The Earth
Matter, body, and the mother of all.
The Earth: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The earth is the mother from whom things grow and to whom they return, and the matter, weight, and body of the psyche. In “Mind and Earth” Jung wrote of how the land a people lives on shapes the psyche, and he held that the spirit must be brought down to earth to be real.
The Earth: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Gaia, Mother Earth, Adam made of the red earth, the earth of the alchemists, the grave.
From the Sources
Jung writes that the ancient cults of mother earth saw in the cultivation of the earth the fertilization of the mother.
“The ancient cults of mother earth and all the superstitions founded thereon saw in the cultivation of the earth the fertilization of the mother.”
Dr. C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, Part II, Chapter III, 'The Transformation of the Libido'. Authorized translation, with introduction, by Beatrice M. Hinkle, M.D.; New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1916 (Project Gutenberg eBook #65903). The text, read in part
Redgrove quotes Basil Valentine's Twelve Keys: the minerals are hidden in the womb of the earth and nourished by her with the spirit she receives from above.
“The minerals are hidden in the womb of the earth, and nourished by her with the spirit which she receives from above.”
H. Stanley Redgrove, Alchemy: Ancient and Modern, Chapter II, § 20, 'The Growth of the Metals' (quoting Basil Valentine's Twelve Keys). Second and revised edition; London: William Rider & Son, Ltd., 1922 (first published 1911) (Project Gutenberg eBook #43240). 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
- “Mind and Earth” (1927/1931), CW 10
- “Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype,” CW 9i
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
Also among The Elements
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Earth.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/earth.
Nearby in the alphabet: The Dwarf: Small, hidden, and creative: the little powers of the deep. The Eagle: Height, sight, and the spirit that rises. The Eclipse: The light swallowed by the dark. The Egg: The whole in potential, before it opens.