The Body

The unconscious seems to view our body as a temporary vehicle or house of the soul for the time being. Thus, dreams about "my car" or "my house" sometimes refer to one's body. If the car is not functioning properly, it may refer to a bodily function, or if the house is broken, it may be a prediction of physical problems.

The body is self-regulating, autonomously growing or decaying, and it has many vital functions that are outside our conscious control, which we only notice as symptoms in the event of some form of illness. Primarily, our internal organs are in this way a kind of counterpart to the psyche: We are conscious of our consciousness and can easily control our arms and legs; but we are unconscious of our unconscious and cannot influence our internal organs. The internal organs, like our unconscious psychological processes, live their own life; in other words, they are autonomous. Just like the animal and the unconscious, the body is thus "natural" and follows its own rhythm independently of the ego's wishes. We are, so to speak, part of something self-regulating, both in body and psyche.

In many traditions, the body is viewed as a microcosm, a reflection of the world, where bones are mountains, hair is plants, veins are rivers, and so on. Similarly, the world is created in various mythologies from the body of a primordial human, or a giant, as in the Nordic mythology. Traces of this can be mirrored in dreams, where, for example, a row of teeth may be associated with a mountain range. The alchemists repeated the "bodily" aspect of the philosopher’s stone, hinting at its (or its work's) similarities to Christ, who is an incarnate god.

The Body and the Earth  

For the unconscious, the body is a kind of earth – it is heavy, inert, and cannot be removed; it sometimes becomes an obstacle, much like everyday, concrete problems. But at the same time, and because of this, the body (and the earth) represents the “here and now.” To be fully present in the moment, one must be in the body. Jung suggests that, for a dream, for example, to have any effect, one must bring it into the body. (Visions, p. 1316.) Even if one has a very remarkable dream, it makes no difference if one does not bring it into the body, so to speak, concretize it, “ground” it. In practice, this can mean carrying the dream with you, working with it, performing some ritual around it, and so on.

Body and earth are almost synonymous symbols—they are "the material." The body concretizes us in our here and now; it determines who we are. This burdens us, and therefore we always strive for liberation from it; but that then creates a separation from our reality. It is the earth, the material, the body that gives us individuality; without the concrete, we are nothing, even though we tend to avoid our concrete body and reality. (Jung's Seminar on Nietzsche's Zarathustra, p. 46f.)

Body Parts

The different parts of the body, such as the head, stomach, and hand, have their own symbolic meanings that must be taken into account. A good way to approach the symbolic meaning of a body part is to associate it with its function – walking, lifting, jumping, etc. For example, if you have injured your leg, it is difficult to get up, but it may work fine if you've injured your shoulder, as other challenges arise instead.

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