eha:ior o the parts depends on a central control Ehich is

supraordinate to them!

In his treatise ,e hominis dignitate Pico sa9s? BThe Father implanted in man

at 7irth seeds o all kinds and the germs o original li e!BGG

#ust as "od is theBcopulaB o the Eorld2 so2 Eithin the created Eorld2 is man! B%et us make man in

our image2 Eho is not a ourth Eorld or an9thing like a neE nature2 7ut is rather

the usion and s9nthesis o three Eorlds ;the supra>celestial2 the celestial2 and the

su7lunar9<!B G5 In 7od9 and spirit

G1Heptaplus2 $I2 prooem!2 in Opera omnia2 pp! @1 ! ;B(st enim primum ea in re7us unitas2 Mua

unumMuodMue si7i est unum si7iMue constat atMue cohaeret! (st ea secundo2 per Muam altera alteri

creatura unitur2 et per Muam demum omnes mundi partes unus sunt mundus! Tertia atMue omnium

principalissima est2 Mua totum uni:ersum cum suo opi ice Muasi e8ercitus cum suo duce est

unum!B<G. Bunitas ita ternario distincta2 ut a7 unitatis simplicitate non discedat!BGGOpera omnia2 p! 5. ! ;BNascenti homini omni aria semina et origenae :itae germina indidit

pater!B<G5Heptaplus2 $2 :i2 in i7id!2 p! 5)! ;BFaciamus hominem ad imaginem nostram2 Mui non tam Muartus

est mundus2 Muasi no:a aliMua natura2 Muam trium ;mundus supercoelestis2 coelestis2 su7lunaris<

comple8tis et colligatio!B

)




man is Bthe little "od o the Eorld2B the microcosm! G@ %ike "od2 there ore2 man is a

center o e:ents2 and all things re:ol:e a7out him!G

This thought2 so utterl9strange to the modern mind2 dominated manJs picture o the Eorld until a eE

generations ago2 Ehen natural science pro:ed manJs su7ordination to nature and

his e8treme dependence on causes! The idea o a correlation 7etEeen e:ents and

meaning ;noE assigned e8clusi:el9 to man< Eas 7anished to such a remote and

7enighted region that the intellect lost track o it altogether! Schopenhauer

remem7ered it someEhat 7elatedl9 a ter it had ormed one o the chie items in

%ei7ni Js scienti ic e8planations!

*9 :irtue o his microcosmic nature man is a son o the irmament or

macrocosm! BI am a star tra:elling together Eith 9ou2B the initiate con esses in the

'ithraic liturg9! G0 In alchem9 the microcosmos has the same signi icance as the

rotundum2 a a:orite s9m7ol since the time o Dosimos o Panopolis2 Ehich Eas

also knoEn as the 'onad!

The idea that the inner and outer man together orm the Ehole2 the

b vb_ vj^ o Hippocrates2 a microcosm or smallest part Eherein the Bgreat

principleB is undi:idedl9 present2 also characteri es the thought o Agrippa :on

Nettesheim! He sa9s?

It is the unanimous consent o all Platonists2 that as in the archet9pal World2 all

things are in all= so also in this corporeal Eorld2 all things are in all2 al7eit indi erent Ea9s2 according to the recepti:e nature o each! Thus the (lements are

not onl9 in these in erior 7odies2 7ut also in the Hea:ens2 in Stars2 in ,e:ils2 in

Angels2 and lastl9 in "od2 the maker2 and archet9pe o all things! G4

G@B"od ! ! ! placed man in the center o the Eorld a ter his image and the similitude o ormsB

;B,eus ! ! ! hominem in medio mundi statuit ad imaginem suam et similitudinem ormarumB<!G PicoJs doctrine is a t9pical e8ample o the medie:al correspondence theor9! A good account o

cosmological and astrological correspondence is to 7e ound in Al ons Rosen7erg2 Deichen am

Himmel? ,as Welt7ild der Astrologie!G0Al7recht ,ieterich2 (ine 'ithrasliturgie2 p! /!G4Henricus Cornelius Agrippa :on Nettesheim2 ,e occulta philosophia %i7ri tres2 I2 :iii2 p! .G! Trans2

79 B#! F!B as Three *ooks o Occult Philosoph9 ;.0 . edn!<2 p! G1= repu7lished under the editorship

o W! F! Whitehead2 p! ! Zuotations rom the #! F! translation ha:e 7een slightl9 modi ied!K

Trans! ;B(st Platonicorum omnium unanimis sententia Muemadmodum in archet9po mundo omnia

sunt in omni7us2 ita etiam in hoc corporeo mundo2 omnia in omni7us esse2 modis tamen di:ersis2

pro natura :idelicet suscipientium? sic et elementa non solum sunt in istis in eriori7us2 sed in coelis2

in stellis2 in daemoni7us2 in angelis2 in ipso deniMue omnium opi ice et archet9po!B<

)0




The ancients had said? BAll things are ull o gods!B G) These gods Eere Bdi:ine

poEers Ehich are di used in things!BG/

Doroaster had called them Bdi:ineallurements2B 51 and S9nesius Bs9m7olic inticements!B 5. This latter interpretation

comes :er9 close indeed to the idea o archet9pal proLections in modern

ps9cholog92 although rom the time o S9nesius until Muite recentl9 there Eas no

epistemological criticism2 let alone the neEest orm o it2 namel9 ps9chological

criticism! Agrippa shares Eith the Platonists the :ieE that Bthere is in the loEer

7eings a certain :irtue through Ehich the9 agree in large measure Eith the

higher2B and that as a result the animals are connected Eith the Bdi:ine 7odiesB

;i!e!2 the stars< and e8ert an in luence on them! 5G Here he Muotes $irgil? BI or m9

part do not 7elie:e that the9 the rooks are endoEed Eith di:ine spirit or Eith a

oreknoEledge o things greater than the oracle!B 55

Agrippa is thus suggesting that there is an in7orn BknoEledgeB or

BperceptionB in li:ing organisms2 an idea Ehich recurs in our oEn da9 in Hans

,riesch! 5@ Whether Ee like it or not2 Ee ind oursel:es in this em7arrassing position

as soon as Ee 7egin seriousl9 to re lect on the teleological processes in 7iolog9 or

to in:estigate the compensator9 unction o the unconscious2 not to speak o tr9ing

to e8plain the phenomenon o s9nchronicit9! Final causes2 tEist them hoE Ee Eill2

postulate a oreknoEledge o some kind! It is certainl9 not a knoEledge that could

7e connected Eith the ego2 and hence not a conscious knoEledge as Ee knoE it2

7ut rather a sel >su7sistent BunconsciousB knoEledge Ehich I Eould pre er to callBa7solute knoEledge!B It is not cognition 7ut2 as %ei7ni so e8cellentl9 calls it2

G)BOmna plena diis esse!BG/ B:irtutes di:inae in re7us di usaeB51 Bdi:inae illicesB5. Bs9m7olicae illece7rae!B In #! F! original edn!2 p! 5G= Whitehead edn!2 p! 0/!K Trans! Agrippa is

7asing himsel here on the 'arsilio Ficino translation ;Auctores Platonici2 II2 : o<! In S9nesius

;Opuscula2 ed! 79 Nicolaus Ter aghi2 p! .@)<2 the te8t o } j U j III X has b vz _ b 2

rom xvz \ 2 Bto e8cite2 charm2 enchant!B5G,e occulta philosophia2 I2 i:2 p! 0/! ;#! F! edn!2 p! ..4= Whitehead edn!2 p! .0/!< Similarl9 in

Paracelsus!55 BHaud eMuidem credo2 Muia sit di:inius illis Ingenium aut rerum ato prudentia maior!B

K"eorgics2 I2 @. !5@,ie BSeeleB als elementarer Natur aktor2 pp! )12 )G!

)4




a Bpercei:ingB Ehich consistsK or to 7e more cautious2 seems to consistK o

images2 o su7Lectless Bsimulacra!B These postulated images are presuma7l9 thesame as m9 archet9pes2 Ehich can 7e shoEn to 7e ormal actors in spontaneous

antas9 products! (8pressed in modern language2 the microcosm Ehich contains

Bthe images o all creationB Eould 7e the collecti:e unconscious! 5 *9 the spiritus

mundi2 the ligamentum animae et corporis2 the Muinta essentia2 50 Ehich he shares

Eith the alchemists2 Agrippa pro7a7l9 means Ehat Ee Eould call the unconscious!

The spirit that Bpenetrates all things2B or shapes all things2 is the World Soul? BThe

soul o the Eorld there ore is a certain onl9 thing2 illing all things2 7estoEing all

things2 7inding2 and knitting together all things2 that it might make one rame o

the Eorld! ! ! !B 54 Those things in Ehich this spirit is particularl9 poEer ul there ore

ha:e a tendenc9 to B7eget their like2B 5) in other Eords2 to produce

correspondences or meaning ul coincidences! 5/ Agrippa gi:es a long list o these

correspondences2 7ased on the num7ers . to .G! @1 A similar 7ut more alchemical

ta7le o correspondences can 7e ound in a treatise o Aegidius de $adis! @. O these

I Eould onl9 mention the scala unitatis2 7ecause it is especiall9 interesting rom the

point o

5 C ! supra2 BOn the Nature o the Ps9che2B pars! 5/G !50 Agrippa sa9s o this ;op! cit!2 I2 8i:2 p! G/? #! F! edn!2 p! 55= Whitehead edn!2 p! 41<? BThat Ehich Ee

call the Muintessence? 7ecause it is not rom the our (lements2 7ut a certain i th thing2 ha:ing its

7eing a7o:e2 and 7esides them!B ;BZuoddam Muintum super ilia elementa aut praeter ilia

su7sistens!B<54 II2 l:ii2 p! G15 ;#! F! edn!2 p! 55.<? B(st itaMue anima mundi2 :ita Muaedam unica omnia replens2

omnia per undens2 omnia colligens et connectens2 ut unam reddat totius mundi machinam! ! !B5) I7id!? B! ! ! potentius per ectiusMue agunt2 turn etiam promptius generant si7i simile!B5/ The oologist A! C! Hard9 reaches similar conclusions? BPerhaps our ideas on e:olution ma9 7e

altered i something akin to telepath9Kunconscious no dou7t>Eere ound to 7e a actor in moulding

the patterns o 7eha:iour among mem7ers o a species! I there Eas such a non>conscious group>

7eha:iour plan2 distri7uted 7etEeen2 and linking2 the indi:iduals o the race2 Ee might ind

oursel:es coming 7ack to something like those ideas o su7conscious racial memor9 o Samuel

*utler2 7ut on a group rather than an indi:idual 7asis!B BThe Scienti ic (:idence or (8tra>Sensor9

Perception2B in ,isco:er92 +2 5G)2 Muoted 79 Soal2 M!:!@1Op! cit!2 II2 i:>8i:[email protected],ialogus inter naturam et ilium philosophiae!B Theatrum chemicum2 II ;.01G<2 p! .G5!

))






ph9sician! ! ! ! Herein lies the error o those Eho do not understand the ph9sician

aright!@4

What this means or alchem9 I ha:e shoEn in some detail in m9 Ps9cholog9 and

Alchem9!

#ohannes 3epler thought in much the same Ea9! He sa9s in his Tertius

inter:eniens ;.0.1<? @)

This :i !2 a geometrical principle underl9ing the ph9sical Eorld is also2 according

to the doctrine o Aristotle2 the strongest tie that links the loEer Eorld to the

hea:ens and uni ies it thereEith so that all its orms are go:erned rom on high= or

in this loEer Eorld2 that is to sa9 the glo7e o the earth2 there is inherent a spiritual

nature2 capa7le o "eometria2 Ehich e8 instinctu creatoris2 sine ratio>cinatione

comes to li e and stimulates itsel into a use o its orces through the geometrical

and harmonious com7ination o the hea:enl9 ra9s o light! Whether all plants and

animals as Eell as the glo7e o the earth ha:e this acult9 in themsel:es I cannot

sa9! *ut it is not an un7elie:a7le thing! ! ! ! For2 in all these things e!g!2 in the act

that loEers ha:e a de inite colour2 orm2 and num7er o petals there is at Eork

the instinct!us di:inus2 rationis particeps2 and not at all manJs oEn intelligence!

