That higher and "complete" man is begotten by the "unknown" father and born from Wisdom, and it is he who, in the figure of the puer aeternus—"vultu mutabilis albus et ater"—represents our totality, which transcends consciousness. It was this boy into whom Faust had to change, abandoning his inflated onesidedness which saw the devil only outside. Christ's "Except ye become as little children" is a prefiguration of this, for in them the opposites lie close together; but what is meant is the boy who is born from the maturity of the adult man, and not the unconscious child we would like to remain.


Answer to Job, R. Hull, trans. (1984), pp. 157-158


That higher and complete man is begotten by the unknown father and born from Wisdom, and it is he who, in the figure of the puer aeternus—vultu...

That higher and complete man is begotten by the unknown father and born from Wisdom, and it is he who, in the figure of the puer aeternus—vultu...

That higher and complete man is begotten by the unknown father and born from Wisdom, and it is he who, in the figure of the puer aeternus—vultu...

That higher and complete man is begotten by the unknown father and born from Wisdom, and it is he who, in the figure of the puer aeternus—vultu...