Lightning
Sudden illumination, and sudden change.
Lightning: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
Lightning is sudden light, sudden change, and power from above. In a patient’s pictures Jung saw a flash of lightning split a stone and release what was inside, and set it beside Jakob Böhme’s “flash,” in which light is born out of darkness; he read it as the sudden liberation of the psyche from a state of stagnation.
Lightning: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The thunderbolt of Zeus, Thor’s hammer, the vajra of Indra, the Tarot’s Tower struck from heaven, Paul on the road to Damascus.
In the Press’s Books
“Lo, I am a herald of the lightning, and a heavy drop out of the cloud: the lightning, however, is the Superman”: Zarathustra, in the prologue.
From the Sources
Zarathustra calls himself a herald of the lightning, a heavy drop out of the dark cloud, and says the lightning is the Superman.
“Lo, I am a herald of the lightning, and a heavy drop out of the cloud: the lightning, however, is the SUPERMAN.”
Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None, Zarathustra's Prologue, section 4. Translated by Thomas Common (Project Gutenberg eBook #1998). The text, read in part
Jesus says the coming of the Son of man will be like the lightning that comes out of the east and shines to the west.
“For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.”
The King James Version of the Bible, Matthew 24:27. 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
- “A Study in the Process of Individuation,” CW 9i
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: Overman.
Also among The Heavens
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“Lightning.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/lightning.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
Nearby in the alphabet: The Lamp: A small light carried into the dark. Lead: The heaviest and darkest metal, where the work begins. The Lion: Royal and devouring power. The Lotus: Rising from the mud, to open on the water.