Jungian Synchronicity Explained: The Psychology of Meaningful Coincidences

After exploring both Western linear time and Eastern cyclical time, Jung proposed a bridge between them—the acausal connecting principle.

He recognized that not every connection in life fits the cause‑and‑effect chain prized by Western science. Some events unfold in a way that defies logic yet feels deeply ordered.

Drawing from Taoist philosophy and the I Ching, Jung saw how Eastern thinkers treated coincidence as part of an underlying pattern—a timeless flow where inner and outer events mirror each other.

To Jung, this was evidence that meaning itself could act as a kind of connective tissue between mind and matter.

Causality explains the sequence of events; acausality explains their significance.

When both perspectives come together, reality appears less mechanical and more alive—a multidimensional field where psyche and nature interact through symbolic correspondence rather than physical cause.

The Science of Synchronicity: Chaos, Cycles & Quantum Parallels

Modern science is beginning to glimpse what Jung intuited a century ago—that behind life’s seeming randomness may lie hidden patterns of order.

Economists and physicists observe hidden repeating cycles in weather, markets, and energy systems.

Quantum theory goes further, showing that particles can influence each other without direct contact, hinting that reality itself is interconnected and acausal.

These discoveries don’t prove Jung’s idea of synchronicity, but they illustrate how the universe can express both chance and design at once.

Seeing this, Jung’s “meaningful coincidences” no longer seem mystical—they may be glimpses of the same nonlinear web that science is just beginning to map.

The Lorenz Attractor | source

The Science of Chaos

While studying weather data, American mathematician and meteorologist Edward Lorenz plotted various initial data points on a graph using nonlinear equations.

These seemingly random initial conditions (points of weather data) revealed a remarkable image, now known as the Lorenz butterfly or the Lorenz attractor (above).

(In fact, Lorenz coined the famous term the butterfly effect.)

This discovery is an essential insight from a field of study called chaos theory.

A key insight from chaos theory sheds additional light on the acausal principle: that within chaotic and complex systems, there are hidden patterns (referred to as attractors).

That is, although our brains may not be able to perceive it this way, there is a hidden order behind apparent randomness and chaos.

This understanding, in itself, helps contextualize the extraordinary reality of Jungian synchronicity.

Martin Armstrong’s Economic Confidence Model (Cyclical Time) | source

Using Cyclical Time to Predict Market Movements

Martin Armstrong is the founder of Armstrong Economics and has been one of the world’s leading economists and financial advisors for over 50 years.

In the 1980s, he developed one of the first natural language algorithms (AI) using extensive historical data on world financial markets, geopolitical events, currencies, precious metals, weather, wars, and other relevant fields.

The result is what he calls Socrates, a predictive AI engine that can analyze markets in real-time.

Since the 80s, Armstrong has been using Socrates to predict world events and market movements accurately for multi-billion-dollar institutions and world governments.¹Armstrong was imprisoned for 11 years on false charges because he would not share Socrates with the government. See the revealing documentary titled The Forecaster.

What makes Armstrong and his model unique in his field is that he understands the nature of cycles and the cyclical nature of time.

He discovered that virtually everything in the objective world follows specific patterns. Armstrong’s Socrates discovered, for example, an 8.6-year business cycle.

Every industry has its cyclical waves, with ascending and descending trends. Behind the appearance of apparent randomness are hidden patterns or attractors.

Having followed Armstrong’s commentary and predictions for well over a decade, it is most impressive.

The Critical View: Why Science and Psychology Dismiss Synchronicity

Naturally, you won’t have difficulty finding criticism or skepticism of the concept of synchronicity.

In fact, mainstream psychology outright rejects the idea. (See, for example, PsychologyToday.com’s entry on the topic.)

In their collective mind, the concept of meaningful coincidences is nothing but the mind doing something it loves to do: recognizing patterns, including those that aren’t really there.

That is, to this cohort, “synchronicities” are just a random occurrence that our feeble minds are projecting meaning onto.

Is it just “confirmation bias” at work here?

They will tell you that synchronicity is nothing but confirmation bias.

