¹ [(Translated from the French by A.S.B.G. and J.A.P.) Published in Élie le prophète, ed. by Père Bruno de Jésus-Marie, O.C.D., vol. II (Les Études Carmélitaines, Paris, 1956), pp. 13–18. Comments were supplied by Charles Baudouin, René Laforgue, and Father Bruno to form a chapter entitled “Puissance de l’archétype,” signed by the four. See also Jung’s letter of 20 Nov. 1956 to Père Bruno in Letters, ed. G. Adler, vol. 2.]

² [“which extends toward the highest heaven as the sun rising from the ocean.”]

³ [“only an altar and the worship (of the god)”]

⁴ [Cf. “Concerning Rebirth” (C.W., vol. 9, i), pars. 240ff.]

⁵ [Buber, Tales of the Hasidim, vol. I: “Elijah,” by Elimelekh of Lizhensk, p. 257.]

⁶ [Cf. supra, “Reply to Buber,” pars. 1499fl.]

⁷ [“he offers an image of the resurrection.”]

⁸ [René Dussaud. Notes du mythologie syrienne (Paris. 1903–5.]

⁹ [“until the coming of Helyas Artista, in whose time all that is hidden will be revealed”]

¹⁰ [Following this letter. Bruno quoted another letter from Jung of 22 Dec. 1954 (misdated by Bruno 1953; here trans. by J.A.P.) :

“So far as concerns the Helias of the alchemists, let me remind you of the text by Gerardus Dorneus [quoted as above]. Instead of saying ‘usque ad adventum Christi,’ the alchemist prefers an earlier form of the anthropos, Elijah, who is one of the four persons raised to heaven with their bodies: Enoch, Elijah, Christ, and Mary.

“The reason why the alchemist preferred Elijah, a figure or condition prior to Christ, is probably because in Paracelsus Elijah, like Enoch, belongs among the ‘Enochdiani and Heliezati,’ that is, among those whose bodies are capable of longevity (up to a thousand years) or else incorruptible, like the bodies of Enoch and Elijah. The prolongation of life was a very special interest of the master’s, whereas the premature death of Christ did not seem interesting to him. (Certainly Paracelsus verged on the scientific materialism of the eighteenth century! Cf. Theophrasti Paracelsi Tract. De Vita Longa, edit. by Adam v. Bodenstein, 1562.)

“Jewish tradition says that Elijah remained in the corporeal state so as to be visible to mortal eyes during his peregrinations on earth. After reading a little book I had just written (which had to do among other things with the archetypal nature of Yahweh as revealed in the Book of Job), an intellectual and agnostic (or materialistic) Jew had a dream which was sent to me. In his dream he was back in a concentration camp (where he had actually been during the war). Suddenly he perceived an extraordinarily large eagle circling over the camp. He felt spied upon and watched by the menacing bird and, in a highly emotional state, wanted to defend himself by attacking it. To this end, he was looking for a combat plane with which to bring the animal down.

“Thanks to my book, he had realized that in reality it is possible to abolish the idea of a god by means of reason, yet not possible to free oneself from it when one is dealing with an archetype innate in the structure of the psyche itself. (This dream is discussed in “The Philosophical Tree” [C.W. 13], pars. 466ff.) Elijah in the shape of an eagle represents the eye of Yahweh which sees all—‘oculi Dei qui discurrent in universam terram’ (Zach. 4:10). The fear of God had seized him. Thus the theriomorphic attribute of the ancient prophet still plays its part in our time.”]

¹¹ [Cf. Aion. pars, 137ff.]