Synchronicity and Death: An Interpretive Phenomenological Investigation

Abstract

Qualitative interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to explore the phenomenon of synchronicity and its emergence within the process of death and dying. The impact of synchronicity was analyzed in correlation with death and its relationship to Western modernity’s cultural, psychological, and societal substructures. Semistructured interviews were conducted with six palliative care nurses who work closely with individuals diagnosed with terminal illnesses. These personal interviews examined the experiences of synchronicity in the hospice setting as emerging themes were identified for analysis. The research problems consisted of engaging with synchronicity as a phenomenon that is not easily visible or understood, while embracing the limited research involving death in connection to synchronistic occurrences. Other challenges included working within the vast nature of death and synchronicity in a societal context where death is often denied at the conscious level. The research explored the role synchronicity plays in the meaning-making experiences of palliative care staff to substantiate an increase in the frequency, intensity, and perception of synchronistic episodes. Synchronicity was observed within the interactive and empathetic fields created between palliative care workers and those in the active stages of dying. The findings brought clinical awareness to depth psychology by exposing synchronicity as an intuitive process bridging the psychic nature of mind and matter to provide insightful moments of meaning that enhance the therapeutic and healing process.