Robert H. Hopcke

Knowing ahead of time that this book was about synchronicity, I was happy to have “accidentally” found it on the sale shelf of my public library and finally remove it from my wishlist. I had expected something completely different from this book, though. Before reading it, I thought it would be the explanation of why synchronistic experiences happen. I expected some paranormal or New Age type of reasoning. What I got, though, was a thorough explanation of the psychological aspects of synchronicity explained through the ideology of Carl Jung.

I’m not sure I understood everything I read, but I thoroughly enjoyed the descriptions of sychronistic events related to the author by others and which he describes at length throughout the book. He explains that the basis of sychronicity is the fact that two related experiences, one internal and one external, are not caused by each other but are related in a meaningful manner. How we react to them is based on how we subjectively interpret them. I was almost disappointed in the intellectualization of this description even though the author's in-depth discussion about this topic fascinated me.

My reprieve, however, came in the book's closing chapters. There the author goes on to say that so much energy is involved with the process of dying that synchronistic events at that time cannot be explained merely through psychology alone. Phew! At least I got that.

I’m not sure I’ll undertake reading Carl Jung’s theory of synchronicity, but this was quite a nice introduction. I agree with the author who suggests taking note of synchronistic happenings and giving them a nod. Not always do they need to be explained.… (meer)

Very cool book that gives brief introductions to many of Jung's ideas and books. After each idea the author provides a suggested reading list from Jung’s collected works, either suggesting an entire book or just selected chapters or pages. The author provides separate suggestions “To Begin” or to “Go Deeper”. Anyone who has struggled with Jung's collected works will find this an excellent place to start.

The author also gives his list of the best known and most used general introductions to Jung's ideas. They are:

"The I and the Not-I" by Esther M. Harding
"The Psychology of C. G. Jung" by Jolande Jacobi
"Boundaries of the Soul: The Practice of Jung's Psychology" by June Singer
"C. G. Jung, his myth in our time" by Marie-Luise von Franz
"The Symbolic Quest" by Edward C. Whitmont
"The Inner World of Man" by Frances G. Wickes

You can see these by searching on my tag "JungTop6"… (meer)