That man2 too2 through his soul and its loEer aculties2 has a like a init9 to the

hea:ens as has the soil o the earth can 7e tested and pro:en in man9 Ea9s!@/

Concerning the astrological BCharacter2B i!e!2 astrological s9nchronicit92

3epler sa9s?

This Character is recei:ed2 not into the 7od92 Ehich is much too

inappropriate or this2 7ut into the soulJs oEn nature2 Ehich 7eha:es like a point

; or Ehich reason it can also 7e trans ormed into the point o the con lu8us

radiorum<! This nature o the soul not onl9 partakes o their reason ;on account o

Ehich Ee human 7eings are called reasona7le a7o:e other li:ing creatures< 7ut

also has another2 innate reason ena7ling it to apprehend instantaneousl92

Eithout long learning2 the "eometriam in the radiis as Eell as in the :oci7us2 that

is to sa92 in 'usica 1

@4Similar ideas in #ako7 *ohme2 The Signature o All Things2 trans2 79 #ohn (llistone2 p! .1? B'an has

indeed the orms o all the three Eorlds in him2 or he is a complete image o "od2 or o the *eing o

all 7eings! ! ! !B ;Signatura rerum2 I2 4!<@)Opera omnia2 ed! *9 "! Frisch2 I2 pp! 01 !@/I7id!2 No! 0@! 1 No! 0 !

/1




Thirdl92 another mar:elous thing is that the nature Ehich recei:es this

Characterem also induces a certain correspondence in constellationi7uscoelesti7us in its relati:es! When a mother is great Eith child and the natural time

o deli:er9 is near2 nature selects or the 7irth a da9 and hour Ehich correspond2

on account o the hea:ens scil!2 rom an astrological point o :ieE 2 to the nati:it9

o the motherJs 7rother or ather2 and this non Mualitati:e2 sed astronomice et

Muantitati:e! .

Fourthl92 so Eell does each nature knoE not onl9 its characterem coelestem

7ut also the celestial con igurations and courses o e:er9 da9 that2 Ehene:er a

planet mo:es de praesenti into its characteris ascendentem or loca praecipua2

especiall9 into the Natalitia2 G it responds to this and is a ected and stimulated

there79 in :arious Ea9s! 5

3epler supposes that the secret o the mar:elous correspondence is to 7e

ound in the earth2 7ecause the earth is animated 79 an anima telluris2 or Ehose

e8istence he adduces a num7er o proo s! Among these are? the constant

temperature 7eloE the sur ace o the earth= the peculiar poEer o the earth>soul to

produce metals2 minerals2 and ossils2 namel9 the acultas ormatri82 Ehich is

similar to that o the Eom7 and can 7ring orth in the 7oEels o the earth shapes

that are otherEise ound onl9 outside Kships2 ishes2 kings2 popes2 monks2

soldiers2 etc!=@

urther the practice o geometr92 or it produces the i:egeometrical 7odies and the si8>cornered igures in cr9stals! The anima telluris has

all this rom an original impulse2 independent o the re lection and ratiocination o

man!

The seat o astrological s9nchronicit9 is not in the planets 7ut in the earth= 0

not in matter2 7ut in the anima telluris!

. No! 04!G Bin die NatalitiaB Binto those positions presiding at 7irth2B i Bin dieB is construed as "erman!

The "esammelte Werke2 ed! 79 '! Caspar and F! Hammer2 I$2 p! an2 has Bin die NatalitioB K Bin the

da9 o 7irth2B the Eords Bin dieB 7eing construed as %atin!KTrans!5 No! 0)!@See the dreams mentioned 7eloE!

3epler2 Opera2 ed! 79 Frisch2 $2 p! G @= c ! also II2 pp! G4c ! and $I2 pp! .4).! B! ! ! ormatri8

acultas est in :isceri7us terrae2 Muae eminae praegnantis more occursantes oris res humanas

:eltiti eas :ideret2 in issi7ili7us lapidi7us e8primit2 ut militum2 monachorum2 ponti icum2 regum et

MuidMuid in ore hominum est! ! ! !B0 B! ! ! Muod scl! principatus causae in terra sedeat2 non in planetis ipsis!B I7id!2 II2 p! 0@G!

/.




There ore e:er9 kind o natural or li:ing poEer in 7odies has a certain Bdi:ine

similitude!B4

Such Eas the intellectual 7ackground Ehen "ott ried Wilhelm :on %ei7ni

;.0@0>.4.0< appeared Eith his idea o pre>esta7lished harmon92 that is2 an

a7solute s9nchronism o ps9chic and ph9sical e:ents! This theor9 inall9 petered

out in the concept o Bps9choph9sical parallelism!B %ei7ni Js pre>esta7lished

harmon9 and the a7o:e>mentioned idea o SchopenhauerJs2 that the unit9 o the

primal cause produces a simultaneit9 and interrelationship o e:ents not in

themsel:es causall9 connected2 are at 7ottom onl9 a repetition o the old

peripatetic :ieE2 Eith a modern deterministic coloring in the case o Schopenhauer

and a partial replacement o causalit9 79 an antecedent order in the case o

%ei7ni ! For him "od is the creator o order! He compares soul and 7od9 to tEo

s9nchroni ed clocks ) and uses

4 B! ! ! ut omne genus naturalium :el animalium aculta um in corpori7us ,ei Muandam gerat

similitudinem!B I7id! I am inde7ted to ,r! %iliane Fre9>Rohn and ,r! 'arie>%ouise :on Fran or this

re erence to 3epler!) "! W! %ei7ni 2 BSecond (8planation o the S9stem o the Communication 7etEeen Su7stancesB

;The Philosophical Works o %ei7ni 2 trans2 79! "! '! ,uncan2 pp! /1>/.<? BFrom the 7eginning "od

has made each o these tEo su7stances o such a nature that merel9 79 olloEing its oEn peculiar

laEs2 recei:ed Eith its 7eing2 it ne:ertheless accords Eith the other2 Lust as i there Eere a mutual

in luence or as i "od alEa9s put his hand thereto in addition to his general co>operation!B

As Pro essor Pauli has kindl9 pointed out! it is possi7le that %ei7ni took his idea o the

s9nchroni ed clocks rom the Flemish philosopher Arnold "eulinc8 ;.0G >//<! In his 'etaph9sica

:era2 Part III2 there is a note to BOcta:a scientiaB ;p! ./ <2 Ehich sa9s ;p! G/0<? B! ! ! horologium

:oluntatis nostrae Muadret cum horologio motus in corporeB ;the clock o our Eill is s9nchroni ed

Eith the clock o our ph9sical mo:ement<! Another note ;p! G/4< e8plains? B$oluntas nostra nullum

ha7et in lu8um2 causalitatem2 determinationem aut e icaciam Muam>cunMue in motum ! ! ! cum

cogitationes nostras 7ene e8cutimus2 nullam apud nos in:enimus ideam seu notionem

determinationis! ! ! ! Restat igitur ,eus solus primus motor et solus motor2 Muia et ita motumordinat atMue disponit et ita simul :oluntali nostrae licet li7ere moderatur2 ut eodem temporis

momento conspiret et :oluntas nostra ad proLiciendum :!g! pedes inter am7ulandum2 et simul ipsa

ilia pedum proLectio seu am7ulatio!B ;Our Eill has no in luence2 no causati:e or determinati:e

poEer2 and no e ect o an9 kind on our mo:ement! !!! I Ee e8amine our thoughts care ull92 Ee ind

in oursel:es no idea or concept o determination! ! ! ! There remains2 there ore2 onl9 "od as the

prime

/G






di:init9 in its oEn department2B 05 and 7odies on the other hand2 Ehich Bact

according to the laEs o e icient causes 79 motions2B Ehile the souls actBaccording to the laEs o inal causes 79 appetitions2 ends2 and means!B 0@ In the

monad or soul alterations take place Ehose cause is the Bappetition!B 0 BThe

passing state2 Ehich in:ol:es and represents a pluralit9 Eithin the unit9 or simple

su7stance2 is nothing other than Ehat is called perception2B sa9s %ei7ni ! 00

Perception is the Binner state o the monad representing e8ternal things2B and it

must 7e distinguished rom conscious apperception! BFor perception is

unconscious!B 04 Herein la9 the great mistake o the Cartesians2 Bthat the9 took no

account o perceptions Ehich are not apper>cei:ed!B 0) The percepti:e acult9 o the

monad corresponds to the knoEledge2 and its appetiti:e acult9 to the Eill2 that is

in "od! 0/

It is clear rom these Muotations that 7esides the causal connection %ei7ni

postulates a complete pre>esta7lished parallelism o e:ents 7oth inside and

outside the monad! The s9nchronicit9 principle thus 7ecomes the a7solute rule in

all cases Ehere an inner e:ent occurs simultaneousl9 Eith an outside one! As

against this2 hoEe:er2 it must 7e 7orne in mind that the s9nchronistic phenomena

Ehich can 7e :eri ied empiricall92 ar rom constituting a rule2 are so e8ceptional

that most people dou7t their e8istence! The9 certainl9 occur much more reMuentl9

in realit9 than one thinks or can pro:e2 7ut Ee still do not knoE Ehether the9 occur

so reMuentl9 and so regularl9 in an9 ield o e8perience that Ee could speak othem as con orming to laE! 41 We onl9 knoE that there must 7e an underl9ing

05 ~ )5 ;p! .)<= c ! Theodic92 ~ .@4 ;trans2 79 ! '! Huggard2 pp! Dig !<!0@'onadolog92 ~ 4/ ;'orris edn!2 p! .4<!0 I7id!2 ~ . ;p! <!00 ~ 2@ ;pp! @ !<!04 Principles o Nature and o "race2 Founded on Reason2 ~ @ ;'orris edn!2 p! GG<!0) 'onadolog92 ~ .@ ;p! <! C ! also ,r! 'arie>%ouise :on Fran Js paper on the dream o ,escartes in

Deitlose ,okumente der Seele!0/ 'onadolog92 ~ @) ;p! ..<= Theodic92 ~ .@/!41 I must again stress the possi7ilit9 that the relation 7etEeen 7od9 and soul ma9 9et 7e understoodas a s9nchronistic one! Should this conLecture e:er 7e pro:ed2 m9 present :ieE that s9nchronicit9 is

a relati:el9 rare phenomenon Eould ha:e to 7e corrected! C ! C! A! 'eierJs o7ser:ations in

Deitgemdsse Pro7leme der Traum orschung2 p! GG!

/@




principle Ehich might possi7l9 e8plain all such ;related< phenomena!

The primiti:e as Eell as the classical and medie:al :ieEs o nature postulatethe e8istence o some such principle alongside causalit9! (:en in %ei7ni 2 causalit9

is neither the onl9 :ieE nor the predominant one! Then2 in the course o the

eighteenth centur92 it 7ecame the e8clusi:e principle o natural science! With the

rise o the ph9sical sciences in the nineteenth centur9 the correspondence theor9

:anished completel9 rom the sur ace2 and the magical Eorld o earlier ages

seemed to ha:e disappeared once and or all until2 toEards the end o the centur92

the ounders o the Societ9 or Ps9chical Research indirectl9 opened up the Ehole

Muestion again through their in:estigation o telepathic phenomena!

