Nicholas of Flüe, a Swiss mystic of the XV^th century, « the only saint by the grace of God known to Switzerland²⁷⁰ » had prenatal visions—a famous case of fetal consciousness. Marie-Louise von Franz, spiritual heiress of C.G. Jung, has dedicated a book to him, which begins with this precise, heartfelt account: « Henry am Grund, friend and confidant of Nicholas of Flüe, told how Brother Claus [the name by which Nicholas of Flüe was known in Switzerland] had a vision in his mother’s womb, even before he was born. ‘He had seen a star shining in the sky that lit up the whole world; […] so he explained that this meant that anyone could say of him that he shone so brightly in the world. Furthermore, Brother Claus had told him that, before he was born, he had seen in his mother’s womb a large stone that represented the firmness and constancy of his being, in which he had to persist in order not to abandon his enterprise (or his nobility). That he had, on the same occasion and still in his mother’s womb, seen the holy chrism; then, after being born and seeing the light of day, he had recognized his mother and the midwife; he had also seen how he was being carried through the Ranft valley towards Kerns to be baptized, all with such vividness that he had never forgotten it, and had retained an image as clear as when the vision had occurred. In the same circumstances, he had also seen an old man standing beside the font, but he didn’t know him, whereas he recognized the priest who was baptizing him’²⁷¹. »

From the outset, the contemporary reader is faced with a dilemma. Is this text to be taken seriously, or is it rather a jumble of fallacies and pointless fantasies? How could a fetus have « visions » and then remain conscious of them for the rest of its life? “This account by Brother Claus is disconcerting in the extreme, and presents us with a most difficult problem: either we are dealing with a unique, unheard-of miracle in which a fetus or a new-born baby had perceptions of which it subsequently retained a conscious memory, or we must conclude that the account is fallacious²⁷².” Unheard-of miracle or laughable allegation? Whatever the case, these « visions » are of intrinsic interest, as a testimony to the variety of psychic powers and their relationship with the real world, and with history. In this case, the link between these visions and the reality and history of Switzerland cannot be denied. They visited the mind of the only Swiss ever to be canonized²⁷³ by the Catholic Church. Nicholas of Flüe died in 1487 « in the odor of sanctity ». He had won the veneration of his compatriots after saving Switzerland from a fratricidal war. But what’s most interesting about Nicholas of Flüe’s « visions » are the « symbols » and « archetypes » that appear in them: the star, the stone, the oil (chrism) and the old man. Marie-Louise von Franz comments: « First we have the star, which is the image of the Self and of the ‘inner light’ projected into the farthest regions of the universe. Next comes the stone, representing the star descended to earth, now tangible, palpable, so to speak; and finally, we are in the presence of the oil, which is in a way ‘the hidden soul of the stone’, or, in the language of the Church, the substance in which the Holy Spirit manifests Itself. In faith of this, we can see that oil is the symbol of the meaning that orients man towards the numinous presence of divinity, a meaning that stands out against the backdrop of synchronicity phenomena²⁷⁴. » Von Franz’s interpretation is in line with that of C.G. Jung, master of the depth psychology, and promoter of the concept of synchronicity along with physicist Wolfgang Pauli²⁷⁵. I’d like to go a step further, and present an interpretation of the symbols of Nicholas of Flüe’s vision from the perspective of a comparative anthropology of consciousness. The star symbol is one of the oldest in existence. The cuneiform sign that represents the idea of « God » has the shape of an eight-pointed star 𒀭, reading AN or DINGIR in Sumerian. The center of this cuneiform can be seen as the point of intersection, or convergence, of four distinct, centripetal strokes. It could also be seen as the source of centrifugal radiation, flowing in the eight cardinal directions. I interpret it as an image of consciousness, or an ‘image of the Self’. The graphic dualism of the cuneiform star can also be seen as a metaphor for wave/corpuscle dualism. The central point of the star 𒀭 symbolizes the « corpuscle », and the eight rays from it symbolize « waves ». From a psychological point of view, the center of the star 𒀭 symbolizes the « self ». Radiation represents the relationship of the self with the outside world, with the « other ». In the Self, the « I » and the « other » are psychically intertwined, just as are intertwined waves and quantum particles. The star is not just energy. It is also a « stone », supposedly inert, that has fallen to earth, in Von Franz’s interpretation of Brother Claus’s vision. The image of a falling stone is reminiscent of a meteorite striking the earth. Or, on a completely different note, it could symbolize the descent of a soul into a body, its incarnation. The symbol of the stone is also used in the Bible. There’s the foundation stone, aven, « well seated²⁷⁶« , and there’s its opposite, the stone « rejected by the builders », but become against all odds the « ridge stone²⁷⁷« . The dualisms of the cornerstone²⁷⁸ and the stumbling block²⁷⁹, of the « dark and shadowy » stone²⁸⁰ and the « living » stone²⁸¹ » deploy other metaphors. The stone is a sacred symbol of the self, immutably fused with the Self of the world. And because stone, in the final analysis, always comes from elsewhere, from the far reaches of the cosmos, it is also a symbol of the unknown.

