Bollingen Stone:

Hic Lapis Exilis

Inscription:

Here stands the mean, uncomely stone,
“Tis very cheap in price!
The more it is despised by fools,
The more loved by the wise.

In memory of his 75th birthday

C.G. Jung out of gratitude made and set it up in the year 1950

The Rejected Stone

But when I saw the stone, I said, “No, that is my stone, I must have it!”

For I had seen at once that it suited me perfectly and that I wanted to do something with it.

Only I did not yet know what.

The first thing that occurred to me was a Latin verse by the alchemist Arnaldus de Villanova (died 1313).

I chiseled this into the stone; in translation it goes:

Here stands the mean, uncomely stone,
“Tis very cheap in price!
The more it is despised by fools,
The more loved by the wise.

This verse refers to the alchemist’s stone, the lapis, which is despised and rejected.

Memories, Dreams, Reflections

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