The medie:al attitude o mind I ha:e descri7ed a7o:e underlies all the

magical and mantic procedures Ehich ha:e pla9ed an important part in manJs li e

since the remotest times! The medie:al mind Eould regard RhineJs la7orator9>

arranged e8periments as magical per ormances2 Ehose e ect or this reason

Eould not seem so :er9 astonishing! It Eas interpreted as a Btransmission o

energ92B Ehich is still commonl9 the case toda92 although2 as I ha:e said2 it is not

possi7le to orm an9 empiricall9 :eri ia7le conception o the transmitting medium!

I need hardl9 point out that or the primiti:e mind s9nchronicit9 is a sel >

e:ident act= conseMuentl9 at this stage there is no such thing as chance! No

accident2 no illness2 no death is e:er ortuitous or attri7uta7le to BnaturalB causes!

(:er9thing is somehoE due to magical in luence! The crocodile that catches a manEhile he is 7athing has 7een sent 79 a magician= illness is caused 79 some spirit or

other= the snake that Eas seen 79 the gra:e o some7od9Js mother is o7:iousl9 her

soul= etc! On the primiti:e le:el2 o course2 s9nchronicit9 does not appear as an

idea 79 itsel 2 7ut as BmagicalB causalit9! This is an earl9 orm o our classical idea

o causalit92 Ehile the de:elopment o Chinese philosoph9 produced rom the

signi icance o the magical the BconceptB o Tao2 o meaning ul coincidence2 7ut no

causalit9>7ased science!

S9nchronicit9 postulates a meaning Ehich is a priori in relation to human

consciousness and apparentl9 e8ists outside

/




man! 4. Such an assumption is ound a7o:e all in the philosoph9 o Plato2 Ehich

takes or granted the e8istence o transcendental images or models o empiricalthings2 the jy^ ; orms2 species<2 Ehose re lections ; jy v`< Ee see in the

phenomenal Eorld! This assumption not onl9 presented no di icult9 to earlier

centuries 7ut Eas on the contrar9 per ectl9 sel >e:ident! The idea o an a priori

meaning ma9 also 7e ound in the older mathematics2 as in the mathematician

#aco7iJs paraphrase o SchillerJs poem BArchimedes and His Pupil!B He praises the

calculation o the or7it o &ranus and closes Eith the lines?

What 9ou 7ehold in the cosmos is onl9 the light o "odJs glor9= In the

Ol9mpian host Num7er eternall9 reigns!

The great mathematician "auss is the putati:e author o the sa9ing? B"od

arithemeti es!B 4G

The idea o s9nchronicit9 and o a sel >su7sistent meaning2 Ehich orms the

7asis o classical Chinese thinking and o the nai:e :ieEs o the 'iddle Ages2

seems to us an archaic assumption that ought at all costs to 7e a:oided! Though

the West has done e:er9thing possi7le to discard this antiMuated h9pothesis2 it has

not Muite succeeded! Certain mantic procedures seem to ha:e died out2 7ut

astrolog92 Ehich in our oEn da9 has attained an eminence ne:er knoEn 7e ore2

remains :er9 much ali:e! Nor has the determinism o a scienti ic epoch 7een a7leto e8tinguish altogether the persuasi:e poEer o the s9nchronicit9 principle! For in

the last resort it is not so much a Muestion o superstition as o a truth Ehich

remained hidden or so long onl9 7ecause it had less to do Eith the ph9sical side o

e:ents than Eith their ps9chic aspects! It Eas modern ps9cholog9 and

paraps9cholog9 Ehich pro:ed that causalit9 does not e8plain a certain class o

4. In :ieE o the possi7ilit9 that s9nchronicit9 is not onl9 a ps9choph9sical phenomenon 7ut might

also occur Eithout the participation o the human ps9che2 I should like to point out that in this case

Ee should ha:e to speak not o meaning 7ut o eMui:alence or con ormit9!

4GBb • ` \ _^ j€ \!B *ut in a letter o .)51 "auss sa9s? BWe must in all humilit9 admit that inum7er is merel9 a product o our mind2 space has a realit9 outside our mind!B ;%eopold 3ronecker2

&7er den Dahlen7egri 2 in his Werke2 III2 p! G G!< Hermann We9l likeEise takes num7er as a product

o reason! ;BWissenscha t als s9m7olische 3onstruktion des 'enschen2B p! 54 <! 'arkus Fier 2 on

the other hand2 inclines more to the Platonic idea! ;BDur ph9sikalischen (rkenntnis2B p! @5@<

/0




e:ents and that in this case Ee ha:e to consider a ormal actor2 namel9

s9nchronicit92 as a principle o e8planation!For those Eho are interested in ps9cholog9 I should like to mention here that

the peculiar idea o a sel >su7sistent meaning is suggested in dreams! Once Ehen

this idea Eas 7eing discussed in m9 circle some7od9 remarked? BThe geometrical

sMuare does not occur in nature e8cept in cr9stals!B A lad9 Eho had 7een present

had the olloEing dream that night? In the garden there Eas a large sandpit in

Ehich la9ers o ru77ish had 7een deposited! In one o these la9ers she disco:ered

thin2 slat9 plates o green serpentine! One o them had 7lack sMuares on it2

arranged concentricall9! The 7lack Eas not painted on2 7ut Eas ingrained in the

stone2 like the markings in an agate! Similar marks Eere ound on tEo or three

other plates2 Ehich 'r! A ;a slight acMuaintance< then took aEa9 rom her! 45

Another dream>moti o the same kind is the olloEing? The dreamer Eas in a Eild

mountain region Ehere he ound contiguous la9ers o triassic rock! He loosened

the sla7s and disco:ered to his 7oundless astonishment that the9 had human

heads on them in loE relie ! This dream Eas repeated se:eral times at long

inter:als! 4@ Another time the dreamer Eas tra:elling through the Si7erian tundra

and ound an animal he had long 7een looking or! It Eas a more than li esi e cock2

made o Ehat looked like thin2 colorless glass! *ut it Eas ali:e and had Lust sprung

79 chance rom a microscopic unicellular organism Ehich had the poEer to turn

into all sorts o animals ;not otherEise ound in the tundra< or e:en into o7Lects ohuman use2 o Ehate:er si e! The ne8t moment each o these chance orms

:anished Eithout trace! Here is another dream o the same t9pe? The dreamer Eas

Ealking in a Eooded mountain region! At the top o a steep slope he came to a

ridge o rock hone9com7ed Eith holes2 and there he ound a little 7roEn man o

the same colour as the iron o8ide Eith Ehich the rock Eas coated! 4 The little man

Eas 7usil9

45 According to the rules o dream interpretation this 'r! A Eould represent the animus2 Eho2 as a

personi ication o the unconscious2 takes 7ack the designs 7ecause the conscious mind has no use

or them and regards them onl9 as lusus naturae!4@ The recurrence o the dream e8presses the persistent attempt o the unconscious to 7ring the

dream content 7e ore the conscious mind!4 An Anthroparion or Bmetallic man!B

/4




engaged in holloEing out a ca:e2 at the 7ack o Ehich a cluster o columns could

7e seen in the li:ing rock! On the top o each column Eas a dark 7roEn humanhead Eith large e9es2 car:ed Eith great care out o some :er9 hard stone2 like

lignite! The little man reed this ormation rom the amorphous conglomerate

surrounding it! The dreamer could hardl9 7elie:e his e9es at irst2 7ut then had to

admit that the columns Eere continued ar 7ack into the li:ing rock and must

there ore ha:e come into e8istence Eithout the help o man! He re lected that the

rock Eas at least hal a million 9ears old and that the arti act could not possi7l9

ha:e 7een made 79 human hands! 40

These dreams seem to point to the presence o a ormal actor in nature!

The9 descri7e not Lust a lusus naturae2 7ut the meaning ul coincidence o an

a7solutel9 natural product Eith a human idea apparentl9 independent o it! This is

Ehat the dreams are o7:iousl9 sa9ing2 44 and Ehat the9 are tr9ing to 7ring nearer

to consciousness through repetition!

40 C ! 3eplerJs ideas Muoted a7o:e!44 Those Eho ind the dreams unintelligi7le Eill pro7a7l9 suspect them o har7oring Muite a di erent

meaning Ehich is more in accord Eith their preconcei:ed opinions! One can indulge in Eish ul

thinking a7out dreams Lust as one can a7out an9thing else! For m9 part I pre er to keep as close to

the dream statement as possi7le2 and to tr9 to ormulate it in accordance Eith its mani est

meaning! I it pro:es impossi7le to relate this meaning to the conscious situation o the dreamer2

then I rankl9 admit that I do not understand the dream2 7ut I take good care not to Luggle it intoline Eith some preconcei:ed theor9!

/)




//



TH( NAT&R( AN, ,YNA'ICS OF TH( PSYCH(

4. CONCLUSION

I do not regard these statements as in an9 Ea9 a inal proo o m9 :ieEs2 7ut

simpl9 as a conclusion rom empirical premises Ehich I Eould like to su7mit to the

consideration o m9 reader! From the material 7e ore us I can deri:e no other

h9pothesis that Eould adeMuatel9 e8plain the acts ;including the (SP

e8periments<! I am onl9 too conscious that s9nchronicit9 is a highl9 a7stract and

Birrepresenta7leB Muantit9! It ascri7es to the mo:ing 7od9 a certain ps9choid

propert9 Ehich2 like space2 time2 and causalit92 orms a criterion o its 7eha:ior!

We must completel9 gi:e up the idea o the ps9cheJs 7eing somehoE connected

Eith the 7rain2 and remem7er instead the Bmeaning ulB or BintelligentB 7eha:ior o

the loEer organisms2 Ehich are Eithout a 7rain! Here Ee ind oursel:es muchcloser to the ormal actor Ehich2 as I ha:e said2 has nothing to do Eith 7rain

acti:it9!

I that is so2 then Ee must ask oursel:es Ehether the relation o soul and

7od9 can 7e considered rom this angle2 that is to sa9 Ehether the co>ordination o

ps9chic and ph9sical processes in a li:ing organism can 7e understood as a

s9nchronistic phenomenon rather than as a causal relation! *oth "eulinc8 and

%ei7ni regarded the co>ordination o the ps9chic and the ph9sical as an act o

"od2 o some principle standing outside empirical nature! The assumption o a

causal relation 7etEeen ps9che

.11



and ph9sis leads on the other hand to conclusions Ehich it is di icult to sMuare

Eith e8perience? either there are ph9sical processes Ehich cause ps9chichappenings2 or there is a pre>e8istent ps9che Ehich organi es matter! In the irst

case it is hard to see hoE chemical processes can e:er produce ps9chic processes2

and in the second case one Eonders hoE an immaterial ps9che could e:er set

matter in motion! It is not necessar9 to think o %ei7ni Js pre>esta7lished harmon9

or an9thing o that kind2 Ehich Eould ha:e to 7e a7solute and Eould mani est itsel

in a uni:ersal correspondence and s9mpath92 rather like the meaning ul

coincidence o time>points l9ing on the same degree o latitude in Schopenhauer!

The s9nchronicit9 principle possesses properties that ma9 help to clear up the

7od9>soul pro7lem! A7o:e all it is the act o causeless order2 or rather2 o

meaning ul orderedness2 that ma9 throE light on ps9choph9sical parallelism! The

Ba7solute knoEledgeB Ehich is characteristic o s9nchronistic phenomena2 a

knoEledge not mediated 79 the sense organs2 supports the h9pothesis o a sel >

su7sistent meaning2 or e:en e8presses its e8istence! Such a orm o e8istence can

onl9 7e transcendental2 since2 as the knoEledge o uture or spatiall9 distant

e:ents shoEs2 it is contained in a ps9chicall9 relati:e space and time2 that is to sa9

in an irrepresenta7le space>time continuum!

