C.G. Jung: “The ‘squaring of the circle’ … could even be called the archetype of wholeness.”

Archetypes are complexes of experience that come upon us like fate, and their effects are felt in our most personal life. jung-squaring-circle copy

“The ‘squaring of the circle’ is one of the many archetypal motifs which form the basic patterns of our dreams and fantasies.

But it is distinguished by the fact that it is one of the most important of them from the functional point of view. Indeed, it could even be called the archetype of wholeness.”

C.G.Jung
Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious
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One Comment

  1. Squaring the circle was an important image for the Renaissance painter Leonardo da Vinci. We can see this image in the so-called “Vitruvian Man,” the naked man doing jumping jacks inside a squared circle. Leonardo’s fascination with this image helps us to understand what Jung says of the image as an archetype of wholeness. It was exactly that for Leonardo. It fascinated him with an enormous emotional power. At the same time Leonardo was deeply drawn to the sacrifice of Christ as we can see in “The Last Supper.” Leonardo’s mind as a painter was always drawn to these powerful archetypes, and these became the subjects of his mysterious and powerful paintings.

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