Another major theme continued throughout Aion is the double aspect of Christ:
TWO FISHES
The zodiacal sign of Pisces is a double sign; it represents two fishes, one vertically and one horizontally oriented
AL ¶ 0This doubleness parallels the fact that the image of Christ took on doubleness very early in its manifestation
AL ¶ 0HOSTILE BROTHERS
As Jung points out in CW9.2: par. 130 , the double aspect of Christ is prefigured in the ancient Egyptian image of the pair of hostile brothers, Horus and Set, the good brother and the evil brother. They parallel the pair Christ and Satan
AL ¶ 0Elaborating on the parallel, Jung says: “One thinks involuntarily of the ancient Egyptian pair of hostile brothers, Horus and Set, the sacrificer and the sacrificed” ( CW9.2: par. 130 )
AL ¶ 0Jung is writing of an image to which he has referred earlier, in which Set appears as a sacrificed one, tied to a slave's post. Horus is standing before him with a knife in his hand. Jung points out that in the Egyptian myth it is the evil one who is sacrificed. In the Christian version this is reversed; the good one is sacrificed. In note 40, following this remark, Jung states:
AL ¶ 0Jung: Crucifixion was a well-known punishment for slaves. The Cross with a snake on it, instead of the Crucified, is often found in medieval works of art, and also in the dreams and fantasy-images of modern people who know nothing of this tradition ( CW9.2: par. 130, fn. 40 )
AL ¶ 0A characteristic dream of this sort follows:
AL ¶ 0Dream:
Saviour as Snake
The dreamer was watching a Passion play in the theatre. On the way to Golgotha, the actor taking the part of the Saviour suddenly changed into a snake or crocodile
AL ¶ 0DREAM COMMENTARY
This image of the snake on the cross shows up in dreams occasionally. It is a symbolic image of a psychological transformation process in which the cold-blooded primordial psyche represented by a snake, fish, lizard or something of this order, is sacrificed
AL ¶ 0IMAGE ORIGINATES
AUTOCHTHONOUSLY FROM PSYCHE
This is a very prominent feature of Christian symbolism, but it originates autochthonously from within the psyche, the same place from which the Christian symbolism originated. Tertullian said, “The soul [is] by nature Christian,” and we can understand this statement today in a psychological sense, as suggesting that images of this type are spontaneously produced from the psyche
AL ¶ 0TWO BROTHERS AS A PAIR,
ONE MORTAL, ONE IMMORTAL
In classical mythology a different kind of pairing is expressed in the image of the two brothers, Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces): one is mortal and the other is immortal; the good / evil dichotomy is not present. Those two brothers are said to have become the astrological constellation of Gemini, the twins
AL ¶ 0A similar image of doubling or twinship is applied to Christ in the Gnostic work Pistis Sophia, from which Jung quotes a story about the childhood of Christ
AL ¶ 0STORY ABOUT THE
CHILDHOOD OF CHRIST
According to the doctrine of Docetism, the Christ nature, the divine nature of Jesus, descended on the ordinary human being at a certain time, usually thought to be at his baptism. It entered him and performed its work through him, and when its work was done and Jesus was on the cross, it abandoned him
AL ¶ 0He had to suffer the consequences of the work which the spirit had done through him. I consider this a very important image for understanding the nature of individuation
AL ¶ 0SELF DESCENDS
ON EGO
The Self does behave somewhat like this in relation to the ego: it descends on the ego, imposes assignments on the ego which the ego would much rather not dothey are usually onerousand then the spirit leaves the ego to pay the bill
AL ¶ 0JESUS AS DOUBLE PERSONALITY
Jung goes on to say that Jesus accordingly is conceived as a double personality, part of which rises up from the Chaos or hyle, sprouts from the earth, while the other part descends as pneuma from heaven: truth sprouting up from the earth and justice looking down from heaven: a fruitful image
AL ¶ 0`JUSTICE' AND `TRUTH'
These two terms, justice and truth, have interesting usages in the Old Testament. The basic idea is that truth concerns sincerity, authenticity, fidelity to one's reality. Psychologically, truth means being genuine, being what one truly is. This is what sprouts up from below
AL ¶ 0Justice or righteousness, on the other hand, is defined as submission to principles, to laws of proper conduct, to spiritual standards that have been previously established
AL ¶ 0CHRIST'S HEAVENLY BROTHER
What we have here is something very close to a pair of opposites in which genuine “truthful being” grows from the earthy concrete reality of one's Self, whereas one's spiritual rightness comes from above. So the passage describing the coming together of Christ's heavenly brother with himself corresponds to the coming together of truth with justice or righteousness
AL ¶ 0