Synchromysticism

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Synchromysticism is the practice of attributing mystical or esoteric significance to coincidences. The word, a portmanteau of synchronicity and mysticism, was coined by Jake Kotze in August 2006. [1] Synchromysticism has been described as a phenomenon "existing on the fringe of areas already considered fringe". [1] Steven Sutcliff and Carole Cusack describe synchromysticism as "part artistic practice, part spiritual or metaphysical system, part conspiracy culture", [2] while Jason Horsley describes it as "a form of postmodern animism" that "combines Jung's notion of meaningful coincidences with the quest for the divine, or self-actualization through experience of the divine." [3]

Contents

Precursors and concept

Synchronicity is a concept first introduced by analytical psychologist Carl Jung, which holds that events are "meaningful coincidences" if they occur with no causal relationship yet seem to be meaningfully related. [4] Jung defined synchronicity as an "acausal connecting (togetherness) principle", "meaningful coincidence", and "acausal parallelism." [5]

Jung's belief was that, just as events may be connected by causality, they may also be connected by meaning. Jung used the concept in arguing for the existence of the paranormal. [6] A believer in the paranormal, Arthur Koestler wrote extensively on synchronicity in his 1972 book The Roots of Coincidence . [7]

Mysticism, in turn, has been loosely defined as union with God or the Absolute. [8] [9] An influential proponent of this understanding was William James (1842–1910), who stated that "in mystic states we both become one with the Absolute and we become aware of our oneness." [10] James popularized this use of the term "religious experience" in his The Varieties of Religious Experience , [11] [12] contributing to the interpretation of mysticism as a distinctive experience, comparable to sensory experiences. [13] Religious experiences belong to the "personal religion", which he considered to be "more fundamental than either theology or ecclesiasticism". [14]

Synchromysticism, as the union of synchronicity and mysticism, is thus the sense of interconnectedness and oneness with reality that comes from a heightened and enhanced awareness of synchronicity. [1] A form of "postmodern animism", Horsley argues that synchromysticism "underlines a common theme beneath three apparently disparate areas: that of the religious quest for meaning or 'signs,' the shamanic/animistic relationship with Nature, and the schizophrenic's inability to distinguish between reality and fantasy." [3]

Within chaos magic

Chaos magic is a contemporary magical practice consisting of "techniques" (most frequently, entering into an altered state of consciousness and manipulating symbols) to attain objective "results" in physical reality. [15] [16] From the beginning, the founders of chaos magic were explicit in stating that these "results" take the form of synchronicities, with Peter J. Carroll stating in Liber Null & Psychonaut (1978):

All magical paradigms partake of some form of action at a distance, be it distance in space or time or both... In magic this is called synchronicity. A mental event, perception, or an act of will occurs at the same time (synchronously) as an event in the material world... Of course, this can always be excused as coincidence, but most magicians would be quite content with being able to arrange coincidences. [17]

Essentially, chaos magic consists of a set of techniques for deliberately engineering synchronicities. [17] As Carroll makes clear in later texts, magical "results" consist of "meaningful coincidences" or "a series of events going somewhat improbably in the desired direction." [18]

Influence

On May 9, 2008, Reality Sandwich published "The Cryptic Cosmology of Synchromysticism", a long article on the ideas, movement, and its origins." It notes "Jake Kotze's work got a boost in exposure after Henrik Palmgren's conspiracy site Red Ice Creations began featuring articles and videos from Brave New World Order. Henrik also recorded a series of podcast interviews with Jake throughout 2007. In addition, Kotze was the guest for the premiere edition of the “Occult of Personality” podcast in October of 2006 and was interviewed on Kent Bentkowski's The Kentroversy Tapes podcast in October of 2007."

"The Secret Life of Movies: Schizophrenic and Shamanic Journeys in American Cinema" [19] by Jason Horsley and published by McFarland Publishing in July 2009 makes multiple references to Synchromysticism and writes "The recent but rapidly growing movement known as "synchromysticism" is anything but an academic discipline. Rather than emerging from the hallowed halls of academia, synchromysticism was born on the Internet, a new, more "upbeat" development in the paranoid community (i.e., among occultists and conspiracy theorists) that attempts to see beyond the darker aspects of society, politics, and popular culture, to a cosmic design. A form of postmodern animism, as the name suggests, synchromysticism combines Jung's notion of meaningful coincidences with the quest for the divine, or self-actualization through experience of the divine. Not the first thing most of us associate with movies, and yet nor is it the last. Martin Scorsese was surely not alone in comparing the experience of sitting in a movie theater with attending church." [20]

On October 1, 2012, BirthMoviesDeath published Fantastic Fest Review: THE SHINING FORWARDS AND BACKWARDS and similarly on October 21, 2012, Screencrush published 'The Shining Forwards and Backwards' Review. Both discuss synchromaterialism and the experimental film "The Shining Forwards and Backwards, Simultaneously" made by John Fell Ryan and Akiva Saunders.

