Orselig - 無 The Invisible Dance

All Along the Bollingen Tower

αἰὼν παῖς ἐστι παίζων, πεττεύων· παιδὸς ἡ βασιληίη*

In 1950, a most unremarkable year otherwise, on the occasion of his 75th birthday, Jung set up a stone cube on the lakeshore, just West of the tower he had made built, 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 a Telesphorus figure, a homunculus bearing a lantern and wearing a hooded cape reminiscent of the figure of The Hermit (IX) (Major Arcana VIIII). 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».

The inscription says:

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 aeons.

Quote of the Rosarium philosophorum

hic lapis exilis extat, pretio quoque vilis, spernitur a stultis, amatur plus ab edoctis 

("this stone is poor, and cheap in price; it is disdained by fools, but it is loved all the more by the wise"),

and the dedication

IN MEMORIAM NAT[ivitati]S 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 up [this stone], in the year 1950."

On the second side, Jung Telesphorus figure, a dwarf or homunculus bearing a lantern and wearing a hooded cape, 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". The central figure is Homunculus-Mercurius-Telesphorus, wearing a hooded cape and carrying a lantern. He is surrounded by a quaternary Mandala of alchemical significance, with the top quarter dedicated to Saturn, the bottom quarter to Mars, the left quarter to Sol-Jupiter ("male") and the right quarter to Luna-Venus ("female"). The Greek inscription translates to approximately: "Aion (Time, Eternity, the Eon) is a child at play, gambling; a child's is the kingship. Telesphorus ("the Accomplisher") traverses the dark places of the world, like a star flashing from the deep, leading the way to the Gates of the Sun and the Land of Dreams" Time is a child at play, gambling; a child's is the kingship is a fragment attributed to Heraclitus. To the Gates of the Sun and the Land of Dreams is a quote of the Odyssey (24.11), referring to Hermes the psychopomp leading the spirits of the slain suitors away.

From David C. Hamilton

* Eternity is a child playing, playing checkers; the kingdom belongs to a child.

Quoted by Hippolytus, Refutation of all heresies, IX, 9, 4 (Fragment 52), as translated in Reality (1994), by Carl Avren Levenson and Jonathan Westphal, p. 10

Variants:

History is a child building a sand-castle by the sea, and that child is the whole majesty of man’s power in the world.

As quoted in Contemporary Literature in Translation (1976), p. 21

A lifetime is a child playing, playing checkers; the kingdom belongs to a child.

As quoted in The Beginning of All Wisdom: Timeless Advice from the Ancient Greeks (2003) by Steven Stavropoulos, p. 95

Time is a game played beautifully by children.

As quoted in Fragments (2001) translated by Brooks Haxton

Lifetime is a child at play, moving pieces in a game. Kingship belongs to the child.

As quoted in The Art and Thought of Heraclitus (1979) translated by Charles H. Kahn

“Drink water from the spring where horses drink. The horse will never drink bad water.

Lay your bed where the cat sleeps.

Eat the fruit that has been touched by a worm.

Boldly pick the mushroom on which the insects sit.

Plant the tree where the mole digs.

Build your house where the snake sits to warm itself.

Dig your fountain where the birds hide from heat.

Go to sleep and wake up at the same time with the birds – you will reap all of the days golden grains.

Eat more green – you will have strong legs and a resistant heart, like the beings of the forest.

Swim often and you will feel on earth like the fish in the water.

Look at the sky as often as possible and your thoughts will become light and clear.

Be quiet a lot, speak little – and silence will come in your heart, and your spirit will be calm and full of peace.”

- Saint Seraphim of Sarov

“Happiness is a warm gun, mama — Happiness bang, bang, shoot, shoot”