ABSTRACT
Ascent of the unconscious and/or Disappearance of the king in his descent of the ego into the un-mother's body, or his dissolution conscious in water
Conflict and synthesis of con-Pregnancy, sick-bed, symptoms, scious and unconscious display of colours
Formation of a new dominant; King's son, hermaphrodite, rocircular symbols (e.g., mándala) tundum 402
of the self
5*4 Though the comparison holds good on average, the symbolism of the Cantilena differs from the above schema in that the apotheosis of the filius regius takes place simultaneously with that of Queen Luna, thus paralleling the marriage in the Apocalypse. The Christian prototype gained the upper hand in Ripley, whereas usually the coniunctio precedes the production of the lapis and the latter is understood as the child of Sol and Luna. To that extent the lapis exactly corresponds to the psychological idea of the self, the product of conscious and unconscious. In Christian symbolism, on the other hand, there is a marriage of the Lamb (the Apocalyptic Christ) with the bride (Luna-Ecclesia). Because the lapis is itself androgynous, a synthesis of
male and female, there is no need for another coniunctio. The symbolical androgyny of Christ does not, curiously enough, eliminate the marriage of the Lamb-the two things exist side by side.
