The Symbolarium
Symbols of the Psyche
250 of the symbols analytical psychology returns to most: what C. G. Jung and those after him wrote of each, where it appears across the traditions, and where to read further. What the sleep laboratory makes of dreaming is in The Science of Dreams.
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Symbols of the Psyche
“Learn as much as you can about symbolism; then forget it all when you are analysing a dream.”
A reference for the study of symbols, not a dictionary of dreams. Jung held that no symbol has a fixed meaning apart from the person in whose life it appears. Each entry gives what he and those after him wrote, and where, so that a reader can go to the sources; it serves the psychological case studies, appendices, and revised editions of the press’s books. What a reader makes of their own dreams is their own affair.
Figures of the Psyche 41
The persons of the inner drama, as Jung named them: the figures that appear in myth, tale, and dream with a life of their own.
The Persons of the Psyche
- The ShadowUmbraThe side of the personality one does not wish to be.The Persons of the Psyche
- The PersonaLatin: the actor’s maskThe face turned to the world.The Persons of the Psyche
- The AnimaLatin: soulThe feminine image in the psyche of a man.The Persons of the Psyche
- The AnimusLatin: spirit, mindThe masculine image in the psyche of a woman.The Persons of the Psyche
- The SelfDas SelbstThe whole of the psyche, and its centre.The Persons of the Psyche
- The DoubleDoppelgängerOneself met as another.The Persons of the Psyche
Parents and Elders
- The Great MotherMagna MaterThe mother behind every mother, who gives life and takes it back.Parents and Elders
- The FatherSenex, the old kingLaw, order, and spirit, and their hardening.Parents and Elders
- The Wise Old ManSenex sapiensSpirit in the form of a knowing elder.Parents and Elders
- The WitchThe mother’s dark face, who binds and devours.Parents and Elders
- The MagicianMagusThe master of hidden powers, and their temptation.Parents and Elders
- The Wise Old WomanThe old motherThe knowing elder of the feminine: counsel, fate, and the old ways.Parents and Elders
- The SenexThe old man, SaturnOrder, limit, and time, and their hardening into rigidity.Parents and Elders
Children and the Young
- The Divine ChildPuer divinusThe future, not yet born into the world.Children and the Young
- The MaidenKoreThe girl carried below and returned.Children and the Young
- The Eternal YouthPuer aeternusThe youth who will not be bound by time.Children and the Young
- The FoolThe innocent who knows nothing and finds the way.Children and the Young
- The VirginParthenosOne-in-herself: whole, and belonging to no one.Children and the Young
- The OrphanThe abandoned oneAlone and without origin: the lonely beginning of the self.Children and the Young
Heroes and Tricksters
- The HeroThe one who goes into the dark and comes back.Heroes and Tricksters
- The TricksterHermes, Loki, CoyoteThe shape-shifter who breaks every rule.Heroes and Tricksters
- The TwinsThe DioscuriThe pair who are one, one mortal and one divine.Heroes and Tricksters
- The Wounded HealerChironThe one who heals by virtue of a wound.Heroes and Tricksters
Spirits and Mediators
- The AngelAngelos, messengerThe messenger between the worlds.Spirits and Mediators
- The DevilLucifer, Satan, MephistophelesThe adversary, and the dark fourth.Spirits and Mediators
- The PsychopompThe guide of soulsThe one who leads the soul across.Spirits and Mediators
- SophiaWisdom, Hagia SophiaWisdom as a feminine figure beside God.Spirits and Mediators
- The RedeemerSalvatorThe one who frees what is bound.Spirits and Mediators
Wholes and Extremes
- The King and QueenRex and ReginaThe royal pair whose marriage makes the whole.Wholes and Extremes
- The AndrogyneRebis, the hermaphroditeMale and female in one body: the opposites united.Wholes and Extremes
- The AnthroposThe cosmic manThe first man, whose body is the world.Wholes and Extremes
- The GiantThe first, crude powers, before the order of the gods.Wholes and Extremes
- The DwarfThe CabiriSmall, hidden, and creative: the little powers of the deep.Wholes and Extremes
Monsters and Hybrids
Gods and Adversaries
- ApolloPhoebus, the god of lightForm, measure, clarity, and the beautiful image.Gods and Adversaries
- DionysusBacchus, the god of the vineEcstasy, intoxication, and the dissolving of every boundary.Gods and Adversaries
- The AntichristThe adversaryThe shadow of the redeemer, returning at the end of an age.Gods and Adversaries
Figures of The Red Book
Motifs of Transformation 32
The patterns of change the psyche goes through, and pictures to itself as a journey, a death, a wedding, or a birth.
