Is synchronicity just a figment of the imagination?

 Is synchronicity just a figment of the imagination?

Is Synchronicity Just Your Imagination? – A Spiritual Perspective

Let us explore the idea of synchronicity from a spiritual viewpoint. You may already be familiar with the term “synchronicity,” a concept proposed by the depth psychologist Carl Jung. It refers to meaningful coincidences—events that are connected not by cause-and-effect, but by a shared significance. In Japanese, it is often translated as kyōjisei (共時性).

Synchronicity cannot be explained through causal relationships. Instead, Jung suggested that it involves the collective unconscious. Beneath each person’s conscious mind lies their personal unconscious, and beyond that is the shared, universal realm of the collective unconscious—a deep layer of mind common to all humanity.

When people hear “collective unconscious,” they may imagine it as something mechanical or impersonal. Yet from a spiritual perspective, this is not the case—it is simply a domain that lies beyond our conscious awareness. The collective unconscious itself can be seen as having a kind of awareness of its own.

Some individuals, when they experience a coincidence, connect every such occurrence to synchronicity. But it is important to note: not every coincidence can truly be called synchronicity.

There is a perspective that human beings take in all incoming information, yet consciously register only what they deem necessary through a process of selection and filtering.

For example, you might experience the “coincidence” of repeatedly seeing the same number. In reality, if your awareness is already heightened toward that number, you will naturally “pick it out” from the world around you—making such encounters seem like meaningful coincidences.

Synchronicity, while not an absolute rule, is also not something that other people can truly awaken you to. It is something you yourself recognize. Often, it comes as an event that sparks a new realization or serves as a catalyst for personal reflection.

Carl Jung once noted that human consciousnesses are, in fact, connected and able to exchange information through the collective unconscious. Sometimes, the energy from this shared layer manifests within your awareness.

Synchronicity is a force that emerges from the workings of the collective unconscious.

When people hear of “shared human knowledge,” they might imagine it as being stored permanently within the collective unconscious. Yet Jung also spoke of ideas being released from the collective unconscious into human awareness.

This is why myths from entirely unconnected cultures—such as those of different nations—can feature strikingly similar events. The energy behind them is of the same essence, though the way it manifests will differ according to culture. For instance, the Western story of Adam and Eve can be seen as spiritually akin to the Japanese myth of Izanagi and Izanami.

While not an absolute law, synchronicity tends to occur more frequently for those with the ability to think deeply for themselves. If a person has no interest or very little awareness, then even if synchronicity were to occur, they would have no reaction—making the event meaningless even from the perspective of the collective unconscious.

In spiritual thought, it is said that Earth’s overall energetic balance is shifting—from a masculine-dominant energy, which values the visible and material, toward a feminine-dominant energy, which seeks value in the invisible and emotional.

As a result, more people may turn their awareness toward the collective unconscious, making synchronicities appear more often as meaningful messages.

Personally, I believe that creating synchronicity requires the movement of many people, not just the targeting of one specific individual. By orchestrating a larger web of human interaction, specific synchronicities become more likely to occur.

For example, if a friend invites you somewhere and you happen to meet an old acquaintance there, the coincidence would not have occurred without your friend’s invitation. Such an event can be seen as a meaningful occurrence arising from a broader, interconnected process.