Glossary: Coniunctio

A term from alchemy referring to the unification of the opposites; the sacred marriage. Symbolized by the marriage of the Sun and Moon, King and Queen, Animus and Anima; in religion, Christ and the Church, Shiva and Shakti. One of the main ways we experience the sacred marriage within is in the union of conscious and the unconscious in the process of individuation, but any time the opposites are united is a coniunctio. Connection by love. Out of a successful coniunctio, new possibilities are born. See also Heirosgamos, Syzygy, Unus Mundus.

The coniunctio is an a priori image that occupies a prominent place in the history of man's mental development. If we trace this idea back we find it has two sources in alchemy, one Christian, the other pagan. The Christian source is unmistakably the doctrine of Christ and the Church, sponsus and sponsa, where Christ takes the role of Sol and the Church that of Luna. The pagan source is on the one hand the hieros-gamos, on the other the marital union of the mystic with God.

- The Psychology of the Transference," CW 16, par. 355