The Temple
Temenos
The sacred precinct, set apart.
The Temple: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The Greek temenos was a precinct cut off and set apart for a god. Jung used the word for the protected space within which transformation can happen, the analytic hour among such spaces, and read temple and church as symbols of the mother and of the Self.
The Temple: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Solomon’s temple, the Holy of Holies, the Greek sanctuary, the body as a temple of the Spirit, the temple built of four walls around a centre.
From the Sources
Paul asks the Corinthians whether they do not know that they are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in them.
“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”
The King James Version of the Bible, 1 Corinthians 3:16. King James Version, Project Gutenberg eBook #10. The text, read in part
Frazer states the rule of the sanctuary he is describing: a candidate could succeed to the priesthood only by slaying the priest, and then held office until he himself was slain by a stronger or a craftier.
“Such was the rule of the sanctuary. A candidate for the priesthood could only succeed to office by slaying the priest, and having slain him, he retained office till he was himself slain by a stronger or a craftier.”
Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: a study of magic and religion, Chapter 1, "The King of the Wood", section 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
- Psychology and Alchemy, CW 12
- “Psychological Aspects of the Mother Archetype,” CW 9i
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
Also among Vessels and Enclosures
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Temple.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/temple.
Nearby in the alphabet: The Swan: The white bird of the hidden god and the dying song. The Sword: The blade that cuts, divides, and judges. The Temptation: The offer that tests who one is. The Theatre: The inner drama, and the seat of the one who watches it.