Confirmation bias is the tendency to look for, interpret, and remember events in a way that confirms one’s existing beliefs, values, or worldviews.

In all fairness, confirmation bias is potentially a valid factor in some instances where individuals interpret synchronicity.

For example, if you see 11:11 on the clock two days in a row, your mind is going to look for and expect to see it on the third day. (The Reticular Activating System in the brain filters information based on what it perceives as relevant and important.

But we can’t use pattern recognition and confirmation bias to explain away meaningful coincidences, as it would be irresponsible and sloppy thinking to do so.

Why is “modern psychology” so dismissive?

But why do so many individuals, especially within the academic community, have a challenging time understanding the nature of synchronicity?

As we saw above, the academic and scientific community’s dominant Western worldview is strictly linear.

As such, they suffer from “paradigm blindness.” In this way, their outright rejection of synchronicity is an expression of their confirmation bias.

The I Ching | source

Divination, Oracles, and the Synchronistic Mind

Various oracles and divination practices operate based on this synchronistic connective principle, including:

• I Ching
• Tarot
• Numerology
• Astrology
• Yijing (yarrow-stalk divination used in Confucianism)

Most of these ancient practices have existed for millennia.

The modern, “scientific mind” denigrates these oracles and divination practices as their operating mechanism exists outside their conventional scientific and psychological worldviews.

Jung discovered this understanding of the acausal principle behind synchronicity when he received a copy of the I Ching (translated by Richard Wilhelm).

The I Ching, or The Book of Change, is all about cycles and the acausal nature of life. It was believed to have been published by a sage king named Fu Xi during the ninth century BC, based on divination practices that were at least a thousand years older.

The I Ching is considered both a scientific text and a spiritual manual. It was often used as a divination tool to help predict future events (based on this understanding of continual cycles like Armstrong’s AI engine).

How to Use the I Ching for Divination

The I Ching contains 64 hexagrams. Each hexagram has a unique six-line combination along with a specific passage and commentary.

To “cast your hexagram,” you first pose a question that’s relevant to you (either write it down or hold it in mind).

Then, to consult the I Ching, the two most common methods for casting use traditional yarrow stalks or three coins.

Using the coin method (simpler), you toss the three coins six times, recording whether each toss is yang or yin (heads or tails). Yang and yin each have a numeric value. Then, you calculate each toss to determine the hexagram line type.

After casting six times, you have your primary hexagram, and you’re ready to consult the I Ching for insights. (This article provides more specific details.)

Jung’s Observations Regarding the I Ching and Synchronicities

Jung observed that when his patients asked meaningful questions and consulted the I Ching, the resulting hexagram often provided relevant answers.

The insightful and meaningful results provided by the I Ching gave Jung further evidence of synchronicity and the acausal principle.

He wrote in The Structure & Dynamics of the Psyche:

The method like all divinatory or intuitive techniques is based on an acausal or synchronistic connective principle.

Jung observed similar encouraging results when his patients consulted Tarot cards.

Divination Ceremony and Dance, Brazil, by Zacharias Wagenaer (1630)

Experiments versus Oracles

In one of her lectures in On Divination and Synchronicity, Marie-Louise von Franz contrasts the difference between the “modern, physical scientific experiment” and a “divination oracle” like the I Ching.

Physical experiments attempt to eliminate chance. And when an outlier exists, it’s ignored as a “small matter.”

With oracles, chance isn’t eliminated. Instead, it takes centerstage. With divination, chance is the data.

So, in modern science, chance is a disturbance or a factor one eliminates. With divination, chance is the source of information.

Experiments	Oracles
Eliminate chance	Make chance the center
Based on repetition	Based on one unique act
Based on probability calculus	Use the unique individual number as the source of information

Said another way, modern experiments omit the outliers while divination practices exclusively focus on them.

Reviewing these critical differences, it is clear why modern science struggles with the reality of synchronicities.

And, it’s not surprising that many in the academic community would label the acausal principle a “pseudoscience.”

