Cornerstone

the lapis philosophorum, which is used as a parallel to Christ, the ‘rock,’ the ‘stone,’ the ‘cornerstone.’ Priscillian (4th cent.) says: ‘We have Christ for a rock, Jesus for a cornerstone.’

Jung establishes the cornerstone as the central locus of the lapis-Christ parallel, demonstrating that the alchemical stone and the rejected cornerstone of scripture share an identical psychological and symbolic function as figures of the self.

Jung, Carl Gustav, Aion: Researches into the Phenomenology of the Self, 1951thesis

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the authors found a parallel to ‘their’ stone in the ‘stone the builders rejected [which] has become the head of the corner,’ thereby identifying it with Christ, who is otherwise always taken as the rejected cornerstone.

Von Franz shows that Western alchemists deliberately identified the lapis with the rejected cornerstone of scripture, reading both as symbols of the self that consciousness habitually marginalizes.

von Franz, Marie-Louise, C.G. Jung: His Myth in Our Time, 1975thesis

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in vision of Nicholas of Flüe 220; as redeemer, 232; spirit in, 286; as symbol, 219, 232; in Jung’s vision, 251; of the wise, 227; see also Bautar stones; cornerstone; philosophers’ stone

The index entry in von Franz’s study explicitly cross-references ‘cornerstone’ with the philosophers’ stone and other stone symbols, confirming the term’s structural place within the alchemical-self symbolic cluster.

von Franz, Marie-Louise, C.G. Jung: His Myth in Our Time, 1975supporting

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The cornerstone for the error was unwittingly laid by Perls himself, whose creative, technical virtuosity acted in such consort with his flair for showmanship as to lead many people to mistake the medium for the message.

Yalom uses ‘cornerstone’ in a purely rhetorical, non-symbolic sense to identify the originating source of a methodological confusion in Gestalt therapy, without engaging the term’s depth-psychological valence.

Yalom, Irvin D., The Theory and Practice of Group Psychotherapy, Fifth Edition, 2008aside

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At the cornerstone of gratitude is the notion of undeserved merit. The grateful person recognizes that he or she did nothing to deserve the gift or benefit; it was freely bestowed.

Konstan employs ‘cornerstone’ as a common rhetorical figure to denote the conceptual foundation of gratitude, without symbolic or psychological elaboration relevant to the depth-psychology tradition.

David Konstan, The Emotions of the Ancient Greeks: Studies in Aristotle and Classical Literature, 2006aside

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Confidentiality is a cornerstone of ethical therapy practice. Therapists should communicate confidentiality policies to clients and establish ground rules regarding the sharing of sensitive information.

The term appears here in a purely clinical-administrative register, designating confidentiality as a foundational ethical principle in DBT practice, with no engagement of its symbolic or archetypal dimensions.

Scott, Anthony, DBT Skills Training Manual: Practical Workbook for Therapists, 2021aside

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