The Swallower

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The swallower is a legendary creature depicted in some Egyptian wallpainting scenes, always in connection with the weighing of the heart. The creature appears to be a mixture of a crocodile, a leopard and a hippopotamus. In one rendering is seen a pole with seven balls on it. The swallower bites the pole just between the third and the fourth ball.

It has been suggested, most notably by mythologist Joseph Campbell, that the seven balls in that painting represent a prototype of the chakra system. In that case the symbolic meaning would seem to be that if one's aims in life have not surpassed the ones associated with the three lowest chakras and into the realm of those associated with the four highest chakras, one will be devoured by the swallower after death.

See also: Ammut