Psychology of the Unconscious A Study of the...

379. These mythological equations follow absolutely the rule of dreams, where the dreamer can be resolved into many analogous forms.

380. “He must grow, but I must waste away.”—John iii: 30.

381. Cumont: “Textes et Monuments,” p. 172.

382. The parallel between Hercules and Mithra may be drawn even more closely. Like Hercules, Mithra is an excellent archer. Judging from certain monuments, not only the youthful Hercules appears to be threatened by a snake, but also Mithra as a youth. The meaning of the ἄθλος of Hercules (the work) is the same as the Mithraic mystery of the conquering and sacrifice of the bull.

383. These three scenes are represented in a row on the Klagenfurt monument. Thus the dramatic connection of these must be surmised (Cumont: “Myst. des Mithras”).

384. Also the triple crown.

385. The Christian sequence is John—Christ, Peter—Pope.

386. The immortality of Moses is proven by the parallel situation with Elias in the transfiguration.

387. See Frobenius: “Das Zeitalter des Sonnengottes.”

388. Therefore the fish is the symbol of the “Son of God”; at the same time the fish is also the symbol of the approaching world-cycle.

389. Riklin: “Wish Fulfilment and Symbolism.”

390. Inman: “Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism.”

391. The amniotic membrane(?).

392. The Etrurian Tages, who sprang from the “freshly ploughed furrow,” is also a teacher of wisdom. In the Litaolane myth of the Basutos, there is a description of how a monster devoured all men and left only one woman, who gave birth to a son, the hero, in a stable (instead of a cave: see the etymology of this myth). Before she had arranged a bed for the infant out of the straw, he was already grown and spoke “words of wisdom.” The quick growth of the hero, a frequently recurring motive, appears to mean that the birth and apparent childhood of the hero are so extraordinary because his birth really means his rebirth, therefore he becomes very quickly adapted to his hero rôle. Compare below.

393. Battle of Rê with the night serpent.

394. Matthew iii: 11.

395. “Das Gilgameshepos in der Weltliteratur,” Vol. I, p. 50.

396. The difference between this and the Mithra sacrifice seems to be extraordinarily significant. The Dadophores are harmless gods of light who do not participate in the sacrifice. The animal is lacking in the sacrifice of Christ. Therefore there are two criminals who suffer the same death. The scene is much more dramatic. The inner connection of the Dadophores to Mithra, of which I will speak later, allows us to assume the same relation of Christ to the criminals. The scene with Barabbas betrays that Christ is the god of the ending year, who is represented by one of the thieves, while the one of the coming year is free.

397. For example, the following dedication is found on a monument: D. I. M. (Deo Invicto Mithrae) Cautopati. One discovers sometimes Deo Mithrae Caute or Deo Mithrae Cautopati in a similar alternation as Deo Invicto Mithrae—or sometimes Deo Invicto—or, merely, Invicto. It also appears that the Dadophores are fitted with knife and bow, the attributes of Mithra. From this it is to be concluded that the three figures represent three different states of a single person. Compare Cumont: “Textes et Monuments,” p. 208.

398. Of the threefold Mithra.

399. Cited by Cumont: “Textes et Monuments,” p. 208.

400. Having expanded himself threefold, he departed from the sun.

401. Now these differences in the seasons refer to the Sun, which seems at the winter solstice an infant, such as the Egyptians on a certain day bring out of their sanctuaries; at the vernal equinox it is represented as a youth. Later, at the summer solstice, its age is represented by a full growth of beard, while at the last, the god is represented by the gradually diminishing form of an old man.

402. Ibid.

403. Taurus and Scorpio are the equinoctial signs for the period from 4300 to 2150 B.C. These signs, long since superseded, were retained even in the Christian era.

404. Under some circumstances, it is also sun and moon.

405. In order to characterize the individual and the all-soul, the personal and the super-personal, Atman, a verse of the Shvetâshvatara-Upanishad (Deussen) makes use of the following comparison:

“Zwei schön beflügelte verbundne Freunde

Umarmen einen und denselben Baum;

Einer von ihnen speist die süsse Beere,

Der andre schaut, nicht essend, nur herab.”

(Two closely allied friends, beautifully winged, embrace one and the same tree; One of them eats the sweet berries, the other not eating merely looks downwards.)

406. Among the elements composing man, in the Mithraic liturgy, fire is especially emphasized as the divine element, and described as τὸ εἰς ἐμὴν κρᾶσιν θεοδώρητον (The divine gift in my composition). Dietrich: Ibid., p. 58.

407. Threefold God.

408. It is sufficient to point to the loving interest which mankind and also the God of the Old Testament has for the nature of the penis, and how much depends upon it.

409. The testicles easily count as twins. Therefore in vulgar speech the testicles are called the Siamese twins. (“Anthropophyteia,” VII, p. 20. Quoted by Stekel: “Sprache des Traumes,” p. 169.)

410. “Recherches sur le culte, etc., de Vénus,” Paris, 1837. Quoted by Inman: “Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism,” New York, p. 4.

411. The androgynous element is not to be undervalued in the faces of Adonis, Christ, Dionysus and Mithra, and hints at the bisexuality of the libido. The smooth-shaven face and the feminine clothing of the Catholic priest contain a very old female constituent from the Attis-Cybele cult.

412. Stekel (“Sprache des Traumes”) has again and again noted the Trinity as a phallic symbol. For example, see p. 27.

413. Sun’s rays = Phalli.