Synchronicity : Through the Eyes of Science, Myth and the Trickster [Paperback]

Allan Combs (Author), Mark Holland (Author), Robin Robertson (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 30, 2000

Carl Jung coined the term "synchronicity" to describe meaningful coincidences that conventional notions of time and causality cannot explain. Working with the great quantum physicist Wolfgang Pauli, Jung sought to reveal these coincidences as phenomena that involve mind and matter, science and spirit, thus providing rational explanations for parapsychological events like telepathy, precognition, and intuition. Synchronicity examines the work of Jung and Pauli, as well as noted scientists Werner Heisenberg and David Bohm; identifies the phenomena in ancient and modern mythologies, particularly the Greek legend of Hermes the Trickster; and illustrates it with engaging anecdotes from everyday life and literature.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'Combs and Holland view synchronicity as through a kaleidoscope of many fascinating shapes and colours. A unique exploration of one of life's most baffling mysteries.' -- David Loye, author of The Sphinx and the Rainbow 'An excellent new treatment of a topic which may well turn out to be one of this century's most powerful challenges to the prevailing objectivism of science.' -- Willis Harman, President, Institute of Noetic Sciences --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

Allan Combs is a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Asheville and the Saybrook Graduate School in San Francisco, and he contributes to the Assisi Conferences on Carl Jung and self-organizing patterns in nature. Combs has written extensively on consciousness, including the award-winning book, The Radiance of Being. Mark Holland an English professor at East Tennessee State University, has maintained an avid interest in mythology, the trickster, and depth psychology throughout his many years as a writer and teacher. He lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with his wife and daughter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 184 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; 3rd edition (December 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569245991
• ISBN-13: 978-1569245996
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #100,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 74 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The return of human meaning to the cosmos, May 13, 2003

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Synchronicity : Through the Eyes of Science, Myth and the Trickster (Paperback)

I read the first edition of this book years ago and the concepts in it have haunted me ever since. Then, I bought my own copy of this second edition and found that the ideas contained in it had lost none of their power and were every bit as profound as I had remembered.

Briefly, this book deals with the concept of synchronicity or meaningful coincidence. It deals with it on two levels, the level of science and the level of myth. Indeed, it is shown that synchronistic events in themselves demonstrate the interpenetration of matter (the realm of science) and mind (the realm of myth.) Synchronicity is shown to leap the gap between not only the conscious and unconscious aspects of the mind, but between the world of mind and the world objective events. In this way it corresponds very well to the myth of Hermes, the god of boundaries, and the messenger between the world of the gods and the world of men.

The greatest strength of this book over other treatments of the topic is the clear and up-to-date manner that it addresses the possible scientific explanations of synchronicity. It draws primarily from the world of the new physics. Here is an extremely clear explanation of Bohm's theories on a holographic universe with explicate (physical, day-to-day) and implicate (hidden and fundamental) orders. In spite of the references to the modern world of subatomic physics, it struck me that this sounds remarkably like the hidden currents of the cosmos that occultists have always alluded to. The pattern based theories of Sheldrake, Laszlo, and Chester are also examined and compared. Indeed, the concepts of morphic fields and resonance seem to uncannily resemble the old magical principles of sympathy and correspondence between our own world and the world of archetypes. Indeed, it is shown that a balanced mind (both hemispheres at the same frequency) in deep meditation or prayer may be able to "range" the implicate order and bring about increased instances of synchronicity. Since it is suggested that synchronicity is the real basis for all ESP phenomena ( telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, etc.) it could be said that this is an effective explanation for the concept of sympathetic magic.

The use of the concept of the mythological trickster is especially appropriate and effective. Many times synchronistic coincidences seem to exist for no other reason that to shatter our preconceived and ossified concepts of the universe. That was also the function of Hermes/ Mercurius/ Coyote in mythology. It is also the function of this book in a world still mired in the dogma of materialistic scientism.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The return of human meaning to the cosmos, May 13, 2003

By 

OAKSHAMAN "oakshaman" (Algoma, WI United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Synchronicity: Science, Myth, and the Trickster (Paperback)

I read the first edition of this book years ago and the concepts in it have haunted me ever since. Then, I bought my own copy of this second edition and found that the ideas contained in it had lost none of their power and were every bit as profound as I had remembered.

Briefly, this book deals with the concept of synchronicity or meaningful coincidence. It deals with it on two levels, the level of science and the level of myth. Indeed, it is shown that synchronistic events in themselves demonstrate the interpenetration of matter (the realm of science) and mind (the realm of myth.) Synchronicity is shown to leap the gap between not only the conscious and unconscious aspects of the mind, but between the world of mind and the world objective events. In this way it corresponds very well to the myth of Hermes, the god of boundaries, and the messenger between the world of the gods and the world of men.

The greatest strength of this book over other treatments of the topic is the clear and up-to-date manner that it addresses the possible scientific explanations of synchronicity. It draws primarily from the world of the new physics. Here is an extremely clear explanation of Bohm's theories on a holographic universe with explicate (physical, day-to-day) and implicate (hidden and fundamental) orders. In spite of the references to the modern world of subatomic physics, it struck me that this sounds remarkably like the hidden currents of the cosmos that occultists have always alluded to. The pattern based theories of Sheldrake, Laszlo, and Chester are also examined and compared. Indeed, the concepts of morphic fields and resonance seem to uncannily resemble the old magical principles of sympathy and correspondence between our own world and the world of archetypes. Indeed, it is shown that a balanced mind (both hemispheres at the same frequency) in deep meditation or prayer may be able to "range" the implicate order and bring about increased instances of synchronicity. Since it is suggested that synchronicity is the real basis for all ESP phenomena ( telepathy, precognition, psychokinesis, etc.) it could be said that this is an effective explanation for the concept of sympathetic magic.

The use of the concept of the mythological trickster is especially appropriate and effective. Many times synchronistic coincidences seem to exist for no other reason that to shatter our preconceived and ossified concepts of the universe. That was also the function of Hermes/ Mercurius/ Coyote in mythology. It is also the function of this book in a world still mired in the dogma of materialistic scientism.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Trickster Lives On . . ., January 27, 2006

By 

Sean M. Saiter "attractorbasin" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Synchronicity : Through the Eyes of Science, Myth and the Trickster (Paperback)

For all those potential readers and for those previous reviewers, I state that this book is one of a mere handful of books to adequately treat this subject with the respect and wonder that it deserves. Though few books deserve the title of "perfection" I must defend the authors in their attempt at covering this subject, however misunderstood.

This book is a brief attempt at exploring the concept of synchronicity. That being said, for what it is, it is an excellent coverage of the subject. Easy to read and quite relative to those who have experienced the phenomenon, (which, I assume, includes nearly every single one of us) this little text is a very wise choice for inspiration towards the wonder that is meaningful acausal experiences.

Yours truly,
Ph.D. student at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology