Words and Things


Jung says the practice of the Zulus sorcerers who cure a sick person blowing in one ear with a ox horn, to expel evil spirits from his body. Universally breath has the sense of a principe of life: only the extension of the symbol varies from one tradition to another. The breath coming out of the noses of Yahweh means the exercise of his creative power; through him the waters meet.

Jean Chevalier. Alain Gheerbrant.Dictionary of Symbols.