Unexpected Miracles: The Gift of Synchronicity and How to Open it [Paperback]

David Richo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 25, 1998

Filled with stories and examples, and combining insights from psychology, religion and poetry.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It was Carl Jung who, with quantum physicist Wolfgang Pauli, coined the term synchronicity to describe apparent coincidences that are dramatically, often deeply meaningful. The better part of a century has passed since then, but synchronicity is now (synchronistically?) attaining its 15 minutes of fame, with a spate of recent books on the subject. Richo's is among the best, highly erudite and scholarly but charmingly enthusiastic and full of intriguing narratives. Because synchronicity favors the prepared mind, psychotherapist Richo offers a series of exercises for eliciting and then understanding how to learn from synchonistic occurrences. Dreams, omens, fleeting but repetitive images--all these can hold clues to life's unfolding. Richo takes a remarkably commonsensical approach to a relatively esoteric subject, demystifying synchronicity without making it any less magical. Patricia Monaghan

Product Details

• Paperback: 189 pages
• Publisher: Crossroad Classic (March 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0824517296
• ISBN-13: 978-0824517298
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #442,249 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Richo, PhD, is a therapist and author who leads popular workshops on personal and spiritual growth.

He received his BA in psychology from Saint John's Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts, in 1962, his MA in counseling psychology from Fairfield University in 1969, and his PhD in clinical psychology from Sierra University in 1984. Since 1976, Richo has been a licensed marriage, family, and child counselor in California. In addition to practicing psychotherapy, Richo teaches courses at Santa Barbara City College and the University of California Berkeley at Berkeley, and has taught at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, Pacifica Graduate Institute, and Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. He is a clinical supervisor for the Community Counseling Center in Santa Barbara, California.

Known for drawing on Buddhism, poetry, and Jungian perspectives in his work, Richo is the author of How to Be an Adult in Relationships: The Five Keys to Mindful Loving and The Five Things We Cannot Change: And the Happiness We Find in Embracing Them. He has also written When the Past Is Present: Healing the Emotional Wounds that Sabotage our Relationships, Shadow Dance: Liberating the Power and Creativity of Your Dark Side, The Power of Coincidence: How Life Shows Us What We Need to Know, and Being True to Life: Poetic Paths to Personal Growth.

Richo lives in Santa Barbara and San Francisco.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, June 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Unexpected Miracles: The Gift of Synchronicity and How to Open it (Paperback)

The best book I've ever come across written on synchronicity. A well of information. After reading this book, I can't help but notice synchronicity in action.

36 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nothing very unexpected or miraculous here, November 6, 2000

By 

Mark Edward Bachmann (Westport, CT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Unexpected Miracles: The Gift of Synchronicity and How to Open it (Paperback)

Maybe I've read too many books covering this same territory, but this one doesn't seem to me to have very much new to offer. There's a great deal of wisdom here, but all of it's cribbed directly from well-known sources and, while well enough written, the work is compiled without much original contribution by Dr. Richo. The underlying ideas are a blend of classic Eastern philosophy, Jungian psychology, Christian and Buddhist ethics, and Joseph Campbell's mystical anthropology, all packaged into a kind of pop New Age format complete with "practice" exercises and an advertisement on the last page for Dr. Richo's tapes and workshops. None of this is to say that the book isn't thought-provoking, but only to suggest that readers who are familiar with the source material may find Unexpected Miracles derivative and a little dull. The most useful purpose the book could serve perhaps is to stimulate people who haven't read the originals to experience the rich rewards of doing so.

25 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This was no gift., October 25, 2000

By 

Linda J. Barrett (Tempe, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Unexpected Miracles: The Gift of Synchronicity and How to Open it (Paperback)

David Richo is obviously intelligent and armed with a stunning vocabulary. However, this said, he never manages to get beyond the academic and esoteric when discussing synchronicity. Although he is quite informative when speaking about different religions and metaphysics in general, he is unable to explain clearly how we as individuals should go about understanding, creating and applying synchronicity in our daily lives. There are "lessons" at the end of each chapter, but these seem almost an after thought. I was very anxious to get my copy of this book, but was more than just slightly disappointed when I finally was able to read it.