dog symbols, alchemy and more psy/a!

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 22 Apr 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

isthmus nekoi	22 Apr 2002
I'll try to have less psy/a lingo. If anyone remembers I was talking about the dog in the Mithra thread this might be of interest. Was researching for my paper and reading through Jung's work on alchemy and the Mysterium Coniunctionis and came across some interesting stuff. We have 2 m/a w/a dog. Fool and Moon (is there another? I can't recall). Here are some interesting interpretations: - I always thought dog was related to the moon b/c of howling... but if you take both moon and underworld to relate to the unconscious, then you have Ceberus (3 headed, like the lunar goddesses, or the fates) too. There's also this alchemical plate w/a dog wrestling a wolf. Sort of like Moon's dog/wolf howling. These pairs are also reflected in other animals (2 fish, unicorn/stag) and royalty. Jung calls this depiction transconscious b/c it's above human consciousness (royalty) and below (animals). These symbols point to opposites that form the coniunctio or synthesis - in the dog case, Jung refers to them as soul fighting spirit.... traditional Moon interpretations always refer to the primal aspect of the wolf/dog pair, but the symbolism points to something higher and beyond the ego. We tend to think of the unconscious on Freudian terms> primal, instinctual etc. but forget about the spiritual, mysterious and estatic. Maybe Moon illusion/delusion comes if you don't keep these opposites separate, or understand how they are separate... Also, there's no *body*/nobody in the Moon. Only later pairs after the dog/wolf come to signify soul vs. body... The lack of personal in Moon can lead to detachment etc. Jung has this to say about the transconscious character: "they do not belong to the ego-personality but are supraordinate to it. The ego-personality occupies an intermediate position... The pairs of opposites constitute the phenomenology of the paradoxical self, man's totality." - dogs also have a relation to the dark Diana/hunting. The dog can either hunt what you're looking for (like a fox hunt) or hunt you (Actaeon who Diana changed into a stag and was torn to pieces by his own hounds). So the dog can be seen as a driving force of the psyche - towards something you need to integrate into consciousness, or against you, something that chases you if you ignore it. So the Fool is with the dog, not traditionally a hunter, but perhaps an element of that - going into the unknown for that unintegrated part of the psyche. - dog or the rabid dog is also related to the thieves (infected w/evil) so maybe this relates to a trickster/Hermes vibe going through Fool - dogstar> brightest star in the sky, so as well as the hunter principal which drives the Fool, there is an element of guidance and protection as well. Oh yes, and this relates to dog's longtime role as helper to man and guardian in general which other ppl have talked about. Dog can be a very loyal figure. You'd never have a watch-cat, that's for sure! If anyone's interested in more of this alchemy stuff I'm sure Edinger and von Franz have written about it. It's also volume 14 of Jung's collected works. Jung has a few pages about dogs, it's fascinating material. However he uses a lot of Greek terms which can become irritating b/c they aren't translated!!!!! He'll be like: and the dadeedah relates to the [greek term]. And you'll be left wondering - ??????? It's in the cyrillic alphabet too so it's not like you can guess the meaning (like w/the Latin terms)! Still, it's worth taking a look at.

isthmus nekoi	01 May 2002
In Edinger's work on the Mysterium Lectures he compares the moon card to an alchemical plate which features the sun, a moon below, dripping onto 2 figures in a bath, with 2 animals beside each figure and a frog coming up b/w them signifying transformation. I think a frog symbol is very different from a lobster but Edginer sort of lumps them together as cold blooded creatures. Of course, if you go w/the whole Mithra thing and view the lobster as a scorpion, this works as scorpio is related to regeneration. Basically, the moon bath plate relates to the stage of dissolution ie. ego encounters the uncon but cannot handle the totality and power of the uncon. So the ego is vulnerable to the instinctual drive, the illusions of the lunar realm. The ego dissolves but within that is the possiblity of transformation. p.s. I don't mean to imply that Waite was into alchemy or what not, or that he purposely worked alchemical symbolism into his deck imagery. But bearing in mind that these are all satellites orbiting around the same thing, the relevance is there.

isthmus nekoi	05 Jul 2002
- Reading in the Llewyn calendar that the dancing female of the World represents the animus mundi/world soul which would relate back to the alchemical concept of the Philosopher's Stone - In Judgement, the ppl may be rising from graves, but it appears as if those graves are coming from water. Perhaps an alternate interpretation would be ppl rising from alchemical baths, awakening from the process of transformation. But I'd have to do more research for this to make any concrete statements. - The 2 of cups always struck me as alchemical. I read a whole bunch about the 'green lion', but I think the 'red lion' is related to the Philosopher's Stone, a more refined version of the 'green lion'. If anyone knows more about this, I'd greatly appreciate any info... oops, just read the 2 of cups thread. Pls ignore!!

The dog symbols, alchemy and more psy/a! thread was originally posted on 22 Apr 2002 in the Using Tarot Cards board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Using Tarot Cards, or read more archived threads.