In a 2013 spotlight, visual artist Mikey Cook says that he creates his work "via a synchromystic filter". [21]

In 2015 IDigitalTimes interviewed Joe Alexander, filmmaker and member of the synchromystic community, about the viral video "BACK TO THE FUTURE predicts 9/11". [22] Alexander claims that "Rodney Ascher, while making Room 237 , found the sync community". [23]

The Washington Post wrote that synchromystics "... believe that 9/11 and Back to the Future—and everything in the universe, really—are connected by a vast Web of unseen, mystical, esoteric ties." [24] Good Magazine also covered the video and synchromysticism in Did 'Back to the Future' Predict 9/11?

See also

Related Research Articles

Animism is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in some cases words—as being animated, having agency and free will. Animism is used in anthropology of religion as a term for the belief system of many Indigenous peoples in contrast to the relatively more recent development of organized religions. Animism is a metaphysical belief which focuses on the supernatural universe: specifically, on the concept of the immaterial soul.

A magical organization or magical order is an organization or secret society created for the practice of initiation into ceremonial or other forms of occult magic or to further the knowledge of magic among its members. Magical organizations can include Hermetic orders, esoteric societies, arcane colleges, and other groups which may use different terminology and similar though diverse practices.

Peter James Carroll is an English occultist and writer. He is one of the originators of chaos magic theory, a cofounder of the Illuminates of Thanateros, and the founder and chancellor of Arcanorium College.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychopomp</span> Entity believed to escort deceased souls to an afterlife

Psychopomps are creatures, spirits, angels, demons, or deities in many religions whose responsibility is to escort newly deceased souls from Earth to the afterlife.

Synchronicity is a concept introduced by analytical psychologist Carl Jung to describe events that coincide in time and appear meaningfully related, yet lack a discoverable causal connection. Jung held this was a healthy function of the mind, that can become harmful within psychosis.

Anthropology of religion is the study of religion in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures. The anthropology of religion, as a field, overlaps with but is distinct from the field of Religious Studies. The history of anthropology of religion is a history of striving to understand how other people view and navigate the world. This history involves deciding what religion is, what it does, and how it functions. Today, one of the main concerns of anthropologists of religion is defining religion, which is a theoretical undertaking in and of itself. Scholars such as Edward Tylor, Emile Durkheim, E.E. Evans Pritchard, Mary Douglas, Victor Turner, Clifford Geertz, and Talal Asad have all grappled with defining and characterizing religion anthropologically.

Chaos magic, also spelled chaos magick, is a modern tradition of magic. Emerging in England in the 1970s as part of the wider neo-pagan and esoteric subculture, it drew heavily from the occult beliefs of artist Austin Osman Spare, expressed several decades earlier. It has been characterised as an invented religion, with some commentators drawing similarities between the movement and Discordianism. Magical organizations within this tradition include the Illuminates of Thanateros and Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to spirituality:

Philip M. Hine is a British occultist and writer. He became known internationally through his written works Condensed Chaos, Prime Chaos, and Pseudonomicon, as well as several essays on the topics of chaos magic and Cthulhu Mythos magic. He has facilitated workshops and seminars on modern magical practice in America and Europe and contributed to a wide range of occult journals, having been most active from 1986 to 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psychonautics</span> Methodology for describing and explaining the subjective effects of altered states of consciousness

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Left-hand path and right-hand path</span> Dichotomy between two opposing approaches to magic

In Western esotericism, left-hand path and right-hand path are two opposing approaches to magic. Various groups engaged with the occult and ceremonial magic use the terminology to establish a dichotomy, broadly simplified as (malicious) black magic on the left and (benevolent) white magic on the right. Others approach the left/right paths as different kinds of workings, without connotations of good or bad magical actions. Still others treat the paths as fundamental schemes, connected with external divinities on the right, contrasted with self-deification on the left.

