this blog entry is the second of installment of my master’s thesis entitled “Inner Vision and Synchronicity:  Dream Work as Taught by Charles Fillmore and Carl Jung.”  I encourage you to read the previous entry to get caught up to date.

Obviously enough, here’s an introduction to Charles Fillmore and Carl Jung.  The next blog post will be a short biography of Charles Fillmore.  As I did my research, I was amazed not only with the similarities of with their work, but with their personal lives as well…

Carl Jung's Astrological Horoscope

FILLMORE AND JUNG – AN  INTRODUCTION

“Synchronicity” is a term coined by Carl Jung to describe a meaningful coincidence – the occurrence of two events related in some way without any demonstrable causality.  It can be that one of the events is an “inner” event in the mind of an individual, such as a dream, that later is played out in the “outer,” physical world.  An example might be when the object of the dream, a long-lost friend, unexpectedly comes for a visit.  In another instance, the synchronistic events may be two “outer” events such as when two intellectual pioneers begin to teach the same subject at roughly the same time without knowing of the work of the other.   Such is the case with Carl Jung and Charles Fillmore in their work with dreams.  The synchronistic link between these two individuals as it relates to dream work will be the focus of this work and will necessarily include a basic review of their understanding of the roles of psychology and religion in the life of modern mankind.

There are other synchronicities that exist between these two that are notable.  One is the fact they have the same given name. Charles is the English version of the German name Carl which means “man,” or “manly” (BabyNamesWorld.com, 2007).  Additionally, each had a keen interest in astrology.  Jung’s work Synchronicity, An Acausal Connecting Principle published in 1960 includes an astrological study he conducted.  Fillmore signed many of his early works with the pen name Leo Virgo, such as the tract The Church of Christ published in 1901.  Both men were born under the astrological sign Leo – Jung on July 26, 1875, Fillmore on August 22, 1854.

Are these other synchronicities meaningful?  That will be for the reader to determine; however, each man became a leader in a new field (analytical psychology and the Unity Movement, a collective designation for Unity churches and centers worldwide), which have as their ultimate aims the development of humanity.  Also, as will be shown below, each had a keen interest in what was practical and demonstrable, so perhaps these connections may warrant further study in a different context.

In spite of these similarities, the differences between them were enormous.