Synchronicity: Multiple Perspectives on Meaningful Coincidence
2010; Rhine Research Center; Volume: 74; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
0022-3387
Autores Tópico(s)Jungian Analytical Psychology
ResumoSYNCHRONICITY: MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES ON MEANINGFUL COINCIDENCE, edited by Lance Storm. Grosseto, Italy: Pari Publishing, 2008. Pp. xxii + 316. $18.95 (paperback). ISBN 978-88-95604-02-2. Meaningful coincidences have captured the public imagination, reflected in a growing number of new books on the subject. Many of these books consist largely of anecdotal accounts that make for interesting reading but do not directly contribute to the advancement of thinking in this area. In contrast, Storm's book is a treasure trove for those with a serious scholarly interest in this topic. In his foreword, Robert Aziz notes that moving through the material and chapters of this work, one will have the feeling of being an attendee at an International conference on synchronicity, perhaps the first international conference on synchronicity. A circle has been drawn and a roundtable discussion has been convened (p. xix). Aziz's comments are right on the mark. collection of essays in Storm's book tackles the very bones of Jung and Pauli's conceptualizations of synchronicity, addressing such fundamental issues as the role played by archetypes, explorations of the concepts of causality and acausality, and perhaps of most interest to parapsychologists, the relationship between psi and synchronicity. different perspectives offered by the various contributors blend to form a rich mix. However, potential readers should be forewarned that this is not an easy read. This book demands to be read slowly, in order to fully appreciate the scope of each contribution. book consists of 18 essays, divided into six parts. Part I, The History and Philosophy of Synchronicity, provides insights into how the respective backgrounds and interests of Jung and Pauli contributed to the construction of their theory of synchronicity, with papers provided by Kenower Weimar Bash, F. David Peat, Roderick Main, and Marialuisa Donati. Part II, in Practice, turns to real-life applications of synchronicity, with examples provided from a clinical psychiatric practice (Berthold Eric Schwartz), Ching consultation (Shantena Augusto Sabbadini), and attempts to quantify meaningful coincidences experimentally (William Braud). In Part III, The Ontology of Synchronicity, the concept of acausality (and archetypal involvement, especially as it relates to psi phenomena) is challenged by John Beloff, followed by a paper by Charles Tart in which he proposes various types of causality and their potential relationship to synchronicity (including paranormal which he distinguishes as different from absolute synchronicity). relationship between psi and synchronicity as defined by Jung is further explored and contrasted in Part IV, The Synchronicity Debate, with contributions by Mansfield et al., Storm, and Palmer. Victor Mansfield, Sally Rhine Feather, and James Hall shed light on the relationship between J. B. Rhine and C. G. Jung, drawing upon the Rhine-Jung Letters, a 27-year correspondence between the two men. Of note, they present an excerpt from a 1951 letter in which Jung (referring to his synchronicity paper) states I have been able to finish a paper that is largely based upon your ESP experiment.... (p. 130). authors note that this startling revelation ... cannot be found in Jung's Collected Works, his published letters, or his autobiography (p. 130). However, they go on to question whether psi phenomena can really be viewed as examples of synchronicity, critiquing the notions of a causality (that Rhine himself was not yet ready to concede) and archetypal meaning promoting individuation, as applied to parapsychological experiments. authors also stress that while parapsychological phenomena can be studied empirically and exhibit scientific causality, synchronicity experiences are more difficult to capture and study in a laboratory setting (although their paper does end with discussion of a possible experiment suggested by Jung). …
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