As for the image of « the oil of the hard stone », we find it in the 5^th book of the Torah, Deuteronomy. In the « Song of Moses », YHVH makes his people taste « the honey of the rock and the oil of the hard stone²⁸²« . From this we can infer that this sweet, unctuous – and sanctified – oil is somehow the « hidden soul » of the stone. But, one might ask, is there really such an oil, such a ‘soul’, at the center of the hard stone? Is it not more reasonable to think that this oil only appears because it is expressed from an oleic substance by means of the millstone? The millstone grinds the olive or vine fruit to express its essence – oil or wine. In the Veda, the sacred book of a completely different culture than the Hebrew, the stone also grinds plants to extract the precious Soma, which is the essence of the Vedic sacrifice, and which is consumed by the priest during the rite rendered to the Vedic God, yet another unique and supreme Creator. How can we fail to see this as a permanent or even immanent paradigm? Under all skies, the millstone crushes and transforms into intoxicating liquid, sticky pour, or fine flour, what was once “one”—the ripe, rubescent grape, the black, naked flesh of the olive, the hard, golden grain of wheat. In Nicholas of Flüe’s dream, the star symbolizes the eternal Self, the stone signifies the incarnate self, and the oil represents the transmuted, transcended self. The stable, compact, resistant self must be liquefied. Through the ordeal of the millstone, its fine grinding, the multiple self becomes a single « oil ». It is thus even more unified than stone, seed or olive ever will be.

The fourth element revealed by Brother Claus’s dreams completes the symbolic quaternion with the « unknown old man », the archetype of the « wise old man », i.e. the Spirit. He corresponds to the « Ancient of Days » and the « Most Holy Old Man », nicknamed « White Head », in the Cabala²⁸³. Jung suggests that, in the case of Nicholas of Flüe, this figure represents « the personification of the ‘grain of salt’ that the newborn child receives in baptism, namely the Sapientia Dei, the Wisdom of God, within which God Himself is present²⁸⁴. » This “Most Holy Old Man”, or « Divine Wisdom », played a role throughout Brother Claus’s life, in the form of frequent apparitions.

The star, the stone, the oil and the « unknown old man » first appeared in Brother Claus’s brain as soon as his consciousness awakened. With Jung and Von Franz, we can consider that these symbols prefigured Brother Claus’ exceptional destiny. It’s also conceivable that, in the eyes of a rationalist or a positivist, the story of Nicholas of Flüe, with its prenatal visions and mystical intuitions, would seem perfectly inadmissible. Yet Nicholas of Flüe was indeed a « prophet in his own country », both religiously and politically. His wise counsel saved Switzerland in 1481, when a fratricidal war was brewing. Can we assume that his visions contributed to peace? Every vision is in some way « true » when it bears witness to a profound, immanent order. We can’t rule out the idea that Nicholas of Flüe’s visions contained a subtle, invisible but effective part of this hidden order.

The star-stone-oil triad represents an immanent process of transformation and transmutation of consciousness. It symbolizes the metamorphosis of light (consciousness), in three stages : its (cosmic) origin, its materialization (its ‘incarnation’) and its overcoming (its ‘sublimation’). The grinding of consciousness (or its ‘sacrifice’) opens the way to transcendence, just as holy oil, consecrated chrism (from Greek χρῖσμα / khrĩsma, ointment, perfume) becomes what the Hebrews anointed their « anointed ones » (their prophets and kings) with. Symbolizing the inner light of the Self, the star is the symbol of a light with a universal vocation, a light which from the beginning illuminates the entire cosmos, and which until the end will illuminate the consciousness of beings endowed with a singular soul. The stone, a piece of fallen star, symbolizes the Self incarnated in the ego, in living flesh. The oil represents the very consciousness of the Self. One, but fluid, it became chrism for the anointing of priests, prophets and kings, and is the symbol of grace.