The Fox
Cunning that survives by wit.
The Fox: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The fox is cunning, the intelligence that gets by where strength cannot, and in many traditions a shape-shifter. Machiavelli told the prince to be both lion and fox: the lion to frighten wolves, the fox to know the snares.
In the fairy tales Marie-Louise von Franz read, the fox is the helpful animal who knows the way and whom the hero must trust against his own judgement: in the Grimms’ “Golden Bird” the fox carries the youngest son on its tail, is disobeyed, and in the end asks to be killed and is freed as a prince. She took the animal helper as the instinct that guides when the conscious plan fails.
In China and Japan the fox-spirit, huli jing and kitsune, takes the form of a beautiful woman and bewitches scholars and farmers: the anima in its animal, deceiving form.
The Fox: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Reynard, the fox-spirits of China and Japan that take the shape of women, Aesop’s fox and the grapes. The fox of Nietzsche’s and Machiavelli’s politics; Brer Fox; the kitsune at the shrines of Inari.
From the Sources
In Aesop's fable a fox trapped in a well hides its plight under a merry guise and praises the water lavishly, to coax a thirsty goat down to it.
“Concealing his sad plight under a merry guise, the Fox indulged in a lavish praise of the water, saying it was excellent beyond measure, and encouraging him to descend.”
Aesop, Three Hundred Aesop's Fables, "The Fox and the Goat". Literally translated from the Greek by the Rev. George Fyler Townsend, M.A.; London: George Routledge and Sons. The text, read in part
Frazer quotes a report that the Aino revere the live fox as little as the bear and avoid it as much as possible, 'considering it a wily animal'.
“Yet it is expressly said, "The live fox is revered just as little as the bear; rather they avoid it as much as possible, considering it a wily animal."”
Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: a study of magic and religion, Chapter 52, section 5, "Killing the Sacred Bear". Abridged edition (preface dated June 1922), Project Gutenberg eBook #3623. 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
- Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince (1532), chapter 18
- Marie-Louise von Franz, The Interpretation of Fairy Tales (1970)
- Brothers Grimm, “The Golden Bird”
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: Fox and the lion.
Also among Beasts
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Fox.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/fox.
Nearby in the alphabet: The Forest: Where the known way ends. The Fountain: The source that springs from the centre. The Garden: The walled and tended place, where nature is ordered. The Giant: The first, crude powers, before the order of the gods.