The Egg
Ovum philosophicum
The whole in potential, before it opens.
The Egg: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The egg holds a whole life not yet hatched, and so figures the beginning of creation and of the psyche’s growth. The alchemists called their sealed vessel the philosophical egg, from which the new being would be born.
Jung read it as the germ of the Self, and as the unconscious in its creative condition.
The Egg: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The Orphic world-egg from which Phanes sprang, the golden egg of Brahma, the Chinese P’an Ku who grew within the cosmic egg, the eggs of Easter.
From the Sources
Jung, following Deussen, describes Prajâpati as the world-egg produced from himself, from which he hatches himself, becoming his own womb in order to give birth to the world of multiplicity.
“As Hiranyagarbha, Prajâpati is the egg produced from himself, the world-egg, from which he hatches himself. He creeps into himself, he becomes his own uterus, becomes pregnant with himself, in order to give birth to the world of multiplicity.”
Dr. C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, Part II, Chapter VII, "The Dual Mother Rôle". Authorized translation, with introduction, by Beatrice M. Hinkle, M.D.; New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1916. The text, read in part
Bulfinch gives a cosmogony in which Earth, Erebus and Love were the first beings, Love issuing from the egg of Night that floated on Chaos.
“There is another cosmogony, or account of the creation, according to which Earth, Erebus, and Love were the first of beings. Love (Eros) issued from the egg of Night, which floated on Chaos. By his arrows and torch he pierced and vivified all things, producing life and joy.”
Thomas Bulfinch, Bulfinch's Mythology: The Age of Fable, The Age of Chivalry, Legends of Charlemagne, The Age of Fable, Chapter I, "Introduction". Complete in one volume, Project Gutenberg eBook #4928. 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
- Symbols of Transformation, CW 5
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
Also among Growing Things
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Egg.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/egg.
Nearby in the alphabet: The Earth: Matter, body, and the mother of all. The Eclipse: The light swallowed by the dark. The Enchantment: Held under a spell, waiting to be released. The End of the World: Destruction, revelation, and what comes after.