Ultimately, the oracle-synchronistic understanding is not at odds with the material science viewpoint. As we saw above, they represent complementary principles.

Photo by Nick Design

Archetypes and the Collective Unconscious

For Jung, archetypes are “the living system of reactions and aptitudes that determine the individual’s life in invisible ways.”

He perceived these primordial images as fundamental units of the human mind. These images shape virtually all human behavior, residing in what he referred to as the collective unconscious (a universal repository within the collective psyche).

As Marie-Louise von Franz explains in Archetypal Dimensions of the Psyche,

The archetypes are inherited dispositions, which cause us to react in a typical way to basic human problems, inner or outer.

From Jung’s perspective, all synchronistic events involve archetypes. That is, these universal images are an expression of “acausal correspondences, which consist in a parallel arrangement of facts in time.”

Both archetypes and synchronistic events represent psychic phenomena. They are “events” unfolding in the subjective, nonphysical landscape that can influence, inform, and coincide with the external, objective world.

One example Jung gives is what can happen when an individual’s life is threatened. Under a grave threat, “the archetypes are constellated, synchronistic situations can arise—events that are independent of him, existing in the outside world.”

In this heightened state, if the individual is alert and receptive, the Universe is likely to illuminate a meaningful sign.

Three Realms of Existence (Taoism)

The Energetic and Spiritual Dimensional View of Synchronicity

Let’s back up for a moment so we can better appreciate what’s happening when meaningful coincidences unfold.

To do so, we need to clarify a few concepts found in Taoism and compare them to Jungian explanations.

The Three Realms of Existence

In Taoist thought, they present three realms or levels of existence:

1. The Physical or Earthly Realm
2. The Energetic Realm
3. The Heavenly realm

These three realms coincide with the Three Treasures we’ve addressed in numerous previous guides:

1. Jing: vitality or life essence (associated with the physical body)
2. Qi: life force energy (associated with the energetic body)
3. Shen: spirit or consciousness (associated with the consciousness body)

The goal of Taoist practices is to transmute these Three Treasures within the body into higher consciousness, and eventually realize emptiness, thereby bringing “earth and heaven” into balance within the individual.

Psychic Energy in the Acausal Principle

While causality is an observable phenomenon within the physical realm, synchronism (the acausal principle) involves the energetic and/or heavenly realm of consciousness itself.

Jung and the Jungians intuited the energetic nature behind this acausal principle.

In fact, to Jung, things like archetypes, dreams, oracles, fairytales, and myths all carry an energetic signature, which he and other Jungians refer to as psychic energy. (Harding, 1973)

As von Franz explains, “An archetypal tale, like a dream, represents a self-representation of the flow of psychic energy.”

This flow of psychic energy relates to the energetic realm, which operates on nonlinear and nonlocal principles (more consistent with quantum mechanics).

From a Jungian point of view, the entire process of depth psychology represents an interpretation of psychic energy flow.

Again, from von Franz:

We look at dreams, therefore, as an energic process, as a visualization of the flow of the energy of the unconscious, and the same is true for mythological dreams, for fairytales and myths—the archetypal forms of this manifestation. One can always look at them from an energic standpoint.

Experiencing Synchronicity Physically

For those with a certain level of energetic sensitivity, who are more connected to their subtle energy body, there’s a visceral sensory experience that occurs in the presence of meaningful coincidences.

There’s often a tingling sensation, like an extra charge of qi energy coursing through you, especially up the spine and into the brain region.

An individual may also perceive a flash of light in the region associated with the third eye or at the crown of the head.

That is, “psychic energy” appears to have physical correlates within the human body.

The overall experience of authentic synchronicities has a decidedly magical feel to it.

Even if you were divorced from a sense of wonder before the experience, this essential quality will resurface after it.

Photo by Max Letek

The Spiritual Implications of Meaningful Coincidences

Now, the question many readers may ask: What’s the significance or true meaning of these synchronicities?

Since synchronistic events involve our personal psyche (subjective experience), we can’t derive an absolute or objective meaning from them.