Journeys
- The Night Sea JourneyNachtmeerfahrtSwallowed in the dark, carried to the east.Journeys
- The DescentNekyia, katabasisGoing down to the dead, to come back with knowledge.Journeys
- The AscentRising toward the light, and coming down again.Journeys
- FlightRising free of the ground, or fleeing from what pursues.Journeys
- InitiationThe passage through a threshold into a new state.Journeys
- The QuestThe GrailThe long search for what was lost.Journeys
- The ReturnNostosComing home with what was found.Journeys
Death and Birth
- DeathMortificatio, nigredoThe ending that belongs to a change.Death and Birth
- RebirthRenovatioBecoming new, in five forms.Death and Birth
- SacrificeGiving something up, so that something new may live.Death and Birth
- DismembermentSparagmosTorn apart, to be put together anew.Death and Birth
- The Miraculous BirthBorn another way, and so not wholly of this world.Death and Birth
- The FallThe loss of paradise, and the birth of consciousness.Death and Birth
- The CreationCosmogonyThe world, and consciousness, coming into being.Death and Birth
- The End of the WorldApocalypse, RagnarökDestruction, revelation, and what comes after.Death and Birth
- The Eternal ReturnEternal recurrenceAll things return, endlessly: the heaviest thought.Death and Birth
- The DeadThe ancestors, the departedThe unanswered questions of those who came before.Death and Birth
Unions, Spells, and Changes
- The Sacred MarriageHieros gamos, coniunctioThe union of opposites, pictured as a wedding.Unions, Spells, and Changes
- The Royal IncestThe union of like with like, read as a symbol.Unions, Spells, and Changes
- The EnchantmentThe spellHeld under a spell, waiting to be released.Unions, Spells, and Changes
- MetamorphosisShape-shiftingChanged into another form, and changed back.Unions, Spells, and Changes
- The FloodThe delugeThe waters that end one world and begin another.Unions, Spells, and Changes
- The Treasure Hard to AttainWhat is guarded because it is worth the danger.Unions, Spells, and Changes
- The WastelandThe barren land of a wounded king.Unions, Spells, and Changes
- The TemptationThe offer that tests who one is.Unions, Spells, and Changes
- The Theft of FirePrometheusStolen light, and the price of it.Unions, Spells, and Changes
- The AbductionThe rape of PersephoneSeized by the depths: the innocent carried below.Unions, Spells, and Changes
- PossessionBeing seizedAn archetype taking hold of the whole person.Unions, Spells, and Changes
Rites and Ordeals
- The Dragon FightThe combat with the monsterConsciousness wresting itself free from the devouring depths.Rites and Ordeals
- The Sacrificial MealCommunion, the MassEating the god: the sacrifice shared and taken in.Rites and Ordeals
- IncubationTemple sleepSleeping in the sacred place to receive the healing dream.Rites and Ordeals
- The DanceRound dance, ringMovement in the round: the rhythm that orders and releases.Rites and Ordeals
Operations of the Work 15
The operations of the alchemists’ laboratory, which Jung, and Edward Edinger after him, read as the processes by which the psyche is transformed.
- CalcinatioBurning to ashThe fire that dries and purifies.Operations of the Work
- SolutioDissolvingDissolved back into the waters.Operations of the Work
- CoagulatioBecoming solidWhat was fluid takes on body.Operations of the Work
- SublimatioRising as vapourWhat was heavy rises, and becomes spirit.Operations of the Work
- SeparatioDividingDividing the one into two, so it can be known.Operations of the Work
- CirculatioCirculationRound and round, until it is refined.Operations of the Work
- DistillatioDistillingRising and falling again, until only the essence is left.Operations of the Work
- FermentatioFermentingThe leaven that brings the dead matter to life.Operations of the Work
- MultiplicatioMultiplyingThe finished stone increasing its power.Operations of the Work
- ProjectioProjectionCasting the stone upon the metal to change it, and the psyche upon matter.Operations of the Work
- ConiunctioThe conjunctionThe union of opposites in the vessel.Operations of the Work
- PutrefactioPutrefactionRotting: the old form must decay before the new can grow.Operations of the Work
- MortificatioMortification, killingThe killing of what has ruled too long.Operations of the Work
- CibatioFeedingNourishing the matter in the vessel, a little at a time.Operations of the Work
- ExaltatioExaltationRaising the matter to its highest degree.Operations of the Work
Forms and Numbers 17
The shapes and numbers in which Jung found the psyche ordering itself: the circle, the centre, the three and the four.
