ABSTRACT
Mysterium Coniunctionis, which took Jung roughly twelve years to write, is generally considered to be the most significant part of his magnum opus – his ‘last great work’ (Jung 1955/1956: v). The theme was initially inspired by Kerenyi's essay on the Aegean Festival scene from Goethe's Faust and by such works as Rosencreutz's Chymical Wedding (ibid.: xvi). According to von Franz, the first draft of this work was completed in 1944. She adds that when she saw Jung after his illness, he said: ‘What I wrote in the Mysterium is true, I don’t need to alter the text. But I only know now how real these things are’ (von Franz 1966/2000: xiii).