It ma9 7e Eorth our Ehile to e8amine more closel92 rom this point o :ieE2

certain e8periences Ehich seem to indicate the e8istence o ps9chic processes in

Ehat are commonl9 held to 7e unconscious states! Here I am thinking chie l9 o theremarka7le o7ser:ations made during deep s9ncopes resulting rom acute 7rain

inLuries! Contrar9 to all e8pectations2 a se:ere head inLur9 is not alEa9s olloEed

79 a corresponding loss o consciousness! To the o7ser:er2 the Eounded man

seems apathetic2 Bin a trance2B and not conscious o an9thing! Su7Lecti:el92

hoEe:er2 consciousness is 79 no means e8tinguished! Sensor9 communication Eith

the outside Eorld is in a large measure restricted2 7ut is not alEa9s completel9 cut

o 2 although the noise o 7attle2 or instance2 ma9 suddenl9 gi:e Ea9 to a BsolemnB

silence! In this state there is sometimes a :er9 distinct and impressi:e sensation or

hallucination o le:itation2 the Eounded man seeming to rise into the air in thesame position he Eas in at the moment he Eas Eounded! I he Eas Eounded

standing up2 he rises in a

.1.




standing position2 i l9ing doEn2 he rises in a l9ing position2 i sitting2 he rises in a

sitting position! Occasionall9 his surroundings seem to rise Eith himK or instancethe Ehole 7unker in Ehich he inds himsel at the moment! The height o the

le:itation ma9 7e an9thing rom eighteen inches to se:eral 9ards! All eeling o

Eeight is lost! In a eE cases the Eounded think the9 are making sEimming

mo:ements Eith their arms! I there is an9 perception o their surroundings at all2

it seems to 7e mostl9 imaginar92 i!e!2 composed o memor9 images! ,uring

le:itation the mood is predominantl9 euphoric! BJ*uo9ant2 solemn2 hea:enl92

serene2 rela8ed2 7liss ul2 e8pectant2 e8citingJ are the Eords used to descri7e it! !

!There are :arious kinds o Jascension e8periences!JB . #ant and *eringer rightl9

point out that the Eounded can 7e roused rom their s9ncope 79 remarka7l9 small

stimuli2 or instance i the9 are addressed 79 name or touched2 Ehereas the most

terri ic 7om7ardment has no e ect!

'uch the same thing can 7e o7ser:ed in deep comas resulting rom other

causes! I Eould like to gi:e an e8ample rom m9 oEn medical e8perience! A

Eoman patient2 Ehose relia7ilit9 and truth ulness I ha:e no reason to dou7t2 told

me that her irst 7irth Eas :er9 di icult! A ter thirt9 hours o ruitless la7or the

doctor considered that a orceps deli:er9 Eas indicated! This Eas carried out under

light narcosis! She Eas 7adl9 torn and su ered great loss o 7lood! When the

doctor2 her mother2 and her hus7and had gone2 and e:er9thing Eas cleared up2 the

nurse Eanted to eat2 and the patient saE her turn round at the door and ask2 B,o9ou Eant an9thing 7e ore I go to supper B She tried to ansEer2 7ut couldnJt! She

had the eeling that she Eas sinking through the 7ed into a 7ottomless :oid! She

saE the nurse hurr9 to the 7edside and sei e her hand in order to take her pulse!

From the Ea9 she mo:ed her ingers to and ro the patient thought it must 7e

almost impercepti7le! Yet she hersel elt Muite all right2 and Eas slightl9 amused

at the nurseJs alarm! She Eas not in the least rightened! That Eas the last she

could remem7er or a long time! The ne8t thing she Eas aEare o Eas that2 Eithout

eeling her 7od9 and its position2 she Eas looking doEn rom a point in the ceiling

and could see e:er9thing going on in the room 7eloE her? she saE hersel l9ing in

the 7ed2

. Hu7ert #ant and 3urt *eringer2 B,as S9ndrom des SchEe7eerle7nisses un>mittel7ar nach

3op :erlet ungen2B G1G!

.1G



deadl9 pale2 Eith closed e9es! *eside her stood the nurse! The doctor paced up

and doEn the room e8citedl92 and it seemed to her that he had lost his head and

didnJt knoE Ehat to do! Her relati:es croEded to the door! Her mother and her

hus7and came in and looked at her Eith rightened aces! She told hersel it Eas

too stupid o them to think she Eas going to die2 or she Eould certainl9 come

round again! All this time she kneE that 7ehind her Eas a glorious2 park>like

landscape shining in the 7rightest colors2 and in particular an emerald green

meadoE Eith short grass2 Ehich sloped gentl9 upEards 7e9ond a Erought>iron

gate leading into the park! It Eas spring2 and little ga9 loEers such as she had

ne:er seen 7e ore Eere scattered a7out in the grass! The Ehole demesne sparkled

in the sunlight2 and all the colors Eere o an indescri7a7le splendor! The sloping

meadoE Eas lanked on 7oth sides 79 dark green trees! It ga:e her the impressiono a clearing in the orest2 ne:er 9et trodden 79 the oot o man! BI kneE that this

Eas the entrance to another Eorld2 and that i I turned round to ga e at the picture

directl92 I should eel tempted to go in at the gate2 and thus step out o li e!B She

did not actuall9 see this landscape2 as her 7ack Eas turned to it2 7ut she kneE it

Eas there! She elt there Eas nothing to stop her rom entering in through the

gate! She onl9 kneE that she Eould turn 7ack to her 7od9 and Eould not die! That

Eas Eh9 she ound the agitation o the doctor and the distress o her relati:es

stupid and out o place!

The ne8t thing that happened Eas that she aEoke rom her coma and>saEthe 7ending o:er her in 7ed! She Eas told that she had 7een unconscious or a7out

hal an hour! The ne8t

da92 some i teen hours later2 Ehen she elt a little stronger2 she made a remark to

the nurse a7out the incompetent and Bh9stericalB 7eha:iour o the doctor during

her coma! The nurse energeticall9 denied this criticism in the 7elie that the

patient had 7een completel9 unconscious at the time and could there ore ha:e

knoEn nothing o the scene! Onl9 Ehen she descri7ed in ull detail Ehat had

happened during the coma Eas the nurse o7liged to admit that the patient had

percei:ed the e:ents e8actl9 as the9 happened in realit9!

One might conLecture that this Eas simpl9 a ps9chogenic tEilight state in

Ehich a split>o part o consciousness still continued to unction! The patient2

hoEe:er2 had ne:er 7een h9sterical

.15




and had su ered a genuine heart collapse olloEed 79 s9ncope due to cere7ral

anaemia2 as all the outEard and e:identl9 alarming s9mptoms indicated! She reall9Eas in a coma Jand ought to ha:e had a complete ps9chic 7lack>out and 7een

altogether incapa7le o clear o7ser:ation and sound Ludgment! The remarka7le

thing Eas that it Eas not an immediate perception o the situation through indirect

or unconscious o7ser:ation2 7ut she saE the Ehole situation rom a7o:e2 as though

Bher e9es Eere in the ceiling2B as she put it!

Indeed2 it is not eas9 to e8plain hoE such unusuall9 intense ps9chic

processes can take place2 and 7e remem7ered2 in a state o se:ere collapse2 and

hoE the patient could o7ser:e actual e:ents in concrete detail Eith closed e9es!

One Eould e8pect such o7:ious cere7ral anaemia to militate against or pre:ent the

occurrence o highl9 comple8 ps9chic processes o that kind!

Sir Auckland "eddes presented a :er9 similar case 7e ore the Ro9al Societ9

o 'edicine on Fe7ruar9 G02 ./G42 though here the (SP Eent :er9 much urther!

,uring a state o collapse the patient noted the splitting o o an integral

consciousness rom his 7odil9 consciousness2 the latter graduall9 resol:ing itsel

into its organ components! The other consciousness possessed :eri ia7le (SP! G

These e8periences seem to shoE that in sEoon states2 Ehere 79 all human

standards there is e:er9 guarantee that conscious acti:it9 and sense perception

are suspended2 consciousness2 reproduci7le ideas2 acts o Ludgment2 and

perceptions can still continue to e8ist! The accompan9ing eeling o le:itation2alteration o the angle o :ision2 and e8tinction o hearing and o coenaesthetic

perceptions indicate a shi t in the locali ation o consciousness2 a sort o

separation rom the 7od92 or rom the cere7ral corte8 or cere7rum Ehich is

conLectured to 7e the seat o conscious phenomena! I Ee are correct in this

assumption2 then Ee must ask oursel:es Ehether there is some other ner:ous

su7strate in us2 apart rom the cere7rum2 that can think and percei:e2 or Ehether

the ps9chic processes that go on in us during loss o consciousness are

s9nchronistic phenomena2 i!e!2 e:ents Ehich ha:e no causal connection Eith

organic processes! This last possi7ilit9 cannot 7e reLected out o hand in :ieE o

GC ! "! ! '! T9rrellJs report in The Personalit9 o 'an2 pp! ./4 ! There is another case o this kind

on pp! .// !

.1@



the e8istence o (SP2 i!e!2 o perceptions independent o space and time Ehich

cannot 7e e8plained as processes in the 7iological su7strate! Where senseperceptions are impossi7le rom the start2 it can hardl9 7e a Muestion o an9thing

7ut s9nchronicit9! *ut Ehere there are spatial and temporal conditions Ehich

Eould make perception and apperception possi7le in principle2 and onl9 the

acti:it9 o consciousness2 or the cortical unction2 is e8tinguished2 and Ehere2 as in

our e8ample2 a conscious phenomenon like perception and Ludgment ne:ertheless

occurs2 then the Muestion o a ner:ous su7strate might Eell 7e considered! It is

Eell>nigh a8iomatic that conscious processes are tied to the cere7rum2 and that

the loEer centers contain nothing 7ut chains o re le8es Ehich in themsel:es are

unconscious! This is particularl9 true o the s9mpathetic s9stem! Hence the insects2

Ehich ha:e no cere7rospinal ner:ous s9stem at all2 7ut onl9 a dou7le chain o

ganglia2 are regarded as re le8 automata!

This :ieE has recentl9 7een challenged 79 the researches Ehich :on Frisch2

o "ra 2 made into the li e o 7ees! It turns out that 7ees not onl9 tell their

comrades2 79 means o a peculiar sort o dance2 that the9 ha:e ound a eeding>

place2 7ut that the9 also indicate its direction and distance2 thus ena7ling the

7eginners to l9 to it directl9! 5 This kind o message is no di erent in principle rom

in ormation con:e9ed 79 a human 7eing! In the latter case Ee Eould certainl9

regard such 7eha:ior as a conscious and intentional act and can hardl9 imagine

hoE an9one could pro:e in a court o laE that it had taken place unconsciousl9! Wecould2 at a pinch2 admit on the 7asis o ps9chiatric e8periences that o7Lecti:e

in ormation can in e8ceptional cases 7e communicated in a tEilight state2 7ut

Eould e8pressl9 den9 that communications o this kind are normall9 unconscious!

Ne:ertheless it Eould 7e possi7le to suppose that in 7ees the process is

unconscious! *ut that Eould not help to sol:e the pro7lem2 7ecause Ee are still

aced Eith the act that the ganglionic s9stem apparentl9 achie:es e8actl9 the

same result as our cere7ral corte8! Nor is there an9 proo that 7ees are

unconscious!

Thus Ee are dri:en to the conclusion that a ner:ous su7strate like thes9mpathetic s9stem2 Ehich is a7solutel9 di erent

53arl :on Frisch2 The ,ancing *ees2 trans2 79 ,ora &se2 pp! ..G !

