WHY THE ANIMALS A breakdown of personal archetypes: Volume 7.5 in a series. Text (2010) and illustrations (1989 - 2010) by Jason Martin (historical images from various online free sources)
		Help me understand.  Here's what I've been told. They belong to an Order, manifesting in our world, independent of our experience of time. Here is a guide to who they claim to be, processed through whatever filters or predilections I have as a human male caucasoid in the 3rd dimention in 2010 CE on the continent of North America in the city of New York.
		The WOLF is the Ur-Dog who must fufill roles of leader and transgressor. His heroism lies in both triumph and defeat.  He is viciously dominant, fanatical, and dangerous in nature; therefore, craves true and total domination by the dogs, other wolves, or the Lion. He is forever in combat, with combat being a state, an engine. He is the Norse legend of Fenris; the great Wolf chained and staked deep beneath the earth by the gods. According to this ancient Norse legend, he is guarded in his bondage by a hound named Garm. Fenris at this very moment is howling and pining in his fetters until the day when he breaks free during an apocalyptic battle between the gods and the forces of the underworld.
		The LIONESS or TIGRESS. She rejects lupine and canine hierarchies. She offers Wolf the privilege of challenging her. With imperial confidence she bests him in all matches. She is the lioness-headed ancient Egyptian goddess Sekhmet, the crimson lady, divine retribution and punishment upon the enemies of Ra. She is the Guennoll Lioness, a statue recovered in Syria, dated 3000 BCE, a muscular female body with a lioness head, her neck twisted back in a snarl, her legs forged of gold. Related to her are the CATS, reflecting aspects of the lions and tigers.
		The DOGS...
		They are the troops, united in an order for the protection of things. In the Norse legend of Fenris, a hound is guardian of the bound Wolf, thus keeping the order of the world. The GREYHOUND: Sharp, sleek, competitive. Highly skilled. Her sleek brightly colored gear references bicycle racers and coursing hounds. She's one of the Roman goddess Diana’s hunting hounds, as Anubis (the Jackal-headed deity of the ancient Egyptian underworld) as a greyhound-headed female workout instructor from the 80’s.  The MASTIFF: The heavy. See her pinning the wolf in the pencil drawing above. Or look at the dog fighting the wolf (see woodcut below c. 1519) from Michael Maier’s 16th Century alchemical text, “Atalanta Fugiens.”  The Dog has a city behind it. The Wolf is coming from the woods. They are locked in battle, at each other’s throats, representing the properties of mercury and sulphur.
		Last but not least we have the GERMAN SHEPHERD, HOUND DOG, the POODLE, the DOBERMAN and others:  These are Manchurian Candidate type roles in the lion-wolf-dog system: understand this is an incredible strength and power, not a weakness. They have levels of agency and organization not apparent in the system.
		To be continued.