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Encountering Jung
Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal by C.G. Jung
C. G. Jung had a lifelong interest in the paranormal that culminated in his influential theory of synchronicity. Combining extracts taken from the Collected Works; letters; the autobiographical Memories, Dreams, Reflections; and transcripts of seminars, Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal sets out clearly his seminal contribution to our understanding of this controversial area.In his introduction, Roderick Main discusses Jung's encounters with and observations of the paranormal, the influences that contributed to his theory of synchronicity, and the central ideas of the theory itself. The selections include Jung's writings on mediumistic trance phenomena, spirits and hauntings, anomalous events in the development and practice of analytical psychology, and the divinatory techniques of astrology and the I Ching. The book also features Jung's most lucid account of his theory in the form of his short essay "On Synchronicity," and a number of Jung's less-known writings on parapsychology, his astrological experiment, and the relationship between mind and body.Jung on Synchronicity and the Paranormal addresses subjects that were fundamental to Jung's personal and professional development. Probing deeply into the theory of synchronicity, Roderick Main clarifies issues that have long been a source of confusion to Jung's readers.
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First published August 1, 1997
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About the author
C.G. Jung
1,779 books11.1k followersCarl Gustav Jung (/jʊŋ/; German: [ˈkarl ˈɡʊstaf jʊŋ]), often referred to as C. G. Jung, was a Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology. Jung proposed and developed the concepts of extraversion and introversion; archetypes, and the collective unconscious. His work has been influential in psychiatry and in the study of religion, philosophy, archeology, anthropology, literature, and related fields. He was a prolific writer, many of whose works were not published until after his death.
The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.
Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of psychological types.
Though he was a practising clinician and considered himself to be a scientist, much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas such as Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung's interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic, although his ambition was to be seen as a man of science. His influence on popular psychology, the "psychologization of religion", spirituality and the New Age movement has been immense.
The central concept of analytical psychology is individuation—the psychological process of integrating the opposites, including the conscious with the unconscious, while still maintaining their relative autonomy. Jung considered individuation to be the central process of human development.
Jung created some of the best known psychological concepts, including the archetype, the collective unconscious, the complex, and synchronicity. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), a popular psychometric instrument, has been developed from Jung's theory of psychological types.
Though he was a practising clinician and considered himself to be a scientist, much of his life's work was spent exploring tangential areas such as Eastern and Western philosophy, alchemy, astrology, and sociology, as well as literature and the arts. Jung's interest in philosophy and the occult led many to view him as a mystic, although his ambition was to be seen as a man of science. His influence on popular psychology, the "psychologization of religion", spirituality and the New Age movement has been immense.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 6, 2023
I know Jung is #problematic in a bunch of ways. At a time in my life about 20 years ago where I needed something akin to spirituality as an atheist, this book gave me that. It gave me a weird sorta scientific (?) Way to look at woowoo coincidences and meaning outside of my usually existentialist or nihilistic ways of viewing things, which I'm back to leaning on most today. Also, anything with ghosts is fun.
November 14, 2023
Had quite a lot of synchronicity happening while reading this one! It got a bit paranormal.
August 17, 2022
Not necessarily an easy read, but wildly fascinating. I knew of Jung’s work, but somehow previously missed this entire aspect of it.
The first part of the book is a summary of Jung’s work on the subject. It reads like an academic paper. While interesting, it was hard to push through. It was insanely dry. I started to worry about how Jung’s actual writings would be.
I was pleasantly surprised when we got to Jung. As a writer, I found him… well, charming. His letters especially showed his personality and genius.
The first part of the book is a summary of Jung’s work on the subject. It reads like an academic paper. While interesting, it was hard to push through. It was insanely dry. I started to worry about how Jung’s actual writings would be.
I was pleasantly surprised when we got to Jung. As a writer, I found him… well, charming. His letters especially showed his personality and genius.
April 29, 2012
Jung On Synchronicity and the Paranormal (JoS&tP) is an important collection because it brings together in one short and well representative book, in Jung's own words, his interest in and experiences of the paranormal to a degree until now I'd read hints of but had never so plainly seen stated and elaborated. JoS&tP book goes far beyond what Jung included in his near-autobiographical, Memories, Dreams and Reflections. In MD&R there are included some paranormal activities, but my reading between its lines suggested to me that there was much more than was disclosed there. JoS&tP confirms that and then some.
