Many people pass their lives in a state of slavery to misery, illness and depression, or to circumstances they loathe and feel imprisoned by, or in a state of hatred and resentment against something or someone they feel has injured them. These powerful emotions are symbolized by the wounded lion with the great thorn in its paw. If the thorn is not removed, it is likely that the lion will become dangerous. The lives of countless people are affected, even destroyed, by the enraged and wounded lion that is condemned to roam the wilderness beyond our conscious awareness. People can pose a threat to others, particularly children, because of their power to hurt and destroy them. Countless atrocities are committed by the enraged lion within us. We have, so to speak, been sleeping in the lion’s den, like Androcles.

The different forms of addiction prevalent in our culture are symptoms of an inability to relate to the instinct, a lack of understanding as to what its needs are and why, when these are not attended to, it can drive us into negative life patterns.

If there is nothing to help us develop insight into this foundation of our lives, there is no way in which its voice can reach us. Nor can we be enriched and developed by a relationship with something that is infinitely more powerful than our conscious mind. Cut off from our instincts, we become impoverished and diminished. A vital part of us has no means of gaining our attention except through breakdown, addiction and disruptive or violent patterns of behaviour.