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8/13/2019 47494388 SYNCHRONICITY an Acausal Connecting Principle
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 ./ <!
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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
.
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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
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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
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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!
.)
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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!
./
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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
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
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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
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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
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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 !
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'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!
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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
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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 !<!
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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!
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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!
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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@ !
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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
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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
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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<
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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
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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
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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 ;.@) <!
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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<!
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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!
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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!
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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! ).!
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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!
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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
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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!
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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!
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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
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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<!
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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
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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<!
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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
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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!
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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!
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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
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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!
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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!
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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?
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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!
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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
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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
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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
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
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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
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
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
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!
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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!
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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
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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!
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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
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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@<
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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!
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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
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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
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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!
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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
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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! .// !
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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
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
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!
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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!
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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!
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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
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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
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
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!
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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!
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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
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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!
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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
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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
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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!
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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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8/13/2019 47494388 SYNCHRONICITY an Acausal Connecting Principle