In this anthology Roderick Main has done something quite interesting: even as Jung discloses a personal encounter with a ghost and other paranormal activities, including seances, Main provides linkages to some of the more under-discussed implications of quantum mechanics as they may apply to possible theories of paranormal experiences. Jung was very interested in the modern theories of physics because he saw a tangible theoretical and/or philosophical link between them and what his experiences with and ideas about paranormal experiences were leading him to think and theorize about psychology and the paranormal.
I particularly and thoroughly enjoyed the letters that were included, and not just because I love writing and reading 'heavy' philosophical letters too, but because Jung's informal writing is delightful to read. He relaxes his careful official persona, and expresses some of his unsupported speculations and ideas as to the nature of things inexplicable, such as the meaning of life, in ways always thoughtful, but frequently funny, too.
His face-to-face encounter with a ghost in a British farm house is particularly interesting because my reading of the encounter entangled it to me in one of the most interesting and quite frankly bizarre fushigis I've ever experienced. I have blogged it in 2012.02.02 — Half Face and More fushigis.
Despite this being about the 'airy fairy' concepts of synchronicity and ghosts, mediums and seances, Jung kept his writing and speculations and experiences 'real'. He doesn't leap to conclusions with his experiences, but allows them to challenge and question his pre-formulated beliefs about what may or may not be so-called reality. And in the process he challenges the validity of our ideological fixation on a rationalistic causal — 'Descartian' science. Unlike much of western science, perhaps especially the behaviourists who dismiss as unreal that which falls outside the bounds that their theories delineate, Jung proves his stature as a real scientist by neither dismissing nor idealizing his paranormal experiences: they become simply a part of the chisel that Life provided him to chip away at our false ideas and thinking, even if it is stingy in providing additional clues.
On reflection I am not sure what I expected to read before I began reading JoS&tP, but it turned out to be a far, far better read than I'd anticipated. Perhaps it was the inclusion of so many letters and extracts from letters, which I'd not read before except in tiny citations.
Also, my prejudice regarding the word 'paranormal' lead me to anticipate something other than what Jung explored, which is a very scientific, coherent, and sound argument that our scientific foundation in causal biased rationalism is not just misguided, but inadequate to explain the full range of what happens within the so-called bounds of life.
I highly recommend this book: a solid five stars.
To see my blogged review, complete with images, links, and extended citations, go to: 2012.04.28 — Jung On Synchronicity and the Paranormal edited with an introduction by Roderick Main.
In this anthology Roderick Main has done something quite interesting: even as Jung discloses a personal encounter with a ghost and other paranormal activities, including seances, Main provides linkages to some of the more under-discussed implications of quantum mechanics as they may apply to possible theories of paranormal experiences. Jung was very interested in the modern theories of physics because he saw a tangible theoretical and/or philosophical link between them and what his experiences with and ideas about paranormal experiences were leading him to think and theorize about psychology and the paranormal.
I particularly and thoroughly enjoyed the letters that were included, and not just because I love writing and reading 'heavy' philosophical letters too, but because Jung's informal writing is delightful to read. He relaxes his careful official persona, and expresses some of his unsupported speculations and ideas as to the nature of things inexplicable, such as the meaning of life, in ways always thoughtful, but frequently funny, too.
His face-to-face encounter with a ghost in a British farm house is particularly interesting because my reading of the encounter entangled it to me in one of the most interesting and quite frankly bizarre fushigis I've ever experienced. I have blogged it in 2012.02.02 — Half Face and More fushigis.
Despite this being about the 'airy fairy' concepts of synchronicity and ghosts, mediums and seances, Jung kept his writing and speculations and experiences 'real'. He doesn't leap to conclusions with his experiences, but allows them to challenge and question his pre-formulated beliefs about what may or may not be so-called reality. And in the process he challenges the validity of our ideological fixation on a rationalistic causal — 'Descartian' science. Unlike much of western science, perhaps especially the behaviourists who dismiss as unreal that which falls outside the bounds that their theories delineate, Jung proves his stature as a real scientist by neither dismissing nor idealizing his paranormal experiences: they become simply a part of the chisel that Life provided him to chip away at our false ideas and thinking, even if it is stingy in providing additional clues.
On reflection I am not sure what I expected to read before I began reading JoS&tP, but it turned out to be a far, far better read than I'd anticipated. Perhaps it was the inclusion of so many letters and extracts from letters, which I'd not read before except in tiny citations.
Also, my prejudice regarding the word 'paranormal' lead me to anticipate something other than what Jung explored, which is a very scientific, coherent, and sound argument that our scientific foundation in causal biased rationalism is not just misguided, but inadequate to explain the full range of what happens within the so-called bounds of life.
I highly recommend this book: a solid five stars.