Shapes
- The MandalaSanskrit: circleThe circle with a centre, a picture of wholeness.Shapes
- The CircleRotundumWholeness, without beginning or end.Shapes
- The CrossTwo ways crossing at a centre.Shapes
- The SpiralReturning to the same place, a little higher.Shapes
- The CentreAxis mundiThe still point around which everything turns.Shapes
- The SquareStability, the earth, and the four made firm.Shapes
- The TriangleThe three, rising toward a point.Shapes
- The HexagramSeal of SolomonTwo triangles joined: fire and water in one.Shapes
- The SphereThe round, the rotundumWholeness in three dimensions, with no beginning and no end.Shapes
- Squaring the CircleQuadratura circuliThe impossible figure of the whole.Shapes
Numbers
- The OneThe monadUnity, before and after the many.Numbers
- The TwoThe pair of oppositesThe first division, and the tension that drives the psyche.Numbers
- The TrinityThe threeThreeness, process, and the missing fourth.Numbers
- The QuaternityThe fourFourness, the pattern of completeness.Numbers
- The FiveThe quintessenceThe four, and the centre that unites them.Numbers
- The SevenThe number of the planets, the days, and the stages.Numbers
- The TwelveThe whole circle of time.Numbers
Colours and Metals 20
The colours by which the alchemists marked the stages of the work, and the metals, principles, and substances they worked with, read by Jung as stages and substances of the psyche.
The Colours of the Work
- BlackNigredoThe blackening at the start of the work.The Colours of the Work
- WhiteAlbedoThe whitening: the first light after the dark.The Colours of the Work
- YellowCitrinitasThe yellowing, as the dawn becomes day.The Colours of the Work
- RedRubedoThe reddening: the work completed in blood and life.The Colours of the Work
- GreenBenedicta viriditasThe blessed greenness of living things.The Colours of the Work
- The Peacock’s TailCauda pavonisAll the colours at once, before the white.The Colours of the Work
- BlueThe colour of sky and depth, of distance and spirit.The Colours of the Work
- VioletThe ultravioletWhere the spectrum passes beyond sight.The Colours of the Work
Metals, Principles, and Substances
- GoldAurumThe incorruptible: not the common gold.Metals, Principles, and Substances
- SilverArgentumThe metal of the moon.Metals, Principles, and Substances
- LeadSaturnThe heaviest and darkest metal, where the work begins.Metals, Principles, and Substances
- MercuryMercuriusThe quicksilver spirit, the elusive heart of the work.Metals, Principles, and Substances
- SaltSal sapientiaeWisdom, and the bitterness it costs.Metals, Principles, and Substances
- SulphurThe burning principle: desire and will.Metals, Principles, and Substances
- CopperVenusThe metal of Venus: love, beauty, and verdigris.Metals, Principles, and Substances
- IronMarsThe metal of Mars: strength, war, and will.Metals, Principles, and Substances
- TinJupiterThe metal of Jupiter, completing the seven.Metals, Principles, and Substances
- VitriolV.I.T.R.I.O.L.Go down into the earth, and you will find the hidden stone.Metals, Principles, and Substances
- The Prima MateriaThe first matterThe chaos from which the work begins: despised, everywhere, and everything.Metals, Principles, and Substances
- The QuintessenceThe fifth essenceThe fifth, beyond the four: what the elements hold in common.Metals, Principles, and Substances
The Natural World 40
Water, fire, stone, and tree, sun and moon, the mountain and the cave: the world outside, carrying the world within.
