ʻIT IS ALL SO STRANGELYINTERTWINEDʼ: A DISCUSSIONBETWEEN HANS BENDER AND CARLGUSTAV JUNG ABOUT SYNCHRONICITY(1960)

Hans Bender, a German parapsychologist, met with C. G. Jung in December 1960, and their recorded discussion is presented in English for the first time. The article describes synchronicity through Bender's personal experiences during a drive to an Eranos Conference and a Parapsychology Foundation workshop in August 1960, while his mother suffered a fatal stroke. Bender, familiar with the route, had intensely emotional experiences at certain places that he later interpreted as synchronistic with her death.

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Abstract

Hans Bender, German parapsychologist and professor at the Freiburg University, met with C. G. Jung on December 8, 1960. The discussion was recorded, and the transcribed version is available here for the first time in English. A key aspect of our article is a description of the phenomenon of synchronicity based on Hans Bender’s concrete experiences during a drive through Switzerland to an Eranos Conference in Ascona and further on to the Côte d’Azur for a workshop of the Parapsychology Foundation in August 1960. At the same time, his mother suffered a stroke, which caused her death shortly afterward. Bender was returning to Freiburg at the time when she died. He was familiar with the stages of his return trip from earlier trips. He had intensely emotional experiences at certain places, which he, in retrospect, interpreted as synchronistic in connection with his mother’s death. KEYWORDS C.G. Jung, Hans Bender, Synchronicity, Psi experiences.