Gold

Gold is an expression of the eternal, indestructible, immortal. It is a masculine metal associated with the sun, just as silver is a feminine metal associated with the moon. The light and radiance of gold connect it to consciousness and enlightenment.  

This noble, beautiful metal symbolizes the highest, the best, the perfected. The alchemist Michael Maier described gold as "radiant clay reshaped into the most beautiful substance, in which the sun's rays are gathered and shine forth." (Archetypes and the Collective Unconsicous, par. 418.) According to him, gold arises from the sun's opus circulatorium (which could psychologically be interpreted as achieving a good relationship with the Self through the individuation process; see also Circle). The alchemists' pursuit of making gold was a metaphor for the spiritual goal, not a literal attempt to create the metal. Aurum nostrum non est aurum vulgi, as they said—our gold is not common gold.  

In dreams, gold does not necessarily indicate "the highest," but it usually signifies something of, let’s say, higher psychological value.

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