Violet
The ultraviolet
Where the spectrum passes beyond sight.
Violet: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
In “On the Nature of the Psyche” (1947–1954) Jung compared the psyche to the spectrum of light: the instincts at the infrared end, where the psyche passes into the body, and the archetypes at the ultraviolet end, where it passes into spirit.
Violet, he noted, is the mixture of the blue of spirit and the red of instinct, and so the “mystic” colour, fitting the paradoxical nature of the archetype.
Violet: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
The purple of emperors and of Lent; the amethyst, which kept its wearer sober; the violet of mourning and of penitence.
From the Sources
Cotter describes Stokes moving a tube of quinine solution along the spectrum: nothing showed until the violet, when a ghostly blue gleam appeared, which lasted until the tube was well into the ultra-violet.
“No fluorescence was observed as long as the tube remained in the more luminous portion, but as soon as the violet was reached, a ghost-like gleam of blue light shot right across the tube. On continuing to move the tube, the blue light at first increased in intensity and afterwards died away, but not until the tube had been moved a considerable distance into the ultra-violet part of the spectrum.”
Joseph Rogerson Cotter, Encyclopædia Britannica, eleventh edition: Fluorescence, 'Fluorescence', on Stokes's experiments. The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, as transcribed on Wikisource. The text, read in full
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
- “On the Nature of the Psyche,” CW 8
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
In the Glossary: Spirit.
Also among The Colours of the Work
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“Violet.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/violet.
Symbols That Share Its Terms
The Animus (Latin: spirit, mind) · The Father (Senex, the old king) · The Wise Old Man (Senex sapiens) · The Wind · Breath (Pneuma, spiritus, ruach) · The Prison (The captive spirit)
Nearby in the alphabet: The Vessel: The container in which change happens. The Vine: Ecstasy, and the blood of the god. The Virgin: One-in-herself: whole, and belonging to no one. Vitriol: Go down into the earth, and you will find the hidden stone.