The Heavens
- The SunSolConsciousness, and its daily and yearly course.The Heavens
- The MoonLunaThe light of the night, waning and returning.The Heavens
- The StarA light in the dark: guidance and destiny.The Heavens
- The RainbowA bridge of light between heaven and earth.The Heavens
- LightningSudden illumination, and sudden change.The Heavens
- The WindSpirit that blows where it will.The Heavens
- NightNyxThe dark from which the day is born.The Heavens
- The DawnAuroraThe first light, before the sun.The Heavens
- The CloudWhat hides the divine, and brings the rain.The Heavens
- RainDewWhat falls from heaven to make the earth fertile.The Heavens
- The EclipseThe black sunThe light swallowed by the dark.The Heavens
- The PlanetsThe seven governorsThe seven wanderers, each ruling a metal, a day, and a temper.The Heavens
The Elements
- WaterThe sea, the lake, the springThe commonest symbol of the unconscious.The Elements
- FireEnergy that warms, purifies, and consumes.The Elements
- The EarthMatter, body, and the mother of all.The Elements
- The StoneLapis philosophorumWhat endures: the philosophers’ stone.The Elements
- The SeaThe collective unconscious, unfathomed.The Elements
- IceFeeling frozen; life held still.The Elements
- The DewRos, the heavenly moistureGrace falling in silence from above.The Elements
- The FountainThe mercurial fountainThe source that springs from the centre.The Elements
The Land
- The MountainThe height to be climbed, where heaven and earth meet.The Land
- The CaveThe hidden place of transformation, inside the earth.The Land
- The ForestWhere the known way ends.The Land
- The DesertThe wildernessThe empty place of trial and revelation.The Land
- The IslandA world apart, surrounded by the sea.The Land
- The RiverThe flow of life and time, and the border to be crossed.The Land
- The GardenParadise, hortus conclususThe walled and tended place, where nature is ordered.The Land
- The WellThe springThe deep source, and the way down.The Land
- The AbyssUngrundThe depth without a bottom.The Land
- The VolcanoFire breaking up from below.The Land
- The CrystalThe axial systemThe form that is there before the substance fills it.The Land
Growing Things
- The TreeArbor philosophicaGrowth, rootedness, and the axis of the world.Growing Things
- The FlowerThe golden flower, the rose, the lotusThe centre unfolding.Growing Things
- The SeedThe whole, hidden in the small.Growing Things
- The VineWineEcstasy, and the blood of the god.Growing Things
- The EggOvum philosophicumThe whole in potential, before it opens.Growing Things
- The PearlBeauty grown around a wound, in the depths.Growing Things
- The AppleThe fruit of knowledge, discord, and youth.Growing Things
- The RoseRosa mysticaThe flower of love, and of the centre.Growing Things
- The LotusPadmaRising from the mud, to open on the water.Growing Things
The Body 15
The heart, the eye, the hand, the blood, and the breath: the body as the psyche pictures itself, and as the traditions read it.
- The HeartThe seat of feeling, courage, and conscience.The Body
- The EyeSight, awareness, and the eye that watches.The Body
- The HandMaking, taking, blessing, and giving.The Body
- BloodLife itself, given and shed.The Body
- The SkullDeath remembered, and what outlasts the flesh.The Body
- BreathPneuma, spiritus, ruachSpirit, which is breath and wind.The Body
- The PhallusGenerative power, which is more than sexual.The Body
- The HeadThe seat of mind, and the oracle.The Body
- The FootStanding on the earth; the point of contact and of wounding.The Body
- The WombThe vessel of life, and of rebirth.The Body
- The BonesWhat remains, and what rises again.The Body
- The NavelOmphalosThe centre of the body, and of the world.The Body
- HairThe maneStrength and vitality, and what grows unbidden.The Body
- The BreastNourishmentThe first world: the source of milk and of comfort.The Body
- The SpineThe serpent’s pathThe axis of the body, climbed by the serpent power.The Body
Animals 37
The instinctive psyche in animal form: the serpent and the bird, the beasts of alchemy, and the animal the hero rides or slays.
