Pharaoh dreams. Seven emaciated cows eat seven healthy ones. Then, seven lean ears of corn eating seven plump ones. Joseph offers a two-part interpretation.

Here’s part one: Seven years of famine will follow seven years of abundant harvest.

And here’s part two: You will see a man of intelligence and wisdom. Set him over the land of Egypt.

It’s easy to see how Joseph gets the agricultural prediction from the dream. The symbols are ranch animals and farm grains. Seven extremely healthy ones give way to seven lean ones.

But what’s the source of his instruction about wisdom?

Here’s one answer. It’s based on the mythological studies of depth psychologist James Hillman. Pharaoh dreams of domestic cows, but they are kin to wild bulls. And Hillman says that wild bulls often appear in ancient Near Eastern stories. There, they threaten people who ignore wisdom. For Hillman, wisdom begins with imagination. Hidden insights arise from the unconscious. They turn into wisdom when we use them to help us understand daily life.

So, Hillman suggests, bulls represent imagination running wild. Chasing people, so to speak, until they attend to the unconscious. It makes sense to connect this imagery with the Bible. The letter aleph, says Hillman, evolved from a hieroglyphic pictogram for the bull. Thus, the bull sits at the head of the written alphabet. It channels imagination, and then tames it into socially acceptable speech.

But there are two sets of cows in Pharaoh’s dream. So, maybe they represent two expressions of the imagination. Maybe the plump cows represent short-term fantasies of national wealth. But the lean cows bring a vision of a wise conservation program. Hence, Joseph recommends Pharaoh hire a wise person. Someone whose rational long-term planning tames the imagination. And channels it into a long-term vision of national sustainability.