Glass

Glass has the almost magical quality that one can see through it like air or water, yet it is a solid material. Like crystal, glass has thus been referred to as “spiritual matter” or “concretized spirit”; it unites the spiritual and the material.

Glass left in nature remains for a thousand years; the material has an eternal quality. Edinger states, in relation to alchemical imagery, that glass is primarily a symbol of the “invisible, glorified body of pure, transformed consciousness” (1995, p. 164).

Shards

Glass shards can, with reference to the above, be a symbol of “spiritual splinters.” Getting glass shards in the mouth or throat is a terrifying experience because they are so dangerous to our internal organs, yet it is a common dream motif. Unlike whole glass, broken glass is sharp and dangerous. Characteristic of a glass that has been shattered is that it most likely cannot be made whole again.

Alchemy

The alchemists referred to their stone as glass and the process of creating it as vitrificatio, “to make glass.” Because glass could not be “corrupted” and was transparent, they associated it with “the glorified body.”

Furthermore, glass was associated with salt, as “salt was praised as ‘the virgin and the pure earth’ and ‘the finest crystal glass’ is primarily made from sodium salt and sand – two ‘uncorruptible substances.’ It is also made with fire, the ‘pure element.’” (CW 14, par. 319.)

Seeing

We use glass when we want to see more or further, in or out – we want to see the contents of a bottle, the color of the wine, through the glass; enlarged with a magnifying glass, further with binoculars, clearer with glasses, etc. Glass is about the ability to see and discover, which can refer to as consciousness. The alchemist’s vessel is made of glass so that he can study the inner process, becoming aware of it.

Something transparent can also suggest intuition and insight. The dreamer “sees through” something that might not otherwise be penetrable.

Coldness

Characteristic of glass, aside from being transparent (and more fragile than most other materials), is that it poorly conducts heat, which – along with the points below – gives glass a cold quality. Glass can suggest intellectualization; one can see the contents, but one cannot (emotionally) feel it, just as one can intellectually understand, say, one’s own neurosis, but if one lacks an emotional relationship to it, it does not change. (Cf. Winter.)

Isolation

If one is on one side of the glass, one is emotionally cut off from the other side. One can see the world, but have no real contact with it – one cannot feel it, one senses no smell, no wind, no temperature, and perhaps one cannot even talk to those on the other side. Being behind glass in dreams can be an image of being isolated or alienated; one might be able to make oneself understood but cannot establish an emotional connection. Conversely, if someone or something is behind glass, it may suggest a lack of understanding of the inner content on an emotional level.

That Snow White lies lifeless in a glass coffin suggests that she is not dead but emotionally cut off from the rest of the world. Only when the prince falls in love with her and takes her away – that is, establishes an emotional connection – does she come to life and leave the glass coffin.

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