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Conversations with Marie-Louise von Franz on Synchronicity and Numbers: Insights and Amplifications
Intriguing revelations from Marie-Louise von Franz’s final words on numbers and synchronicity
A special delivery from Jung’s
Our newest title takes you inside fascinating conversations among Marie-Louise von Franz herself and her colleagues, and their work at the newly-founded Marie-Louise von Franz Institute for Studies in Synchronicity (MLFI) in Zurich from 1994 to 1998.
October 1993: Marie-Louise von Franz recounts a dream of “a new job.”
She is the new apprentice postman at the Bollingen post office! Her mission is to continue Jung’s work on number, quantum physics, synchronicity and depth psychology. She must deliver this “letter” to a new generation which still may not be ready for the message.
Conversations is this a glimpse into the profound thinking and powerful intuition that brought us some of the most important Jungian scholarship ever written.
The editors, Robin Mindell and Christophe Le Mouel, present a series of seven conversations which explore the resonances and convergences of synchronicity, number, quantum physics, and Jung’s central concepts of depth psychology. Some conversations involve surprising revelations about her analytical work with Wolfgang Pauli. She shares her own reflections about the psyche’s progress toward death and what may come next. As von Franz was becoming increasingly ill with Parkinsonism, there is an urgency to these discussions. She knew her time was limited. This book captures her unyielding commitment to honoring Jung’s legacy and pushing forward the frontiers of depth psychology.
The editors essentially bring us into the room as von Franz works with her colleagues to formulate these ideas, at a time when neuroscience, chaos theory and quantum physics were still emerging fields. She refused to take more than minimal pain medication so that her mind would remain sharp as her physical body deteriorated. She expressed concern that the world might not yet be ready for the important message she was striving to deliver, but hoped that future generations might be receptive. This intimate view of “Marlus” is unlike any you will find in her other publications. She curses, she jokes, she shares her dreams, she serves treats, and sometimes she’s too exhausted to do more than nod her head.
Sadly, von Franz passed away on February 17, 1998, having continued her conversations about the nature of synchronicity almost to the very end of her life.
The book features detailed footnotes and a wealth of additional material that has never been previously published. The esoteric subject matter may be challenging, but any readers of Jungian psychology — especially those who want to deepen their understanding of synchronicity — will be rewarded, delighted and moved by this glimpse into the personality and process of Marie-Louise von Franz.
A special delivery from Jung’s
Our newest title takes you inside fascinating conversations among Marie-Louise von Franz herself and her colleagues, and their work at the newly-founded Marie-Louise von Franz Institute for Studies in Synchronicity (MLFI) in Zurich from 1994 to 1998.
October 1993: Marie-Louise von Franz recounts a dream of “a new job.”
She is the new apprentice postman at the Bollingen post office! Her mission is to continue Jung’s work on number, quantum physics, synchronicity and depth psychology. She must deliver this “letter” to a new generation which still may not be ready for the message.
Conversations is this a glimpse into the profound thinking and powerful intuition that brought us some of the most important Jungian scholarship ever written.
The editors, Robin Mindell and Christophe Le Mouel, present a series of seven conversations which explore the resonances and convergences of synchronicity, number, quantum physics, and Jung’s central concepts of depth psychology. Some conversations involve surprising revelations about her analytical work with Wolfgang Pauli. She shares her own reflections about the psyche’s progress toward death and what may come next. As von Franz was becoming increasingly ill with Parkinsonism, there is an urgency to these discussions. She knew her time was limited. This book captures her unyielding commitment to honoring Jung’s legacy and pushing forward the frontiers of depth psychology.
The editors essentially bring us into the room as von Franz works with her colleagues to formulate these ideas, at a time when neuroscience, chaos theory and quantum physics were still emerging fields. She refused to take more than minimal pain medication so that her mind would remain sharp as her physical body deteriorated. She expressed concern that the world might not yet be ready for the important message she was striving to deliver, but hoped that future generations might be receptive. This intimate view of “Marlus” is unlike any you will find in her other publications. She curses, she jokes, she shares her dreams, she serves treats, and sometimes she’s too exhausted to do more than nod her head.
Sadly, von Franz passed away on February 17, 1998, having continued her conversations about the nature of synchronicity almost to the very end of her life.
The book features detailed footnotes and a wealth of additional material that has never been previously published. The esoteric subject matter may be challenging, but any readers of Jungian psychology — especially those who want to deepen their understanding of synchronicity — will be rewarded, delighted and moved by this glimpse into the personality and process of Marie-Louise von Franz.
216 pages, Paperback
Published October 8, 2025
About the author
Marie-Louise von Franz
106 books934 followersMarie-Louise von Franz was a Swiss Jungian psychologist and scholar.
Von Franz worked with Carl Jung, whom she met in 1933 and knew until his death in 1961. Jung believed in the unity of the psychological and material worlds, i.e., they are one and the same, just different manifestations. He also believed that this concept of the unus mundus could be investigated through research on the archetypes of the natural numbers. Due to his age, he turned the problem over to von Franz. Two of her books, Number and Time and Psyche and Matter, deal with this research.
Von Franz, in 1968, was the first to publish that the mathematical structure of DNA is analogous to that of the I Ching. She cites the reference to the publication in an expanded essay "Symbols of the Unus Mundus," published in her book Psyche and Matter. In addition to her many books, Von Franz recorded a series of films in 1987 titled The Way of the Dream with her student Fraser Boa.
