The Treasure Hard to Attain
What is guarded because it is worth the danger.
The Treasure Hard to Attain: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
Jung’s phrase for the goal of the hero’s quest: the gold in the dragon’s cave, the pearl at the bottom of the sea, the water of life, the jewel, the herb of immortality. The value lies in the unconscious and is guarded by what one fears, and cannot be won without facing the guardian.
Jung read it as a symbol of the Self, and of the renewed life that follows the confrontation.
The Treasure Hard to Attain: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The plant of youth that Gilgamesh brought up from the sea and lost to a serpent, the Golden Fleece, the Nibelung hoard, the Grail, the pearl of great price, and the stone of the alchemists.
From the Sources
Jung writes that the hero is a hero because he meets every difficulty of life as resistance guarding the forbidden treasure, and strives toward a treasure attainable only with difficulty, a yearning that paralyses the ordinary man.
“The hero is a hero because he sees in every difficulty of life resistance to the forbidden treasure, and fights that resistance with the complete yearning which strives towards the treasure, attainable with difficulty, or unattainable, the yearning which paralyzes and kills the ordinary man.”
Dr. C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, Part II, ch. VII, "The Dual Mother Rôle". Authorized translation, with introduction, by Beatrice M. Hinkle, M.D.; New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1916. The text, read in part
Of Fafner in the Siegfried legend, Jung writes that he guards the hoard in his cave as the source of life and power, and reads this as the mother jealously guarding the son's libido.
“Fafner is the protector of the treasure; in his cave lies the hoard, the source of life and power. The mother possesses the libido of the son, and jealously does she guard it.”
Dr. C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, Part II, ch. VII, "The Dual Mother Rôle" (on Siegfried and Fafner). Authorized translation, with introduction, by Beatrice M. Hinkle, M.D.; New York: Moffat, Yard and Company, 1916. 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
- Symbols of Transformation, CW 5
- Psychology and Alchemy, CW 12
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: philosophers’ stone.
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 Treasure Hard to Attain.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/treasure.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
Squaring the Circle (Quadratura circuli) · Gold (Aurum) · Vitriol (V.I.T.R.I.O.L.)
Nearby in the alphabet: The Tomb: The grave that is also a womb. The Tower: Height, enclosure, and the danger of reaching too high. The Tree: Growth, rootedness, and the axis of the world. The Triangle: The three, rising toward a point.