The Head
The seat of mind, and the oracle.
The Head: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The head is consciousness and the ruling mind. In his essay on the Mass Jung discussed the golden head of the Harranites, said to have been made from a sacrificed man and consulted as an oracle, and set it beside the alchemists’ vision of the head as the place of transformation.
The Head: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The singing head of Orpheus, the head of Bran that kept the company of his men, the head of John the Baptist, the Brazen Head of Friar Bacon.
From the Sources
Frazer reports that many peoples regard the head as peculiarly sacred because it is believed to hold a spirit, and that the Yorubas place in the head the first of a man's three spiritual inmates, his protector, guardian and guide.
“MANY peoples regard the head as peculiarly sacred; the special sanctity attributed to it is sometimes explained by a belief that it contains a spirit which is very sensitive to injury or disrespect. Thus the Yorubas hold that every man has three spiritual inmates, of whom the first, called Olori, dwells in the head and is the man's protector, guardian, and guide.”
Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: a study of magic and religion, Chapter XXI, "Tabooed Things", section 5, "The Head tabooed". Abridged edition (preface dated June 1922), Project Gutenberg eBook #3623. The text, read in part
Ovid tells how the river Hebrus received the severed head and lyre of Orpheus, and how, as they rolled down the stream, the lyre lamented and the lifeless tongue uttered a mournful sound to which the banks replied.
“Thou, Hebrus, dost receive the head and the lyre; and (wondrous to relate!) while it rolls down the midst of the stream, the lyre complains in I know not what kind of mournful strain. His lifeless tongue, too, utters a mournful sound, to which the banks mournfully reply.”
Ovid, The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV, Book XI, Fable I, the death of Orpheus. Henry T. Riley's translation, e-text based on the 1893 George Bell reprint (Project Gutenberg eBook #26073). 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
- “Transformation Symbolism in the Mass,” CW 11
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
Also among The Body
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Head.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/head.
Nearby in the alphabet: The Hand: Making, taking, blessing, and giving. The Hare: Quick, fertile, and of the moon. The Heart: The seat of feeling, courage, and conscience. The Hero: The one who goes into the dark and comes back.