Okay, this one goes to the heart of the question of the deeper roots of synchronicity.
Most people agree, of course, that what happened in Nazi Germany was horrific, the gassing of millions of innocents as the epitome of evil. Those today who try to justify or say it didn’t happen are regarded as nutcases or worse.
That said, let’s take a look at Hitler’s early life as a soldier during World War I. The following comes from Synchronicity: Science, Myth, and the Trickster, by Allan Combs and Mark Holland.
***
As a courier it often was his job to carry messages along battle lines during vigorous fighting – a dangerous assignment, but one that he seemed to thrive on. Indeed, he seemed to live a charmed life. Once he walked out of his commander’s headquarters just before it was hit by an English artillery shell which killed three persons and seriously wounded the commander.
Time and time again Hitler seemed to come within a hair’s breadth of death and escaped unharmed. This ability was to stay with him throughout his life. He later wrote to a reporter about one episode from his combat experience: “Four times we advanced and had to go back; from my whole batch only one remains, beside me; finally he also falls. A shot tears off my right coat sleeve, but like a miracle I remain safe and alive.”
***
The authors say that Hitler (and also Churchill) “seemed to live under the aegis of fate, as if protected so that they might later play their roles in history.” Synchronicity – those meaningful coincidences – were the means that allowed Hitler – and Churchill – to aspire to their fates. Materialists, of course, would say that it was all just random events that spared Hitler and Churchill early in their lives, just as they say a random mix of particles just happened to come together to create the universe, earth, mankind, etc.
Both men felt they had a calling, that higher forces were at play in their lives. So if we consider the underlying mechanism as synchronicity and whether we relate it to God, the Universe, or the collective unconscious, the issue of evil arises. Uncanny events, outrageously unlikely, led Hitler to become the man-monster of twentieth century history, and Churchill as one of its heroes. But if we consider the Universe as good, we have to wonder why Hitler was spared an early death on the battlefield. Without such a figure, the Nazi Party might never have risen beyond its role as racist agitators and thugs, and maybe we would have been spared the horrors of World War II.
However, it’s probably simplistic to think of synchronicity as something that happens only to ‘good’ people to guide them on their paths. Maybe the big picture, the underlying reality, extends beyond our concepts of good and evil. Maybe the Hitler scenario actually took place for reasons not easily comprehended. Clearly, there’s a hidden reality, and each of us is playing a role. We are all more than the lives we are experiencing.
Thoughts?
Rob
I think the bottom line is that synchronicity exists outside of our concepts of good and evil.
Rob
Maybe Hitler could have used his genius for good, but chose evil. Who knows what a good Hitler could have manifested. Could it just have been a form of unconsciousness, fed by the underlying dislke of Jewish people? In other words, free will.
just this morning i watched a few minutes of a documentary on the personality of hitler – it mentioned how he developed a "god-like" perception of himself and, you know, if one believes that one is "god-like" and therefore, invincible, then, your own reality becomes that you are, in fact, invincible [to those near-death experiences] – ?
Perhaps, in the larger scheme of things, certain people choose to play particular roles so that we, as a species, as spiritual beings, can evolve. It doesn't mitigate the horror of Nazi Germany or Rwanda or the genocide going on in other countries. But it might explain why these horror occur.
Fate, like destiny, is a path. Events can conspire to help you reach your destination, but it takes intention and effort to attract the synchronicities.
When Trish and I met in the early 1980s, neither of us were published, but we had the desire. The first thing we did, actually, was to attempt to write a book similar to the one that we're working on now. We called it Ariadne's Thread, but we couldn't pull it off. I remember thinking we would try it, and if it didn't work, that would be it. But by the time we gave up on it, we were hooked on the path, and synchronicity led us along.
Now more than sixty books later, we are back to synchronicity. Fate, destiny? Sure, but with a lot of desire and effort along the way.
Rob
Here's my thoughts:
Good and evil are judgment calls made by humans on earth, of a divine/universal energy.
It's possible certain individuals are "fated" to play a role within a divine plan, but it is still their individual choice to play that role, and how they play it. How the rest of us judge, record events for history, choose to honor or curse the past-and its effect on the present, is also our personal choice.
Governments, civilizations, cultures and religions rise and fall through human history. The only constant is – history is peopled by individual humans.
Rob I do agree that we are more than just the lives we are experiencing; however I do not believe in fate or destiny.
I don't believe that either Hitler or Churchill were spared at the last minute most of the time for anything greater in life. There was no reason that I can see why they were saved.
Very interesting blog.
Renee xoxo