Von Franz founded the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. In The Way of the Dream she claims to have interpreted over 65,000 dreams. Von Franz also wrote over 20 volumes on Analytical psychology, most notably on fairy tales as they relate to Archetypal or Depth Psychology, most specifically by amplification of the themes and characters. She also wrote on subjects such as alchemy, discussed from the Jungian, psychological perspective, and active imagination, which could be described as conscious dreaming. In Man and His Symbols, von Franz described active imagination as follows: "Active imagination is a certain way of meditating imaginatively, by which one may deliberately enter into contact with the unconscious and make a conscious connection with psychic phenomena."
Von Franz worked with Carl Jung, whom she met in 1933 and knew until his death in 1961. Jung believed in the unity of the psychological and material worlds, i.e., they are one and the same, just different manifestations. He also believed that this concept of the unus mundus could be investigated through research on the archetypes of the natural numbers. Due to his age, he turned the problem over to von Franz. Two of her books, Number and Time and Psyche and Matter, deal with this research.
Von Franz, in 1968, was the first to publish that the mathematical structure of DNA is analogous to that of the I Ching. She cites the reference to the publication in an expanded essay "Symbols of the Unus Mundus," published in her book Psyche and Matter. In addition to her many books, Von Franz recorded a series of films in 1987 titled The Way of the Dream with her student Fraser Boa.
Von Franz founded the C.G. Jung Institute in Zurich. In The Way of the Dream she claims to have interpreted over 65,000 dreams. Von Franz also wrote over 20 volumes on Analytical psychology, most notably on fairy tales as they relate to Archetypal or Depth Psychology, most specifically by amplification of the themes and characters. She also wrote on subjects such as alchemy, discussed from the Jungian, psychological perspective, and active imagination, which could be described as conscious dreaming. In Man and His Symbols, von Franz described active imagination as follows: "Active imagination is a certain way of meditating imaginatively, by which one may deliberately enter into contact with the unconscious and make a conscious connection with psychic phenomena."
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
June 7, 2026
This book offers something rare: the chance to encounter a formidable intellect thinking out loud. These conversations reveal the depth of Marie-Louise von Franz’s understanding of psychology, symbolism, mathematics, and metaphysics, and the remarkable flexibility of her mind. She moves effortlessly between discussions of archetypes, number theory, synchronicity, alchemy, and consciousness, often approaching immensely difficult subjects with flashes of humour and disarming directness. What emerges is a portrait of someone capable of holding paradox without reducing it.
What struck me most was Jung’s and von Franz’s sustained attempt to understand the origins and evolution of consciousness through archetypal numbers. Her treatment of number as something qualitative rather than merely quantitative opens entirely different ways of thinking about reality. Whether discussing the One as primordial unity, the multiple forms of “twoness,” or the emergence of consciousness through number patterns, she repeatedly pushes beyond conventional mathematics into territory where psyche and matter appear to participate in the same ordering principle.
The editors deserve enormous credit for the way this volume has been assembled. References are carefully documented and, crucially, many source materials are reproduced directly in the notes and appendices. This greatly enriches the reading experience and saves considerable time by allowing the reader to remain immersed in the argument rather than constantly leaving it to chase references elsewhere.
On a personal level, this book provided many insights that amplified my own work with numbers 26 and 36 as they appear throughout my book Soul Amplification: Signs, Symbols, and Synchronicities for the Radical Acceptance of the Feminine. Von Franz’s distinctions between doubling and division, quantity and quality, and the dynamic nature of number opened up new pathways of reflection for me. Her insistence that process changes the meaning of numerical structures was especially fruitful and gave me several new angles from which to revisit ideas I had already been exploring.
This is not an easy book, nor should it be. It demands patience, reflection, and often repeated readings. Yet it rewards that effort generously. This collection of interviews functions as an intellectual workshop in which ideas are tested, challenged, revised, and expanded. There is an extraordinary amount of food for thought here, and I know I will return to these conversations repeatedly as a valuable source of references and further avenues of inquiry.
What struck me most was Jung’s and von Franz’s sustained attempt to understand the origins and evolution of consciousness through archetypal numbers. Her treatment of number as something qualitative rather than merely quantitative opens entirely different ways of thinking about reality. Whether discussing the One as primordial unity, the multiple forms of “twoness,” or the emergence of consciousness through number patterns, she repeatedly pushes beyond conventional mathematics into territory where psyche and matter appear to participate in the same ordering principle.
The editors deserve enormous credit for the way this volume has been assembled. References are carefully documented and, crucially, many source materials are reproduced directly in the notes and appendices. This greatly enriches the reading experience and saves considerable time by allowing the reader to remain immersed in the argument rather than constantly leaving it to chase references elsewhere.
On a personal level, this book provided many insights that amplified my own work with numbers 26 and 36 as they appear throughout my book Soul Amplification: Signs, Symbols, and Synchronicities for the Radical Acceptance of the Feminine. Von Franz’s distinctions between doubling and division, quantity and quality, and the dynamic nature of number opened up new pathways of reflection for me. Her insistence that process changes the meaning of numerical structures was especially fruitful and gave me several new angles from which to revisit ideas I had already been exploring.
This is not an easy book, nor should it be. It demands patience, reflection, and often repeated readings. Yet it rewards that effort generously. This collection of interviews functions as an intellectual workshop in which ideas are tested, challenged, revised, and expanded. There is an extraordinary amount of food for thought here, and I know I will return to these conversations repeatedly as a valuable source of references and further avenues of inquiry.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review