*88 Hieros gamos

*88 Hieros gamos is the sacred marriage with a spiritually more advanced being. In union with a higher nature we forget of our imperfect state, whereby we assimilate our lower nature through a higher nature emanating from the unconscious. If during the union we recall our self-preservation instinct or sexual desire, our personality will fall back to the lower nature and immediately out of the hieros gamos union, which represents a higher state of consciousness. A certain amount of indifference is needed to manage this difficulty in order to escape the clutches of instincts and desires. Experiences of this kind can appear in the Numinosum, UFO – Initiation Ceremonies and Anima – Animus and Coniunctio archetypes.