Synchronosophy
changing the world one miracle at a time
© Veronika Bond, February 12th 2024
Synchronosophy | ˈsɪŋkrənəsɒfi | [from Greek syn = together + khronos = time + sophia = practical wisdom] the discipline and practice of gathering personal wisdom by processing the experience of negative synchronous events.
The Birth of SoS
While trauma is hell on earth, trauma resolved is a gift from the gods.
〰 Peter Levine 〰
On Valentine’s Day, 2024 we hatched the plan. Josh and I were sitting on the roof terrace of a café in Coimbra, a favourite haunt on the premises of the old university, with sweeping views over burnt-orange rooftops down to the glistening waters of the Mondego and beyond.
“You should start a school,” Josh said.
“Why would I want to start a school?” I asked.
“You know I never wanted to do that.”
“But you must!” Josh insisted.
“Because the time is now. And the world needs Synchronosophy.”
The original idea, from which the world of Synchronosophy sprouted, is more than twice as old as the School of Synchronosophy (SoS).
SoS was born as what the great trauma researcher and pioneer in trauma healing Peter Levine called a ‘gift from the gods’.
My gift was a new map of human Consciousness. It showed individual human Consciousness as a living organism ~ rather than a ‘phenomenon mysteriously produced by the brain’ ~ a theory the now outdated anthropocentric doctrine was still pushing at the time.
In my map, the living organism of human Consciousness was born with eight fully developed vital organs [now well known as: Will ~ Soul ~ Inspiration ~ Intuition ~ Imagination ~ Instinct ~ Intellect ~ Body]
It included instructions about their functions, and what we, their hosts, can do to make the most of them. Benefits include › learning from experience › transforming dysfunctional beliefs and patterns › regenerating, becoming who we truly are, doing whatever humans need to do to live an authentic, healthy, and fulfilled life.
I had no doubt that my new Map of an Anatomy of Individual Human Consciousness (MAIHC ~ the first name that came to mind) was brilliant. I fully trusted the information I had received and couldn’t wait to try it out.
What I couldn’t trust was myself. Why had I been given this information? Who was I to bring this to the world? Indeed, should I share it with the world? I didn’t have the right credentials, the right connections, the entrepreneurial knowhow, or friends in high places …
The Incubation of Synchronosophy (1999~2024)
Birth is the sudden opening of a window, …
you look out upon a miracle.
You have exchanged nothing for the possibility of everything.
〰 William MacNeil Dixon 〰
Instead of enjoying this moment to bask on my inner shores, in the warmth of deep appreciation, my inner ocean was raging with waves of worry, anxiety, mistrust, fears and inferiority.
What was wrong with me?!
Even my Inner Critic acknowledged that the gift I had received was revealing paths to a treasure trove of inner wisdom.
The trouble was, I didn’t feel qualified to present my brand-new map to a discerning audience, all of whom (surely) knew far more about Consciousness than I did.
Now I know that such emotions and thoughts are perfectly normal. My resistance and emotional turmoil were telling the truth! I was far from ready to present such a monumental idea to the ‘general public’, and my newborn infant-idea was ~ well, only just born.
What made me think that my newborn idea was ready to be thrown into a world dominated by beasts living in anthropocentric lairs? To be shoved under the lenses of self-appointed experts, ready to poke needles into my baby, and corrupt it faster than you can say ‘Synchronosophy’?
At this point my mothering instinct kicked in. I promised to nurture and protect this baby for as long as necessary, until she was ready to go out into the world and become whatever she was born to be. That maturing period lasted two and a half decades.
The Gift of Synchronosophy to the Symbiocene
If we do not acknowledge our collective trauma, how can we ever heal from it?
When we speak, when we share, we can change things.
Maybe even change the world.
〰 Seth King 〰
The word Symbiocene was only a teenager in 2024. New initiatives, philosophical blogs, and art projects had popped up all over the world to usher in this new era. The Symbiocene promised to deliver us from all evils of the Anthropocene, but it was up to us to speed up its arrival.
