“Now, one of the concepts that plays the greatest role in alchemy is that of the prima materia, the prime or basic matter, the one stuff from which everything else is made. People felt that if they could find out about that and it is still a topic in modern physics they could find…
From the University of Glasgow: “Rosarium Philosophorum” From Collected Works 16: The Mercurial Fountain This picture goes straight to the heart of alchemical symbolism, for it is an attempt to depict the mysterious basis of the opus. It is a quadratic quaternity characterized by the four stars in the four corners. These are the four…
Not only is it a mystery to me of why the Stone Sanctuary needs to be built, but it is also it is also a mystery as to how my hands find the stones that fit. There is no conscious process of choosing to look for a stone with certain dimensions and angles —…
The Rosarium Philosophorum is a sixteenth century alchemical treatise, with a series of twenty woodcuts. Jung’s comments on the first image, the image with the fountain, include the following: This fluid substance, with all its paradoxical qualities, really signifies the unconscious which as been projected on to it. The “sea” is its…
Carl Jung, on the Importance of Drawing and Painting It does not suffice in all cases to elucidate only the conceptual context of a dream content. Often it is necessary to clarify a vague content by giving it a visible form. This can be done by drawing, painting, or modeling. Often the hands will solve…
I have no theory about dreams, I do not know how dreams arise. And I am not at all sure that – my way of handling dreams even deserves the name of a “method.” I share all your prejudices against dream-interpretation as the quintessence of uncertainty and arbitrariness. On the other hand, I know that…