Then I discovered the concept of Anima. The female part of male psyché.

But you cannot start working with your Anima before you’ve integrated your Shadow. That is the first step.

Deeper I went I discovered other archetypes, and how do you work with them, or rather, how do they control you. Mine are Seeker (Explorer), Magician, Senex and also a Puer.

I talked to them, using the method of active imagination used by Jung, when I’ve undergone “The dark therapy”— staying in darkness for a week. With no human contact whatsoever. Just talking to yourself, sleeping and eating (so called Yangtik).

The more I studied mythology and how it maps perfectly to human mind I started noticing the connections among world mythologies. The same stories all over again. Yin and Yang. Tiamat and Abzu. Isis and Osiris. Right and left hemisphere. Chaos and Order. Female and Male.

I also found a game at that time, Dark Souls, that connected all of the important mythologies into one functioning whole. Creating gods like Gwyn (Thor) and Frampt (Ouroboros).

I became fascinated with the concept of eternal recurrence. Nietzsche talked about it in Thus spoke Zarathustra.

“What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: ‘This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more’ … Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: ‘You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine.” — Friedrich Nietzsche

That quote is basically teasing you, if you are enjoying your life.

If you are living to your potential. Using all of it.

I am a neurotic. In fact, according to JP’s Big Five test, more neurotic than 68% of all people that took the test (those people being men between 20–25 who are already interested in psychology, are probably introverted and are doing soul-searching; so compared to “normal” population, my neuroticism must be higher. 80–90 percentile).

But if the person has a greater personality within — that is, a possibility of growth — then a psychological disturbance will occur. That is why we always say that a neurosis is in a way a positive symptom. It shows that something wants to grow; it shows that that person is not right in his or her present state and if the growth is not accepted then it grows against you, at your expense, and produces what might be called a negative individuation. The process of individuation, of inner maturing and growth, goes on unconsciously and ruins the personality instead of healing it. That is how the death-tree, the death-mother tree and the life-tree are essentially connected. The inner possibility of growth in a person is a dangerous thing because either you say yes to it and go ahead, or you are killed by it. There is no other choice. It is a destiny which has to be accepted. — C. G. Jung, Two essays on Psychology

Studying Jung, Nietzsche and JP I found, that neuroticism is in fact a positive symptom. It means you have so much potential in you, that the tension you feel is your future potential self, who is trying to GUIDE you to become it.

…the cause of neurosis is the discrepancy between the conscious attitude and the trend of the unconscious. This dissociation is bridged by the assimilation of unconscious contents.” — Jung, 1934

No wonder I’ve been trying to find who I really am, for years. My 2 best friends are also very high in this character trait, and are also following the road to individuation — a Jungian term for becoming who you really are. Finding your vocation in life.

Everyone, Jung thought, has a vocation, and our “inner voice” tries to “lead [us] toward wholeness,” toward the fulfillment of our unique “calling” (aka “vocation”). Those who are vehemently closed to the unconscious often fail to hear this voice, and the result can be a neurosis.

Okay, but how do I use this? How do I actually resolve the neurosis, listen to its signals and find who I really am? How do I find my vocation? How do I hear my inner calling? How do I become an individual Self?

“The neurosis is thus a defense against the objective, inner activity of the psyche, or an attempt, somewhat dearly paid for, to escape from the inner voice and hence from the vocation.” — Jung, 1934

Finding the answer

The process of individuation has been mapped out in the past already. Humanity just forgot about it, or stopped seeing its utility, but Jung rediscovered it.

Alchemy. Alchemist and Taoists were trying to do the same thing. Find the Philosopher’s stone and reach immortality. Of course, these were just PSYCHOLOGICAL CONCEPTS, but people took it seriously and considered making the philosopher’s stone as an objective and real thing.

Perhaps most famous of these is the notion of the Philosopher’s Stone and the principle of turning base metals into gold- gold, in Hermetic Alchemy, is symbolic of enlightenment. The Philosopher’s Stone would not be a physical object, but the path to enlightenment, maybe even (in modern terminology) “The Meaning of Life.”

First it was Taoism. Taoist masters trying to turn metal into gold, same as medieval alchemists. It was all just a metaphor for finding your true self.

In Taoism they practiced so called Internal alchemy:

Making one’s spirit complete, one can recover emptiness. To do so, first keep the will sincere, and make sure body and mind are united. Thereby spirit can be returned to emptiness. … To attain immortality, there is nothing else but the refinement of these three treasures: essence, energy, spirit.” (tr. Kohn 1956, 146).

So keeping your mind clean, your body strong and getting rid of any desires, similar to Buddhist teachings, which are also aimed to attain the individual Self.

The ancient Chinese believed that ingesting long-lasting precious substances such as jade, cinnabar or hematite would confer some of that longevity on the person who consumed them.

Let’s look at the Ripley’s scroll, the “extraordinary manuscript, nearly 6 meters long, that describes how to make the fabled Philosopher’s stone” from 15th century:

Ripley’s scroll, Winged Chaos

This is the last part of Ripley’s scroll. The scroll is accompanied with a poem.

