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In Search of Spirit

In Search of Spirit

Ka statue of King Hor 1750 BC
Carving by Jung, 1920

The ka is the life-spirit, the animating principle of men and gods, and therefore can be legitimately interpreted as the soul or spiritual double. He is the “life” of the dead man, and thus corresponds on the one hand to the living man’s soul, and on the other to his “spirit” or “genius”.

C.G.Jung

Psychotherapy East and West

¶ 197

From The Egyptian Book of the Dead

I am the eternal Fire which is not quenched, the Fire which ruleth in the eternal place….

Thou art pure, thy ka is pure, thy soul is pure, thy form is pure….

May my Ka be protected, may it not be harmed in the realm of the dead….

I am one with my Ka, and my Ka is one with me….

In trying to understand the historical development of the concept of spirit, the Egyptian concept of the Ka stands out.

Summarizing different articles on the Ka:

— The Ka represents the flow of energy, vitality, and spiritual protection necessary for life and the afterlife.

— The Ka represents a spark of divinity within every individual.

— The Ka is believed to be created before birth by the gods, specifically by deities like Khnum, who was thought to mold the Ka on his potter’s wheel.

— The Ka is seen as a duplicate of a person’s essence or identity.

— It exists alongside the body during life and becomes independent after death.

— The Ka is a divine gift from the gods, symbolizing a connection between humans and the divine realm.

— After death, the Ka continues to live on in the tomb or burial site, requiring nourishment through offerings of food, drink, and rituals.

— The Ka ensures that the deceased remains connected to the material world while also existing in the spiritual realm.

— Statues of the deceased, placed in tombs, were designed to house the Ka in case the physical body deteriorated.

— The Ka was often depicted as a pair of upraised arms (𓂓), symbolizing protection and embrace, or as a double of the individual.

C.G. Jung: The Holy Ghost as a psychological idea

The Holy Ghost as “life” is a concept that cannot be derived logically from the identity of Father and Son, but is, rather, a psychological idea, a datum based on an irrational, primordial image. This primordial image is the archetype, and we find it expressed most clearly in the Egyptian theology of kingship. There, as we have seen, the archetype takes the form of God the father, Ka-mutef (the begetter), and the son. The ka is the life-spirit, the animating principle of men and gods, and therefore can be legitimately interpreted as the soul or spiritual double. He is the “life” of the dead man, and thus corresponds on the one hand to the living man’s soul, and on the other to his “spirit” or “genius” [ CW11 ¶ 197]

On Jung’s carving:

from Denise Rudin, Assistant to the Museum Director From the special exhibition “C.G. Jung – Journey into the Unconscious.” at the C.G. Jung Haus in Küsnacht, Switzerland:

Loki or Hephaestus with red flaming hair, carrying a temple in his hand.’ (C.G. Jung, CW 9i, § 682)

Carl Jung created this sculpture of Loki/Hephaestus around 1920.

In Germanic mythology, Loki is a trickster figure with a dual role as a cultural hero and deceiver.

He also embodies the unpredictable force of nature and brings about the end of the world. In folk tradition, he is associated with the element of fire. In Greek mythology,

Hephaestus is the god of fire and blacksmithing. He is revered as cultural hero, trickster and great magician.

In a fantasy of 7 October 1917, which he noted in Black Book 7 (p. 2), JJung encountered a figure named Ha.

Ha is described as a black magician who knows the secret of the runes.

On 10 February 1918, a character called Ka introduces himself in a fantasy as the other side of Ha (BB 7, pp. 38-39).

His secret is the essence of all magic, love;

His body is made of black iron, his eyes are of pure gold.

Ka announces that he has built a temple as a prison and tomb for the gods.

The temple as prison and tomb indicates that the transformation of God-images – psychologically the highest individual and collective values – takes place in the hands of a dark god, in the unconscious..

The figure of Ka, whose secret is love, also brings to mind Eros, whom Jung at the end of his life circumscribed as ‘kosmogonos, a creator and father-mother of all higher consciousness. Memories 2019, p. 413).

The wooden figure of Loki/Hephaestus reflects Jung’s need to give expression to the creative spirit that determined his life, repeatedly confronted him with great difficulties, but also stood behind his extraordinary creativity and devotion.

The visualisation work is a step towards objectifying inner experiences. In his Memories (p. 224), Jung mentioned that ‘aestheticizing’ alone was not enough to understand his inner experiences and that he therefore felt spurred on to develop a scientific understanding.

Nevertheless, the visual works, which of course include the Red Book, were important. With them came the realization of the ethical obligation towards the images’ (ibid.).

Jung’s life and his scientific work bear witness to his great commitment to fulfilling this obligation.

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