Edge of Somewhere: Stricken

Stricken

I’m beginning a new category here entitled ‘Synchronicity’ as it’s becoming an ongoing theme.

For the past week or so, I’ve engrossed myself in C.G. Jung’s Psychology of Religion and Synchronicity by Robert Aziz (it’s not exactly beach reading). I’m going to make an extensive quote here as it’s directly pertinent to recent life experience. I should note that, though I’ve read Jung for the past year and kept my eye open for anything on Synchronicity theory, I did not specifically seek out this book. I came across it in the library whilst looking for something else—which is how Synchronicity works anyway (though that is arguably the sister concept of Serendipity).

For those of you not familiar with the theory, here is a brief definition (though there are many more layers as, at its heart, it delves into how everything is related to everything else—from oneself to the cosmos). The Wikipedia definition (which is as good as any) follows: Synchronicity is the experience of two or more events which are causally unrelated occurring together in a meaningful manner. In order to count as synchronicity, the events should be unlikely to occur together by chance. There is a larger related question regarding the timing of the events that I’ll not go into here (as simultaneous Synchronous events might not actually occur at the same moment because we have a limited understanding of time in the relative sense. We are talking about the underlying order of the universe and, basically, though the universe is coherent, it doesn’t necessarily meter out time from one moment to the next. Something can happen in my grandfather’s childhood and my old age at the same moment …but that’s for another posting).

Jung speaks of synchronous events as if they are a way for the Universe to ‘course correct’ an anomaly in the stream of things; there is a natural imperative to bring a ‘compensatory effect’ into play. These occur, in an individual’s life, to aid in the process of individuation (the becoming of a whole person—or development of a harmonious connexion with the order of things). However, the key thing is to become aware of the presence and meaning of Synchronicity. It’s important to foster a keen sense of recognition:

The ability, for example. to recognize at the earliest possible
point when one has drifted, either consciously or unconsciously,
from the more comprehensive pattern of one’s individuation is particularly important, because it is not uncommon when one is so
floundering for the synchronistic compensatory response of nature
to become increasingly aggressive until the situation is satisfactorily
corrected. It is, therefore, very much in one’s interests to catch such
developments in their beginnings and to take the appropriate action
as quickly as possible. Jung refers to such a situation in a letter to
Philip Metman dated March 27. 1954. Metman and his wife, apparently.
had just narrowly escaped serious injury in a car accident. In
writing to Metman, Jung very notably, as we shall see in the following.
drew Melman’s attention to the possible synchronistic relationship
between their narrow escape from injury and some writing
Metman was engaged in at that time. Jung’s essential point was
that Metman may not have been giving his creative energy sufficient
freedom in his writing, and consequently he found himself at odds
with the synchronistic flow of outward nature. “I gather with great
concern,” Jung writes,

“that you have had a hair-breadth escape from a car accident.
The accident has affected only the outer shell, but evidently
you and your wife were not affected physically by this broad
hint. Naturally this may have an inner connection with what
you are writing, for experience shows that accidents of this
sort are very often connected with creative energy which turns
against us because somehow it is not given due heed. This
may easily happen; for we always judge by what we already
know and very seldom listen to what we don’t yet know.
Therefore we can easily take a step in the wrong direction or
continue too long on the right path until it becomes the wrong
one. Then it may happen that in this rather ungentle way we are
forced to change our attitude.”

Much as is the case with dreams, synchronistic experiences,
such as the above, tend to repeat themselves, as Bolen explains,
“until the inner psychological conflict or the conflicting external situation
changes,” that is to say, until the desired compensatory effect
is realized. Bolen, interestingly enough, presents a case thai is
rather similar to the above, only with her example, not one but
three car accidents took place before things were put back on
course. Bolen relates how a woman with a perfect driving record
found herself in the very awkward position of having to make two
“it’s me again”-type calls to her claims adjustor. Particularly troubling
about these accidents was the fact that in each case the
woman herself was blameless. In the first collision, she was hit
from behind while stopped at a traffic light by a woman who failed
to brake quickly enough on a rain-wetted street. On the second occasion she was hit again by a woman who was changing lanes. The
third accident was similar to the first, only more serious still. She
was again struck from behind while stopped at a traffic light, but in this instance by a woman whose brakes had failed. This time the
impact of the accident was so great that her gasoline tank ruptured.
fortunately without igniting, and her vehicle was dangerously
pushed forward into the intersection. After this third collision, the
analysand, we are told, finally began to give serious thought to a
possible synchronistic connection…

… We see from the above examples, therefore, that when one is
at odds with the compensatory flow of one’s individuation, it is
very much to one’s advantage to discover as quickly as possible how
the subjective position is not right, and then to make the needed
adjustments immediately, lest the compensatory synchronistic pattern
take an even more sinister turn.” (Aziz 161-62)

I sat in an armchair on Thursday evening reading this; for a moment, I put the book aside and considered the import of the words. My mother looked over at me and said, “Did something strike you?” Yes—indeed; I think I’ve been stricken.

There is a pattern; and we can even take the notion of a triad as described in the example above. Over the past year, there have been three occasions where I’ve been severely stricken off course. First was an issue with my MSc; I was not able to finish the program as I had hoped (for reasons I’ll not go into here as the discussion on this has swirled round in other quarters). Second, was my inability to obtain a UK visa and stay in Europe. Third, of course, was the road accident that could have easily taken my life. All three incidents were, in many ways, ‘beyond my control’; however, in all three, I was in some sense ‘in the driver’s seat’. At the time of each incident I felt that I had control of the situation till it was clearly and suddenly made evident that I was not. Each incident pivoted on the narrowest of margins; a few points, a few Pounds, a few centimetres one way or the other and the outcome would have been different. (As an aside, though I was not listening to music at the time of the accident, I looked at my iPod the next day and the last song I had listened to beforehand was Lose Control by Evanescence.)

I am at the threshold of something significant in my life—it may have already happened and I’ve just not yet come to comprehend all the pieces; but, I know it has begun. And, the mind boggling thing is, as I hinted at above, I think it’s possible that the beginnings of it may have been long before I was born. It’s a continuum of events. Everything happened just as it had to happen. Every decision of mine—and everyone before me—leads on to here.

Or, perhaps, rather than say, ‘I’m at the threshold of something significant’, I should say that I realise there may be more significant than previously comprehended.

Synchronicity • 27 June 2009

Comments

Hi Jason,
I am finding all of this so fascinating! I’ve been studying for a long time how our lives tend to unfold and what events come to us to guide us and why, etc. I study past-life astrology, among other things. I’ve also been drawn to Jung’s works, and much more. (I also seem to have some kind of affinity for synchronistic events as well as near death experiences!) My take on this is…turn it around…have you been ‘stricken off course’, or have you been ‘stricken ON course’? Haven’t these events been leading you home, back to your roots, back to the little things in life that are always close to home? If you look at it that way and then re-evaluate these events, maybe it will look different to you!
(P.S…I come here by way of Cecelia’s email that she forwarded to my sons who practice aikido.)
Cindy

— Cindy 28. June 2009, 22:49 #
Now I feel somewhat caught up with how you are doing. Out-of-this-world events can indeed lead to self-discovery. Keeping in touch with your self and your feelings, you’ll undoubtedly make good, even profound, decisions. George

— George 2. July 2009, 22:29 #

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