Academic study of Jewish mysticism, especially since Gershom Scholem's Major Trends in Jewish Mysticism (1941), draws distinctions between different forms of mysticism which were practiced in different eras of Jewish history. Of these, Kabbalah, which emerged in 12th-century southwestern Europe, is the most well known, but it is not the only typological form, nor was it the first form which emerged. Among the previous forms were Merkabah mysticism, and Ashkenazi Hasidim around the time of the emergence of Kabbalah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coincidence</span> Concurrence of events with no connection

A coincidence is a remarkable concurrence of events or circumstances that have no apparent causal connection with one another. The perception of remarkable coincidences may lead to supernatural, occult, or paranormal claims, or it may lead to belief in fatalism, which is a doctrine that events will happen in the exact manner of a predetermined plan. In general, the perception of coincidence, for lack of more sophisticated explanations, can serve as a link to folk psychology and philosophy.

A religious experience is a subjective experience which is interpreted within a religious framework. The concept originated in the 19th century, as a defense against the growing rationalism of Western society. William James popularised the concept. In some religions, this is said to sometimes result in unverified personal gnosis.

An egregore is a concept in Western esotericism of a non-physical entity or thoughtform that arises from the collective thoughts and emotions of a distinct group of individuals.

Eroto-comatose lucidity is a technique of sex magic known best by its formulation by English author and occultist Aleister Crowley in 1912, but which has several variations and is used in a number of ways by different spiritual communities. A common form of the ritual uses repeated sexual stimulation to place the individual in a state between full sleep and full wakefulness as well as exhaustion, allowing the practitioner to commune with their god.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nevill Drury</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mysticism</span> Practice of religious experiences during alternate states of consciousness

Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, and to human transformation supported by various practices and experiences.

References

Citations

  1. 1 2 3 Valis. The Cryptic Cosmology of Synchromysticism
  2. ↑ Sutcliffe, Steven & Cusack, Carole. The Problem of Invented Religions
  3. 1 2 Horsley, Jason. The Secret Life of Movies
  4. ↑ Tarnas, Richard (2006). Cosmos and Psyche. New York: Penguin Group. p.  50. ISBN   0-670-03292-1.
  5. ↑ Jung, Carl G. (1993) [1952]. Synchronicity: An Acausal Connecting Principle. Bollingen, Switzerland: Bollingen Foundation. ISBN   978-0-691-01794-5. Since included in his Collected Works volume 8.
  6. ↑ Rushnell, S. (2006). When God winks. Atria Books.
  7. ↑ Koestler, Arthur (1973). The Roots of Coincidence. Vintage. ISBN   0-394-71934-4.
  8. ↑ McGinn 2005.
  9. ↑ Moore 2005.
  10. ↑ Harmless 2007, p. 14.
  11. ↑ Hori 1999, p. 47.
  12. ↑ Sharf 2000.
  13. ↑ Harmless 2007, pp. 10–17.
  14. ↑ James 1982, p. 30.
  15. ↑ Chryssides, George. Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements
  16. ↑ Drury, Nevill. The Watkins Dictionary of Magic
  17. 1 2 Carroll, Peter J. Liber Null & Psychonaut
  18. ↑ Carroll, Peter J. Octavo
  19. ↑ Horsley, Jason (15 July 2009). The Secret Life of Movies: Schizophrenic and Shamanic Journeys in American Cinema. McFarland, Incorporated, Publishers. ISBN   978-0786444236.
  20. ↑ Horsely, Jason (July 2009). The Secret Life of Movies: Schizophrenic and Shamanic Journeys in American Cinema. McFarland Publishing. p. 6. ISBN   978-0786444236.
  21. ↑ "Showcase: Mikey Cook | Gallery | The Skinny". www.theskinny.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-04-10.
  22. ↑ BACK TO THE FUTURE predicts 9/11. YouTube . Archived from the original on 2021-12-11.
  23. ↑ Back future predicts 9/11 idigitaltimes.com [ dead link ]
  24. ↑ Caitlin Dewey. "A YouTube video claims 'Back to the Future' predicted 9/11 — and that isn't even the weird part". The Washington Post . Washington, D.C. ISSN   0190-8286. OCLC   1330888409.

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