“Thou must part him in three

And then knit him as the Trinity

And make them all but one

Lo here is the Philosophers Stone”

But let’s go back a little.

The sun and moon are a syzygy, a conjunction of opposites. The unification of two parts of psyché, Anima and Animus. That is the second step after you integrate your Shadow side (you do that by noticing your resentment and integrating your capacity for chaos — becoming dangerous but choosing not to. For the most part it can be done by becoming physically dangerous. A martial arts training for example).

The hermaphrodite Rebis shows the syzygy nicely:

Rebis

And look, it uses the same symbols as the Ripley Scroll!!

So that is out of the way.

Now the dragon. It is eating its tail in most the representations. It is very obviously an instance of Ouroboros. It is the capacity to sacrifice the parts of yourself than no longer serve you. Buddist teaching described it— one of the impediments to enlightenment is attachment. If you cling to who you are too much, you cannot become who you are supposed to be. And it is bleeding. That is the sacrifice. Of your life mostly, to really find who you are.

And, as seen on the Ripley scroll, it is bleeding into the three holes in the Winged Chaos.

A version of Ripley scroll

Now, this is an extremely complex symbol to unpack, so bear with me. It will be longer than the article so far, because it is so unbelievably complex and I want to show you all the analogies and connections I’ve found that are important for the revelation.

Winged chaos and Philosopher’s stone

The page of Ripley’s scroll is called “Bird of Hermes” and has a quote from the alchemist Ripley himself on it:

My name is Hermes and I clipped my wings to make me tame.

The principle of the phrase is to say that through self-sacrifice we can bring peace. Through self-control, self-imposed limitations, we bring safety and stability to the world.

The script beneath the Serpent of Araby (Ouroboros) says:

“Both meek and milde”

That corresponds with the Matthew 5:5 in Bible:

Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.

Meek here does NOT mean weak. In different translations it is something like “Those are able to wield weapons but choose not to use them”.

So again, a part of Shadow. You need to develop your Shadow side by being ABLE to be dangerous, have the capacity to hurt someone, but choose not to. Basically, be a moral person, not a weak bunny who is masquerading his weakness as morality. Not being able to defend yourself is not moral. Moral is being able to be aggressive and dangerous, but choose not to be. Integrated anger.

The dragon is then both mild and has integrated his Shadow, through self-sacrifice.

If you find the Winged Chaos, you will unlock the way to get the Philosopher’s stone.

Do you notice something familiar about the Winged Chaos? Have you seen it in any movies possibly? Yes, J. K. Rowling used mythology a LOT. The Golden snitch is EXACTLY the Winged Chaos. And do you know the role of Harry Potter? He is a Seeker. She named his function exactly as the archetype who is known to be obsessed with searching for the meaning of his life.

Seeker. Explorer. Me.

For months I’ve been searching for the meaning of the Winged Chaos.

It is a symbol of individuation. You find it, you find your vocation, you will live a deeply meaningful life. A symbolic life.

References and analogies I’ve found

Winged Chaos, sometimes called Round Chaos, is the “messenger of Gods”.

About Psychopomps, the Messengers of Gods

Hermes/Mercury and his Caducecus

Hermes, Greek deity, is a psychopomp (an escort for the souls of the dead) who helped the dead find their way to the afterlife (the Underworld in the Greek myths). Most typically shown as a messenger between the divine and mortal realms.

In Jungian psychology especially, Hermes is seen as relevant to study of the phenomenon of synchronicity

Mercury, Roman deity, he is a god of financial gain, commerce, eloquence, messages, communication (including divination), travelers, boundaries, luck, trickery and thieves; he also serves as the guide of souls to the underworld.

From Psychology and alchemy — Carl G. Jung

Caducecus, is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. Also by Mercury and Iris. It is said the wand would wake the sleeping and send the awake to sleep. If applied to the dying, their death was gentle; if applied to the dead, they returned to life. (In Harry Potter, the resurrection stone is INSIDE the Golden Snitch, Round Chaos)

is the staff carried by Hermes in Greek mythology and consequently by Hermes Trismegistus in Greco-Egyptian mythology. Also by Mercury and Iris. It is said the wand would wake the sleeping and send the awake to sleep. If applied to the dying, their death was gentle; if applied to the dead, they returned to life. (In Harry Potter, the resurrection stone is INSIDE the Golden Snitch, Round Chaos) Iris was the messenger of the Olympian gods while her twin sister Arke betrayed the Olympians and became the messenger of the Titans. She is the goddess of the rainbow (Birfrost in Norse mythology). She also serves nectar to the gods and goddesses to drink. Iris was said to have golden wings. As goddess, she is associated with communication, messages, the rainbow and new endeavors. This personification of a rainbow was once described as being a link to the heavens and earth.

She does not, however, appear in The Odyssey, where her role is instead filled by Hermes. Like Hermes, Iris carries a caduceus or winged staff. By command of Zeus, the king of the gods, she carries an ewer of water from the River Styx, with which she puts to sleep all who perjure themselves.

