Page 42 - A critical exposition of Jung's theory of alchemy

Ego bound state - Sick or unproductive King
feeble and unable to
cope with its reality Disappearance of the King into
the Mother’s body, or his
Ascent of unconscious, dissolution in water.
and/or descent of ego Conjunction is ‘nefarious’ -
into the unconscious incest, murder, death

Conflict and synthesis Pregnancy, sickbed, display of
of unconscious and colours
conscious
King’s son, hermaphrodite,
Formation of new ego roundness.
dominant Conjunction is more
‘heavenly’

Finally Jung, basing his theory on that of alchemist Gerard Dorn,
claims that the coniunctio moves through three separate stages: firstly
the unio mentalis in which the spirit and soul are united together and
separated from the body; secondly, the unio mentalis is reunited with the
body; and finally this union is united with the World unus mundus.

The passage from Dorn is short:

We conclude that meditative philosophy consists in the
overcoming of the body by mental union {unio mentalis}. This
first union does not as yet make the wise man, but only the
mental disciple of wisdom. The second union of the mind with
the body shows forth the wise man, hoping for and expecting
that blessed third union with the first unity {i.e. the unus
mundus, the latent unity of the world}. May Almighty God
grant that all men be made such and may he be one in All.

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