“I suggest that systemic symbiotic thinking leads to the Symbiocene, a new era that nurtures all aspects of being human in a world of other beings,” Eco-philosopher Glenn Albrecht wrote in his Invitation to the Symbiocene. (https://symbioscene.com/invitation-to-the-symbiocene/)
It seemed like a great opportunity and perfect moment to ‘become part of the solution’ and ‘be the change we want to see in the world.’
My map of Consciousness (MAIHC) is deeply rooted in systemic symbiotic thinking. The basic premise is that all expressions of human Consciousness, including the negative ones, make valuable contributions to the inner world, even if the host is not yet able to make sense of them.
Most initiatives following the call of Glenn Albrecht to invoke the Symbiocene focussed on eco-projects and environmental activism. Synchronosophy offered a unique opportunity to support and strengthen such outer work, via internal alignment and fundamental paradigm shifts.
Early experiments with MAIHC showed that every subjective negative experience can reveal personal dormant potential, and stimulate the natural process of integration and symbiogenetic growth.
(We later abandoned the name MAIHC when the acronym was adopted by the University of Alcalá for the title Master in Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare)
By the 2020s we all knew it was impossible to create a better world within the old anthropocentric paradigm. Synchronosophy gave impulses to cultivate a new ‘mindset’ in an organic and efficient way.
Theories of ‘reprogramming the mind’ were going out of fashion because of their roots in anthropocentric doctrines. Symbiocentric thinking required an entirely new way of knowing ourselves.
The School of Synchronosophy
Synchronicity happens when we align with the flow of the universe
rather than insisting the universe flow our way.
〰Akemi G 〰
My initial reluctance to found a ‘school’ turned out to be caused by negative associations with the word itself. School smacked of hierarchy, old anthropocentric power structures we needed to break.
A Eureka moment came with a little nudge from my Inner Linguist that school has a second meaning. We use it in relation to groups of fish when they swim in unison. This is what the word school means here. SoS is a school of individuals swimming towards the Symbiocene and using the fuel generated through the practice of Synchronosophy.
Although the modality can be differentiated from others, we decided not to burden this work with a ‘registered trademark’. This was an opportunity to throw off the shackles of Anthropocentric separatism within the world of therapies.
In fact, I didn’t want to nail Synchronosophy down to therapy at all! Because again, the word therapy implies that one person has a problem, and the other is the expert who helps them heal. While this may be necessary sometimes, we learned that everyone is the expert when it comes to healing their own trauma story, which is an ongoing process, confronting more and more subtle layers, from personal, to inter-generational, to historic, and eventually to collective healing.
Synchronosophy gave us tools to break the spell of trauma. Individual healing sessions, group sessions, and personal practice empower synchronosophers to not only break their personal spell, but make transformational contributions to the collective.
Healing sessions in Synchronosophy can be guided by so-called ‘Mirror Companions’ and conducted in many social settings ~ in a café, during a walk in the park, in a lunchbreak at work, a therapy room, art studio, or at the kitchen table. Every synchronosopher soon qualifies as a Mirror Companion, and we can all swap roles as needed.
The Syntopian Story of SoS
None of us are free while one of us is chained.
〰 Barry Mann, Cynthia Weil, Brenda Russell 〰
At the turn of 2023/24 I still had doubts whether ‘the world was ready’ for Synchronosophy. Although none of the basic principles of this method were new, they seemed ‘radical’ because the anthropocentric paradigm ~ despite all technological progress ~ was still clinging to the Cartesian materialist mindset of the 17th century.
I expected the universe to give me a clear sign. The answer came in the form of a ‘messenger’ struggling with a difficult situation. This client happened to be a quantum physicist. Explaining the concepts of Synchronosophy was a breeze.
“Of course, matter doesn’t exist. All is one. Nondualism. Everything becomes liquid under pressure, chaos theory, butterfly effect…”
Our sessions were delightful. Sharing the basics and clarifying key rules of the practice, took flight under their own steam.
