The Ring
Bond, circle, and power.
The Ring: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
A ring is a circle worn on the body: a bond, a vow, a covenant, or a power. It joins the circle’s wholeness to a promise, and in the tales it is often the token by which a lost one is recognized.
The Ring: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The ring of Gyges in Plato’s Republic, which made its wearer invisible, the ring of Solomon that commanded demons, the cursed ring of the Nibelungs, the wedding ring.
In the Press’s Books
Zarathustra longs for “the marriage-ring of rings — the ring of the return.”
From the Sources
Thurston writes that two ideas, the seal, indicating discretion, and conjugal fidelity, dominate the symbolism of the ring in nearly all its liturgical uses.
“These two ideas--namely of the seal, indicative of discretion, and of conjugal fidelity--dominate the symbolism attaching to the ring in nearly all its liturgical uses.”
H. Thurston, Rings, whole article. The Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912 (New Advent transcription). The text, read in full
Pharaoh takes the ring from his own hand and puts it on Joseph's, arrays him in fine linen and puts a gold chain about his neck.
“And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph's hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck”
The King James Version of the Bible, Genesis 41:42. 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
- The Book of Symbols, Archive for Research in Archetypal Symbolism (2010)
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: Eternal recurrence.
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 Ring.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/ring.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
The Eternal Return (Eternal recurrence) · The Door (The gate, the threshold)
Nearby in the alphabet: The Redeemer: The one who frees what is bound. The Return: Coming home with what was found. The River: The flow of life and time, and the border to be crossed. The Rose: The flower of love, and of the centre.