That is, synchronicities require interpretations to extract any personal meaning or significance. For this reason, as we saw above, we can’t efficiently study synchronistic events using traditional experiments; you can only witness them.

How someone interprets the meaning of these events is up to the individual. One’s interpretation will be dependent on or influenced by their:

• Prevailing beliefs and worldviews
• Current internal tensions and life circumstances
• Level of intuition, sensitivity, and self-awareness

Discernment and self-analysis are required to infer potential personal meaning from these events.

The Numinous Encounter in Jung’s Psychology

For Jung, the ultimate interpretation of synchronicities involved the numinous (spiritually elevated or sublime).

Jung explains in Conversations with C.G. Jung:

We should be particularly watchful when synchronous events occur for a numen is then in sight. In a certain mood one notices that the crows fly towards the left. When an archetypal event approaches the sphere of consciousness, it also manifests itself in the outer life.

In this regard, a synchronistic event can be an imminent precursor for something potentially transformational within the individual’s psyche.

We need only pay attention inwardly, listen, and remain receptive to what unfolds next.

The Hindu View of Unity

From the Hindu perspective, everything is Brahman (or Brahma).

Brahman is God as the Creator, representing the totality of this manifest reality.

From a nondualist standpoint, one’s consciousness itself is Brahman.

So from this spiritual viewpoint, synchronicity can be seen as a natural phenomenon manifesting through consciousness.

Here, it’s not so much that there’s an “acausal connection” between “mind and matter” as these are perceived as arbitrary concepts of the mind.

Instead, it’s all just consciousness that transcends the physical and energetic levels of existence, which are perceived as Maya (illusion).

How to Work With Synchronicities for Inner Growth

So, can we leverage meaningful coincidences for our benefit?

The significance of observing synchronicities especially comes into play when:

1. Self-Healing
2. Spiritual Guidance
3. Decision-Making

Let’s go through each one.

1  Working With Synchronicities for Emotional Healing and Inner Work

Noticing repeated patterns can reveal unresolved themes—synchronicities mirror what the psyche asks us to heal.

Inner work is the process of exploring one’s psyche with methods including:

• Shadow work
• Dream analysis
• Active imagination
• Self-reflection
• Spontaneous journaling
• Creative self-expression
• Various other methods

Inner work is a means of connecting your conscious mind with your unconscious. The goal of which is to bring unconscious material to the surface, build consciousness, and heal the splits within one’s psyche.

While the conscious mind operates mainly in the objective, earthly realm, the unconscious connects to the energetic and “heavenly” realm of consciousness itself.

You may discover that as you acknowledge these synchronistic events, a stronger creative impulse comes alive within you (which further supports self-healing).

Pay Close Attention to Your Dreams

If you do nothing else but pay closer attention to your dreams by recording them each morning, you’re already beginning to constellate psychic energy from a Jungian perspective.

As Jung notes:

The more we busy ourselves with dreams, the more we shall see such coincidences—chances.

And this is observably valid. The more you turn your attention toward your inner world, the more the Self begins to communicate with you through the three realms.

In this way, synchronicities can become essential markers for self-healing.

2  Using Synchronicities for Spiritual Guidance and Intuition

When coincidences cluster around a question, they act as symbolic guidance, aligning outer events with inner knowing.

Synchronicities can also be a powerful aide when you’re on a spiritual journey.

Sometimes you get confused or uncertain and are looking for direction.

In these moments, you might, for example:

• Pose a question to your subconscious in the evening before going to bed
• Sit in meditation and pray for guidance
• Consult an oracle like the I Ching
• Pay attention to your dreams

Then, be patient and stay on the lookout for a meaningful sign. Spiritual guidance can manifest in unlikely ways.

The key is to put forth the question with both sincerity and faith.

Synchronicities and Spiritual Growth

As you continue along your path of spiritual growth, synchronistic events can begin happening rapidly and frequently.

Marie-Louise von Franz explains why this is so:

[The] larger our consciousness is, and the more it develops, the more we get hold of certain aspects of the spirit of the unconscious, draw it into our subjective sphere, and then call it our own psychic activity of our own spirit.

