The First Hour of the Night: An Interpretation of One of Carl Jung’s Dreams from “The Black Books”

7 min readMay 24, 2021

What is One?

It would take a lifetime to understand the power and the many aspects and teachings of ‘One’ as it relates to humanity, nature, mathematics and the Universe. For the purposes of this post, you will read about ‘one’ in light of the power of the Subconscious or Universal Mind, which is relevant to humans, animals, plants and elements. Additionally we will learn of the Hall of Amenti, the home of the starseeds of Earth who come from the Sun where the Masters are separate and also One.

Lastly, we will also connect the concept of the Subconscious Mind and how One or the All teaches us of Itself to a dream Carl Jung wrote about in The Black Books [click name for link to the book].

We Must Not Sleep on the Multi-layered Messages of the Subconscious Mind, Which Come From Dream Interpretation.

Following is an excerpt from The Black Books where Carl Jung recounts a dream he had just after Christmas 1912:

I dreamed then (it was shortly after Christmas 1912) that I was sitting with my children in a marvelous and richly furnished tower chamber — an open columned hall- we were sitting at a round table, whose top was a marvelous dark green stone. Suddenly a seagull or dove flew in and landed elatedly on the table. I admonished the children to be quiet so that they would not scare away the beautiful white bird. Suddenly this little bird turned into a child of eight years, a small blond girl, and ran around playing with my children in the marvelous columned colonnades. Then the child suddenly turned into the gull or dove. She said the following to me: “Only in the first hour of the night can I become human, while the male dove is busy with the twelve dead.” With these words the bird flew away and I awoke.

Upon reading this dream, numerous thoughts came to mind, some of which also Jung thought of in 1925. We will explore a few of these ideas in this post.

Astrological Notes: Chiron in Pisces and Uranus in Aquarius

At the time of the dream, the asteroid Chiron was in Pisces with Uranus at one degree of Aquarius. Chiron, the Wounded Healer, is a mythological figure and asteroid that represents one who not only heals, but who does so from their own wounds, much like most humans do. Chiron in Pisces would represent a time when Christianity is perfected or corrected, however not replaced. With Chiron in Pisces, new concepts and psychological ideas add to the concept of who God or the All is, resulting in a major change in how people view life and eternity. The collective change is fueled by Uranus [change] in Aquarius [the community].

The dream seems to catapult Jung into self discovery for the purposes of advancing psychological thought, thereby creating a greater understanding of the spiritual as it relates to Mind.

The Columned Hall

When some of you think of open columned halls, you think of ancient temple ruins or the Akashic Hall of records, perhaps even the Halls of Amenti of the Emerald Tablets of Thoth.

The Emerald Tablets are over 1000 years old and were first found written in Arabic, but later translated into Latin. In the ancient book, reference is made to the Halls of Amenti, in which was a fiery place [a Flaming Flower of the All] deep in the center of the earth that housed souls of the living and the dead.

Thoth or Hermes Trismegistus speaks of two types of beings: humans formed by the dark Force from beyond and others who came to help the humans who had been bound by the Force. Thirty-two Helpers or the Children of Light are made of space dust and took on the form of humans for life on earth, but they were not on earth at the same time:

“…living in the world as children of men,
like and yet unlike the children of men.”

They sought to free humans from the dark Force so that the humans could rise back up out of bondage and head to the Sun.

The Beings of Light blasted through the crust of the earth and created spaces within the earth and protection around Halls of the Dead. Thirty-two thrones are placed in a particular life-giving space in which is centered the eternal Flaming Flower in the Halls of Amenti and this is where the Children of Light return 100 years of each 1000 year period to be bathed in this everlasting Light within the Earth. This is their home until eternity’s end. When they are incarnating into the bodies of men to teach and elevate them, their original bodies lie sleeping in the Halls of Amenti, bathing in the life-giving light of the Flaming Flower.

A mere human who elevates from the teaching of these Masters can himself or herself become a Master of Light and be made free from the Halls of Amenti. Hindus call this breaking the circle of Karma moksa.

Perhaps the dove represents a glimmer of the Light of the Halls of Amenti and this Light watches over the bodies of the incarnated masters when they are on the earth. Perhaps the doves on the surface of earth, who watch their two eggs in round the clock shifts of 12 hours, represent or teach us of the happenings within the Halls of Amenti.

Jung may have been visiting the halls in his dreams and his children may have been there with him in a collective dream.

The Green Table Top

My first impression of the table top was of serpentine stone, one that indicates protection against evil, which also matches the shape of the table, which was round. It is said in occult circles that corners are where negative energy can collect, however circles indicate protection where there are no corners, hence the protective circle drawn by those who practice the nature religion of Wicca.

The color and the circle represent protection as do the children in the presence of their father at a place of protection in the dream.

The Dove

We’ve mentioned that the dove not only represents a spark of the fire from the Halls of Amenti, amongst innumerable other things, but also the cycle of protection of 12 hour shifts that the male and female dove take to protect and watch over their young.

In the darkness there is absence of visible light though the light hides inside the darkness, which is an etheric definition of friction. An added protection is needed in the darkness and what better protection in the dark is a child than when watched over by its mother.

When we watch and study the Dove, it may teach us of the Masters and of the Fire in the Halls of Amenti.

The Age of the Child: 8

The number eight is an impression that Jung had of the child’s age as there is no mention that the child gave her age. The number eight represents new voyages, new beginnings, the start of the 12 hours of night, the beginning of the turn of the wheel of 12 houses, perhaps even the birth of the newly incarnated souls from Amenti, who’s original bodies much be watched over as they live human lives.

In any case, Chiron could represent the male dove as it traveled though a new cycle of the 12 houses in 12 hours, while in the 12th house of Pisces.

The child appeared to mark a new night fall either in the individual life of Jung or in the Human Collective.

The 12 Dead

In the dream, the young girl said she was only able to become human in the first hour of the night while the male dove was busy with the 12 dead. What we know of male doves is that they assist the females with incubating the eggs and that they typically take the day shift while females incubate during the night. This could be a simple allegory where the Universal mind is teaching Jung that the female bird would soon be busy practicing being at home in the evenings and caring for her eggs. Though their breeding season is April — July, they can breed as late as October so it is not likely they would be breeding in December of any year, only getting use to the cycle.

It could also mean that the young girl represented a new life cycle of one of the Masters while her mate had gone to the Halls to watch over 12 of the masters who were not in their original bodies, the bodies being symbolized by dove’s eggs and doves fertility cycles in general representing the heat of the sun in summer, the same sun that fuels the Halls of Amenti.

Another thought upon reading the dream was of the 12 houses in Astrology and the concepts they represent, as there are many more constellations than 12. The male dove in this example could represent the Sun and the 12 dead are the dark hours, or the 12 hours of night when male doves are not usually present at the nest.

The first hour of the night may also represent the time that families come together to eat and share with each other as night falls. It also represents a return to foundation, perhaps even a Master’s return to the Halls of Amenti as the 8th house represents death in Astrology, however we are learning through this dream that death is not death as we know it, but rekindling, rebirth and soul evolution.