To see my blogged review, complete with images, links, and extended citations, go to: 2012.04.28 — Jung On Synchronicity and the Paranormal edited with an introduction by Roderick Main.
March 11, 2013
Brilliant – a must read for anyone who wants to understand Jung's theory of synchronicity in-depth.
March 27, 2022
Reading Jung's views on Synchronicity made me feel saner. It's not always a referential delusion, sometimes it's just an altered perspective.
January 25, 2022
Jung was highly controversial, often misunderstood but contributed greatly to both psychology and parapsychology, firmly believing in the existence of ghosts and unexplainable phenomena even at the very beginning of his career, writing his thesis/dissertation on this and engaging in this subject throughout his career. His views have become invaluable and through Jung's work, though equally praised as challenged, the spirit world found acceptance among many scientists and academics. His mother who was a medium as well as one of his cousins were key in his work and perhaps his beliefs but he did experience the paranormal and even hauntings himself. His work on dreams, synchronicity and archetypes would also change the world of psychology. Excellent read, cannot recommend enough
July 28, 2023
Es más un libro sobre las razones estadísticas por las cuales el fenómeno de la sincronicidad vale la pena ser estudiado más allá de su aparente relación con el "pensamiento mágico"; yo esperaba un estudio cualitativo del fenómeno, pero entiendo que se necesita una justificación, especialmente considerando el cariz altamente cientificista que reina en nuestra cultura.
February 21, 2019
A collection / analysis of a man's influence / fascination with the paranormal.
The introduction part of this book was quite interesting, but it could have been clearer / more concise.
Reading time roughly 3 hours.
The introduction part of this book was quite interesting, but it could have been clearer / more concise.
Reading time roughly 3 hours.
September 29, 2022
This is an interesting collection, but you could just buy Jung's book on Synchronicity and get the same information.
June 11, 2012
Here we have an excellent selection of Carl Jung's writings and talks on Synchronicity and the Paranormal. If you are interested in either or both subjects, this book is a valuable source straight from the mind of one of the world's great thinkers. The first to make the case that coincidences are not just random events, it was Jung who coined the term Synchronicity.
Associate of Albert Einstein, William James and Wolfgang Pauli, Jung makes it very clear how new discoveries in physics during the 20th Century influenced his work. In story after story, he also relates fascinating paranormal experiences of his own, using them to support his theory of Synchronicity. Even more than that, his words offer a wonderful peek into the man's thought processes by detailing his personal explorations of things such as spiritualism, astrology, I Ching, visions, dreams, life after death, and even UFOs.
In discussing Synchronicity, Jung relies heavily on his views of "archetypes"and "the collective unconscious". I found those portions of the book a little dense and hard to read. I'm not even sure if having a background in Jungian Psychology would be of help but maybe so. However, when Jung launches into his many personal, paranormal experiences, I found a clarity and authenticity to his words that made them a joy to read.
Although I don't think Jung made a complete case for his theory of Synchronicity, he did indeed point the way for others.
Associate of Albert Einstein, William James and Wolfgang Pauli, Jung makes it very clear how new discoveries in physics during the 20th Century influenced his work. In story after story, he also relates fascinating paranormal experiences of his own, using them to support his theory of Synchronicity. Even more than that, his words offer a wonderful peek into the man's thought processes by detailing his personal explorations of things such as spiritualism, astrology, I Ching, visions, dreams, life after death, and even UFOs.
In discussing Synchronicity, Jung relies heavily on his views of "archetypes"and "the collective unconscious". I found those portions of the book a little dense and hard to read. I'm not even sure if having a background in Jungian Psychology would be of help but maybe so. However, when Jung launches into his many personal, paranormal experiences, I found a clarity and authenticity to his words that made them a joy to read.
Although I don't think Jung made a complete case for his theory of Synchronicity, he did indeed point the way for others.
May 21, 2008
When I first picked up this book, I was struck by Jung's involvement in early 20th century spiritualism and astrology, which to my eye was discrediting. Upon revisiting the book, I found fascinating anecdotes in the other sections which stimulated plenty of speculation. Conclusion: a mixed bag with some taste of the truth.
Importantly, Jung hints that a deep investigation of psychology reveals paranormal content.
Importantly, Jung hints that a deep investigation of psychology reveals paranormal content.
July 12, 2019
Interesting book by Carl Jung, famous rival to Freud, who was much more open to non materialist view of the universe.
July 18, 2013
A mediocre collection of spooky ghost stories told by grandpa.
March 4, 2015
Not so far out as you would think. Attempts to define the supernatural as scientifically as posible.
April 3, 2016
Fascinating read.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews