In the "Grail Legend", by Emma Jung and Maire-Louise von Franz, the "vas pellicanicum", or philosophical Pelican, is referred to as "the self is its own container...".

An explanation of this psychic process is stated as follows:

"A new realization first becomes alive and effective when it succeeds in reaching beyond the limits of consciousness into the depths of the soul and there unites with a corresponding archetype.

The feminine and maternal symbol of the vessel can also be understood in this sense as the place, similar to the mother's womb, where significant factors previously invisible and only existing 'in intellectu', acquire life and form."

The Pelican Bay Foundation exists to shelter and nurture the creative spirit, letting it independently take its own course.