Four

The four is a distinctly whole and orderly number – the four cardinal directions, seasons, elements, and so on, all representing a totality. Whenever humans try to orient themselves, they organize their world or chaos with the four. In this sense, the symbol appears in dreams.

The various expressions of the number four are "natural symbols of wholeness" in our dreams and typically represent the Self or the individuation process. This can also apply to "four objects or people that are connected to each other, logically or by the way they are arranged." (CW 9ii, par. 351.)

Wholeness

Since the whole or "The One" is more or less unconscious and cannot be fully grasped by the ego – there are, so to speak, no reference frameworks for it – it is divided into four distinct parts during the encounter with consciousness; each part can be understood by the conscious mind as an incomplete expression of the whole. (Compare with Two.)

Jung emphasizes that this symbol of wholeness – "the quaternity" – does not reflect an unconscious fact but a "conscious and differentiated" totality; and that the quaternity "spontaneously arises in dreams as an expression of the whole personality." (CW 14, par 261.) This is not, so to speak, "the whole," but the insight into the psyche's wholeness and diverging functions that can be problematic in its own right. (Ibid., par. 274.)

The Pythagoreans regarded the number four as sacred, the most perfect number and the root of everything. (Compare 1+2+3+4=10; see Ten.)

Four Directions

While four symbolizes wholeness, the number also represents a state where the parts are not united. Everything is there, so to speak, but it pulls in different directions. The cross can illustrate this: It is an image of wholeness, but it is static, and there is an inherent conflict; it is a situation waiting to be resolved. (Cf. Square.)

The number four symbolizes the process of individuation and appears in dreams as a representation of "levels of consciousness," potential unity, and development—essentially a step toward completion. Typically, this process comes with a cost; dreams often depict potential developmental stages rather than completed facts. 

When the number four is present in a dream, it signifies something crucial related to the dreamer personally. For example, if the dreamer is part of a group of four, the dream reflects aspects of their personality, encompassing both unconscious and conscious elements.

Four People

It is common for dreams to feature four individuals, including the dreamer and three others, often in the arrangement of three men and one woman or vice versa. According to Broadribb (1990), this grouping (or this number of people in the dream, who do not necessarily need to be in a company) relates to the dreamer's "whole" personality.

Three and Four

The numbers three and four are closely linked symbolically; however, while the number three has a masculine, dynamic quality often associated with time, the number four denotes a feminine, resting quality with an aspect of eternity. The latter represents a higher degree of totality—something may be lacking in the number three. Together, they can express the recurring mystical number seven.

Typically, the number four is expressed as 3+1; for instance, in iconography, the evangelists are depicted as three animals and one human. The masculine Trinity is often balanced in imagery by "the feminine principle," such as Mary or "the other," the devil. This "3+1" configuration is encountered in contemporary dreams and popular culture. von Franz notes in The Cat that "the fourth is always the worthless one in tales and myths" (p. 123). However, it's essential to recognize that what is deemed worthless can often turn out to be valuable (such as the feminine aspect within patriarchal historical Christianity). For more information on the relationship between three and four, see the entry on Three.

Order

"The quaternity is the schema of order par excellence..." (CW 9ii, par. 381). Four is a number that humans intuitively use to sort and organize; indeed, most personality models are divided into four, for example. But we also have four elements, four seasons, four cardinal directions, and four "solstices" (two plus two equinoxes). Thus, four signifies an ordered, human completeness; dividing into four represents the organization of chaos (the alchemical massa confusa). The "middle," center, or Self is usually characterized by the number four. (The circle corresponds to the cosmic order.)

Alchemy

In particular, in Papyri Graecae Magicae, Hermes is associated with the number four; he is both a sphere and a square, and so on. In alchemy, Mercurius is not unexpectedly linked to the wholeness of the quaternity (but also to the dynamism of the triad—see Three).

Mary's Axiom

"Mary Prophetissa's axiom" is an alchemical principle that Jung frequently refers to, as he believes it reflects the process of individuation. It states: "One becomes two, two become three, and from the third comes the fourth as the first." This can be interpreted as follows: One represents the undifferentiated totality; two symbolizes the conflict between opposites, marking the emergence of consciousness; the third is the result of this conflict (the transcendent function); the fourth finally embodies the unity of the triad—as the first (but changed) state; and then the cycle begins anew.

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