.1




rom the cere7rospinal s9stem in point o origin and unction2 can e:identl9

produce thoughts and perceptions Lust as easil9 as the latter! What then are Ee tothink o the s9mpathetic s9stem in :erte7rates Can it also produce or transmit

speci icall9 ps9chic processes $on FrischJs o7ser:ations pro:e theB e8istence o

transcere7ral thought and perception! One must 7ear this possi7ilit9 in mind i Ee

Eant to account or the e8istence o some orm o consciousness during an

unconscious coma! ,uring a coma the s9mpathetic s9stem is not paral9sed and

could there ore 7e considered as a possi7le carrier o ps9chic unctions! I that is

so2 then one must ask Ehether the normal state o unconsciousness in sleep2 and

the potentiall9 conscious dreams it contains2 can 7e regarded in the same lightK

Ehether2 in other Eords2 dreams are produced not so much 79 the acti:it9 o the

sleeping corte82 as 79 the unsleeping s9mpathetic s9stem2 and are there ore o a

transcere7ral nature!

Outside the realm o ps9choph9sical parallelism2 Ehich Ee cannot at present

pretend to understand2 s9nchronicit9 is not a phenomenon Ehose regularit9 it is at

all eas9 to demonstrate! One is as much impressed 79 the disharmon9 o things as

one is surprised 79 their occasional harmon9! In contrast to the idea o a pre>

esta7lished harmon92 the s9nchronistic actor merel9 stipulates the e8istence o an

intellectuall9 necessar9 principle Ehich could 7e added as a ourth to the

recogni ed triad o space2 time2 and causalit9! These actors are necessar9 7ut not

a7soluteKmost ps9chic contents are non>spatial2 time and causalit9 areps9chicall9 relati:eKand in the same Ea9 the s9nchronistic actor pro:es to 7e

onl9 conditionall9 :alid! *ut unlike causalit92 Ehich reigns despoticall9 o:er the

Ehole picture o the macroph9sical Eorld and Ehose uni:ersal rule is shattered

onl9 in certain loEer orders o magnitude2 s9nchronicit9 is a phenomenon that

seems to 7e primaril9 connected Eith ps9chic conditions2 that is to sa9 Eith

processes in the unconscious! S9nchronistic phenomena are ound to occurK

e8perimentall9K Eith some degree o regularit9 and reMuenc9 in the intuiti:e2

BmagicalB procedures2 Ehere the9 are su7Lecti:el9 con:incing 7ut are e8tremel9

di icult to :eri 9 o7Lecti:el9 and cannot 7e statisticall9 e:aluated ;at least at

present<!

On the organic le:el it might 7e possi7le to regard 7iological morphogenesis

in the light o the s9nchronistic actor! Pro essor

.10






Here s9nchronicit9 is to the three other principles as the one>dimensionalit9

o time0

is to the three>dimensionalit9 o space2 or as the recalcitrant BFourthB inthe Timaeus2 Ehich2 Plato sa9s2 can onl9 7e added B79 orceB to the other three! 4

#ust as the introduction o time as the ourth dimension in modern ph9sics

postulates an irrepresenta7le space>time continuum2 so the idea o s9nchronicit9

Eith its inherent Mualit9 o meaning produces a picture o the Eorld so

irrepresenta7le as to 7e completel9 7a ling! ) The ad:antage2 hoEe:er2 o adding

this concept is that it makes possi7le a :ieE Ehich includes the ps9choid actor in

our description and knoEledge o natureKthat is2 an a priori meaning or

BeMui:alence!B The pro7lem that runs like a red thread through the speculations o

alchemists or i teen hundred 9ears thus repeats and sol:es itsel 2 the so>called

a8iom o 'aria the #eEess ;or Copt<? BOut o the Third comes the One as the

Fourth!B / This cr9ptic o7ser:ation con irms Ehat I said a7o:e2 that in principle neE

points o :ieE are not as a rule disco:ered in territor9 that is alread9 knoEn2 7ut in

out>o >the>Ea9 places that ma9 e:en 7e a:oided 7ecause o their 7ad name! The

old dream o the alchemists2 the transmutation o chemical elements2 this much>

derided idea2 has 7ecome a realit9 in our oEn da92 and its s9m7olism2 Ehich Eas

no less an o7Lect o ridicule2 has turned out to 7e a :erita7le gold>mine or the

ps9cholog9 o the unconscious! Their dilemma o three and our2 Ehich 7egan Eith

the stor9 that ser:es as a setting or the Timaeus and e8tends all the Ea9 to the

Ca7iri scene in Faust2 Part II2 is recogni ed 79 a si8teenth>centur9 alchemist2"erhard ,orn2 as the decision 7etEeen the Christian Trinit9 and the serpens

Muadricornutus2 the our>horned serpent Eho is the ,e:il! As though in anticipation

o things to come he anathemati es the pagan Muaternit9 Ehich Eas ordinaril9 so

7elo:ed o the alchemists2

0I am not counting P! A! '! ,iracJs multi>dimensionalit9 o time!4C ! m9 BPs9chological Approach to the ,ogma o the Trinit92B pars! .)0 !2 G)12 G/1!) Sir #ames #eans ;Ph9sics and Philosoph92 p! G. < thinks it possi7le Bthat the springs o e:ents in this

su7stratum include our oEn mental acti:ities2 so that the uture course o e:ents ma9 depend in

part on these mental acti:ities!B The causalism o this argument does not seem to me altogethertena7le!/ Bxf b j b b x ` b !B C ! Ps9cholog9 and Alchem92 par! G0!

.1)



on the ground that it arose rom the 7inarius ;the num7er G< and is thus something

material2 eminine2 and de:ilish!.1

,r! :on Fran has demonstrated this emergenceo trinitarian thinking in the Para7le o *ernard o Tre:iso2 in 3hunrathJs

Amphitheatrum2 in 'ichael 'aier2 and in the anon9mous author o the AMuarium

sapientum! .. W! Pauli calls attention to the polemical Eritings o 3epler and o

Ro7ert Fludd2 in Ehich FluddJs correspondence theor9 Eas the loser and had to

make room or 3eplerJs theor9 o three principles! .G The decision in a:or o the

triad2 Ehich in certain respects ran counter to the alchemical tradition2 Eas

olloEed 79 a scienti ic epoch that kneE nothing o correspondence and clung Eith

passionate insistence to a triadic :ieE o the EorldKa continuation o the

trinitarian t9pe o thinkingKEhich descri7ed and e8plained e:er9thing in terms o

space2 time2 and causalit9!

The re:olution 7rought a7out 79 the disco:er9 o radioacti:it9 has

considera7l9 modi ied the classical :ieEs o ph9sics! So great is the change o

standpoint that Ee ha:e to re:ise the classical schema I made use o a7o:e! As I

Eas a7le2 thanks to the riendl9 interest Ehich Pro essor Pauli e:inced in m9 Eork2

to discuss these Muestions o principle Eith a pro essional ph9sicist Eho could at

the same time appreciate m9 ps9chological arguments2 I am in a position to put

orEard a suggestion that takes modern ph9sics into account! Pauli suggested

replacing the opposition o space and time in the classical schema 79

;conser:ation o < energ9 and the space>time continuum! This suggestion led me toa closer de inition o the other pair o oppositesKcausalit9 and s9nchronicit9KEith

a :ieE to esta7lishing some kind o connection 7etEeen these tEo heterogeneous

concepts! We inall9 agreed on the olloEing Muaternio?

.1 B,e tene7ris contra naturam2B in Theatrum chemicum2 I ;.01G<2 pp! .) t!

.. 'arie>%ouise :on Fran 2 B,ie Para7el :on der Fontina des "ra en :on Tar:is!J

.G See PauliJs contri7ution in The Interpretation o Nature and the Ps9che!

.1/




This schema satis ies on the one hand the postulates o modern ph9sics2 and

on the other hand those o ps9cholog9! The ps9chological point o :ieE needsclari 9ing! A causalistic e8planation o s9nchronicit9 seems out o the Muestion or

the reasons gi:en a7o:e! It consists essentiall9 o BchanceB eMui:alences! Their

tertium comparationis rests on the ps9choid actors I call archet9pes! These are

inde inite2 that is to sa9 the9 can 7e knoEn and determined onl9 appro8imatel9!

Although associated Eith causal processes2 or BcarriedB 79 them2 the9 continuall9

go 7e9ond their rame o re erence2 an in ringement to Ehich I Eould gi:e the

name Btransgressi:it92B 7ecause the archet9pes are not ound e8clusi:el9 in the

ps9chic sphere2 7ut can occur Lust as much in circumstances that are not ps9chic

;eMui:alence o an outEard ph9sical process Eith a ps9chic one<! Archet9pal

eMui:alences are contingent to causal determination2 that is to sa9 there e8ist

7etEeen them and the causal processes no relations that con orm to laE! The9

seem2 there ore2 to represent a special instance o randomness or chance2 or o

that Brandom stateB Ehich Bruns through time in a Ea9 that ull9 con orms to laE2B

as Andreas Speiser sa9s! .5 It is an initial state Ehich is Bnot go:erned 79

mechanistic laEB 7ut is the precondition o laE2 the chance su7strate on Ehich laE

is 7ased! I Ee consider s9nchronicit9 or the archet9pes as the contingent2 then the

latter takes on the speci ic aspect o a modalit9 that has the unctional signi icance

o a Eorld>constituting actor! The archet9pe represents ps9chic pro7a7ilit92

portra9ing ordinar9 instinctual e:ents in the orm o t9pes! It is a special ps9chicinstance o pro7a7ilit9 in general2 Ehich Bis made up o the laEs o chance and la9s

doEn rules or nature Lust as the laEs o mechanics do!B .@ We must agree Eith

Speiser that although in the realm o pure intellect the contingent is Ba ormless

su7stance2B it re:eals itsel to ps9chic introspectionKso ar as inEard perception

can grasp it at allKas an image2 or rather a t9pe Ehich underlies not onl9 the

ps9chic eMui:alences 7ut2 remarka7l9 enough2 the ps9choph9sical eMui:alences

too!

It is di icult to di:est conceptual language o its causalistic coloring! Thus

the Eord Bunderl9ing2B despite its causalistic connotation2 does not re er to

an9thing causal2 7ut simpl9 to an

.5 &7er die Freiheit2 @ ! .@ I7id!2 p!0!

..1



e8isting Mualit92 an irreduci7le contingenc9 Ehich is B#ust>So!B The meaning ul

coincidence or eMui:alence o a ps9chic and a ph9sical state that ha:e no causalrelationship to one another means2 in general terms2 that it is a modalit9 Eithout a

cause2 an Bacausal orderedness!B The Muestion noE arises Ehether our de inition o

s9nchronicit9 Eith re erence to the eMui:alence o ps9chic and ph9sical processes

is capa7le o e8pansion2 or rather2 reMuires e8pansion! This reMuirement seems to

orce itsel on us Ehen Ee consider the a7o:e2 Eider conception o s9nchronicit9 as

an Bacausal orderedness!B Into this categor9 come all Bacts o creation2B a priori

actors such as the properties o natural num7ers2 the discontinuities o modern

ph9sics2 etc! ConseMuentl9 Ee Eould ha:e to include constant and e8perimentall9

reproduci7le phenomena Eithin the scope o our e8panded concept2 though this

does not seem to accord Eith the nature o the phenomena included in

s9nchronicit9 narroEl9 understood! The latter are mostl9 indi:idual cases Ehich

cannot 7e repeated e8perimentall9! This is not o course altogether true2 as

RhineJs e8periments shoE and numerous other e8periences Eith clair:o9ant

indi:iduals! These acts pro:e that e:en in indi:idual cases Ehich ha:e no common

denominator and rank as BcuriositiesB there are certain regularities and there ore

constant actors2 rom Ehich Ee must conclude that our narroEer conception o

s9nchronicit9 is pro7a7l9 too narroE and reall9 needs e8panding! I incline in act to

the :ieE that s9nchronicit9 in the narroE sense is onl9 a particular instance o

general acausal orderednessKthat2 namel92 o the eMui:alence o ps9chic andph9sical processes Ehere the o7ser:er is in the ortunate position o 7eing a7le to

recogni e the tertium comparationis! *ut as soon as he percei:es the archet9pal

7ackground he is tempted to trace the mutual assimilation o independent ps9chic

and ph9sical processes 7ack to a ;causal< e ect o the archet9pe2 and thus to

o:erlook the act that the9 are merel9 contingent! This danger is a:oided i one

regards s9nchronicit9 as a special instance o general acausal orderedness! In this

Ea9 Ee also a:oid multipl9ing our principles o e8planation illegitimatel92 or the

archet9pe is the introspecti:el9 recogni a7le orm o a priori ps9chic orderedness!

