Intellectual Deep Web | Carl Gustav Jung - Lapis philosophorum @IntellectualDeepWeb | Uploaded July 2020 | Updated October 2024, 6 hours ago.
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, "are more or less quotations from alchemy."
The inscription reads:
I am an orphan, alone; nevertheless I am found everywhere. I am one, but opposed to myself. I am youth and old man at one and the same time. I have known neither father nor mother, because I have had to be fetched out of the deep like a fish, or fell like a white stone from heaven. In woods and mountains I roam, but I am hidden in the innermost soul of man. I am mortal for everyone, yet I am not touched by the cycle of time.
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, "are more or less quotations from alchemy."
The inscription reads:
I am an orphan, alone; nevertheless I am found everywhere. I am one, but opposed to myself. I am youth and old man at one and the same time. I have known neither father nor mother, because I have had to be fetched out of the deep like a fish, or fell like a white stone from heaven. In woods and mountains I roam, but I am hidden in the innermost soul of man. I am mortal for everyone, yet I am not touched by the cycle of time.
