top of page
study guides
study guide for superdomain02c ["Augury"]
Material from: Zeng, J. (2024). Jung’s conceptualization of synchronicity theory and the role of astrology. International Journal of Jungian Studies, 16 (2024) 175–196.
Printable Version
Link to Reading
1. Know whether or not Jung’s conceptualization of synchronicity has a relation to his engagement in astrology [beginning] in roughly 1906. Know whether or not, among the divinatory sources, Jung overlooked the differences between I-Ching divination and astrology. Know whether or not Samuels (1985) declares that: “astrology, whatever else it may be, cannot be claimed to be acausal!” Know whether or not Hyde concludes that there are two types of synchronicities and astrology may work as a form of divination that she defines as ‘Synchronicity II’ (synchronicity as a type of subjective experience which requires the psychic participation of the astrologer). Know whether or not Aziz suggests that the connection between synchronicity theory and the individuation process is a part of Jung’s psychology of religion.
2. Know whether or not Cambray promotes the idea of concerning synchronistic experience as a type of psychological emergence in the case of the psyche’s attempt to link to the external world to reconnect to life. Know whether or not Atmanspacher and Rickles (2022) suggest that Jung is one of the originators of the idea of dual-aspect monism: the mental and the physical are the two aspects of one substance. Know whether or not, compared to the huge number of publications in synchronicity, studies in Jung and astrology are a much smaller area. Know whether or not Hyde suggests that ‘Synchronicity I’ signifies there is an objective observer and objectively observed synchronistic events and ‘Synchronicity II’ acknowledges the effect of subjective participation of the observer onto the observed synchronistic events.
3. Know whether or not Mansfield’s theoretical discussion of Jung’s theory is closer to Jung’s original context. Know whether or not Tarnas challenges the definition of synchronicity as an acausal connection as too broad and that synchronicity may indicate causal relationships in an Aristotelian sense of formal cause and final cause. Know whether or not transit is a kind of astrological technique that concerns the results of “a planet’s passage over another…” usually based on a comparison of a birth chart,and the chart of another moment after the birth moment of a person or thing. Know whether or not, among the divinatory aspects, the author emphasizes the difference between Jung’s experiences of practicing different divinatory techniques, especially I Ching and astrology.
4. Know whether or not, in his experiment Jung tried to prove synchronicity as a form of acausal connection by using statistics and case studies. Know whether or not, generally, as Jung acknowledges, the first time he used the idea of synchronicity was when he was discussing the Chinese ancient book of divination—the I Ching. Know whether or not it is now believed that the earlier version of Jung’s idea may have already occurred 7 years after his I Ching divinatory experiment started. Know whether or not the process of I Ching divination (casting coins) performs the same as the birth moment in natal astrology.
5. Know whether or not Jung suggests the way natal astrology works acausally might be different from the I Ching. Know whether or not it seems to Jung that the I Ching relies on the idea of coincidence more than natal astrology, [in that] the birth moment in natal astrology is not as random as casting coins in I Ching divination. Know whether or not Jung has very limited awareness of the potential differences and similarities between two types of divinatory experiences and non-divinatory synchronistic experiences. Know whether or not Jung claims there a continuous development through Greek philosophical tradition, Neoplatonism, Renaissance, medieval natural philosophy and Kepler in the early modern period, as the forerunners of the idea of synchronicity.
6. Know whether or not Max Knoll…suggests that natal astrology works because there is a physical mechanism … in the form of photon radiation emitted by the sun impacting the Earth’s magnetic field. Know whether or not [Jung suggests that] a certain moment has a determined quality, and the connotation of the quality can be revealed by natal astrology because the birth moment which determines the horoscope reveals the quality of the birth moment. Know whether or not, in the statistical part Jung attempted to prove the acausal orderedness version of synchronicity but the data is not probable, thereby he opts for Rhine’s experiment for support. Know whether or not acausal orderedness can be considered as the orders behind synchronistic events.
7. Know whether or not Jung was considerably wrong about statistics regarding what they can prove, and this led to wrong conclusions based on his statistical data. Know whether or not, after the “failure” of his statistical research, Jung tried to use a qualitative way to examine synchronicity, but on a level of "lucky hits" or meaningful coincidence. Know whether or not Jung started to construct a more synthetic and modern version of unus mundus that is compatible with his psychology started in the 1940s. Know whether or not a causal orderedness seems to be a grander theoretical frame Jung used synthetically from different sources.
8. Know whether or not there are three versions of synchronicity that appear in his whole experiment: acausal orderedness, meaningful coincidence and qualitative time. Know whether or not it is notable that, from the beginning to the end, the idea of acausal orderedness is never tested directly in Jung’s experiment.
"As Below, So Above"
[Graphics by Descript's Overlord and Microsoft's Powerpoint. Background videos by Wix.com].
bottom of page