I an e8ternal s9nchronistic process noE associates itsel Eith it2 it alls into the

same 7asic patternKin other Eords2 it

...




too is Bordered!B This orm o orderedness di ers rom that o the properties o

natural num7ers or the discontinuities o ph9sics in that the latter ha:e e8istedrom eternit9 and occur regularl92 Ehereas the orms o ps9chic orderedness are

acts o creation in time! That2 incidentall92 is precisel9 Eh9 I ha:e stressed the

element o time as 7eing characteristic Bo these phenomena and called them

s9nchronistic!

The modern disco:er9 o discontinuit9 ;e!g!2 the orderedness o energ9

Muanta2 o radium deca92 etc!< has put an end to the so:ereign rule o causalit9

and thus to the triad o principles! The territor9 lost 79 the latter 7elonged earlier

to the sphere o correspondence and s9mpath92 concepts Ehich reached their

greatest de:elopment in %ei7ni Js idea o pre>esta7lished harmon9! Schopenhauer

kneE ar too little a7out the empirical oundations o correspondence to reali e

hoE hopeless his causalistic attempt at e8planation Eas! Toda92 thanks to the (SP

e8periments2 Ee ha:e a great deal o empirical material at our disposal! We can

orm some conception o its relia7ilit9 Ehen Ee learn rom "! (! Hutchinson . that

the (SP e8periments conducted 79 S! "! Soal and ! '! "oldne9 ha:e a pro7a7ilit9

o . ? .1 5 2 this 7eing eMui:alent to the num7er o molecules in G 12111 tons o

Eater! There are relati:el9 eE e8periments in the ield o the natural sciences

Ehose results come an9Ehere near so high a degree o certaint9! The e8aggerated

skepticism in regard to (SP is reall9 Eithout a shred o Lusti ication! The main

reason or it is simpl9 the ignorance Ehich noEada9s2 un ortunatel92 seems to 7ethe ine:ita7le accompaniment o specialism and screens o the necessaril9 limited

hori on o specialist studies rom all higher and Eider points o :ieE in the most

undesira7le Ea9! HoE o ten ha:e Ee not ound that the so>called BsuperstitionsB

contain a core o truth that is Eell Eorth knoEing It ma9 Eell 7e that the originall9

magical signi icance o the Eord BEish2B Ehich is still preser:ed in BEishing>rodB

;di:ining rod2 or magic Eand< and e8presses not Lust Eishing in the sense o desire

7ut a magical action2 .0 and

. S! "! Soal2 BScience and Telepath92B p! 0!

.0 #aco7 "rimm2 Teutonic '9tholog92 trans2 79 #! S! Stall97rass2 i2 p! .54! Wish>o7Lects are magic

implements orged 79 dEar s2 such as OdinJs spear "ungnir2 ThorJs hammer N Lollnir2 and Fre9aJs

sEord ;II2 p! )41<! Wishing is Bgotes kra tB ;di:ine poEer<! B"ot hat an sie den Eunsch geleit und der

Eunschelruoten hortB

..G



the traditional 7elie in the e icac9 o pra9er2 are 7oth 7ased on the e8perience o

concomitant s9nchronistic phenomena!S9nchronicit9 is no more 7a ling or m9sterious than the discontinuities o

ph9sics! It is onl9 the ingrained 7elie in the so:ereign poEer o causalit9 that

creates intellectual di iculties and makes it appear unthinka7le that causeless

e:ents e8ist or could e:er occur! *ut i the9 do2 then Ee must regard them as

creati:e acts2 as the continuous creation .4 o a pattern that e8ists rom all eternit92

repeats itsel sporadicall92 and is not deri:a7le rom an9 knoEn antecedents! We

must o course guard against thinking o e:er9 e:ent Ehose cause is unknoEn as

Bcauseless!B This2 as I ha:e alread9 stressed2 is admissi7le onl9 Ehen a cause is

not e:en thinka7le! *ut thinka7ilit9 is itsel an idea that needs the most rigorous

criticism! Had the atom .) corresponded to the original philosophical conception o

it2 its issiona7ilit9 Eould 7e unthinka7le! *ut once it pro:es to 7e a measura7le

Muantit92 its non> issiona7ilit9 7ecomes unthinka7le! 'eaning ul coincidences are

thinka7le as pure chance! *ut the more the9 multipl9 and the greater and more

e8act the

;"od has 7estoEed the Eish on her and the treasure o or: ound 79 the Eishing>rod<!

B*eschoenen mit Eunsches geEalteB ;to make 7eauti ul Eith the poEer o the Eish< ;I$2 p! .5G/<!

BWishB JK Sanskrit manoratha, literall92 Bcar o the mindB or o the ps9che2 i!e!2 Eish2 desire2 anc9!

;A! A! 'acdonell2 A Practical Sanskrit Dictionar , s!:!<.4 Continuous creation is to 7e thought o not onl9 as a series o successi:e acts o creation2 7ut also

as the eternal presence o the one creati:e act2 in the sense that "od BEas alEa9s the Father and

alEa9s generated the SonB ;Origen2 ,e principiis2 .2 G2 5<2 or that he is the Beternal Creator o

mindsB ;Augustine2 Con essions2 +I2 5.2 trans! F! #! Sheed2 p! G5G<! "od is contained in his oEn

creation2 Bnor does he stand in need o his oEn Eorks2 as i he had place in them Ehere he might

a7ide= 7ut endures in his oEn eternit92 Ehere he a7ides and creates Ehate:er pleases him2 7oth in

hea:en and earthB ;Augustine2 on Ps! ..5 ? .@2 in (8positions on the *ook o Psalms<! What

happens successi:el9 in time is simultaneous in the mind o "od? BAn immuta7le order 7inds

muta7le things into a pattern2 and in this order things Ehich are not simultaneous ill time e8ist

simultaneousl9 outside timeB ;Prosper o AMuitaine2 Sententiae e8 Augustino delihalae2 +%I 'igne2

P!%!2 %I2 col! @55 <! BTemporal succession is Eithout time in the eternal Eisdom o "odB ;%$II 'igne2

col! @ <! *e ore the Creation there Eas no timeKtime onl9 7egan Eith created things? BRather did

time arise rom the created than the created rom timeB ;CC%+++ 'igne2 col! @0) <! BThere Eas no

time 7e ore time2 7ut time Eas created together Eith the EorldB ;Anon!2 ,e triplici ha7itaculo2 $I

'igne2 P!%!2 +%2 col! // <!.) From V b_b 2 Jindi:isi7le2 that cannot 7e cut!JKTrans!

..5




correspondence is2 the more their pro7a7ilit9 sinks and their unthinka7ilit9

increases2 until the9 can no longer 7e regarded as pure chance 7ut2 or lack o acausal e8planation2 ha:e to 7e thought o as meaning ul arrangements! As I ha:e

alread9 said2 hoEe:er2 their Bine8plica7ilit9B is not due to the act that the cause is

unknoEn2 7ut to the act that a cause is not e:en thinka7le in intellectual terms!

This is necessaril9 the case Ehen space and time lose their meaning or ha:e

7ecome relati:e2 or under those circumstances a causalit9 Ehich presupposes

space and time or its continuance can no longer 7e said to e8ist and 7ecomes

altogether unthinka7le!

For these reasons it seems to me necessar9 to introduce2 alongside space2

time2 and causalit92 a categor9 Ehich not onl9 ena7les us to understand

s9nchronistic phenomena as a special class o natural e:ents2 7ut also takes the

contingent partl9 as a uni:ersal actor e8isting rom all eternit92 and partl9 as the

sum o countless indi:idual acts o creation occurring in time!

..@



APPENDIX

ON SYNCHRONICITY.

It might seem appropriate to 7egin m9 e8position 79 de ining the concept

Eith Ehich it deals! *ut I Eould rather approach the su7Lect the other Ea9 and irst

gi:e 9ou a 7rie description o the acts Ehich the concept o s9nchronicit9 is

intended to co:er! As its et9molog9 shoEs2 this term has something to do Eith

time or2 to 7e more accurate2 Eith a kind o simultaneit9! Instead o simultaneit9

Ee could also use the concept o a meaning ul coincidence o tEo or more e:ents2

Ehere something other than the pro7a7ilit9 o chance is in:ol:ed! A statistical> that

is2 a pro7a7le concurrence o e:ents2 such as the JJduplication o casesJJ ound in

hospitals2 alls Eithin the categor9 o chance! "roupings o this kind can consist o

an9 num7er o terms and still remain Eithin the rameEork o the pro7a7le and

rationall9 possi7le! Thus2 or instance2 someone chances to notice the num7er on

his street>car ticket! On arri:ing home he recei:es a telephone call during Ehich

the same num7er is mentioned!

. Originall9 gi:en as a lecture2 &7er S9nchroni itat2 at the ./ . (ranos con erence2 Ascona2SEit erland2 and pu7lished in the (ranos> #ahr7ush ./ . ;Durich2 ./ G<! The present translation

Eas pu7lished in 'an and Time ;Papers rom the (ranos Year7ooks2 5= NeE York and %ondon2

./ 4<= it is repu7lished Eith minor re:isions! The essa9 Eas2 in the main2 draEn rom the preceding

monograph! ‚ (,ITORS!

..




In the e:ening he 7u9s a theatre ticket that again has the same num7er! The

three e:ents orm a chance grouping that2 although not likel9 to occur o ten2ne:ertheless lie Eell Eithin the rameEork o pro7a7ilit9 oEing to the reMuenc9 o

each o its terms! I Eould like to recount rom m9 oEn e8perience the olloEing

chance grouping2 made up o no eEer than si8 terms?

On April ./@/2 l made a note in the morning o an inscription containing a

igure that Eas hal man and hal ish! There Eas ish or lunch! Some7od9

mentioned the custom o making an April ish o someone! In the a ternoon2 a

ormer patient o mine2 Ehom . had not seen or months2 shoEed me some

impressi:e pictures o ish! In the e:ening2 l Eas shoEn a pie o em7roider9 Eith

sea monsters and ishes in it! The ne8t morning2 l saE a ormer patient2 Eho Eas

:isiting me or the irst time in ten 9ears! She had dreamed o a large ish the night

7e ore! A eE months later2 Ehen I Eas using this series or larger Eork and had

Lust inished Eriting it doEn2 I Ealked o:er to a spot 79 the lake in ront o the

house2 Ehere l had alread9 7een se:eral times that morning! This time a ish a oot

long la9 on the sea>Eall! Since no one else Eas present2 I ha:e no idea hoE the ish

could ha:e got there!

When coincidences pile up in this Ea9 one cannot help 7eing impressed 79

them> or the greater the num7er o terms in such a series2 or the more unusual

their character2 the more impro7a7le the9 7ecome! For reasons that I ha:e

mentioned elseEhere and Eill not discuss noE2 I assume that this Eas a chancegrouping! It must 7e admitted2 though2 that it is more impro7a7le than mere

duplication!

