The Book
Knowledge written down, sealed, or to be opened.
The Book: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The book is knowledge given form, or kept closed: the book of nature, the book of life, the book sealed with seven seals. From 1913 Jung wrote his visions in small black notebooks and copied them, with his paintings, into a folio bound in red leather, The Red Book, kept private until 2009.
The Book: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The book with seven seals, the Sibylline Books, the book of nature the alchemists read, and their warning to “rend your books.”
From the Sources
John sees in the right hand of the one on the throne a book written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.
“And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.”
The King James Version of the Bible, Revelation 5:1. King James Version, Project Gutenberg eBook #10. The text, read in part
Daniel is told to shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end, when many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased.
“But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
The King James Version of the Bible, Daniel 12:4. 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 Red Book (2009)
- The Black Books, 1913–1932 (2020)
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
Also among Things Held and Worn
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Book.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/book.
Nearby in the alphabet: The Boat: The vessel that carries across the waters. The Bones: What remains, and what rises again. The Breast: The first world: the source of milk and of comfort. Breath: Spirit, which is breath and wind.