Circumambulation

## 1. Etymology

**Circumambulation** names both **circular movement** and the **marking of a sacred precinct around a center**—psychologically, concentration on a point conceived as the center of a circle. Related: [temenos](/index/temenos/); [mandala](/index/mandala/); [amplification](/index/amplification/); wheel / rota.

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## 2. Plain summary

To **circumambulate** an image is to walk around it—staying close, reflecting from many sides—unlike free association, which runs away linearly. Jung linked the motif to the wheel and to [ego](/index/ego/) held in the greater [self](/index/self/), to mass symbolism and Buddhist [mandala](/index/mandala/).

Clockwise tended toward [consciousness](/index/consciousness/); counter-clockwise spiraled toward the [unconscious](/index/unconscious/). Alchemy used *circumambulatio* for concentration on the place of creative change. The defined circle is the [temenos](/index/temenos/) needed to hold [opposites](/index/opposites/) in analysis.

**Examples (exhaustive house list for this Index lemma — common circumambulation-related figures and motifs named across Jung’s essays and standard Jungian lexica; not a claim that Jung’s CW contains only these):**

circular interpretation staying with the image; vs free association; marking sacred precinct; concentration on center; wheel motif; ego contained in [self](/index/self/); mass / Buddhist mandala parallels; clockwise → consciousness; counter-clockwise → unconscious; alchemical circumambulatio; [temenos](/index/temenos/) containment; [amplification](/index/amplification/) kinship; [active imagination](/index/active-imagination/) circling; [quaternity](/index/quaternity/) / center.

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## 3. Academic elucidation

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## 4. Lexicon

**Sharp (1991)**

> Circumambulation. A term used to describe the interpretation of an image by reflecting on it from different points of view. Circumambulation differs from free association in that it is circular, not linear. Where free association leads away from the original image, circumambulation stays close to it.

(Sharp, 1991, p. [provisional — unverified])

**Samuels, Shorter & Plaut (1986)**

> circumambulation Circumambulation means not only a circular movement but also the marking of a sacred precinct around a central point. Psychologically, Jung defined it as concentration upon and occupation with a point conceived as the centre of a circle…

(Samuels, Shorter, & Plaut, 1986, p. **31**)

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## 5. CW concordance — sample, not exhaustive

> As manifestations of unconscious processes the dreams rotate or circumambulate round the centre, drawing closer to it as the amplifications increase in distinctness and in scope.

(Jung, 1944/1968, CW 12, p. 28, ¶34)

> …the latter emphasizes the rotation which also appears as a ritual circumambulation. Psychologically, it denotes concentration on and preoccupation with a centre, conceived as the centre of a circle and thus formulated as a point.

(Jung, 1951/1968, CW 9ii, p. 224, ¶352)

> The counterclockwise movement (from right to left) corresponds psychologically to a circumambulation downwards, in the direction of the unconscious, while the clockwise (left-to-right) movement goes in the direction of consciousness.

(Jung, 1942/1969, CW 11, p. 212, ¶518)

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**See also:** [temenos](/index/temenos/); [mandala](/index/mandala/); [amplification](/index/amplification/); [self](/index/self/); [ego](/index/ego/); [quaternity](/index/quaternity/); [opposites](/index/opposites/); [active imagination](/index/active-imagination/); [logos](/index/logos/).

## References

Jung, C. G. (1968). Individual dream symbolism in relation to alchemy. In H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler, & W. McGuire (Eds.), *The collected works of C. G. Jung* (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.) (2nd ed., Vol. 12, p. 28, ¶34). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1944)

Jung, C. G. (1968). The structure and dynamics of the self. In H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler, & W. McGuire (Eds.), *The collected works of C. G. Jung* (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.) (2nd ed., Vol. 9, pt. 2, p. 224, ¶352). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1951)

Jung, C. G. (1969). Transformation symbolism in the Mass. In H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler, & W. McGuire (Eds.), *The collected works of C. G. Jung* (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.) (2nd ed., Vol. 11, p. 212, ¶518). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1942)

Samuels, A., Shorter, B., & Plaut, F. (1986). *A critical dictionary of Jungian analysis*. Routledge.

Sharp, D. (1991). *Jung lexicon: A primer of terms & concepts*. Inner City Books.

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