The Anthropos
The cosmic man
The first man, whose body is the world.
The Anthropos: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
Many traditions tell of a primordial human being of cosmic size, the whole of the world in one figure. Jung followed the Gnostic Anthropos, the Adam Kadmon of the Kabbalah, and the alchemists’ Adam, and read them as symbols of the Self: the totality of the psyche imaged as a single great person, of whom each individual is a part.
The Anthropos: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Purusha of the Rig Veda, from whose sacrifice the world was made, P’an Ku, Ymir, the Gnostic Primal Man, Adam Kadmon, and Blake’s Albion.
From the Sources
In the verses of the Rigveda hymn on Purusha that Jung quotes, the moon is born from his mind, the sun from his eye, the sky from his head and the earth from his feet: 'Thus they formed the worlds.'
““The moon was gendered from his mind And from his eye the Sun had birth; Indra and Agni from his mouth Were born, and Vâyu from his breath. “Forth from his navel came midair; The sky was fashioned from his head; Earth from his feet, and from his ears The regions. Thus they formed the worlds.””
Dr. C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, Part II, Chapter VIII, 'The Sacrifice', quoting Rigveda 10.90 on Purusha. Authorized translation, with introduction, by Beatrice M. Hinkle, M.D.; New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1916. The text, read in part
The Catholic Encyclopedia reports that for the Naassenes the Protanthropos was the first element, the fundamental being before its differentiation into individuals, and 'the Son of Man' the same being once individualised and sunk into matter.
“According to the Naassenes, the Protanthropos is the first element; the fundamental being before its differentiation into individuals. "The Son of Man" is the same being after it has been individualized into existing things and thus sunk into matter.”
J. Arendzen, Gnosticism, The Catholic Encyclopedia, 'Doctrine of the primeval man'. The Catholic Encyclopedia; New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909 (New Advent web text). The text, read in part
Each passage is quoted from the text named, which the press fetched and read, and was checked word for word against a fresh copy of it; the link opens that copy. Passages are given as printed, without the editors’ footnote numbers, and with words broken across lines joined.
Where to Read
- “Gnostic Symbols of the Self,” in Aion, CW 9ii
- “Adam and Eve,” in Mysterium Coniunctionis, CW 14
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: Self.
Also among Wholes and Extremes
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Anthropos.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/anthropos.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
The Orphan (The abandoned one) · The Mandala (Sanskrit: circle) · The Centre (Axis mundi) · The Sphere (The round, the rotundum) · Squaring the Circle (Quadratura circuli) · The Quintessence (The fifth essence)
Nearby in the alphabet: The Anima: The feminine image in the psyche of a man. The Animus: The masculine image in the psyche of a woman. The Antichrist: The shadow of the redeemer, returning at the end of an age. The Ape: The human made animal, and the animal made human.