Temenos

## 1. Etymology

**Temenos** (Greek: sacred precinct) names a **sacred, protected space**—psychologically both a personal container and the privacy around an analytical relationship. Related: [mandala](/index/mandala/); [quaternity](/index/quaternity/); [circumambulation](/index/circumambulation/); [transference](/index/transference/).

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## 2. Plain summary

A **temenos** is the holy enclosure that keeps the center from being pulled out or invaded. Jung saw it in drawings and dreams of fourfold/[mandala](/index/mandala/) form, and in the sealed field of analysis where analyst and patient meet powerful unconscious forces with mutual respect.

It can also name the charged zone around a [complex](/index/complex/)—guarded, hard for [consciousness](/index/consciousness/) to approach—or the numinous precinct of the [self](/index/self/)/[god-image](/index/god-image/). Related to [circumambulation](/index/circumambulation/) as movement that marks and concentrates the circle.

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

Greek sacred precinct / temple; personal psychic container; privacy of analytic relationship; mandala as holy place protecting the center; quaternary dream/drawing indication; analysis as temenos under [transference](/index/transference/); charged area around a [complex](/index/complex/); precinct of [self](/index/self/) / [god-image](/index/god-image/); containment for [opposites](/index/opposites/); alchemical vessel kinship; [circumambulation](/index/circumambulation/) marking the circle; [individuation](/index/individuation/) needing protected work.

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## 3. Academic elucidation

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## 4. Lexicon

**Sharp (1991)**

> Temenos. A Greek word meaning a sacred, protected space; psychologically, descriptive of both a personal container and the sense of privacy that surrounds an analytical relationship. … The symbol of the mandala has exactly this meaning of a holy place, a temenos, to protect the centre…

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

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

> temenos A word used by the early Greeks to define a sacred precinct… Jung’s use… psychological application… psychically charged area surrounding a COMPLEX… analytic precinct… area of the psyche… characterised by the numinosity of the SELF or GOD-IMAGE… psychological container shaped by analyst and patient…

(Samuels, Shorter, & Plaut, 1986, pp. **148–149**)

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## 5. CW concordance — sample, not exhaustive

> The symbol of the mandala has exactly this meaning of a holy place, a temenos, to protect the centre. And it is a symbol which is one of the most important motifs in the objectivation of unconscious images. It is a means of protecting the centre of the personality from being drawn out and from being influenced from outside.

(Jung, 1935/1976, CW 18, pp. 178–179, ¶410)

> …he has succeeded in establishing a protected temenos, a taboo area where he will be able to meet the unconscious.

(Jung, 1944/1968, CW 12, p. 54, ¶63)

> 7. Castle, city, and courtyard (temenos) motifs, quadratic or circular.

(Jung, 1950/1968, CW 9i, p. 361, ¶646)

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**See also:** [mandala](/index/mandala/); [quaternity](/index/quaternity/); [circumambulation](/index/circumambulation/); [self](/index/self/); [god-image](/index/god-image/); [complex](/index/complex/); [transference](/index/transference/); [opposites](/index/opposites/); [individuation](/index/individuation/); [logos](/index/logos/).

## References

Jung, C. G. (1968). Concerning mandala symbolism. 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. 1, p. 361, ¶646). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1950)

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. 54, ¶63). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1944)

Jung, C. G. (1976). The Tavistock lectures. In H. Read, M. Fordham, G. Adler, & W. McGuire (Eds.), *The collected works of C. G. Jung* (R. F. C. Hull, Trans.) (Vol. 18, pp. 178–179, ¶410). Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1935)

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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