Jung-Carl-G.-Collected-Works-Volume-9-Part-II-Aion

THE FISH IN ALCHEMY
that point the way to the kingdom of heaven (motif of the "helpful
animals"). In Lambspringk's symbols 82 the zodiacal fishes
that move in opposite directions symbolize the arcane substance.
All this theriomorphism is simply a visualization of the unconscious
self manifesting itself through "animal" impulses. Some
of these can be attributed to known instincts, but for the most
part they consist of feelings of certainty, beliefs, compulsions,
idiosyncrasies, and phobias that may run directly counter to the
so-called biological instincts without necessarily being pathological
on that account. Wholeness is perforce paradoxical in its
manifestations, and the two fishes going in opposite directions,
or the co-operation of birds and fishes,
are an instructive illustration
of this. 83 The arcane substance, as its attributes show,
refers to the self, and so, in the Oxyrhynchus sayings, does the
"kingdom of heaven" or the conjectural "city."
5. The Fish Symbol of the Cathars
225 The use of fishes as symbols for the psychopompos and for
the antithetical nature of the self points to another tradition
that seems to run parallel with the Echeneis. And there is,
fact,
a very remarkable clue to be found, not in the literature
of alchemy, but in heresiology. The document in question
comes from the archives of the Inquisition at Carcassonne, published
by Benoist in his Histoire des Albigeois et des Vaudois,
in 1691. 84 It concerns an alleged revelation which Christ's
favourite disciple John was vouchsafed as he "rested in the
Lord's bosom." John wished to know what Satan's state was before
his fall, and the Lord answered: "He was in such splendour
that he ruled the powers of heaven." He wanted to be like God,
and to this end he descended through the elements of air and
water, and found that the earth was covered with water. Penetrating
beneath the surface of the earth, "he found two fishes
lying upon the waters, and they were like oxen yoked for
ploughing the whole earth from sunset to sunrise [or, from West
to East] at the command of the invisible Father. And when he
82 Mus. herm., p. 343.
83 Regarding the combination of fish and bird in ancient mythology, cf. Goodenough,
V, pp. 58fL and figs. 63, 66, 69.
84 Cited by Hahn, Geschkhte der Ketzer im Mittelalter, II, pp. 8 15ft.
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