Iron
Mars
The metal of Mars: strength, war, and will.
Iron: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
Iron was the metal of Mars: hard, sharp, and warlike, the metal of the sword and the will. In the alchemical order of the planets it stood for the fiery, cutting force the work needed and had to master.
Iron: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The iron age of Hesiod, the meteoric iron that fell from heaven, the folk belief that fairies and spirits cannot bear iron, the horseshoe over the door.
From the Sources
Basil Valentine says that fixed salt has given 'warlike Mars' a hard, firm and durable body, evidence of the generosity of his soul.
“Fixed salt has imparted to warlike Mars a hard, firm, and durable body, which is evidence of the generosity of his soul”
Arthur Edward Waite (signed preface to the English edition), The Hermetic Museum, Restored and Enlarged, Basilius Valentinus, 'Practica', p. 319. Now first done into English from the Latin original published at Frankfort in the year 1678; in two volumes, Volume I; London: James Elliott and Co., 1893 (Internet Archive OCR text). The text, read in part
Ross writes that in the Meteorologica of Olympiodorus lead is given to Saturn, iron to Mars, copper to Venus, tin to Hermes and electrum to Jupiter.
“…in the Meteorologica of Olympiodorus lead is attributed to Saturn, iron to Mars, copper to Venus, tin to Hermes (Mercury) and electrum to Jupiter.”
Hugh Munro Ross, Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition: Alchemy, 'Alchemy', on the identification of the metals with the planets. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, as transcribed on Wikisource. 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.
In the Materia Medica
Iron and steel: the substance itself, as the old medicine used it and as it is known today.
Where to Read
- Mysterium Coniunctionis, CW 14
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
Also among Metals, Principles, and Substances
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“Iron.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/iron.
Nearby in the alphabet: Incubation: Sleeping in the sacred place to receive the healing dream. Initiation: The passage through a threshold into a new state. The Island: A world apart, surrounded by the sea. The Key: What opens, and what locks.