Breath
Pneuma, spiritus, ruach
Spirit, which is breath and wind.
Breath: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
In Greek, Latin, and Hebrew the word for spirit first meant breath or wind: pneuma, spiritus, ruach. Jung returned to the fact in his essay on spirit: what is invisible, moving, and alive, felt only by its effects, is breath.
Breath: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
God breathing life into Adam, the prana and atman of India, the breath-soul that leaves the body at death, the breath of Pentecost.
From the Sources
Jung writes that to be born of the spirit means to be born from the fructifying breath of the wind, since in the Greek text spirit and wind are the same word, pneuma.
“To be born of the spirit means to be born from the fructifying breath of the wind; this we learn from the Greek text (where spirit and wind are expressed by the same word, πνεῦμα)”
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
In Genesis the Lord God forms man of the dust of the ground and breathes into his nostrils the breath of life, so that man becomes a living soul.
“2:7 And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.”
The King James Version of the Bible, Genesis 2:7. 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 Phenomenology of the Spirit in Fairytales,” CW 9i
- “Spirit and Life” (1926), CW 8
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: Spirit.
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
“Breath.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/breath.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
The Animus (Latin: spirit, mind) · The Wise Old Man (Senex sapiens) · Violet (The ultraviolet) · The Prison (The captive spirit)
Nearby in the alphabet: The Book: Knowledge written down, sealed, or to be opened. The Breast: The first world: the source of milk and of comfort. The Bridge: The way across what divides. The Bull: Fertile strength, offered in sacrifice.