The Spine
The serpent’s path
The axis of the body, climbed by the serpent power.
The Spine: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
In the seminar of 1932 Jung followed Kundalini, the serpent power coiled at the base of the spine, as it rises through the chakras to the crown: a picture, for him, of the development of the impersonal life in the individual.
The spine is the tree of the body, the axis on which it stands and the channel that joins the lowest to the highest.
The Spine: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The djed pillar of Osiris, read as his backbone; the tree of life; the ladder of Jacob; the two serpents about the staff of Hermes, compared to the channels about the spine.
From the Sources
Pliny reports it stated by many authors that a serpent is produced from the spinal marrow of a man.
“We find it stated by many authors, that a serpent is produced from the spinal marrow of a man. Many creatures, in fact, among the quadrupeds even, have a secret and mysterious origin.”
Pliny the Elder, The Natural History of Pliny, Vol. II, Book X, Chapter 86, "Salamanders". Translated, with copious notes and illustrations, by the late John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., and H. T. Riley, Esq., B.A.; London: Henry G. Bohn, York Street, Covent Garden, MDCCCLV (Project Gutenberg eBook #60230). The text, read in part
In the speech Ovid gives to Pythagoras, some are said to believe that human marrow changes into a serpent when the spine has decayed in the closed tomb.
“There are some who believe that human marrow changes into a serpent, when the spine has putrefied in the enclosed sepulchre.”
Ovid, The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books VIII-XV, Book XV, Fable I (the teaching of Pythagoras). Henry T. Riley's translation, e-text based on the 1893 George Bell reprint (Project Gutenberg eBook #26073). 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 Psychology of Kundalini Yoga: Notes of the Seminar Given in 1932 (1996)
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
Also among The Body
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Spine.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/spine.
Nearby in the alphabet: The Sphinx: The riddle that must be answered. The Spider: The weaver at the centre of the web. The Spiral: Returning to the same place, a little higher. The Square: Stability, the earth, and the four made firm.