Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Dreaming Up Synchronicity


via Goodreads.com
 According to Carl Jung, synchronicity is:
the experience of two or more events, that are apparently causally related or unlikely to occur together by chance, that are observed to occur together in a  meaningful manner. (via wikipedia)

Synchronicity is like Serendipity, I think. You have to be observant in order to reap the benefits. Research is one of those things where you hope for a bit of both.

Part of my daily routine is reading some non-fiction before bedtime. (If I read fiction, I can't put it down.) Right now I have The New Secret Language of Dreams by David Fontana on the nightstand. It's a pretty book, easily followed and quite entertaining. It's another one of my Border's sale rack finds and I'm reading it to refine my fortunetelling threads. If you recall my previous post:

My method uses a connection to djinn via the fortuneteller. A medium taps into the superconscious telepathy to scry your fortune. The patterns and symbols which appear in the cup are translated into a fabulous story, which may or may not apply to you.

In my theory, the djinn uses a distanced perspective to view multiple people, their actions and possible circumstances. The synchronicity in the world around you determines your most likely path. Then the djinn tosses some symbols in the coffee cup, tea leaves, runes, or what have you, for the fortuneteller to read.

I relate it to reading dreams like this: Your mind assigns a symbolic object to something you are trying to comprehend in real life, but in a dream world. When you step back and overlap the two worlds, you'll find the synchronicity leading to understanding. Hopefully. Well, I am writing fiction. And fiction has to be logical, if fantastical.

Being a writer is like being a foretuneteller. Synchronicity happens for me when I place story threads next to each other and see where they overlap, devining my character's journey, if you will. And that's how I'm going to mix a neo-byzantine djinn queen with pirates, Mithraism...and a creepy cave full of dripping limestone.


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10 comments:

Sarah said...

Wow, what a nice comparison. And it makes the writing process sound so much more exotic and profound!

Jules said...

Nice analogy between the two but back to this dream thing... I dream in black, nothing but black and when I wake up it's still black. Is there a way to change the color? I want green, as in money green :)
Jules @ Trying To Get Over The Rainbow

Carolyn V said...

That is a great idea to read non-fiction before bed. I have the same problem with reading fiction. Great analogy! =D

Old Kitty said...

Oooh!!!! Yay for synchronising your novel threads into a fabulously entertaining read!! Your Djinn is one powerful complex character!!!

Amazing! take care
x

Unknown said...

I'm the opposite, I can't put non-fiction down. But I think the language and meaning of dreams is a fascinating subject!

Hart Johnson said...

Oh, I love your take on how fortunetelling works! I see synchronicity as more predictable than serendipity, but often with like results. I love them both though, and that synchronicity as a tool for the djinn seems perfect.

Michelle James said...

Hi Carolyn,

I hope you don't mind me getting in touch. I found your details on your blog and I hope you might be able to help me with my strange request…

I am a Producer working on a television show called House Hunters International which follows English speaking expats in their quest to purchase a house in Turkey. I am hoping to find English speaking expats to profile who have moved to Chile. I wonder if you or any of your expat contacts might be interested in getting involved?! I would love to find out more about your story! Please find a little blurb about the show below:

House Hunters International is a half-hour program currently airing on the Home and Garden Television Network (HGTV) in America.
The series is designed to de-mystify the international home-buying process by going behind the scenes of a house hunt where buyers and their real estate agents tour 3 homes.

At its core, House Hunters International is a travel show concentrating on the idiosyncrasies of the locales and what makes them special and different.

You can watch some examples of the show here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kh0Q6DYe3QM - London from South Africa (1600 series)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLmhKEzm5kg - Dubai from Illinois (2000 series)


Please get in touch if you have any more questions about the show. I look forward to hearing from you!

Best wishes and many thanks,

Michelle



Michelle James
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER LEOPARD FILMS
1-3 St Peter's Street, London N1 8JD - +44 20 7704 3300
michelle.james@leopardfilms.com
www.leopardfilms.com

LTM said...

I love how you described storytelling--that's how it works for me, too! And I'm not even writing magical stories! Or stories involving magic... LOL! :D

And what a cool "research" book! I think dream interpretations are fun! :o) <3

OJ Gonzalez-Cazares said...

love it! synchronicity, serendipity, chance, faith, alignment...it's all there, we just have to stop one moment and see it...to believe it.

Deniz Bevan said...

Neat Carolyn - I always like hearing about your djinns. I love the synchronicity that happens when parts of your story start coming together and the character's emotions and so on overlap and begin threading into each other.

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