Here is a hint that “messenger of gods” is basically your inner intuition. Inner signals, telling you what is really interesting to you. In my opinion, it is the drugs and overstimulation, that retard the progress of finding one’s true self. You do not feel intuition, nor dream (thus don’t have the connection to the underworld, to your unconscious side) when you use too much drugs (be it coffee, social media, or harder stuff) or overstimulate your dopaminergic and adrenal systems, and on top of that stimulant drugs can make you focus on things you would normally have no interest in, by making them stimulating.

Iris

Ningishzida

A Sumerian god of the underworld alternately the son of Ereshkigal and Gugullana or of Anu, the sky god. His symbol was the serpent Basmu entwined around a staff much like the later Caduceus of Hermes. He was known as the `Lord of the Good Tree’ and was associated with protection and fertility. Also known as Geshida and, under that name, appears with Tammuz as a dying and reviving god figure who watches the gates of the gods in the Myth of Adapa.

Good tree is the World Tree in Norse mythology, Yggdrasil (more about it below).

The watcher of The Gates of the Gods is the same role as Heimdall in Norse mythology, who can be also interpreted as Ratatoskr — also a messenger of the Gods.

Serpent god Ningishzida on the libation vase of Gudea, circa 2100 BCE

Ratatoskr and Heimdall

Ratatoskr is a squirrel who carries messages along Yggradsil, the Tree of life. He mediates communication between the Eagle on top of the Tree and the hungry dragon, Nidhoggr, who lies coiled among the roots. So, he is a messenger between the divine and mortal realms, same as Hermes and other psychopomps.

Heimdall(r)

Heimdallr is also closely related to the Yggdrasil. He guards the Bifröst, the rainbow bridge between the Earth and the realm of Gods (notice parallels with Iris and other psychopomps).

Heimdallr is attested as possessing foreknowledge, keen eyesight and hearing, and keeps watch for invaders and the onset of Ragnarök while drinking fine mead in his dwelling Himinbjörg, located where the burning rainbow bridge Bifröst meets the sky.

Notice his helmet and Caducecus staff.

Other references to Winged Chaos and Philosopher’s stone

Freedom to pass back and forth across the world division, from the perspective of the apparitions of time to that of the causal deep and back — not contaminating the principles of the one with those of the other, yet permitting the mind to know the one by virtue of the other — is the talent of the master. The Cosmic Dancer, declares Nietzsche, does not rest heavily in a single spot, but gaily, lightly, turns and leaps from one position to another. It is possible to speak from only one point at a time, but that does not invalidate the insights of the rest. The individual, through prolonged psychological disciplines, gives up completely all attachment to his personal limitations, idiosyncrasies, hopes and fears, no longer resists the self-annihilation that is prerequisite to rebirth in the realization of truth, and so becomes ripe, at last, for the great at-one-ment. His personal ambitions being totally dissolved, he no longer tries to live but willingly relaxes to whatever may come to pass in him; he becomes, that is to say, an anonymity. — Joseph Campbell

The Delphic myth

serpent form

hermaphroditic dragon (Syzygy, Rebis)

Three heads

“this winged chaos as mate of masculine Eros, was apparently hermaphroditic”

dragon with tail in his mouth

Python: A Study of Delphic Myth and Its Origins

Deathly Hallows

Harry Potter is a Seeker, literally. The Golden Snitch is “a thing that glimmers and moves everywhere”, same as Mercury and other Messengers of Gods I mentioned.

But that is not all!

As we get to know in the Deathly Hallows books and movies, the Golden Snitch has an inscription on it:

I open at the close

That itself could be a reference to the dragon eating its tail. Inside the Golden Snitch there is the Resurrection Stone.

Symbol of the three deathly hallows. Wand, stone, cloak.

The Resurrection Stone is one of the fabled Deathly Hallows. In “The Tale of the Three Brothers”, it was the second Hallow created, supposedly by Death himself. It was bestowed upon Cadmus Peverell after he requested, as his bounty, something with the power to recall loved ones from Death. According to legend, whoever reunited it with the other two Hallows (the Elder Wand and the Cloak of Invisibility) would become the Master of Death.

So, J. K. Rowling obviously knew about the psychopomps being the “guides to the Undeworld”. That is impressive. Not only did she study the mythology to implement the incredibly obscure symbol of Round Chaos into the story, but the studied it in detail to get it right.

I do not know if the other two hallows bear any significance or connection in the case of Winged/Round chaos, but I will list their functions to be sure:

Resurrection stone — ability to bring back dead souls

Represents longing and love. The brother used it to resurrect a girl he loved.

It is said to be the only object that would bring back the spirits of the holder’s deceased loved ones, activating when turned three times in the user’s hand. These shades are said to dislike being drawn from their rightful afterlife.

Cloak of invisibility — renders wearer invisible

I suspected the Cloak of invisibility to be a metaphor for humility for some time. The Tale of three brothers confirmed it:

The invisibility cloak was asked by the youngest of three brothers out of his humility. He never sought to prove anything to anyone and led a humble life.

Elder Wand — most powerful wand in the world, always wins in a duel

The elder wand was asked by the eldest of three brothers who was power hungry. He asked for this wand in his blinding hunger for supreme power, without analyzing any other factor.