Rescue from the dragoness symbolizes the liberation of the anima figure from the devouring aspect of the mother image. Not until this is accomplished can a man achieve his first true capacity for relatedness to women. The hero-dragoness battle symbolizes “growing up.” The anima is suffocated by the devouring mother. Any true creative achievement requires her liberation. Rejuvenation naturally follows (The Phoenix). The adolescent ego frees itself from the oppression of parental expectations and becomes individual. A culture pattern, or tribal identity, must evolve out of chaos. He is no longer driven to a competitive struggle for individual supremacy, but is assimilated to the cultural task of forming a friendly sort of community, a full life and mature attitude. The identity of the group and the individual is often symbolized by a totem animal. This totem represents the new birth or rite of passage to a new stage of life. An ordeal or trial of strength creates the symbolic mood of death which springs into rebirth through submission and self-mastery. This is a lesson in humility. Arrested development can hold one back from this transition. The delay creates neurosis. A man’s sacrifice is a surrender of his sacred independence: He becomes more consciously related to woman. He overcomes his fear of a sacred marriage (BENXUS) becoming a prison presided over by a powerful, dominating mother figure. He finds a way to not feel undue constraint on the development of his individual nature yet gives up exclusive autonomy and accepts responsibility. Balance is the goal.
The Hero coming to terms with the dragoness’s destructive powers also represents the ego mastering and assimilating the shadow.