As we build consciousness and expand our awareness, the bridge between the three realms gets stronger.

3  Applying Synchronicity to Real‑Life Choices and Timing

Meaningful coincidences often surface at decision points; observing their timing helps calibrate when to act or wait.

Of course, the benefits of synchronicities aren’t exclusive to the psychic or spiritual dimension.

Meaningful coincidences can help inform many real-world decisions, including:

• Career changes
• Choosing a partner
• Visiting a particular place
• Reading a specific book
• Visiting a website
• Searching for a specific topic online

Using synchronicities to inform decision-making is done in a similar way to that described above.

Essentially, you put forth your question with sincerity and faith, and then pay attention.

One Final Example (While Writing This)

Here’s one more example that happened to me while writing this guide.

I had been thinking about acupuncture points lately, as I instinctively found myself focusing on specific regions of the body. So, I pulled a book on meridian theory from my shelf to reference when I had time.

On a work break, I was listening to a market report. While listening, I spontaneously picked up the meridian book, and just as I did, the analyst said the phrase “pressure points.”

This analyst was speaking about geopolitics and world events; he was using “pressure points” in a completely different context.

Yet, for me, this was a synchronistic event, a meaningful coincidence. It confirmed my instinctual decision, leading me to invest additional psychic energy in following it.

Sunflower Closeup | Photo by Rodolfo Mari

Unlocking the Power of Synchronicity in Everyday Life

Above all else, synchronicity is an observable principle within the physical and psychic (energetic) realms.

Meaningful coincidences can be instructive and insightful indicators of our life decisions and overall direction.

Understanding the principles behind synchronicity, including acausality and nonlinearity, can transform our understanding of reality and lead to a more profound appreciation of the nature of existence and time.

As von Franz observes in On Divination and Synchronicity:

For everything there is the right moment, the right constellation for action, and to act too early or too late destroys the whole possibility. We do not consider that enough. We think too much in abstract terms, either that a thing is good or bad, and we do not think enough from the feeling standard of the special time circumstances in which we act, for our ethical deeds do depend on time.

When you first begin experiencing synchronicities, they can feel extremely personal. After all, it’s an event unfolding in the external world that has meaningful significance to you.

However, over time, the experience of synchronicities becomes increasingly impersonal. These occurrences become less about you (from the ego’s viewpoint) and more an expression of the interconnectedness of all things, and on multiple levels.

Regardless, it’s as if, in that moment of meaningful chance, the Universe is speaking to you. The question is:

Are you ready to listen?

Books on Jungian Synchronicity

Jung’s book Synchronicity is a section of volume 8 of his Collected Works. Marie-Louise von Franz’s On Divination and Synchronicity is chock-full of insights as well.

Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle
C. G. Jung

On Divination and Synchronicity: The Psychology of Meaningful Chance
Marie-Louise von Franz

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References

• Jung, C. G. (1951–1961). Letters, Vol. II. Princeton University Press.
• Jung, C. G. (1984). Conversations with C. G. Jung. Princeton University Press.
• Jung, C. G. (1966). Collected Works of C. G. Jung, Vol. 15: Spirit in Man, Art, and Literature. Princeton University Press.
• Jung, C. G. (1984). Dream Analysis: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1928–1930. Princeton University Press.
• Jung, C. G. (1952). Collected Works Vol. 8: The Structure and Dynamics of the Psyche (includes “Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle”). Princeton University Press.
• Jung, C. G. (1959). Aion, Collected Works Vol. 9 Part B. Princeton University Press.
• Jung, C. G. (1952). Collected Works Vol. 11: Psychology and Religion: West and East. Princeton University Press.
• Harding, M. E. (1973). Psychic Energy: Its Source and Its Transformation. Princeton University Press.
• von Franz, M.‑L. (1980). On Divination and Synchronicity: The Psychology of Meaningful Chance. Spring Publications.
• Kinomura, S., Larsson, J., Gulyás, B., & Roland, P. E. (1996). Activation by attention of the human reticular formation and thalamic intralaminar nuclei. Science, 271(5248), 512–515.