The concept of destiny is most regularly invoked in everyday life at the moments when events are so “coincidental” that it gives one at least the impression that they were pre-ordained by some...Show moreThe concept of destiny is most regularly invoked in everyday life at the moments when events are so “coincidental” that it gives one at least the impression that they were pre-ordained by some mysterious, transcendent force or principle. Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung proposes the synchronicity principle to explain such phenomena. This thesis asks: what are the implications of C.G. Jung’s depth psychology, and his synchronicity principle in particular, for the personal significance and attainment of destiny? Destiny can be said to be the knowing awareness of the realization of the course of one’s life which is always to some extent meaningful to the experiencing subject. The causality principle cannot account for the meaningful connections required for destiny, that is, it cannot explain why destiny is important to the individual. To understand the experience of destiny, Carl Jung’s principle of synchronicity might be more useful. Synchronistic phenomena require explanation from the perspective of a worldview that allows for the interconnectedness of all that exists. For the synchronicity principle to be effective as principle of explanation, then, it needs to stand in a necessary relationship to totality, which Jung understands as the archetypes in the collective unconscious, which form patterns. The conscious awareness and interpretation of the unfoldment of such archetypal patterns in life is what we might call destiny. Destiny, as knowledge about one’s life course is never concrete in showing what one might expect to happen but gives one a subtle glance at the larger pattern of reality to find oneself in the meaningful order of totality. One can come to know what role one is to play within the whole of reality on the basis of the interpretative framework that is offered by the archetypal expressions in synchronistic experiences. Destiny, in conclusion, is foremost about getting to know oneself: self-knowledge forms a hermeneutical framework from which one interprets (the events of) one’s life course. Synchronistic phenomena contribute to self-knowledge in a uniquely compelling and valuable way by offering unconscious guidance through meaningful co-incidences, but, finally, the responsibility rests with the individual whether to use this guidance to their advantage in obtaining destiny.Show less
