In almost every heroic story, there is a scene where the hero is slaying the dragon. This similarity brings up a question about the meaning of this scene and its relation to real life.
The meaning of slaying the dragon
The Slaying the Dragon scene literally speaks about the struggle between a human and an unknown or mystical creature, which holds a great power. When we connect this scene with what Erich Neumann said in his book, metaphorically, the dragon is a part of our unconscious. It can be our parental complex that grips us to our core, and in order to ‘create’ a consciousness, we must first slay the dragon. It can also be described as our unconscious ego’s agenda, which enslaves us. In other words, we must conquer the dragon when we want to free ourselves from its grip. That’s the metaphorical meaning of slaying the dragon.
Slaying the Dragon: The Myth
Though there are lots of versions of slaying the dragon, in some myths, the mythical creature is not always in the form of a dragon. But the premise of the story remains the same. The hero must win the battle in order to become a hero.
The struggle against this fear, against the danger of being swallowed up again in the initial chaos through a regression that undoes the work of emancipation, is enacted in all its modulations in the fight with the dragon. Not until then will the ego and consciousness be firmly established. The son of the World Parents has to prove himself a hero in this fight; the ego, newborn and helpless, has to transform itself into a procreator and conqueror. The victorious hero stands for a new beginning, the beginning of creation, but a creation that is the work of man and which we call culture, as opposed to natural creation, which is given to man at the outset and overshadows his beginnings.
Erich Neumann, The Origins and History of Consciousness
Slaying the Dragon: The Pattern
Based on Joseph Campbell’s works, there is a conceptual pattern that many writers use for constructing their stories. In short, there are three main phases: departure, initiation, and return. Each of these phases consists of several hallmarks.
In the beginning of the journey, the hero will have a ‘call’ to follow, and he will also meet his allies, the individuals who assist the hero. The initiation part is when the hero enters the unknown world or the underworld, in which he will undergo a transformation. In this phase, the hero slays the dragon. The return is when the hero finally returns to his ordinary world, but with his ‘extraordinary gift’ as a result of his transformation.
It is important to highlight that the hero needs to return and contribute to his ordinary world after he slays the dragon and transforms. It’s when one finally cracks the eggs of his parental complex and finally realizes who he truly is. This is also the phase when the hero starts spiraling into his own wholeness.
Other Sources:
Beside Joseph Campbell, Clarissa Pinkola Estes describes stages of women’s psyche development since many women are not quite related by the hero’s journey. Moreover, Maureen Murdock also wrote a book, The Heroine’s Journey. All of these books highlight and describe the individuation process that Jung proposed in their own ways. Yet they all have the same premise: to propose the idea of ‘creating’ consciousness in order to have wholeness.
