The Lamp
The lantern
A small light carried into the dark.
The Lamp: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The lamp is consciousness as one can carry it: small, human, enough to see the next step. Jung compared consciousness to a small light he had to keep alive in a great wind, in a dream he recounts in his memoirs. Psyche’s lamp, raised to see Eros, wakes him and loses him.
The Lamp: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Diogenes looking for an honest man, the wise and foolish virgins, Aladdin’s lamp, the Hermit’s lantern, and Psyche’s drop of oil.
From the Sources
The psalmist calls God's word a lamp to his feet and a light to his path.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.”
The King James Version of the Bible, Psalm 119:105. King James Version, Project Gutenberg eBook #10. The text, read in part
In the parable of the virgins the foolish ask the wise for oil because their lamps have gone out, and the wise refuse lest there be not enough for both.
“And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out. 25:9 But the wise answered, saying, Not so; lest there be not enough for us and you”
The King James Version of the Bible, Matthew 25:8-9. King James Version, Project Gutenberg eBook #10. 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
- Memories, Dreams, Reflections (1962), “Student Years”
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
Also among Things Held and Worn
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Lamp.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/lamp.
Nearby in the alphabet: The Ladder: The way up by stages. The Lamb: Innocence offered up. Lead: The heaviest and darkest metal, where the work begins. Lightning: Sudden illumination, and sudden change.