In the a7o:e>mentioned case o the street>car ticket2 I said that the o7ser:er

JJchancedJJ to notice the num7er and retain it in his memor92 Ehich ordinaril9 he

Eould ne:er ha:e done! This ormed the 7asis or the series o chance e:ents2 7ut I

do not knoE Ehat caused him to notice the num7er! It seems to me that in Ludging

such a series a actor o uncertaint9 enters in at this point and reMuires attention! I

ha:e o7ser:ed something similar in other cases2 Eithout2 hoEe:er2 7eing a7le to

draE an9 relia7le conclusions! *ut it is sometimes di icult to a:oid the impressionthat there is a sort o oreknoEledge o the coming series o e:ents! This eeling

7ecomes irresisti7le Ehen2 as so reMuentl9

..0



happens2 one thinks one is a7out to meet an old riend in the street2 onl9 to ind

out oneJs disappointment that it is a stranger! On turning the ne8t corner one thenruns into him in person! Cases o this kind occur in e:er9 concei:a7le orm and

means in reMuentl92 7ut a ter the irst momentar9 astonishment the9 are as a rule

Muickl9 orgotten!

NoE2 the more the oreseen details o an e:ent pile up2 the more de inite is

the impression o an e8isting oreknoEledge2 and the more impro7a7le chance

7ecomes! I remem7er the stor9 o a student riend Ehose ather had promised him

a trip to Spain i he passed his inal e8aminations satis actoril9! '9 riend

thereupon dreamed that he Eas Ealking through a Spanish cit9! The street led to a

sMuare2 Ehere there Eas a "othic cathedral! He then turned right2 around a corner2

into another street! There he Eas met 79 an elegant carriage draEn 79 tEo cream>

colored horses! Then he Eoke up! He told us a7out the dream as Ee Eere sitting

round a ta7le drinking 7eer! Shortl9 a terEard2 ha:ing success ull9 passed his

e8aminations2 he Eent to Spain2 and there2 in one o the streets2 he recogni ed the

cit9 o his dream! He ound the sMuare and the cathedral2 Ehich e8actl9

corresponded to the dream>image! He Eanted to go straight to the cathedral2 7ut

then remem7ered that in the dream he had turned right2 at the corner2 into

another street! He Eas curious to ind out Ehether his dream Eould 7e

corro7orated urther! Hardl9 had he turned the corner Ehen he saE in realit9 the

carriage Eith the tEo cream> colored horses! The sentiment du dƒL„ :u is 7ased2 as I ha:e ound in a num7er o cases2 on

oreknoEledge in dreams2 7ut Ee saE that this oreknoEledge can also occur in the

Eaking state! In such cases mere chance 7ecomes highl9 impro7a7le 7ecause the

coincidence is knoEn in ad:ance! It thus loses its chance character not onl9

ps9chologicall9 and su7Lecti:el92 7ut o7Lecti:el9 too2 since the accumulation o

details that coincide immeasura7l9 increases the impro7a7ilit9 o chance as a

determining actor! ;For correct precognitions o death2 ,arie8 and Flammarion

ha:e computed pro7a7ilities ranging rom . to @21112111 to . in )21112111<! G So in

these cases it Eould 7e incongruous to speak o chance happenings! It is rather aMuestion o meaning ul

G For documentation2 see supra2 par! )51! > (,ITORS!

..4




coincidences! &suall9 the9 are e8plained 79 precognition> in other Eords2

oreknoEledge! People also talk o clair:o9ance2 telepath92 etc!2 Eithout2 hoEe:er27eing a7le to e8plain Ehat these aculties consist o or Ehat means o transmission

the9 use in order to render e:ents distant in space and time accessi7le to our

perception! All these ideas are mere names= the9 are not scienti ic concepts Ehich

could 7e taken as statements o principle2 or no one has 9et succeeded in

constructing a causal 7ridge 7etEeen the elements making up a meaning ul

coincidence!

"reat credit is due to #! *! Rhine or ha:ing esta7lished relia7le 7asis or Eork

in the :ast ield o these phenomena 79 his e8periments in e8trasensor9

perception2 or (SP! He used a pack o G cards di:ided into groups o 2 each

Eith its special sign ;star2 sMuare2 circle2 cross2 tEo Ea:9 lines<! The e8periment

Eas carried out as olloEs! In each series o e8periments the pack is laid out )11

times2 in such a Ea9 that the su7Lect cannot see the cards! He is then asked to

guess the cards as the9 are turned up! The pro7a7ilit9 o a correct ansEer is . in !

The result2 computed rom :er9 high igures2 shoEed an a:erage o 0! hits! The

pro7a7ilit9 o a chance de:iation o .! amounts to onl9 . in G112111! Some

indi:iduals scored more than tEice the pro7a7le num7er o hits! On one occasion

all G cards Eere guessed correctl92 Ehich gi:es a pro7a7ilit9 o . in G/)21G52GG5>

)402/ 52.G ! The spatial distance 7etEeen e8perimenter and su7Lect Eas

increased rom a eE 9ards to a7out @2111 miles2 Eith no e ect on the result!A second t9pe o e8periment consisted in asking the su7Lect to guess a

series o cards that Eas still to 7e laid out in the near or more distant uture! The

time actor Eas increased rom a eE minutes to tEo Eeeks! The result o these

e8periments shoEed a pro7a7ilit9 o . in @112111!

In a third t9pe o e8periment2 the su7Lect had to tr9 to in luence the all o

mechanicall9 throEn dice 79 Eishing or a certain num7er! The results o this so>

called ps9chokinetic ;P3< e8periment Eere the more positi:e the more dice Eere

used at a time!

The result o the spatial e8periment pro:es Eith tolera7le certaint9 that theps9che can2 to some e8tent2 eliminate the space actor! The time e8periment

pro:es that the time actor ;at an9

..)



rate2 in the dimension o the uture< can 7ecome ps9chicall9 relati:e! The

e8periment Eith dice pro:es that mo:ing 7odies2 too2 can 7e in luenced ps9chicall9>a result that could ha:e 7een predicted rom the ps9chic relati:it9 o space and

time!

The energ9 postulate shoEs itsel to 7e inapplica7le to the Rhine

e8periments2 and thus rules out all ideas a7out the transmission o orce! (Muall92

the laE o causalit9 does not hold> a act that I pointed out thirt9 9ears ago! For Ee

cannot concei:e hoE a uture e:ent could 7ring a7out an e:ent in the present!

Since or the time 7eing there is no possi7ilit9 Ehate:er o a causal e8planation2

Ee must assume pro:isionall9 that impro7a7le accidents o an acausal nature>that

is2 meaning ul coincidences> ha:e entered the picture!

In considering these remarka7le results Ee must take into account a act

disco:ered 79 Rhine2 namel9 that in each series o e8periments the irst attempts

9ielded a 7etter result than the later ones! The alling o in the num7er o hits

scored Eas connected Eith the mood o the su7Lect! An initial mood o aith and

optimism makes or good results! Skepticism and resistance ha:e the opposite

e ect2 that is2 the9 create an un a:ora7le disposition! As the energic2 and hence

also the casual2 approach to these e8periments has shoEn itsel to 7e inapplica7le2

it olloEs that the a ecti:e actor has the signi icance simpl9 o a condition Ehich

makes it possi7le or the phenomenon to occur2 though it need not! According to

Rhine s results2 Ee ma9 ne:ertheless e8pect 0! hits instead o onl9 ! *ut itcannot 7e predicted in ad:ance Ehen the hit Eill come! Could Ee do so2 Ee Eould

7e dealing Eith a laE2 and this Eould contradict the entire nature o the

phenomenon! It has2 as said2 the impro7a7le character o an unluck9 hit or

accident that occurs Eith a more than merel9 pro7a7le reMuenc9 and is as a rule

dependent on a certain state o a ecti:it9!

This o7ser:ation has 7een thoroughl9 con irmed2 and it suggests that the

ps9chic actor Ehich modi ies or e:en eliminates the principles underl9ing the

ph9sicistJs picture o the Eorld is connected Eith the a ecti:e state o the su7Lect!

Although the phenomenolog9 o the (SP and P3 e8periments could 7e considera7l9enriched 79 urther e8periments o the kind descri7ed a7o:e2 deeper in:estigation

o its 7ases Eill ha:e to concern itsel Eith the nature o the a ecti:it9 in:ol:ed! I

ha:e there ore

../




directed m9 attention to certain o7ser:ations and e8periences Ehich2 I can airl9

sa92 ha:e orced themsel:es upon me during the course o m9 long medicalpractice! The9 ha:e to do Eith spontaneous meaning ul coincidences o so high a

degree o pro7a7ilit9 as to appear latl9 un7elie:a7le! I shall there ore descri7e to

9ou onl9 one case o this kind2 simpl9 to gi:e an e8ample characteristic o a Ehole

categor9 o phenomena! It makes no di erence Ehether 9ou re use to 7elie:e this

particular case or Ehether 9ou dispose o it Eith an ad hoc e8planation! I could tell

9ou a great man9 such stories2 Ehich are in principle no more surprising or

incredi7le than the irre uta7le result arri:ed at 79 Rhine2 and 9ou Eould soon see

that almost e:er9 case calls or its oEn e8planation! *ut the causal e8planation the

onl9 possi7le one rom the standpoint o natural science 7reaks doEn oEing to the

ps9chic relati:i ation o space and time Ehich together orm the indispensa7le

premises or the cause>and>e ect relationship!

'9 e8ample concerns a 9oung Eoman patient Eho2 in spite o e orts made

on 7oth sides2 pro:ed to 7e ps9chologicall9 inaccessi7le! The di icult9 la9 in the

act that she alEa9s kneE 7etter a7out e:er9thing! Her e8cellent education had

pro:ided her Eith a Eeapon ideall9 suited to this purpose2 namel9 a highl9

polished Cartesian rationalism Eith an impecca7l9 JJgeometricalJJ 5 idea o realit9!

A ter se:eral ruitless attempts to sEeeten her rationalism Eith a someEhat more

human understanding2 I had to con ine m9sel to the hope that something

une8pected and irrational Eould turn up2 something that Eould 7urst theintellectual retort into Ehich she had sealed hersel ! Well2 I Eas sitting opposite her

one da92 Eith m9 7ack to the EindoE2 listening to her loE o rhetoric! She had had

an impressi:e dream the night 7e ore2 in Ehich someone had gi:en her a golden

scara7> a costl9 piece o LeEeller9! While she Eas still telling me the dream2 I heard

something 7ehind me gentl9 tapping on the EindoE! I turned round and saE that it

Eas a airl9 large l9ing insect that Eas knocking against the EindoE>pane rom

outside in the o7:ious e ort to get into the dark room! This seemed to me :er9

strange! I opened the EindoE immediatel9 and caught the insect in the air as it

leE in! It Eas a scara7aeid 7eetle2 or

5 ,escartes demonstrated his propositions 79 the "eometrical 'ethod! ‚ (,ITORS!

.G1



common rose>cha er ;Cetonia aurata<2 Ehose gold>green colour most nearl9

resem7les that o a golden scara7! I handed the 7eetle to m9 patient Eith theEords2 JJHere is 9our scara7! This e8perience punctured the desired hole in her

rationalism and 7roke the ice o her intellectual resistance! The treatment could

noE 7e continued Eith satis actor9 results!

This stor9 is meant onl9 as a paradigm o the innumera7le cases o

meaning ul coincidence that ha:e 7een o7ser:ed not onl9 79 me 7ut 79 man9

others2 and recorded in large collections! The9 include e:er9thing that goes 79 the

name o clair:o9ance2 telepath92 etc!2 rom SEeden7orgJs Eell>attested :ision o

the great ire in Stockholm to the recent report 79 Air 'arshal Sir $ictor "oddard

a7out the dream o an unknoEn o icer2 Ehich predicted the su7seMuent accident

to "oddardJs plane! @

All the phenomena I ha:e mentioned can 7e grouped under three categories?

