Lion

Lions and other wild animals in dreams may reflect latent emotions. “The lion is the king in its theriomorphic form, that is, as it appears in its unconscious [emotional] guise.” (Mysterium Coniunctionis, par. 405.)

Aggression

Large and dangerous felines in dreams, such as tigers and lions, are often symbols of the dreamer’s aggression. When the unruly Heracles needed to atone for his crimes through twelve great labors, after once again resorting to violence, the first task was to defeat the invulnerable lion that terrorized the region around Nemea. This illustrates how Heracles, in order to become a true hero, first had to master his own animalistic aggression.

Power and Strength

The royal lion may represent power, lust for power (or other emotionally charged drives), sexual drive, or anger. Since the lion exudes power even in repose, it can also symbolize control and mastered energy, ready to be unleashed in a destructive manner.

Devouring

The lion plays a similar role in alchemy. It represents the risk of being devoured by one’s emotions or by the unconscious. According to alchemical texts and images, the lion must be tamed by cutting off its paws so that it cannot grasp and devour everything. In other mystical contexts, the lion represents instincts that must be overcome. Most wild animals, however, can serve this role.

According to von Franz, devouring animals like lions often appear in the dreams of depressed individuals; they are depressed because they want “everything” but at the same time understand that this is impossible (Alchemy, p. 104).

Solar Animal

The lion symbolizes fire, light, and the sun. The Egyptian goddess Sekhmet reflects the lion’s dangerous, destructive aspect. It is the “king of animals,” the “glorious king.” In Egypt, and later in medieval bestiaries, the lion was associated with rebirth (for example, there is a legend where the lion brings the dead back to life with its roar) and with the rising and setting of the sun. This connection also makes the lion a guardian of the underworld.

In alchemical writings, the lion is associated with the “stone” and the transformation process. It represents the “lower sun,” the masculine principle embodied.

Alchemy

In alchemy, the lion was a synonym for Mercurius, or more specifically for a stage in Mercurius' transformation. (Mysterium Coniunctionis, par. 404.) It is, so to speak, the warm-blooded variant of the devouring (now maimed) dragon, which in turn transforms into the eagle. The fiery lion expresses the passions and emotions that precede the understanding of unconscious content.

Jung adds (Ibid., footnote 147): “Emotional outbursts usually occur in cases of inadequate adaptation due to unconsciousness.” The alchemist’s intermediate goal of cutting off the lion’s paws symbolizes the necessity of overcoming emotions, lust for power, and pride.

As a symbol, the lion possesses a physical, heated nature, even described as poisonous by alchemists, but in this way, it is also “the secret substance” necessary for transformation.

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