[Altar No. 3 by Hilma af Klint (1915) with detail of the centre (enlarged) - picture description and interpretation].

The symbolism of the image:
The golden circle or ball (left): Wholeness in earthly existence, within the framework of the four elements.
In the middle, the self (right, detail enlarged): masculine and feminine (yellow and blue triangle) united.

The Self - the Identity of Love

The divine core of the human being

The self is the identity of love, the inner hero, God in man. Man gains his Self by overcoming his ego.

Love alone has the power to unite the most extreme opposites: masculine and feminine (the yellow and blue triangles in Fig above), leading to wholeness.

[S. God, wholeness, 3-in-1, male and female.]

In traditions, the self is the pearl to be won, the treasure to be freed from the claws of the dragon, the kingship over the kingdom, the promised land, namely over one's own life. The self is pure gold, perfect alchemy, namely the fusion of the most extreme opposites: male and female.

Thus the self is the "divine core" in man, is the inner hero (very much in the sense of the song HERO , from.Mariah Carey, for: Hero - Lyrics and Translation).

Man - created in the image of God

Divine attributes

The term self contains the highest and purest ideas of "God", namely everything that is related to the term "wholeness" or "integrity". In other words, it is those divine qualities that belong to love, such as mercy, trust, devotion and forgiveness.
C.G. Jung wrote:

The self is [...] an image of God, respectively cannot be distinguished from such an image.[1]

Finally, the self, by virtue of its empirical properties, proves to be the eido [image, ideal] of all supreme concepts of wholeness and unity, as they are especially suited to all monotheistic and monistic systems.^[2]

Unity of the opposites male and female

The biblical account of creation states that man is created in the image of God, male and female:

God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.[3]

On the one hand, this means that there are men and women among human beings. On the other hand, it also means that human beings have male and female parts according to the creative plan:

• "Male": the material part of the personality, life in the body ("son") and consciousness as the male side of the spirit.
• "Feminine": the immaterial part of the personality, the life of the soul (will, mind, feelings; "daughter") and love as the feminine side of the spirit.

The goal of the human being: Wholeness, "equal to God

The inner hero

Where this original unity and wholeness has been lost, the human being is called upon to regain it.

Wholeness through overcoming the ego

It is the challenge of man in the earthly, imperfect reality to gain wholeness, symbolised by gold. The path that sets out to achieve this goal is tested in all areas of life to see if he is willing to subordinate them to the higher love.

The Hero's Path

Thus, man's heroic journey always follows the same pattern . In concrete terms, this means that man overcomes his ego in five phases andintegrates his shadows. Mythologically speaking, he thus redeems what has "died" from the realm of the shadows and the underworld and gains the positive sides as new resources.

[S. The Hero's Path, The Way of Love.]

The life of Jesus can also be assigned to the heroic path with its phases (see Jesus and the Heroic Path, The Dissolution of Negative Dynamics).

If the ego, identity of separation, has "died", then Christ, identity of love, stands. Man wins his self by bringing all areas of his life to the light of love. 

[S. From Ego to Self.]

Called to the light

The hero's path is the path of loving consciousness down into matter, into the patterns and imprints that are deeply anchored in the body and hidden in the shadows. When they are brought to the light of consciousness, they are transformed into positive qualities and resources. (The consciousness is identical with the light, the unconscious, on the other hand, is in the shadow (see The Consciousness and the Unconscious.) That is why it is said:

What comes to light becomes light itself.

The Bible says:

For all that is made manifest is light. Therefore it is said, "Awake, you who sleep, and rise from the dead! and Christ will shine upon you!"[4]

[S. The integration of shadows and healing: what comes to light becomes light itself].

The new dress of light

Figuratively speaking, when a person dies within, he takes off his old clothes and puts on new, clean clothes. Thus, in the Babylonian tradition, King Gilgamesh, after recognising his failure, is given new clothes that are not worn out until he reaches his city. This image is also found, for example, in the wilderness wanderings of the people of Israel. [5].

Light in the darkness of the world

The person who is reconciled unites everything within himself. He has attained wholeness and also carries love, reconciliation and forgiveness into the world . Because he lives in the fullness of love, he does not need to take from others, but can give them space and give himself away.

The Self - the divine core in the human being 

The Bible calls the self the "inner man" or "God/Christ in us":

No one has ever seen God. When we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.^[6]

Therefore we do not grow weary, but even though our outer man is worn out, yet the inner is renewed day by day.[7]

The self is the true identity of the human being. It is the secret that lies hidden in the human being, his divine identity. It also seals a new "family membership". For this reason, the Bible speaks of "filiation" and "inheritance" from the Father in heaven, who is infinitely rich:

To them God willed to make known the glorious riches of this mystery among the nations, namely, Christ in you, the hope of glory.[8]

Further texts:

God, wholeness, 3-in-1, male and female
Christ / Messiah, the Anointed One
The Anointing and the Holy Spirit
The Ego and the Self
The Hero's Path
Jesus and the Hero's Path
The Redemption of Creation - from 12 to 10
The Dissolution of Negative Dynamics

The Shadow
The integration of the shadows
Healing: What comes to light becomes light itself
The Conscious and the Unconscious
The Sacred Wedding

Mentioned traditions:

The Babylonian Gilgamesh Epic
- The Waters of Death

HERO - Lyrics (sung by Mariah Carey)

Evidence:

[1] C.G. Jung, Vol. 9/II, "Aion", p. 31, § 42

^[2] C.G. Jung, Vol. 9/II, "Aion", p. 43, § 64

[3] Bible, Old Testament, Book of Genesis, Chapter 1:27 (Elberfelder); literally it says "male and female", which is usually translated as "as a man and as a woman".

[4] Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, chapter, 5,14(Elberfelder, italics by author), Ps 57,9

[5] Bible, Old Testament, 5th Book of Moses, Chapter 29,4 

^[6] Bible, New Testament, 1st Epistle of John, Chapter 4,12 (Elberfelder)

[7] Bible, New Testament, 2nd Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, chapter 4,16 (Elberfelder); also Letter of Paul to the Ephesians, chapter 3, 16 f.

[8] Letter of Paul to the Colossians, chapter 1,26 f. (Elberfelder)