Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self (in German Aion. Beiträge zur Symbolik des Selbst ) is a work by Carl Jung originally published in German in 1951. It corresponds to the second volume of the ninth volume of his Complete Work , being in turn one of his main works devoted to the study of alchemy . The rest of the treatment and approach to it will be included in the following works: Psychology and Alchemy , Studies on alchemical representations, Mysterium coniunctionis and The psychology of transference.
This extensive monograph explores the archetype of the self through the study of the idea of the Christian aeon . The Christian tradition is not only imbued from its inception by the initially personal-Jewish idea of the end times , but it is also filled with the presentiment of the reversal expressed in the Christ - Antichrist dilemma . Most of the historical speculations about time periods have probably been influenced, as the Apocalypse already shows , by astrological ideas . Therefore, the research focuses mainly on the symbol of the fish , since the aeon ofPisces has constituted the synchronistic concomitant phenomenon of the two thousand years of Christian spiritual evolution.
The central theme of this volume is the symbolic representation of the psychic totality through the concept of the self, whose historical and traditional equivalent is the figure of Christ. Jung proves his thesis by investigating the Allegoriae Christi , especially the symbolism of the fish and the Gnostic and alchemical symbols , which he considers phenomena of cultural assimilation. The astrological aspect of the fish symbol and, in particular, the omens of the Antichrist are carefully examined. The chapters on the self , the shadow, and the animus and anima constitute a valuable integration of the key concepts of the Jungian system.
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