Do you keep seeing coincidences? And wonder ‘what do they mean’? How do you interpret synchronicities? Here I cover what experts say on interpreting them, including a step-by-step methodical approach for doing that.
Coincidences that seem out of the ordinary yet meaningful are intriguing, amusing, and mystical even. They can make us question our very existence in this human plane. For real life examples of synchronicities, see my article: Signs of Synchronicity.
Here I share a step-by-step approach and insights from expert writers on the subject of explaining coincidences.
Note: You’ll find I use the terms ‘coincidences’ and ‘synchronicity’ interchangeably to mean the same thing.
How to interpret synchronicities?
How do you interpret meaningful coincidences? Meaningful coincidences or synchronicities, as they are so called, are totally relevant to you, personally. So the best way to interpret them is to get a journal and personally take notes of what they mean to you, what you sensed, your emotions, how they happened, who or what was involved, etc. Then with objective eyes, look back over your notes, for common threads or patterns that whisper significances you relate to.
This article has you covered on how to tease out that information. It covers how to interpret synchronicities, starting with the concepts of psychiatrist and psychotherapist, Bernard Beitman MD (1942–).
Beitman’s theories are among those covered in Theories About Synchronicity (From Weird To Probable) on how people generally explain synchronicities.
Keeping a diary or journal for interpreting synchronicities
It’s a good idea to keep a diary or a journal to record your experiences as it helps you to be objective about the experience and look for emerging patterns without raw emotion or bias. That is, you can take a step back from the experience and let the free flow of ideas emerge.
What to journal about to find meaning in the Synchronicity
For how to interpret synchronicities using a journal, Beitman (2015) recommends four areas to concentrate on, which I’ve listed in the following guide …
Step by step guide to understanding synchronicities
This guide contains questions to ask yourself that will help you to interpret the unexplained coincidences you find meaningful but challenging.
It covers what to take note of and to query in regard to the experience. Don’t forget to add the date, time, and place and who you were with or what you were doing at the time of each uncanny experience.
1. Ask yourself, what took your initial interest
What was it that made you wonder and resulted in a feeling of it being meaningful? This is where you note the following:
- what it meant to you (why it caused you to wonder)
- what you sensed (by smell, sight, hearing, taste, or touch) or intuitively sensed
- what you felt (your emotions)
- how it happened
- who or what was involved
- anything else strikingly important
2. Degree of parallels between things
Rate the degree of similarity (e.g. low, medium, high) between factors within or between experiences. Reflect on common threads and note these down. This could be as simple as colors, names, places, designs, numbers, timing, etc.
3. Brainstorm explanations
The event triggered you to ponder on it. Are there logical explanations or not? Could it be a shared consciousness, between two connected people? Was there something that made you feel you manifested it or attracted it through thought or actions?
4. Using your notes
Look back over your notes at later times as an objective observer. What insights do you get? What are the possible meanings or messages?
Examples: Is it about strengthening bonds or about listening more to your intuition, or resolving some personal implications for the future.
Is it to do with a decision, a new possibility, or a course of action?
The psychophysical event includes the observer just as much as the reality underlying the I Ching comprises subjective, i.e., psychic conditions in the totality of the momentary situation.
Carl Jung, Foreword to the I Ching
As Beitman points out, you are the expert and only you can explain the meaning of coincidences happening to you. It’s your destiny to discover it. But still, talking to a third party as a ‘sounding board’ may help you with self-reflection.
See also: How Synchronicity Works. Can Science Explain it?
To interpret synchronicities try meditating
Meditation might help you when you reach a block. Getting into a deep, relaxed state of mind is where you can ask your intuitive self for answers to help solve the mystery of meaningful coincidences.
Interpret coincidences as waking dreams
Then, there is the work of psychoanalyst, Gibbs A. Williams,2
Williams considers synchronicities to be waking dreams and that interpreting them is similar to that of analyzing dreams.
This means picking out and finding the associations between the key elements of the synchronicity and how the elements connect to solve the mystery.
Interpret coincidences using your intuition
Paulo Coelho3, the author of The Alchemist, regards coincidence a language. And, the key to understanding this language is intuition.
I wrote about ways to spark intuition in a previous article that could help here. Interestingly, one way I mentioned was to keep a diary of events, similar to those suggested by Beitman.
Final thoughts
This has been brief, but it gives some basis to start your own analysis. I intend doing so in my own understanding of the synchronicities I mentioned in my article on signs of synchronicity.
Having a ‘coincidence journal’ appears as a key approach recommended by professionals towards unraveling any obscure meanings. I’ll give updates here as I find more professional wisdom and progress in my journey of discovery.
For more depth on the effect of synchronicity in your life, Beitman offers a coincidence scale to rate your connection to it in his book Connecting With Coincidence, available at Amazon.
References
- Beitman, B. 2016. Connecting With Coincidence – The New Science For Using Synchronicity and Serendipity in Your Life. Health Communications Inc. Florida.
- Williams, Gibbs A. 2010. Demystifying Meaningful Coincidences (Synchronicities): The Evolving Self, the Personal Unconscious, and the Creative Process. Lanham, Md. : Jason Aronson.
- Coelho, P., Clarke, A., & Smith, J. N. (2014). The Alchemist. Harper Collins.
