If you’re feeling a little more emotionally open, intuitive, or even overwhelmed, you’re not alone. Some of us may be picking up on energetic shifts: the kind that bring people back into our awareness in unusual ways.
This week I’ve had three encounters where I ran into someone I was just thinking about. Not in places we’d usually cross paths, either. It felt strange and meaningful. So I started reflecting about synchronicities between people and what it could mean when you keep meeting or thinking about someone and they show up.
What is Synchronicity?
The term synchronicity comes from Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist who also gave us the concept of archetypes, shadow work, and the collective unconscious. He described it as a meaningful coincidence: when something internal (a thought, dream, or feeling) connects to something external (an event, a person showing up) without a clear cause.
His classic example: A patient tells him about a dream involving a golden scarab. At that moment, a beetle resembling a scarab taps at the window. Jung lets it in and hands it to her, breaking her overly rational worldview.
Jung believed these moments hint at a hidden order beneath reality. He called it the unus mundus or one world (a unified field of meaning that connects mind and matter). You can read more about that story and how modern psychologists view synchronicity in this article.
Running Into the Same Person Repeatedly
What does it mean when you keep running into someone unexpectedly? Or when someone you haven’t spoken to in years suddenly appears after you’ve been thinking of them?
According to psychologist Bernard Beitman, people report these coincidences — thinking of someone right before they contact you — around once per week. In this piece from The Atlantic, he discusses how these events often feel like signs, even if we can’t prove they are.
Some people view it through probability, others through spirituality. It could be that these recurring encounters signal a need for attention or reflection. Sometimes it’s a lesson. Sometimes it’s a thread from the past asking to be seen again. Sometimes it’s just strange timing. But the feeling that it means something is powerful.
Read also Name Synchronicity & Its Spiritual Meaning for more experiences with name-based synchronicities and their deeper messages.
Synchronicity Between a Man and a Woman
If the other person is someone you’ve had a relationship with (romantic, platonic, karmic), and especially if you’re a man and a woman who keep meeting or contacting each other “by chance,” it can feel even more intense.
These situations often come with:
- Shared symbols or repeating numbers
- Dreaming of the person or even messages and numbers in dreams
- Suddenly remembering them and then seeing them
Some people might associate this with soulmate or “twin flame” energy. Others see it as karmic alignment or unfinished spiritual business. There’s also the East Asian concept of the Red String of Fate, which says two people destined to meet are invisibly tied together, no matter how long it takes.
You can explore this from a manifestation angle too: If you’ve been working on calling someone in or reconnecting, synchronicities may be signs your spellwork is active.
Body-Level Sync: More Than Just a Feeling?
Here’s something fascinating. Research has found that long-term couples can literally sync up their heart rates and breathing patterns begin to match when they are close to each other. A study from the University of Illinois called it a “delicate dance” of physiological attunement. You can read about it here.
So the idea of “being in sync” might be more than symbolic. It’s energetic, emotional, and maybe even measurable.
Synchronicity Signs With Another Person
Some common synchronicity signs that you may have noticed:
- You think of them right before they text or call
- You dream about them, and they show up in real life
- You run into them in a location that neither of you usually visits
- You feel an intense pull to reach out without knowing why
- Shared signs or numbers appear around you both (like 11:11 or a shared symbol)
If this is happening, take a moment to pause, reflect, and maybe even journal or do a reading. Check out @MeganB’s post on Three Methods of Intuitive Practice for guidance on working with intuitive nudges like these.
When certain people or relationships start to reappear in your life, especially by strange coincidence, it might be Spirit saying: clear this energy, reconnect, or just notice what this person reflects back to you.
Has anyone else been seeing someone over and over, or having strangely timed reconnections? Feel free to share your experience and what you think it means!