ʻIT IS ALL SO STRANGELY
INTERTWINEDʼ: A DISCUSSION
BETWEEN HANS BENDER AND CARL
GUSTAV JUNG ABOUT SYNCHRONICITY
(1960)
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.