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Returning the Archetypal King

© Bonnie McCarson

I just received the DVD of the second movie in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and am preparing to go to the theater to see the last, "The Return of the King." The popularity of this work of fantasy stirs some thoughts with me about the archetypal themes that play out in the story. It struck me as I heard the third movie advertised that the very title is archetypal. Since prehistoric times in one way or another, in various cultures and religious practices, mankind has looked for the return of the king that would restore peace, order and goodness to the realm. We need only to hearken back to the legends of the fisher king or to the customs of ancient Egypt to be reminded of the archetypal significance of the king. And perhaps at this period in history when kings as actual rulers are a bit out of fashion, we turn to fantasy to fulfill some need for an archetypal experience.

The Jungian study group to which I belong has just been studying "Rex and Regina" in Jung's Mysterium Coniunctionis. This work is concerned with the later stages of the alchemical process, the sacred marriage. Since Jung saw alchemy as symbolic of the individuation process, he saw great significance in the coniunctio. This is the integration of opposites. Earlier stages of alchemy represent the necessary precursors, the separating out and recognition of the opposites. But after the long work or preparing, the coniunctio is like a culmination of the process.

However, in this article, I want to concentrate on what the "rex" or king part of the sacred couple represents. I went first to The Penguin Book of Symbols. So just what does the idea of king denote? In ancient cultures the king was the intermediary between Heaven and Earth or mankind. To the ancient Egyptians, he was the incarnation or embodiment of the god. In far eastern cultures he was identified with the world axis, the hub, the center of the wheel. Thus, the role of the king was one of initiating and regulating; his duties involved establishing justice, peace, balance and harmony on earth.

In Celtic culture the king was a warrior but was closely associated with the druids and carried out the will of the druids, the priestly group of the society. His color was "white" which in the Indo-European world indicated a religious significance and sacred character. It may be from this background that later European kings came to the idea of "the divine right of kings."