Tiger

The tiger is sovereign in solitude. Hindu iconography places Durga astride a tiger, a goddess who accepts no counsel but her own. Chinese tradition treats the tiger as one of the four celestial animals, guardian of the west; Korean folklore is full of tiger-sages who test travelers on the mountain paths. Jungian analysis reads tiger-dreams as encounters with a formidable, solitary power in the self — often the untamed feminine, regardless of the dreamer’s gender. A tiger who meets your eyes and does not charge is giving you a teaching; a tiger who pursues you, a power you have not yet learned to honor. Notice the tiger’s color, size, and whether you are hunted or hunting.