Poseidon, Sea King
From Carl Jung, The Archetypes of the Collective Unconscious, 18.
We must surely go the way of the waters, which always tend downward, if we would raise up the treasure, the precious inheritance of the father. In the Gnostic hymn to the soul, the son is sent forth by his parents to seek the pearl that fell from the King’s crown. It lies at the bottom of a deep well, guarded by a dragon, in the land of the Egyptians– that land of fleshpots and drunkenness with all its material and spiritual riches. The son and heir sets out to fetch the jewel, but forgets himself and his task in the orgies of Egyptian worldliness, until a letter from his father reminds him what his duty is. He then sets out for the water and plunges into the dark depths of the well, where he finds the pearl on the bottom, and in the end offers it to the highest divinity.
This hymn, ascribed to Bardesanes, dates from an age that resembled ours in more than one respect. Mankind looked and waited, and it was a fish– “levatus de profundo” (drawn from the deep) — that became the symbol of the saviour, the bringer of healing.
Yoga-mat psychologist and Crohn's disease warrior, Nina-Lois Turtledove is deeply interested in philosophy, analytic and somatic psychology, peace studies, nutrition, tradition, and progress. This is her public journal where she spills her thoughts, and records her dreams, rants, and reflections.