The Dove
Peace, spirit, and the white light after the dark.
The Dove: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The dove is the Holy Spirit descending, and the white bird of the alchemists’ albedo, following the black raven. Jung read it as spirit coming down into matter, and love: it was also the bird of Aphrodite.
The dove came down on Christ at the Jordan and the voice named him; in the Gnostic texts Jung read, the dove was Sophia herself descending, and he set beside it the dove of Aphrodite and the dove that Noah sent, which came back with the olive leaf when the raven had not returned at all.
In the alchemical sequence of birds the raven of the blackening gives way to the dove or the swan of the whitening: the dove is the soul returning to the purified body in the Rosarium woodcuts, where it descends from a cloud.
The Dove: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The dove at the Jordan, Noah’s dove with the olive leaf, Aphrodite’s doves, the dove of the Song of Songs. The Paraclete; the seven doves of the gifts of the Spirit; the dove on the staff of the Church fathers; Picasso’s dove of peace (1949).
From the Sources
After the flood Noah sends out the dove a second time, and it returns in the evening with an olive leaf in its mouth.
“8:10 And he stayed yet other seven days; and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark; 8:11 And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off”
The King James Version of the Bible, Genesis 8:10-11. King James Version, Project Gutenberg eBook #10. The text, read in part
Barnes writes that as a Christian emblem the dove signifies the Holy Spirit, and also the Christian soul indwelt by the Spirit, especially when freed from the toils of the flesh and entered into rest and glory.
“In general, the dove as a Christian emblem signifies the Holy Spirit either personally or in His works. It signifies also the Christian soul, not the human soul as such, but as indwelt by the Holy Spirit; especially, therefore, as freed from the toils of the flesh and entered into rest and glory.”
Arthur Barnes, "Dove", The Catholic Encyclopedia, Article "Dove", read in full. Vol. 5, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909 (New Advent transcription). The text, read in full
At Jesus's baptism the heavens open and he sees the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon him.
“…he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him”
The King James Version of the Bible, Matthew 3:16. 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
- Psychology and Alchemy, CW 12
- “The Psychology of the Transference,” CW 16
- “Gnostic Symbols of the Self,” in Aion, CW 9ii
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: Albedo.
Also among Birds
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Dove.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/dove.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
Silver (Argentum) · Rain (Dew) · The Dew (Ros, the heavenly moisture) · The Swan (Cygnus)
Nearby in the alphabet: The Door: The threshold between one state and another. The Double: Oneself met as another. The Dragon: The guardian who must be faced. The Dragon Fight: Consciousness wresting itself free from the devouring depths.