Hierosgamos
…
in the world of alchemical symbolism, the King and Queen celebrated an
incestuous hieros gamos
(divine marriage). At the same time, the
alchemical symbolism reveals the goal in whose service the endogamous gradient
of energy is now placed. It is no longer the family but the
inner psychic components of the individual that it holds together; i.e. it has
been internalized into the urge towards
individuation. Over against the disintegrating
manifestation of psychic
collectivity, the endogamous urge works in the direction of a psychic
consolidation of the individual which is symbolized by the alchemical
lapis.
The
king and queen represent the divine pair who celebrate the hieros gamos,
the uniting of the torn-asunder psychic opposites. The divine
marriage is an archetypal image intended to heal a deep psychic dissociation.
Whenever man’s consciousness had become too far removed from its natural
basis, such reconciliation rites were instituted for the purpose of healing, and
they generally culminated in the motif of the divine marriage.
It is the parallels to the Book of Enoch that are of the most interest to
us. We are obviously living in a time resembling that of the
beginning of the decline of ancient culture and the origins of Christianity – a
time of extreme inner and outer crises, a time that presses toward a
deep-reaching change.