The Ouroboros is an ancient symbol depicting a dragon, snake or serpent swallowing its own tail to sustain its life in an eternal cycle of renewal. It appears in a circular form which symbolizes the cyclic nature of the universe: Creation out of Destruction, Life out of Death. The Ouroboros is a symbol for the integration and assimilation of opposites in which we incorporate our shadow. This ‘feedback’ process is parallel to the experience of working with dreams throughout our lives.
In our dreams, we often seem to be chasing our own tail in the repetitive themes of our lives. We feel condemned to recurring cycles of our life patterns. Yet, the perpetual movement of our dream narratives create a self-fertilization for self healing. As we track our dreams, we sense the cyclic pattern which continually returns, like the Ouroboros, to our beginnings in an eternal homecoming. The enigma of the dream is like the paradox of the Ouroboros who symbolizes “The One” that emerges from opposites – the beginning that originates from its own end.
EXPLORATION
Drop all of your preconceived notions about the “meaning” of your dream. Allow found images from magazines to guide you. Just as our dreams point to what is possible, allow found images and text to invite what is probable. Use the pictures to make a collage page in your journal. Through free association of feelings, relationships and memories, allow your inner Ouroboros to point toward the unity of transformation and integration. “Shift Happens” by simply swallowing your own tale.
