Synchronicity: A Field Guide
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Jim Eshelman:
"which also means, without imposing attributing meaning to them."
This point and the subsequent explanation reminds me something that the philosopher Slavoj Zizek used to say about the meaning. Here´s this article talking about it, in a lacanian optic, which maybe made it necessary to know something about Lacan system, but... Anyway, I find that it can be useful in one or other way: www.lacan.com/zizek-signifier.htm
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I've been thinking about the ramifications of the concept that there is no intrinisic meaning to experiences of synchronicity - synchronicity being the term that best describes what I would consider my own spiritual experiences of the past several years.
Man, I have followed the white rabbit. If you've been around here for a few years, you know. And, yes, there is both pride and humiliation in that fact - pride because I had the balls the follow it, humiliation in the fact that I tried to involve so many in my private fantasies made public, causing much trouble both here and on the home front.
At present, I don't think it's quite so accurate to say that these experiences were sent to me by my HGA. Instead, I'd say that my experiences were the result of my own psychological repressions creating a drama in which I've participated as the main actor as they have worked themselves out, my HGA helping me navigate my (psychologically necessary?) experiences as they arose.
I feel like I'm finally able to view experiences such as these with more objectivity. The "Field Guide" is a representation of that. As my brain fires in response to the pattern recognitions (as Jim puts it), I'm much more able to say, "That was the Frazier," or "That was the Disguise and the Foil together," without reacting like a moonstruck loony and thinking that chasing this or that particular rabbit is of the utmost importance in my life. Maybe all my cute little names can be reduced to one basic function, but identifying consistent experiences and labelling them makes me feel much more in control of my response to them. If the terms are helpful for anyone else, I hope its for that reason.
I guess the most profound insight that I'm walking away with is that these experiences really were generated by my own psychology and my own need to understand. I have fought and blamed and cursed my HGA for "sending" so many confusing signals for so long. It's very helpful to be able to imagine the source of those experiences as residing in a less-whole part of myself, with my HGA being the guide through them all, in spite of my cursing.
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Sardonyx:
"I guess the most profound insight that I'm walking away with is that these experiences really were generated by my own psychology and my own need to understand. I have fought and blamed and cursed my HGA for "sending" so many confusing signals for so long. It's very helpful to be able to imagine the source of those experiences as residing in a less-whole part of myself, with my HGA being the guide through them all, in spite of my cursing."
And don´t forget to read Philip K Dick! Among other things, he´s a pretty good author for “cure with the illness” any necessity of understanding. I find the constant paranoia and changes in the essence of reality in his novels a good aid or reference to deal with rigids or absolute intellectual meanings or representations (like for example your HGA). Most of him is like a subtle text saying “don´t believe anything”, or something similar..
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Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.
@Jim Eshelman said
"I know you have elsewhere identified "synchronicity" in terms of imbuing a coincidence with meaning. That's probably useful, so I find it interesting."
I'm pretty sure that's how Jung intended the term to be defined when he first described the concept.
"Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events that are apparently causally unrelated or unlikely to occur together by chance and that are observed to occur together in a meaningful manner (source)."
I've been fascinated with synchronicity ever since I first read about it years ago. To me, I would definitely agree that it is a deeper coincidence; the synchronistic event would seem to be particularly dealing with what one might call one's "destiny" or "karma," or what Jung might call "individuation." I suspect they may lend each one of us personal insight into the reciprocal relations between our developing egos and the evolving dynamics of archtypal unconsciousness.
Love is the law, love under will.
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I would like to mention here that syncroncity, coincidence and meaning have a underlaying connection that I have not seen directly mentioned, and that connection is memory.
The ability to recall, and remember things is core to our ability to place meaning upon events, and to use that meaning as a stepping stone for a greater event like a personal epiphany.
As an example, I had a group of young kids sitting outside at a picnic table. The kids were talking about animals and what animals they liked. my son wasn't sure which he liked better dragons or hawks. As he was talking about how great he though hawks were, one flew overhead as called out.
This reinforced his belief that he has an affinity with hawks, even though he has had numerous hawk encounters.
I have discovered that if I go looking, I will find.
Always,
Probably because I don't stop looking till I find.When we study the occult, or start looking into our world we are flooded with symbolic language, language that communicates to us, that this thing, this symbol is representation of that, something else, and that understanding symbolic language will helps see the fabric of reality with better clarity.
It is a creative process, unfolding and remembering becomes key to successful living, and by successful living I am going to clarify that as healthy choices, positive relationships and remembering.
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I wish I can give a good explanation for this very frequent happening that i tend to experience as well. I think synchronicities are caused by ourselves but of a different state of being, maybe one more immaterial in nature. It seems that it's not error but a surfacing or leak. It's something that leaks through this realm partaining to an internal aspect of our individual thoughts or emotions. In fact, I experienced one yesterday...
I was downtown in San francisco days ago, making a friend and yodeled an old scottish tune 'aiken drum'. Yes, i yodel for strangers like a total goofnut. Then last night I rode the public transit train to downtown again. As i was exiting the station the very uncommon 'aiken drum' tune played over the intercom. How strange!
Often my synchronicities come as 'themes of the day'. A few years ago i had a watermelon-themed day. I was eating watermelon then looked out the window into the yard at a wooden cut-out in the garden of a boy eating a watermelon. I decided to bring in the cut-out and repaint it because it was faded. as i was sitting at the kitchen table eating watermelon, painting the boy eating a watermelon.. from the tv i heard 'Watermelon!!' from a game show program.
Another themed day was my serpent day. I caught a garter snake in the yard to feed to my kingsnake at home. I put it in a container then again on the gameshow network was a sudden 'Snake!' answer. This time the show was Lingo. Family Feud was the prior^. Later on I stopped at a yard sale and on the ground dead-center of this person's yard was a magic card. I picked it up and flipped it over ' The serpent'. The image was of a serpent style sea monster. I asked the people holding the sale if they recognized the card or had any more and they had no idea where the card came from. -
Yeah... crazy, ain't it?
Lately, I've stopped trying to understand it so much. It's more like an evolving* relationship *with "reality."
My main mental image of it is of being in a small above-ground pool. I move, I make a wave go out, it hits the wall, and then it comes back. Of course, then I think about things like... there are at least three levels of "I" to ponder for the origination of the wave, and there are at least three levels of "I" that receive the wave back. And what's represented by the pool wall? Everyone else? And all the versions of their "I"?
Probably... er, something like that...
Then my head explodes. Too many variables. lol...
And then it just is what it is and does what it does. And I can't predict what will happen next... so... I just decide "I" am in a relationship with the experience itself.
If that makes any sense....
Don't let me confuse you about anything. Like I said, it's too much for me to figure out.
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Awww... Thanks, The Editor!
How appropriate that it demonstrates Jim's teaching here that all meaning is projected...!
@Jim Eshelman said
"There is no intrinsic meaning in anything. All meaning (on anything) is arbitrarily attached. I can't offhand think of any situation where that attachment wouldn't be a mirroring of the person who is attaching the meaning, i.e., a projection.
. . .
It is... specifically, it's a pattern recognition.
Attribution of meaning comes later, and from a quite different level of the brain."
@Bereshith said
"Thanks.
That's right where I am with this. "
"