Synchronicities

Not too long ago, I was having a small talk with my friend Cheryle. We were in her garden and at one point our discussion turned to her mother-in-law who passed away not long ago. Apparently, her mother-in-law loved observing and identifying butterflies, and she was also an amateur painter. At one point, my friend was telling me about a beautiful butterfly book her mother-in-law had made from her own hand-painted images of butterflies, and just at that moment a large beautiful butterfly flew down and landed on the jam pot and rested there for several minutes.

We couldn't help noticing the synchronicity of the butterfly's appearance right when we were having a discussion about this exotic insect. It was almost as if her grandmother was sending us a sweet little message through the butterfly. Of course, I was thrilled to experience this magical moment. I have frequent experiences with synchronicity. For example, I might have a dream about someone I haven't seen in ages, and suddenly I'll get a call from them, or I'll read something and a word will stand out in my mind, and I end up seeing it everywhere I go.

Synchronicity is more than just coincidence. It is a way that events, actions, and thoughts come together to communicate with us in a meaningful way. Synchronicities can be very reassuring to us, by validating a feeling we have about something or someone, or confirming the validity of a new idea or plan. Synchronicity is a bit like having a psychic check-in that lets us know we are on the right track, or someone we love and miss is never far away.

The term, synchronicity, was coined by the famous psychiatrist Carl Jung, who first noticed a connection between incidents that were more than just coincidences when he was working with a patient. Apparently, his first understanding of synchronicity came about when a patient was sharing thoughts about dreams, which centered around Egyptian scarab beetles. While relating her dreams, a scarab flew right through the window and landed on Jung. The thing that made the appearance of the insect most unusual was that it was not native to the part of the world where the analysis session was taking place. This led Jung to conclude that the part of the psyche, called the collective unconscious, had produced the scarab beetle at the exact moment the patient was describing her dream.

Jung's conclusion was that our unconscious minds have an affect on the physical world around us, just as the physical world affects our conscious and unconscious minds. As an astrologer, I frequently see synchronicity at work in the lives of my clients as they look for and recognize synchronicities that confirm their understanding of the readings I give them.

Synchronicity has often given me guidance and comfort and I hope that you will experience synchronicities in your life as well to help guide you on your path. If you are on the lookout for it, you may be pleasantly surprised.