The Bath
Balneum
Immersion that cleanses and joins.
The Bath: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
In the Rosarium the king and queen descend naked into a bath, and there their union begins. Jung read it as the immersion of both partners in the unconscious, the solutio in which the transformation of the relationship starts.
The Bath: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Baptism, Naaman washing seven times in the Jordan, the ritual bath, the bath of Diana in which Actaeon saw her.
From the Sources
Jung cites Pausanias for the Argive Hera becoming a maiden again by a yearly bath in the spring of Canathos, in the early springtime month of marriage.
“The early springtime Γαμηλιών (the time of Marriage) in February fits in with that very well. In fact, Pausanias informs us that the Argivian Hera became a maiden again by a yearly bath in the spring of Canathos”
Dr. C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, Part II, Chapter V, "Symbolism of the Mother and of Rebirth". Authorized translation, with introduction, by Beatrice M. Hinkle, M.D.; New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1916. The text, read in part
Naaman dips himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God, and his flesh comes again like the flesh of a little child.
“Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God: and his flesh came again like unto the flesh of a little child, and he was clean.”
The King James Version of the Bible, 2 Kings 5:14. King James Version, Project Gutenberg eBook #10. 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
- “The Psychology of the Transference,” CW 16
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
Also among Vessels and Enclosures
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Bath.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/bath.
Nearby in the alphabet: The Apple: The fruit of knowledge, discord, and youth. The Ascent: Rising toward the light, and coming down again. The Bear: Instinctive strength, and a fierce mothering. The Bee: The ordered community, and souls on the wing.