Click to copy, then share by pasting into your messages, comments, social media posts and websites.
Click to copy, then add into your webpages so users can view and engage with this video from your site.
Report Content
We also accept reports via email. Please see the Guidelines Enforcement Process for instructions on how to make a request via email.
Thank you for submitting your report
We will investigate and take the appropriate action.
Carl Gustav Jung - Lapis philosophorum
In 1950, on the occasion of his 75th birthday, Jung set up a stone cube on the lakeshore, just west of the Bollingen Tower, inscribing it on three sides. One side contains a quote taken from the Rosarium philosophorum:
Hic lapis exilis extat, pretio quoque vilis, spernitur a stultis, amatur plus ab edoctis. (Here stands the mean, uncomely stone, 'Tis very cheap in price! The more it is despised by fools, The more loved by the wise.)
A dedication is also inscribed on this side of the stone:
IN MEMORIAM NAT[ivitatis] S[uae] DIEI LXXV C G JUNG EX GRAT[itudine] FEC[it] ET POS[uit] A[nn]O MCML (In memory of his 75th birthday, C.G. Jung out of gratitude made and set it up in the year 1950.)
The second side of the cube depicts Jung's Telesphoros figure, bearing a lantern and wearing a hooded cape. It is surrounded by a Greek inscription:
«Ὁ Αἰὼν παῖς ἐστι παίζων, πεττεύων· παιδὸς ἡ βασιληίη» · Τελεσφόρος διελαύνων τοὺς σκοτεινοὺς τοῦ κόσμου τόπους, καὶ ὡς ἀστὴρ ἀναλάμπων ἐκ τοῦ βάθους, ὁδηγεῖ «παρ' Ἠελίοιο πύλας καὶ δῆμον ὀνείρων».
"Time is a child — playing like a child — playing a board game — the kingdom of the child. This is Telesphoros, who roams through the dark regions of this cosmos and glows like a star out of the depths. He points the way to the gates of the sun and to the land of dreams."
"Time is a child at play, gambling; a child's is the kingship" is a fragment attributed to Heraclitus.
"He points the way to the gates of the sun and to the land of dreams" is a quote from the Odyssey (Book 24, Verse 12). It refers to Hermes the psychopomp, who leads away the spirits of the slain suitors.
The second side also contains a four-part mandala of alchemical significance. The top quarter of the mandala is dedicated to Saturn, the bottom quarter to Mars, the left quarter to Sol-Jupiter [male], and the right quarter to Luna-Venus [female].
The third side of the cube is the side that faces the lake. It bears a Latin inscription of sayings which, Jung says, ..
Category | Education |
Sensitivity | Normal - Content that is suitable for ages 16 and over |
Playing Next
Paul Tillich - Religion as a Dimension in Man’s Spiritual Life
3 years, 11 months ago
Related Videos
Terence McKenna - Touched by the Tremendum
4 years ago
Eric Voegelin - The University and the Order of Society
4 years, 2 months ago
Leo Strauss - Hegel's The Philosophy of History (Part 1)
4 years, 2 months ago
Michael Massing - Erasmus, Luther, and the Fight for the Western Mind
4 years, 2 months ago
René Girard - Violence and Religion
4 years, 2 months ago
Philip K. Dick - If You Find This World Bad, You Should See Some of the Others
4 years, 4 months ago
Warning - This video exceeds your sensitivity preference!
To dismiss this warning and continue to watch the video please click on the button below.
Note - Autoplay has been disabled for this video.