The Symbolic Treasure Behind Holy Week (Part III)
The symbolism of Holy Friday, Holy Saturday, and Easter Sunday.
We conclude our series of articles on the symbolism of Holy Week by addressing Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. From the crucifixion to the tomb, and finally to resurrection, we witness not only a narrative arc but the unfolding of inner transformation:
Holy Friday: The Passion and Death of Jesus
We won’t go into too much detail about this day, since we already explained its symbolism in a dedicated article. Good Friday, when we commemorate the passion and death of Jesus, does not represent so much an end as it does a threshold.
“Then Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit” (Matthew 27:50).
In psychological and symbolic terms, we are not merely speaking of the death of a historical figure, but of the death of a way of being—of the ego, which, in resisting suffering, disconnects from the Self.
Christ’s suffering is not foreign to us: it is our unconscious suffering projected outward, as if it were necessary to contemplate it from the outside in order to begin integrating it.
Suffering cannot be avoided, for in the process of individuation, the ego inevitably confronts its own limits. It experiences internal contradictions, guilt, loss of meaning, betrayal, and deep emptiness. This is the inner Passion, which in turn derives from the great contradiction of our existence: being conscious animals, yet still animals.
One who meditates deeply may personally experience the symbolism of the cross, encountering a radical sense of emptiness—as if all that is known were collapsing. But this is nothing more than their true suffering, which had always been there, unconscious. However, when that emptiness is attentively contemplated, it becomes something we can truly work on.
Holy Saturday: The Easter Vigil
Jesus has died, and thus Saturday becomes a day of reflection and silence. It is the preparation for the celebration of the Easter Vigil. Jesus remains in the tomb after his crucifixion.
Holy Saturday especially commemorates Mary after the death of her son, becoming a day of profound grief and introspection. It is a day marked by silence, mourning, and reflection, just as Mary and the disciples experienced beside the tomb.
This day reflects the condition in which our consciousness has been swallowed by the unconscious—driven by the necessity of a natural process: individuation. That is why Jesus lies in the tomb, in the deep unconscious, where all that is repressed, dead, forgotten, or rejected rests to be transformed.
“But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb. And as she wept, she stooped to look into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?’” (John 20:11–14).
Here we see Mary Magdalene as a symbol of the inner feminine, confronting the death of the Self and its transfiguration. Let us also remember that she was a prostitute—a “stained” woman who was later redeemed by Jesus. Symbolically, this makes her an image of an untamed anima: instinctive, sensual, wild—who has undergone a process of purification.
Her pain has meaning, for it is the suffering of the psyche that has lost its center. The bridge has been severed, and thus Mary Magdalene is the soul torn from its meaning, unable to comprehend the process, still searching with the eyes of the past.
And yet, Jesus, now resurrected, appears. But she does not recognize him. Why? Because the Christ she knew is no longer the same. He is now the symbol of transfigured consciousness.
In deep meditation, this may be felt as a phase following intense pain—a kind of rest:
An intuition tells the practitioner to remain in that neutral point. Something is about to happen. There is a strong sense that something great is brewing within—and it truly is. Then, we simply surrender to the process, and the miracle arises.
Easter Sunday: Jesus Has Risen!
The story of the resurrection of Jesus has touched the hearts of billions over the centuries. But if we observe it from an archetypal perspective, it reveals more than a religious account: it embodies the journey toward individuation—the realization of psychological and spiritual wholeness, and the encounter with the inner Divinity.
We arrive at the culminating moment of individuation: the birth of the conscious Self, the flowering of the integrated soul after having passed through darkness. It is the birth of the Self into consciousness—beyond the ego, beyond death.
It can also be seen as the union of opposites: the soul accepts shadow, suffering, and light as parts of a single unity. To do this, a new sense has emerged—not forced or rational, but felt as an inner truth. The alchemist has found the philosopher’s stone, or as Carl Jung would say, the supreme value.
We must note that the resurrected body of Christ is not the same as before. He appears, but is not easily recognized. He can pass through walls, manifest and vanish. This is deeply symbolic:
The new body is a symbol of a transfigured psyche: no longer defined by the rigidity of the ego nor by the boundaries of the old personality. Consciousness has been permeated by the Self, and the “I” has died in its former shape.
In the context of deep meditation, Easter Sunday may be experienced as a flash of illumination—not necessarily explosive or ecstatic, but rather as a serene, stable, and revealing presence. A great inner clarity descends upon the individual.
“Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age’” (Matthew 28:16–20).
It is easy to understand: now all elements that make up the psyche are aligned toward a single goal. They are no longer fragmented. Individuation is complete.
Remember: I’ve committed myself to deeply studying all of Jung’s work and also to freely sharing what I learn, so my content will always be free. But if you’d like to support my project, I’d gladly accept a coffee:
Also read the following articles in this series: