Husband and Wife Symbolism According to Neville Goddard

In Neville Goddard’s teachings, symbolism is central, especially when interpreting spiritual truths through metaphysical and biblical lenses. When it comes to the symbolism of husband and wife, Goddard doesn’t treat these as merely literal roles, but as representations of inner psychological and spiritual dynamics.

Here’s a breakdown of what “husband” and “wife” typically symbolize in his metaphysical framework:

---

1. The Husband as the Conscious Mind (or the Will)

• The husband represents the conscious, reasoning, and directive aspect of the mind.

• It is the initiator, the one that impresses ideas upon the subconscious.

• The husband sows the seed — in the sense of imagining or impressing a desire or belief.

“The conscious mind is the male or the ‘husband’ — it impresses upon the subconscious, the ‘wife,’ through feeling and belief.”

---

2. The Wife as the Subconscious Mind (or the Creative Womb)

• The wife symbolizes the subconscious mind, the receptive, fertile field that brings forth creation.

• She receives the ideas (seeds) from the husband and gestates and births them into reality.

• This is why Goddard emphasizes feeling as the secret — the subconscious is moved by feeling and belief, not logic.

“The subconscious is the womb of creation, where the idea, once accepted, must be brought into form.”

---

3. The Union (Marriage)

• The symbolic marriage is the fusion of idea (conscious) and feeling (subconscious).

• When you feel your wish fulfilled, the husband (idea) and wife (emotion/subconscious) unite.

• This “marriage” produces a child, which is the manifested reality.

---

Biblical Symbolism

In the Bible, Neville often interprets stories of couples (e.g., Abraham and Sarah, Mary and Joseph) as allegories for this psychological process:

• Sarah (barren at first) becomes fertile through faith — just like the subconscious becomes creative through belief.

• Mary conceives “without knowing a man,” symbolizing how the subconscious can bring forth manifestations through imagination alone, without physical means.

---

So in essence:

• Husband = Conscious mind / Idea / Thought

• Wife = Subconscious mind / Feeling / Faith

• Marriage = Union of thought and feeling

• Child = Manifestation or result

---