The Sacred Marriage
Hieros gamos, coniunctio
The union of opposites, pictured as a wedding.
The Sacred Marriage: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The alchemists pictured the union of opposites, spirit and matter, masculine and feminine, as a wedding, and Jung made the coniunctio the central image of his late work. The opposites are not abolished but joined, and from their union a third is born.
He took three stages of it from the alchemist Gerhard Dorn: the union of mind and soul, their reunion with the body, and the union of the whole with the unus mundus, the one world.
The Sacred Marriage: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Zeus and Hera, Shiva and Shakti, the Song of Songs, Christ and the Church as bridegroom and bride, and The Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz (1616).
From the Sources
Jung finds a magic charm of rejuvenation condensed in the Hierosgamos, the sacred marriage: the disappearance and hiding in the wood, the cave or the willow tree point to the death of the sun and its rebirth.
“…namely, the magic charm of a rejuvenation, which is condensed in the Hierosgamos. The disappearance and hiding in the wood, in the cave, on the seashore, entwined in a willow tree, points to the death of the sun and rebirth.”
Dr. C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, Part II, ch. V, "Symbolism of the Mother and of Rebirth". Authorized translation, with introduction, by Beatrice M. Hinkle, M.D.; New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1916. The text, read in part
Frazer asks whether the priest-king of Nemi and the goddess Diana had their union celebrated yearly in a divine marriage, noting that such dramatic weddings of gods and goddesses were solemn religious rites in many parts of the ancient world.
“…and may not their union have been yearly celebrated in a theogamy or divine marriage? Such dramatic weddings of gods and goddesses, as we shall see presently, were carried out as solemn religious rites in many parts of the ancient world”
Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: a study of magic and religion, Ch. XII, "The Sacred Marriage", §1. Abridged edition (preface dated June 1922), Project Gutenberg eBook #3623. 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 Conjunction,” in Mysterium Coniunctionis, CW 14
- “The Psychology of the Transference” (1946), CW 16
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: Coniunctio, Rubedo.
Also among Unions, Spells, and Changes
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Sacred Marriage.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/sacred-marriage.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
The Androgyne (Rebis, the hermaphrodite) · Coniunctio (The conjunction) · Red (Rubedo) · Blood · The Phoenix (Bennu)
Nearby in the alphabet: The Rose: The flower of love, and of the centre. The Royal Incest: The union of like with like, read as a symbol. Sacrifice: Giving something up, so that something new may live. The Sacrificial Meal: Eating the god: the sacrifice shared and taken in.