this final process with the initial one of introversion, which (as a
seeking for the uterus for the purpose of a rebirth) is likewise readily
conceived of as a sexual union. If the symbol of coitus was conceivable
there, so here, too, the same symbol is appropriate for the representation
of the definite union with the object longed for.

It is quite suggestive to associate the anagogic idea of the _Unio
mystica_, precisely on account of the erotic allegory, with the primal
motive of sexual union (with the mother) instead of with the wish to die,
as I have done at another place. It may be that the primal erotic power
supplies something for the accomplishment of this last purpose; it may be
that all powers must cooeperate. If I now still abide by my original
exposition, this happens because it appears to me that the symbolism
emphasizes the going over of the one into the other more than the
attainment of the sexual goal; and even in the cases where the unio
mystica is described as a sexual union. We should not forget that the
sexual gratification is to be regarded also as a kind of annihilation. It
is a condition of intoxication and of oblivion or perishing. It is this
side of the sexual procedure that the symbolism of the unio mystica
particularly emphasizes.

Brhadaranyaka-Upanisad, IV, 3, 21: "... For even as one embraced by a
beloved woman has no consciousness of what is within or without, so the
spirit, embraced by the most percipient self (prajena almana, i.e., the
Brahm), has no knowledge of that which is external or internal. That is
its form of existence, in which it is characterized by stilled desire,
even its own desire is without desire and separated from sorrow." This
passage treats of the deep sleep (susupti) which is regarded as a passing
union with the highest spirit, and so, as essentially the same as the
definitive _unificatio_. Sleep is the brother of death. Susupti is,
furthermore, conceived only as a preliminary; a German mystic would call
it a foretaste of the definitive ascent into Brahm.

In the parable the unio mystica appears twice represented, once in that
the king and queen are represented as the bridal couple, and the second
time when the king, i.e., God, takes the wanderer up into his kingdom.

The attainment of an inner harmony, of a serene peace, is what, as it
seems to me, is most clearly brought out as the characteristic of the
final unificatio--not merely by the Hindus or Neoplatonists