.< The coincidence o a ps9chic state in the o7ser:er Eith a simultaneous2

o7Lecti:e2 e8ternal e:ent that corresponds to the ps9chic state or content ;e!g!2 the

scara7<2 Ehere there is no e:idence o a causal connection 7etEeen the ps9chic

state and the e8ternal e:ent2 and Ehere2 considering the ps9chic relati:it9 o

space and time2 such a connection is not e:en concei:a7le!

G< The coincidence o a ps9chic state Eith a corresponding ;more or less

simultaneous< e8ternal e:ent taking place outside the o7ser:er s ield operception2 i!e!2 at a distance2 and onl9 :eri ia7le a terEard ;e!g!2 the Stockholm

ire<!

5< The coincidence o a ps9chic state Eith a corresponding2 not 9et

e8istent uture e:ent that is distant in time and can likeEise onl9 7e :eri ied

a terEard!

In groups G and 5 the coinciding e:ents are not 9et present in the o7ser:erJs

ield o perception2 7ut ha:e 7een anticipated in time in so ar as the9 can onl9 7e

:eri ied a terEard! For this reason I call such e:ents s9nchronistic2 Ehich is not to7e con used Eith s9nchronous!

Our sur:e9 o this Eide ield o e8perience Eould 7e incomplete i Ee ailed

to take into account the so>called mantic methods! 'anticism la9s claim2 i not

actuall9 to producing s9nchronistic e:ents2 then at least to making them ser:e its

ends!

@ This case Eas the su7Lect o an (nglish ilm2 The night m9 num7er came up! ‚ (,ITORS!

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An e8ample o this is the oracle method o the I Ching2 Ehich ,r! Hellmut Wilhelm

has descri7ed in detail! The I Ching presupposes that there is a s9nchronisticcorrespondence 7etEeen the ps9chic state o the Muestioner and the ansEering

he8agram! The he8agram is ormed either 79 the random di:ision o the @/ 9arroE

stalks or 79 the eMuall9 random throE o three coins! The result o this method is2

incontesta7l9 :er9 interesting2 7ut so ar as I can see it does not pro:ide an9 tool

or an o7Lecti:e determination o the acts2 that is to sa9 a statistical e:aluation2

since the ps9chic state in Muestion is much too inde inite and inde ina7le! The

same holds true o the geomantic e8periment2 Ehich is 7ased on similar principles!

We are in a someEhat more a:ora7le situation Ehen Ee turn to the

astrological method2 as it presupposes a meaning ul coincidence o planetar9

aspects and positions Eith the character or the e8isting ps9chic state o the

Muestioner! In the light o the most recent astroph9sical research2 astrological

correspondence is pro7a7l9 not a matter o s9nchronicit9 7ut2 :er9 largel9 o a

causal relationship! As pro essor 'a8 3noll has demonstrated 0 the solar proton

radiation is in luenced to such a degree 79 planetar9 conLunctions2 oppositions2

and Muartile aspects that the appearance o magnetic storms can 7e predicted

Eith a air amount o pro7a7ilit9! Relationships can 7e esta7lished 7etEeen the

cur:e o the earthJs magnetic distur7ances and the mortalit9 rate that con irm the

un a:ora7le in luence o conLunctions2 oppositions2 and Muartile aspects and the

a:ora7le in luence o trine and se8tile aspects! So it is pro7a7l9 a Muestion here oa causal relationship2 i!e!2 o a natural laE that e8cludes s9nchronicit9 or restricts

it! At the same time2 the odiacal Muali ication o the houses2 Ehich pla9s a large

part in the horoscope2 creates a complication in that the astrological odiac2

although agreeing Eith the calendar2 does not coincide Eith the actual

constellations themsel:es! These ha:e shi ted their positions 79 almost a Ehole

platonic month as a result o the precession o the eMuino8es since the time Ehen

the spring> point Eas in ero Aries2 a7out the 7eginning o our era! There ore2

an9one 7orn in Aries toda9 ;according to the calendar< is

The concept o time in the 7ook o changes2 originall9 a lecture at the ./ . (ranos

con erence! ‚ (,ITORS0 Trans ormations o science in our age2 I7id!

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actuall9 7orn in Pisces! It is simpl9 that his 7irth took place at a time Ehich2 or

appro8imatel9 G111 9ears2 has 7een called Aries ! Astrolog9 presupposes that thistime has a determining Mualit9! It is possi7le that this Mualit92 like the distur7ances

in the earthJs magnetic ield2 is connected Eith the seasonal luctuations to Ehich

solar proton radiation is su7Lect! It is there ore not 7e9ond the realm o possi7ilit9

that the odiacal positions ma9 also represent a causal actor!

Although the ps9chological interpretation o horoscopes is still a :er9

uncertain matter2 there is ne:ertheless some prospect toda9 o a causal

e8planation in con ormit9 Eith natural laE! ConseMuentl92 Ee are no longer

Lusti ied in descri7ing astrolog9 as a mantic method! Astrolog9 is in the process o

7ecoming a science! *ut as there are still large areas o uncertaint92 l decided

some time ago to make a test and ind out hoE ar an accepted astrological

tradition Eould stand up to statistical in:estigation! For this purpose it Eas

necessar9 to select a de inite and indisputa7le act! '9 choice ell on marriage!

Since antiMuit92 the traditional 7elie in regard to marriage has 7een that there is a

conLunction o sun and moon in the horoscope o the marriage partners2 that is2

;sun< Eith an or7it o ) degrees in the case o one partner2 in ;conLunction< Eith

;moon< in the case o the other! A second2 eMuall9 old2 tradition takes as

another marriage characteristic! O like importance are the conLunctions o the

ascendant ;Asc!< Eith the large luminaries!

Together Eith m9 co>Eorker2 'rs! %iliane Fre9>Rohn2 I irst proceeded tocollect .)1 marriages2 that is to sa92 501 horoscopes2 4 and compared the 1 most

important aspects that might possi7l9 7e characteristic o marriage2 namel9 the

conLunctions and oppositions o 2 2 ♂ ;'ars<2 ♀ ;$enus<2 Asc!2 and ,escendant!

This resulted in a ma8imum o .1 per cent or ! As Pro essor 'arkus Fier 2 o

*asel2 Eho kindl9 Eent to the trou7le o computing the pro7a7ilit9 o m9 result2

in ormed me2 m9 igure has a pro7a7ilit9 o .? .12111! The opinion o se:eral

mathematical ph9sicists Ehom I consulted a7out the signi icance o this igure is

di:ided? some ind it considera7le2 others ind it o Muestiona7le

4 This material stemmed rom di erent sources! The9 Eere simpl9 horoscopes o married

people! There Eas no selection o an9 kind! We took at random all the marriage horoscopes Ee

could la9 hands on!

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:alue! Our igure is inconclusi:e inasmuch as a total o 501 horoscopes is ar too

small rom a statistical point o :ieE!While the aspects o these .)1 marriages Eere 7eing Eorked out

statisticall92 our collection Eas enlarged2 and Ehen Ee had collected GG1 more

marriages this 7atch Eas su7Lected to separate in:estigation! As on the irst

occasion2 the material Eas e:aluated Lust as it came in! It Eas not selected rom

an9 special point o :ieE and Eas draEn rom the most :aried sources! (:aluation

o this second 7atch 9ielded a ma8imum igure o .1!/ per cent or ! The

pro7a7ilit9 o this igure is also a7out .? .12111!

Finall92 )5 more marriages arri:ed2 and these in turn Eere in:estigated

separatel9! The result Eas a ma8imum igure o /!0 Asc! The pro7a7ilit9 o this

igure is appro8imatel9 .? 52111! )

One is immediatel9 struck 79 the act that the conLunctions are all moon

conLunctions2 Ehich is in accord Eith astrological e8pectations! *ut the strange

thing is that Ehat has turned up here is the three 7asic positions o the horoscope2

2 and Asc! The pro7a7ilit9 o a concurrence o and amounts to .?

.1121112111! The concurrence o the three moon conLunctions Eith 2 2 Asc! has a

pro7a7ilit9 o .? 58.1…..= In other Eords2 the impro7a7ilit9 o its 7eing due to

mere chance is so enormous that Ee are orced to take into account the e8istence

o some actor responsi7le or it! The three 7atches Eere so small that little or no

theoretical signi icance can 7e attached to the indi:idual pro7a7ilities o .? .12111and .? 52111! Their concurrence2 hoEe:er2 is so impro7a7le that one cannot help

assuming the e8istence o an impelling actor that produced this result!

The possi7ilit9 o there 7eing a scienti icall9 :alid connection 7etEeen

astrological data and proton radiation cannot 7e held responsi7le or this2 since the

indi:idual pro7a7ilities o .? .12111 and .? 52111 are too great or us to 7e a7le2

Eith an9 degree o certaint92 to :ieE our result as other than mere chance!

*esides2 the ma8ima cancel each other out as soon as one di:ides up the

marriages into a larger num7er o 7atches! It Eould reMuire hundreds o thousands

o marriage horoscopes to esta7lish

) These and the olloEing igures Eere later re:ised 79 Pro essor Fier and considera7l9

reduced! See supra2 pars! /1. ! ‚ (,ITORS!

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the statistical regularit9 o occurrences like the 2 2 and Asc! conLunctions2 and

e:en then the result Eould 7e Muestiona7le! That an9thing so impro7a7le as theturning up o the three classical moon conLunctions should occur at all2 hoEe:er2

can onl9 7e e8plained either as the result o an intentional or unintentional raud2

or else as precisel9 such a meaning ul coincidence2 that is2 as s9nchronicit9!

Although I Eas o7liged to e8press dou7t2 earlier2 a7out the mantic character

o astrolog92 † am noE orced as a result o m9 astrological e8periment to

recogni e it again! The chance arrangement o the marriage horoscopes2 Ehich

Eere simpl9 piled on top o one another as the9 came in rom the most di:erse

sources2 and the eMuall9 ortuitous Ea9 the9 Eere di:ided into three uneMual

7atches2 suited the sanguine e8pectations o the research Eorkers and produced

an o:er>all picture that could scarcel9 ha:e 7een impro:ed upon rom the

standpoint o the astrological h9pothesis! The success o the e8periment is entirel9

in accord Eith RhineJs (SP results2 Ehich Eere also a:ora7l9 a ected 79

e8pectation2 hope2 and aith! HoEe:er2 there Eas no de inite e8pectation o an9

one result! Our selection o 1 aspects is proo o this! A ter Ee got the result o

the irst 7atch2 a slight e8pectation did e8ist that the Eould 7e con irmed! *ut

Ee Eere disappointed! The second time2 Ee made up a larger 7atch rom the

neEl9 added horoscopes in order to increase the element o certaint9! *ut the

result Eas ! With the third 7atch2 there Eas onl9 a aint e8pectation that

Eould 7e con irmed2 7ut again this Eas not the case!What happened in this case Eas admittedl9 a curiosit92 apparentl9 a uniMue

instance o meaning ul coincidence! I one is impressed 79 such things2 one could

call it a minor miracle! Toda92 hoEe:er2 Ee are o7liged to :ieE the miraculous in a

someEhat di erent light! The Rhine e8periments ha:e demonstrated that space

and time2 and hence causalit92 are actors that can 7e eliminated2 Eith the result

that acausal phenomena2 otherEise called miracles2 appear possi7le! All natural

phenomena o this kind are uniMue and e8ceedingl9 curious com7inations o

chance2 held together 79 the common meaning o their parts to orm an

unmistaka7le Ehole! Although meaning ul coincidences are in initel9 :aried in theirphenomenolog92 as acausal e:ents the9 ne:ertheless orm an element that is part

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Documents

47494388 SYNCHRONICITY an Acausal Connecting Principle