The Vessel
Vas hermeticum
The container in which change happens.
The Vessel: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The alchemists insisted that the work happens in one sealed vessel, the vas hermeticum, which must not be opened until the change is complete. Jung read it as the containment the psyche needs in order to transform, the analytic relationship among its forms, and as a feminine, womb-like symbol; the alchemists said that the vessel and what it holds are one.
The Vessel: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The Grail, the mixing bowl of the Corpus Hermeticum in which souls are baptised in mind, the Celtic cauldron of rebirth, Pandora’s jar, the baptismal font.
From the Sources
Jung treats the ark, and with it the box, chest, cask or vessel, as a symbol of the womb, like the sea into which the sun sinks to be reborn.
“…the ark (little box, chest, cask, vessel, etc.) is a symbol of the womb, just as is the sea, into which the Sun sinks for rebirth.”
Dr. C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, Part II, Chapter 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
Jeremiah sees that when the clay vessel the potter made was marred in his hand, he made it again into another vessel.
“And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it.”
The King James Version of the Bible, Jeremiah 18:3-4. 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
- Psychology and Alchemy, CW 12
- “The Visions of Zosimos” (1938/1954), CW 13
- “The Psychology of the Transference,” CW 16
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 Vessel.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/vessel.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
Calcinatio (Burning to ash) · The Magician (Magus) · The Trickster (Hermes, Loki, Coyote) · The Ascent · Mercury (Mercurius) · The Caduceus (The staff of Hermes)
Nearby in the alphabet: The Uroboros: The serpent that devours its own tail. The Veil: What hides the mystery, and what may be lifted. The Vine: Ecstasy, and the blood of the god. Violet: Where the spectrum passes beyond sight.