I spoke to her: “My sister, my soul, what do you say?”
But she spoke, flattered and therefore tolerantly: “I let grass grow over everything that you do.”
I: “That sounds comforting and seems not to say much.”
S: “Would you like me to say much? I can also be banal, as you know, and let myself be satisfied in that way.”
I: “That seems hard to me. I believe that you stand in a close connection with everything beyond,” Carl Jung; Red Book
In “The psychological aspects of the Kore” (1951), Jung anonymously described this image as “Then she [the anima] appears in a church, taking the place of the altar, still over-life-size but with veiled face.”
He commented: “Dream xi restores the anima to the Christian church, not as an icon but as the altar itself The altar is the place of sacrifice and also the receptacle for consecrated relics” (CW 9, I, §369, 380).
On the left-hand side, there is the Arabic word for “daughters.” On the border of the image is the following inscription: “Dei sapientia in mysterio quae abscondita est quam praedestinavit ante secula in gloriam nostrum quam nemo principium huius secuti cognovit. Spiritus enim omnia scrutatur etiam profundo dei.” This is a citation from I Corinthians 2:7-10.
(Jung has omitted “Deus” before “ante secula.”)
The portions cited are marked here in italics: “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of the world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit:for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” On either side of the arch is the following inscription: “Spiritus et sponsa dicunt veni et qui audit dicat veni et qui sitit veniat qui vult accipiat aquam vitae gratis.” The text is from Revelation 22:17: “the Spirit and the bride say,
Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Above the arch is the following inscription: “ave virgo virginum.” This is the title of a medieval
hymn. Carl Jung; Red Book; Footnote #283.