Lion

The lion is the sovereign Self in its solar aspect. Egyptian iconography gives us sphinxes and lion-goddesses (Sekhmet); alchemical tradition the green lion and the red lion, stages of the Great Work. Jung treated lion dreams as arrivals of authority — the Self’s rightful rulership of the psyche, or a figure who exercises that rulership on its behalf. A lion that lies down with you suggests integration of your own power; a lion that pursues you, an aspect of sovereignty you have been refusing. Notice whether the lion is male or female; each speaks differently.