The Crown
Sovereignty, and the work completed.
The Crown: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The crown is a circle raised on the head, rayed like the sun: sovereignty and completion. The crowned king or the crowned hermaphrodite marked the end of the alchemical work, and Jung read the crown as the Self’s authority over the ego.
The crown is the circle of the mandala worn on the head, and in alchemy the crowning marks the end: the Rosarium closes with the crowned hermaphrodite standing on the moon, and the Aurora consurgens speaks of the crown of the king as the wisdom that was with God. Jung read the crowned figure as the self that has gathered the opposites.
The crown of thorns is the same sign inverted: sovereignty through suffering, the king crowned in mockery who is king indeed.
The Crown: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The crown of the king, the crown of thorns, the martyr’s crown, Keter, the crown at the summit of the Kabbalists’ tree. The double crown of Egypt; the iron crown of Lombardy, said to hold a nail of the Cross; the papal tiara; Keter, the crown above the tree of the Sephiroth, which no thought reaches.
From the Sources
Jung records that at the close of consecration into the Isis mysteries the initiate was crowned with the palm crown, set on a pedestal and worshipped as Helios.
“At the close of the consecration into the Isis mysteries the mystic was crowned with the palm crown, he was placed on a pedestal and worshipped as Helios.”
Dr. C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, Part I, Chapter IV, "The Song of the Moth". Authorized translation, with introduction, by Beatrice M. Hinkle, M.D.; New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1916. The text, read in part
Paul writes that he has fought a good fight, finished his course and kept the faith, and that a crown of righteousness is laid up for him.
“I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: 4:8 Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness”
The King James Version of the Bible, 2 Timothy 4:7-8. 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
- Mysterium Coniunctionis, CW 14
- “The Psychology of the Transference,” CW 16
- Aurora Consurgens, ed. Marie-Louise von Franz (1957)
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 Crown.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/crown.
Nearby in the alphabet: The Cross: Two ways crossing at a centre. The Crossroads: Where the ways divide and a choice is forced. The Crystal: The form that is there before the substance fills it. The Dance: Movement in the round: the rhythm that orders and releases.