The Bridge
The way across what divides.
The Bridge: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The bridge joins what is divided. Jung called the psyche’s power to join conscious and unconscious, by way of a symbol that holds both, the transcendent function: a bridge made of images between two sides that cannot otherwise meet.
The Bridge: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Bifröst, the Chinvat bridge of Zoroastrian judgment, broad for the just and narrow as a blade for the wicked, the pontifex or bridge-builder of Rome.
In the Press’s Books
“What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal”: Zarathustra, in the prologue.
From the Sources
Bulfinch writes that Asgard, the abode of the gods, can be reached only by crossing the bridge Bifrost, the rainbow.
“Asgard is the name of the abode of the gods, access to which is only gained by crossing the bridge Bifrost (the rainbow).”
Thomas Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, Legends of Charlemagne, The Age of Fable, Chapter XXXVIII, "Northern Mythology--Valhalla--The Valkyrior". Complete in one volume, Project Gutenberg eBook #4928. The text, read in part
Bunyan's pilgrims find a very deep river between them and the gate, with no bridge to go over, and are told they must go through or they cannot come at the gate.
“Now, I further saw, that betwixt them and the gate was a river, but there was no bridge to go over: the river was very deep. At the sight, therefore, of this river, the Pilgrims were much stunned; but the men that went in with them said, You must go through, or you cannot come at the gate.”
John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come, Part One, section 389. Part One, delivered under the similitude of a dream; Project Gutenberg eBook #131. 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 Transcendent Function” (1916/1958), 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: Overman.
Also among Ways and Thresholds
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Bridge.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/bridge.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
Nearby in the alphabet: The Breast: The first world: the source of milk and of comfort. Breath: Spirit, which is breath and wind. The Bull: Fertile strength, offered in sacrifice. The Butterfly: The soul, emerging transformed.