Serpents and Dragons
Birds
- The BirdSpirit, soul, and thought in flight.Birds
- The EagleHeight, sight, and the spirit that rises.Birds
- The PhoenixBennuBurned, and risen from its own ashes.Birds
- The PelicanThe mother who feeds her young with her own blood.Birds
- The OwlWisdom that sees in the dark.Birds
- The RavenCaput corviThe black bird of the beginning.Birds
- The DovePeace, spirit, and the white light after the dark.Birds
- The CockThe herald of the light.Birds
- The SwanCygnusThe white bird of the hidden god and the dying song.Birds
Beasts
- The HorseInstinctive force, which carries.Beasts
- The LionLeoRoyal and devouring power.Beasts
- The BullFertile strength, offered in sacrifice.Beasts
- The WolfDevouring hunger, and a fierce kind of nurture.Beasts
- The DogGuardian of the threshold, and faithful guide.Beasts
- The StagCervus fugitivusThe fleeing spirit of the wild, crowned with antlers.Beasts
- The UnicornMonocerosWild power, tamed only by the pure.Beasts
- The ApeThe human made animal, and the animal made human.Beasts
- The BearInstinctive strength, and a fierce mothering.Beasts
- The HareQuick, fertile, and of the moon.Beasts
- The GoatLust, vitality, and the one who bears the sins.Beasts
- The FoxCunning that survives by wit.Beasts
- The LambAgnus DeiInnocence offered up.Beasts
- The CatBastet, the familiarIndependent, nocturnal, and never quite tame.Beasts
- The CamelThe first metamorphosisThe spirit that kneels to be loaded.Beasts
Creatures of the Water
- The FishIchthysLife in the depths, drawn up.Creatures of the Water
- The WhaleLeviathanThe monster of the deep that swallows.Creatures of the Water
- The CrocodileSobek, LeviathanThe devouring jaws of the depths.Creatures of the Water
- The CrabCancerMoving backward: the pull of the past, with a way forward hidden in it.Creatures of the Water
Small Creatures
- The ToadEarthbound and poisonous, with a jewel in its head.Small Creatures
- The SpiderThe weaver at the centre of the web.Small Creatures
- The BeeThe ordered community, and souls on the wing.Small Creatures
- The ButterflyPsycheThe soul, emerging transformed.Small Creatures
- The ScarabKhepriThe beetle that rolls the sun into rebirth.Small Creatures
Places and Vessels 33
The containers, thresholds, and ways of the work: the vessel and the house, the door and the bridge, the tower, the ring, and the sword.
Vessels and Enclosures
- The VesselVas hermeticumThe container in which change happens.Vessels and Enclosures
- The HouseThe structure of the psyche, lived in.Vessels and Enclosures
- The TowerHeight, enclosure, and the danger of reaching too high.Vessels and Enclosures
- The TempleTemenosThe sacred precinct, set apart.Vessels and Enclosures
- The CityThe ordered community, walled and centred.Vessels and Enclosures
- The TombThe grave that is also a womb.Vessels and Enclosures
- The BathBalneumImmersion that cleanses and joins.Vessels and Enclosures
- The AltarThe place of offering, where the human meets the divine.Vessels and Enclosures
- The ThroneThe seat of rule, and of what rules the soul.Vessels and Enclosures
- The CastleThe Grail castleThe fortress of the treasure, hard to find and harder to enter.Vessels and Enclosures
- The PrisonThe captive spiritBound in the dark, awaiting release.Vessels and Enclosures
- The TheatreThe stage of the dreamThe inner drama, and the seat of the one who watches it.Vessels and Enclosures
- The GrailThe vessel of the Last SupperThe vessel found by the one who asks the right question.Vessels and Enclosures
Ways and Thresholds
- The CrossroadsWhere the ways divide and a choice is forced.Ways and Thresholds
- The LabyrinthThe winding way to a centre.Ways and Thresholds
- The BridgeThe way across what divides.Ways and Thresholds
- The DoorThe gate, the thresholdThe threshold between one state and another.Ways and Thresholds
- The LadderScalaThe way up by stages.Ways and Thresholds
- The BoatThe ship, the arkThe vessel that carries across the waters.Ways and Thresholds
- The ChariotThe vehicle drawn by forces the driver must master.Ways and Thresholds
Things Held and Worn
- The WheelTurning time, fortune, and the round of birth and death.Things Held and Worn
- The KeyWhat opens, and what locks.Things Held and Worn
- The RingBond, circle, and power.Things Held and Worn
- The SwordThe blade that cuts, divides, and judges.Things Held and Worn
- The MirrorReflection, and the truth one would rather not see.Things Held and Worn
- The CrownSovereignty, and the work completed.Things Held and Worn
- The VeilWhat hides the mystery, and what may be lifted.Things Held and Worn
- The ThreadThe line of fate, and the way back out.Things Held and Worn
- The LampThe lanternA small light carried into the dark.Things Held and Worn
- The BookKnowledge written down, sealed, or to be opened.Things Held and Worn
- The ScalesThe balance, LibraWeighing the heart: judgment, justice, and equilibrium.Things Held and Worn
- The SpearThe lance of LonginusThe wound that pierces, and the wound that heals.Things Held and Worn
- The CaduceusThe staff of HermesTwo serpents about a winged staff: opposites held in balance.Things Held and Worn
Nothing in the Symbolarium matches.