Devouring

Being swallowed by a monster is one of the most widespread archetypal images found in countless legends, folk tales, and myths. The devouring entity could be a witch, a wolf, a lion, or a monster. But any situation in which the hero (or dreamer) ends up in a dark, underground room may suggest this motif.

Rebirth

It refers to a (potential) rebirth and appears in initiation rites where initiates are taken into a cave and left there, only to emerge again. The hero descends into the underworld and darkness, where he loses his identity, and comes out as a new person. (Compare with Vessel.)

The Great Mother and the Unconscious

The devouring monster or cavern becomes an expression of the Great Mother. Of course, there are no guarantees that the swallowed individual will survive, and in this sense, the image can have an obvious negative quality.  

Alchemists used the image of the lion, among other things, to symbolize the danger of being swallowed by the unconscious, of helplessly losing oneself in its darkness. To emerge from this darkness, a hero may be required, and this kind of rescue is also a common theme in tales and myths. The hero represents consciousness that conquers the unconscious, a sun symbol thus – and even the sun is swallowed by the sea and rises again renewed.

Uroboros  

Uroboros is the serpent that swallows itself; if a creature in a dream swallows itself, it may refer to this symbol. What swallows itself also births itself, which in alchemy is referred to as the “dragon.”

Figurative Devouring  

Devouring in the dream may also be a reference to "being consumed" by something – one's passion, job, or whatever it may be.

Desire and Addiction

If one is the devourer in the dream, it could refer to an enormous desire. (Compare with Consumption.) Dreams with repeated devouring might point to an addiction problem.

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