The Womb
The vessel of life, and of rebirth.
The Womb: what does it mean in analytical psychology?
The womb is the first vessel, the place of gestation and of every rebirth. Jung followed through Symbols of Transformation the wish to re-enter the mother to be born again, read not literally but as the libido’s return to its source, and the cave, the vessel, and the grave as its forms.
The Womb: where does it appear in myth and tradition?
Nicodemus asking how a man can enter his mother’s womb a second time, the cave of rebirth, the vas of the alchemists, the garbha of Indian temples.
From the Sources
Jung reads the cycle of myths in which the hero is shut in a cask and cast into the sea as expressing the longing to attain rebirth by returning to the mother's womb, and so to become as immortal as the sun.
“The meaning of this cycle of myths mentioned here is clear; it is the longing to attain rebirth through the return to the mother’s womb, that is to say, to become as immortal as the sun.”
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
Nicodemus asks how a man can be born when he is old, and whether he can enter a second time into his mother's womb; Jesus answers that unless a man is born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
“…can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born? 3:5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.”
The King James Version of the Bible, John 3:4-5. 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
- Symbols of Transformation, CW 5, “Symbols of the Mother and of Rebirth”
Jung’s writings are cited by the volume of the Collected Works (CW), Bollingen Series / Princeton, 1953–79.
Related Symbols
Also among The Body
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
Cite This Entry
“The Womb.” In Symbols of the Psyche, the Symbolarium. The Thinking Press, 2026. https://thethinkingpress.org/symbolarium/psyche/womb.
Nearby in the alphabet: The Witch: The mother’s dark face, who binds and devours. The Wolf: Devouring hunger, and a fierce kind of nurture. The Wounded Healer: The one who heals by virtue of a wound. Yellow: The yellowing, as the dawn becomes day.