“What should I do about explaining things to the other people involved?” he asked at the end of the session.
“Nothing,” I replied. “Just do the exercises I gave you and see what happens. Your work is affecting the field. Your internal changes stimulate changes in others.”
A couple of days later I received a brief email:
“A miracle! Have a lot to report; very very positive.”
This is the miracle of Synchronosophy I am talking about.
You do the inner work that needs to be done in the moment, and outer changes must follow. I’ve heard many people describe this as a ‘Miracle’. Although I am used to it by now, the moment of revelation in the individual mindshift is a wonderful surprise every time ~ always a joy and honour to witness.
Synchronosophy empowers us not only to learn from negative experience but to transform every failure or setback into fuel, to activate dormant potential, and fulfil our life’s purpose.
SoS doesn’t offer degrees or certificates. The only permission you need to follow your life’s path is the one you give yourself. In the early days, many people struggled with so much autonomy. They were uncomfortable with the high level of self-agency required for the practice of Synchronosophy.
Now every practitioner appreciates the training in self-awareness, self-responsibility, and self-acceptance, which is a natural byproduct of our work, as a great asset.
The work of SoS is spread by word of heart. As the awareness of trauma gathered momentum, more and more trauma-survivors were looking for effective modalities to heal, and live beyond mere trauma-survival. S
ynchronosophy offers a whole cabinet of instruments and powertools to not only heal the old wounds but to convert personal pain into personal power, to awaken dormant potential and sponsor the fulfilment of that potential.
At the time, other modalities were feeling their way into a similar direction, but had not yet made the connection between individual trauma and unique life-purpose. Their attention was still caught by ‘getting rid of symptoms’ in line with the dominant anthropocentric definition of ‘healing’.
Synchronosophy presented an inspired original view rooted in three ancient and verified concepts:::
› Consciousness is a living organism with 8 vital organs
›› negative experience is a portal to detect and vitalise positive potential
››› inner work is an effective method to transform the inner & outer world
The theory and tools were picked up by practitioners, therapists, and teachers who resonate with these concepts. Synchronosophy gave a massive boost to their work, while synergy blew mighty winds under our wings.
The initial ripples caused by SoS grew into waves, and then breakers, crashing the summits of anthropocentric powerbrokers, flooding their bunkers, and simultaneously offering rafts to anyone ready to jump from supremehood to kinship.
Every individual who has ever done what we call a Mirror Mindshift, has experienced a paradigm shift in relation to a personal conflict. At the same time they also have received unique tools, designed for a profound and authentic transformation of negative experience.
The tools are deceptively simple and powerful. Every Mirror Mindshift stimulates a healing process and strengthens the immune system of the living organism of Consciousness. Practitioners can use those tools from the beginning not only for themselves but to assist others.
By 2050 it is my greatest joy to watch seeds of Synchronosophy sprout everywhere. Negative experiences and conflict are inevitable. But they don’t need to escalate. Parents are helping their children transform upsetting events and find hidden treasure.
Therapists are following the sequence of Mirror Mindshifts not only with their clients but also for themselves. Teenagers support each other with mindshifting sessions to resolve experiences of bullying, being dumped by a boyfriend/girlfriend, or failing an assignment.
Our ‘Open Source’ approach has allowed Synchronosophy to grow fast and revolutionise the landscape of trauma therapy.
The future of the Symbiocene, viewed from the perspective of Synchronosophy, looks bright and full of magic. 26 years ago this vision might have been dismissed as utopian. That was the anthropocentric lens.
Synchronosophy is writing a new story. The outline of the plot for this story is syntopian. The syntopian world we are building in a symbiogenetic way is rooted in real life experience. Every story we tell is a mirror of an authentic experience in real time. It’s been growing for fifty years already, and there is no stopping it now. Through transformation of trauma, we are changing the world, one miracle at a time.