Blood
Life itself, given and shed.
Blood: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
“The life of the flesh is in the blood,” says Leviticus. Blood is life and soul, the bond of kinship, the price of sacrifice, and in the Mass the wine that becomes the blood of Christ. For the alchemists it was the red tincture of the rubedo; Jung read it with them as life poured into the work.
Blood: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The blood covenant, Faust signing his pact in blood, the pelican feeding her young from her breast, the Grail, and the resin called dragon’s blood.
From the Sources
In Leviticus the life of the flesh is said to be in the blood, which is given upon the altar to make atonement for the soul.
“17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.”
The King James Version of the Bible, Leviticus 17:11. King James Version, Project Gutenberg eBook #10. The text, read in part
Frazer reports that some Esthonians would not taste blood because they believed it held the animal's soul, and that some North American tribes abstained from the blood of any animal as containing its life and spirit.
“Thus some of the Esthonians will not taste blood because they believe that it contains the animal's soul, which would enter the body of the person who tasted the blood. Some Indian tribes of North America, "through a strong principle of religion, abstain in the strictest manner from eating the blood of any animal, as it contains the life and spirit of the beast."”
Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: a study of magic and religion, Chapter XXI, "Tabooed Things", section 4, "Blood tabooed". Abridged edition (preface dated June 1922), Project Gutenberg eBook #3623. 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
- “Transformation Symbolism in the Mass,” CW 11
- 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: Rubedo.
Also among The Body
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“Blood.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/blood.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
The King and Queen (Rex and Regina) · The Sacred Marriage (Hieros gamos, coniunctio) · The Phoenix (Bennu)
Nearby in the alphabet: The Bird: Spirit, soul, and thought in flight. Black: The blackening at the start of the work. Blue: The colour of sky and depth, of distance and spirit. The Boat: The vessel that carries across the waters.