The most recommended books on coincidences

This is a brilliant book by a physicist and highly creative thinker. David Peat worked personally with David Bohm in coming to understand the universe as a deep holographic process, one in which the meaning of real events is hidden and enfolded in the “implicate order” beyond time and space. Peat’s literary touch makes this book a must for those who love the study of synchronicity.

I chose this book because of the author. Mason is brilliant and neurodiverse. She has aphantasia, the inability to see images in her mind’s eye. Forty-nine out of fifty people when asked, “Close your eyes and imagine a red ball.” See that red ball. Jamie doesn’t. This is her superpower. Her voice is surprising and singular, “…the trees and rode the shadows sideways into the tangly back hem of his old backyard.” Hem of a yard, love that. And “Guilt wears track shoes. Sprint, marathon, or cross-country, it doesn’t matter. It runs tireless to catch you, and it carries a sledgehammer.”

Carl Jung is the person who actually coined the term “synchronicity” and was the first to recognize it as an important connecting principle between the unconscious and the outer world. He observed that such events occur when the archetypal processes of the collective and personal unconscious correspond to objective events in the real world. Here, for example, he reports the now-famous case of the patient who dreamed of a scarab beetle, a creature that represented transformation to the ancient Egyptians, only to find a similar beetle tapping on Jung’s consultation room window the next day, as the patient described the dream to him.

For Jung, virtually all authentic instances of synchronicity involve the archetypal unconscious and reflect mythic themes. This book includes a number of the first and best examples in synchronicity literature.

This is a book that I will undoubtedly recommend to future generations as we collectively expand our consciousness and recognize the importance of synchronicity in our lives. 

Having collaborated with Bernie on projects related to synchronicity and consciousness, I have witnessed firsthand his immense passion and keen perceptions derived from his lifelong research on meaningful coincidences. Bernie expertly guides readers through a wealth of data and personal experiences, revealing how we can become more attuned to this critical phenomenon and its role in fostering a stronger collective consciousness.

This book builds upon Carl Jung’s pioneering work and will resonate with readers for generations to come. Bernie’s humor and personal anecdotes make it an engaging, enlightening, and truly delightful read. 

In this rare book, Sky Nelson-Isaacs gives us a remarkably insightful and readable understanding of synchronicity and how to live into it. The author speaks with the triple-mind of a physicist, mystic, musician. It is a beautiful introduction to the topic of synchronicity, and how living with the flow brings many life gifts into our lives. Here is a fine first read on the topic of synchronicity. It is also deeply thoughtful and sophisticated upon further study. Easy but sophisticated reading, and a great place to start. Or finish!

This book is so amazing because it describes the real-life spiritual adventures of the legendary transpersonal psychologist, Dr. Stan Grof, who has taken many journeys into non-ordinary states of consciousness.

The book describes what becomes possible when we shift our awareness away from a mere materialist outlook on the world and give consciousness a fundamental role. I like to refer back to it, again and again, to remind myself that the limitations of my perception are the limitations of my mind: If I open up my mind, even the so-called impossible will begin to happen.  

Deepak Chopra gives us a lovingly personal and spiritual perspective of synchronicity. On the practical side, it offers a variety of exercises to help the reader discover the power of synchronicity in his or her own life. In essence, however, it is simply about noticing the organizing intelligence seen through synchronistic events and inviting it into your life. In Chopra’s own words, “You don’t have to assign a specific meaning or interpretation to the coincidences, just … gently appreciate the cosmic coordination of your life with everything else.” This is a book that has changed the lives of its readers.

For me personally, this is one of the best works on spontaneous psychical and extrasensory experiences. The accounts are drawn from rural Finland, and the expertise of the late Professor Emerita Leea Virtanen is brought to bear upon the narratives. I love how Virtanen connects the modern accounts to the old beliefs and traditions in her country and makes comparisons between her sample and others much further afield.

This work is a much-needed bridge between psychical research and folklore. It is full of apparitions, visions, dreams, and other supernatural occurrences that happen simultaneously with a distant event—what Virtanen calls “simultaneous informatory experiences.” I absolutely recommend this for any student of psychical research, folklore, or ordinary human experiences in general.

This book is a rich introduction to the topic of synchronicity, thoughtfully simplifying Carl Jung's original ideas. In the words of Gary Schwartz, PhD., this work “is teeming with delightful and compelling surprises about the nature of meaningful coincidences in contemporary life. The author's prose is playful, provocative, and profound.” From the foreword, which the present writer (Allan Combs) wrote himself, “If you are looking for answers to the profound enigma of the meaning and nature of meaningful coincidences in your own life, answers that bring psychological insight and spiritual understanding, then you have come to the right place.

Professor Surprise has given us the finest book of its kind: a clear and delightfully readable account of the nature of chance in the lives of ordinary people; and he has flavored his offering with a perfect sauce of delicious examples.” Here is an excellent first, and even last book on… show more.

I’m not an overly religious person and you don’t have to be either to enjoy this book. No matter what your denomination is, this book, like Matthews, is filled with positivity. The short stories of true people (including Denzel Washington and his wife) continued to give me hope that I’d find love again at the right time. This book made me laugh, cry, and also opened my eyes to a new way of thinking about relationships. It is another I frequently re-read and am reminded that divorce doesn’t mean game over.