Primitive peoples still think synchronistically today; that is, for them there is no such thing as a meaningless accident. If, for example, a woman is pulled underwater by a crocodile, then they question the meaning of it. That it was mere accident that just this woman was pulled underwater in just that moment as she was fetching water is inconceivable for them. In the primitive picture of the world, there are no accidents. That which the modern scientist evaluates strictly as an accident, the primitive will always try to fathom the meaning of. So it would be possible for us, by slipping back a bit into our primitive side, to revive this way of seeing in ourselves and say to ourselves: "What happened just now was hardly an accidentwhy did that happen to me today of all times?" If we do this, we very often find that meaningful connections indeed exist. Naturally, we could exaggerate this procedure and see synchronicities where none exist. The men of ancient times always interpreted synchronistic events as a sign from the gods-a numen. The word numinosum comes from the verb nuere, which means "to nod" or "give a sign." Thus when Zeus gives a sign with his eyebrows, something numinous occurs. Throughout the world, this kind of coincidence was regarded as a sign of destiny or a signal from the divine principle.
— Marie-Louise von Franz
Von Franz is pointing at something the modern psyche finds genuinely difficult to tolerate: the possibility that what happens to you is addressed to you. Not caused by you, not your fault, not punishment — but addressed. The crocodile pulling the woman under is not an argument for a universe that cares in any sentimental sense; it is an argument that the soul, given its full range, cannot rest in pure contingency. Accident is the modern form of not-having-to-ask. When everything can be random, nothing requires interpretation, and interpretation is precisely what the soul would have to undergo if it took its own experience seriously.
The etymology von Franz offers is worth dwelling on: *nuere*, to nod, to give a sign. Not to speak in sentences. Not to reveal a plan. A nod is minimal — Zeus barely moves — and yet it reorganizes the field. The numinous does not explain; it signals. There is a difference between a world that sends messages and a world that sends explanations, and the former makes considerably more demands on whoever receives the nod. To ask "why did that happen to me today of all times?" is not magical thinking — it is the beginning of genuine receptivity to one's own life, which is harder than it sounds and considerably less comfortable than randomness.
Marie-Louise von Franz·Psyche and Matter·2014