Luna

The Moon as alchemical and psychological symbol, Luna represents the feminine principle within the opus - receptive, reflective, cyclical, and intimately connected to the unconscious. Paired with Sol (the Sun, masculine, active, conscious), Luna participates in the coniunctio, the sacred marriage whose fruit is the Philosopher’s Stone or, in psychological terms, wholeness.

In alchemy, Luna corresponds to silver, to water, to the volatile and mutable aspects of matter and Psyche. Where Sol burns steadily, Luna waxes and wanes; where Sol illuminates directly, Luna offers reflected light - knowledge that comes obliquely, through dreams, intuition, and symbol rather than rational analysis. The alchemists depicted Luna as queen, bride, sister, or mother to Sol, emphasizing that the Great Work requires both principles in dynamic relationship. Neglect of Luna produces a consciousness that is bright but brittle, all clarity and no depth.

Carl Jung associated Luna with the anima in men - the feminine soul-image that mediates between ego and unconscious - though the symbol exceeds any single correspondence. Luna governs the realm of feeling, of imaginal perception, of the body’s wisdom and its tidal rhythms. Modern culture’s privileging of solar values (productivity, rationality, constant illumination) may represent a collective Luna-deficit, manifesting as alienation from interiority, nature, and the feminine. The moon reminds us that darkness has its own intelligence, that what cannot be seen directly may still be known. See also Sol, albedo, silver symbolism, Moon feminine principle, night sea journey.