The Mithraic god Aion Roman, 2nd-3rd century 

AION 
RESEARCHES INTO THE 
PHENOMENOLOGY OF THE SELF 
c. c. JUNC 
SECOND EDITION 
,~ 
TRANSLATED BY R. F. C. HULL 
ROUTLEDGE 

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE 
Grateful acknowledgment is made to the following persons, whose translations have been consulted during the preparation of the present work: Mr. William H. Kennedy, for extensive use of his translation of portions of chapters 2 and 3, issued as "Shadow, Animus, and Anima" by the Analytical Psychology Club of New York, 1950; Dr. Hildegarde Nagel, for reference to her translation of the original Eranos-Jahrbuch version (1949) of "Concerning the Self," in Spring, 1951, which original version the author later expanded into Aion, chapters 4 and 5; and Miss Barbara Hannah and Dr. Marie-Louise von Franz, for helpful advice with the remaining chapters. Especial thanks are due to Mr. A. S. B. Glover, who (unless otherwise noted) translated the Latin and Greek texts throughout. References to published sources are given for the sake of completeness. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS 
EDITORIAL NOTES TRANSLATOR'S NOTE 
LIST OF PLATES 
FOREWORD 
I. The Ego 
II. The Shadow 
Ill. The Syzygy: Anima and Animus
 IV. The Self 
V. Christ, a Symbol of the Self
 VI. The Sign of the Fishes 
VII. The Prophecies of Nostradamus 
VIII. The Historical Significance of the Fish 
IX. The Ambivalence of the Fish Symbol 
X.	The Fish in Alchemy 
1. The Medusa, 126 -~. The Fish, 137 - 3. The Fish Symbol of the Cathars, 145 
XI. The Alchemical Interpretation of the Fish 
XII. Background to the Psychology of Christian Alchemical Symbolism 
XIII. Gnostic Symbols of the Self 
XIV. The Structure and Dynamics of the Self
XV. Conclusion 
BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX 
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LIST OF PLATES 
The Mithraic god Aion 
Roman, 2nd-srd century. Museo Profano, Vatican. P: Alinari. frontisPiece 
1. The Four Elements 
Michael Maier, Scrutinium chymicum (1687), Emblema XVII, p. 49· following page 250 
n. The Trinity 
From a manuscript by ]oachim of Flora. Graphics Collection, Zurich 
	Central Library, B x 606. 	following page 254 
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FOREWORD 
The theme of this work 1 is the idea of the Aeon (Greek, A My investigation seeks, with the help of Christian, Gnostic alchemical symbols of the self, to throw light on the chan. psychic situation within the "Christian aeon." Christian t tion from the outset is not only saturated with Persian Jewish ideas about the beginning and end of time, but is with intimations of a kind of enantiodromian reversal of c nants. I mean by this the dilemma of Christ and Anticl Probably most of the historical speculations about time anI division of time were influenced, as the Apocalypse show astrological ideas. It is therefore only natural that my reflec should gravitate mainly round the symbol of the Fishes) fo Pisces aeon is the synchronistic concomitant of two thot years of Christian development. In this time-period not was the figure of the Anthropos (the "Son of Man") pre sively amplified symbolically, and thus assimilated psyche cally, but it brought with it changes in man's attitude that already been anticipated by the expectation of the Antic in the ancient texts. Because these texts relegate the appeal of Antichrist to the end of time, we are justified in speakil a "Christian aeon," which, it was presupposed, would fin end with the Second Coming. It seems as if this expect; coincides with the astrological conception of the "PIa month" of the Fishes. 
1 [In the Swiss edition, this foreword begins as follows: "In this volume (\ the Psychologische Abhandlungen) I am bringing out two works which, c: their inner and outer differences. belong together in so far as they both of the great theme of this book, namely the idea of the Aeon (Greek, While the contribution of my co-worker, Dr. Marie-Louise von Franz. de: the psychological transition from antiquity to Christianity by analysing th sion of St. Perpetua. my own investigation seeks, with the help of" etc., as Dr. von Franz's "Die Passio Perpetuae" is omitted from the present vc -EDITORS.] 
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FOREWORD 
The immediate occasion for my proposing to discuss these historical questions is the fact that the archetypal image of wholeness, which appears so frequently in the products of the unconscious, has its forerunners in history. These were identified very early with the figure of Christ, as I have shown in my book Psychology and Alcherny.2 I have been requested so often by my readers to discuss the relations between the traditional Christ-figure and the natural symbols of wholeness, or the self, that I finally decided to take this task in hand. Considering the unusual difficulties of such an undertaking, my decision did not come easily to me, for, in order to surmount all the obstacles and possibilities of error, a knowledge and caution would be needed which, unfortunately, are vouchsafed me only in limited degree. I am moderately certain of my observations on the empirical material, but I am fully aware of the risk I am taking in drawing the testimonies of history into the scope of my reflections. I think I also know the responsibility I am taking upon myself when, as though continuing the historical process of assimilation, I add to the many symbolical amplifications of the Christ-figure yet another, the psychological one, or even, so it might seem, reduce the Christ-symbol to a psychological image of wholeness. My reader should never forget, however, that I am not making a confession of faith or writing a tendentious tract, but am simply considering how certain things could be understood from the standpoint of our modern consciousness-things which I deem it valuable to understand, and which are obviously in danger of being swallowed up in the abyss of incomprehension and oblivion; things, finally, whose understanding would do much to remedy our philosophic disorientation by shedding light on the psychic background and the secret chambers of the soul. The essence of this book was built up gradually, in the course of many years, in countless conversations with people of all ages and all walks of life; with people who in the confusion and uprootedness of our society were likely to lose all contact with the meaning of European culture and to fall into that state of suggestibility which is the occasion and cause of the Utopian mass-psychoses of our time. 
I write as a physician, with a physician's sense of responsibility, and not as a proselyte. Nor do I write as a scholar, 2 [Ch. 5, "The Lapis-Christ Parallel."] 
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FOREWORD 
otherwise I would wisely barricade myself behind the safe' of my special ism and not, on account of my inadequate kn edge of history, expose myself to critical attack and damage scientific reputation. So far as my capacities allow, restrict( they are by old age and illness, I have made every effort to c ment my material as reliably as possible and to assist the fication of my conclusions by citing the sources. 
C. G. JUl 
May I950 
xi