The Vine
Wine
Ecstasy, and the blood of the god.
The Vine: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The vine and its wine belong to Dionysus, god of ecstasy, dissolution, and rebirth, and to Christ, who called himself the true vine. Jung read wine as spirit drawn from matter by transformation, and the Dionysian as the ecstatic loosening of bounds that Nietzsche set against Apollo.
The Vine: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Dionysus and the maenads, Noah’s vineyard, the wedding at Cana, the Eucharist, and spirit of wine in the old pharmacies.
From the Sources
Frazer writes that Dionysus or Bacchus is best known as a personification of the vine and of the exhilaration of the grape, and that his ecstatic worship was marked by wild dances, thrilling music and tipsy excess.
“The god Dionysus or Bacchus is best known to us as a personification of the vine and of the exhilaration produced by the juice of the grape. His ecstatic worship, characterised by wild dances, thrilling music, and tipsy excess”
Sir James George Frazer, The Golden Bough: a study of magic and religion, Chapter XLIII, "Dionysus". Abridged edition (preface dated June 1922), Project Gutenberg eBook #3623. The text, read in part
Jung writes that Christ is a god who is eaten in the Lord's Supper, his death transforming him into bread and wine, and sets beside this the relation of Dionysus to wine.
“Christ is a god who is eaten in the Lord’s Supper. His death transforms him into bread and wine, which we partake of in grateful memory of his great deed. The relation of Agni to the Somadrink and that of Dionysus to wine must not be omitted here.”
Dr. C. G. Jung, Psychology of the Unconscious: A Study of the Transformations and Symbolisms of the Libido, Part II, Chapter 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
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
- “Transformation Symbolism in the Mass,” CW 11
- Psychological Types, CW 6, “The Apollinian and the Dionysian”
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: Apollo and dionysus.
Also among Growing Things
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Vine.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/vine.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
Apollo (Phoebus, the god of light) · Dionysus (Bacchus, the god of the vine) · The Two (The pair of opposites)
Nearby in the alphabet: The Veil: What hides the mystery, and what may be lifted. The Vessel: The container in which change happens. Violet: Where the spectrum passes beyond sight. The Virgin: One-in-herself: whole, and belonging to no one.