The design of the outer ring of the mandala was influenced by the interlocking spirals motif pictured here. At the time I had the dream of interlocking hands, I was reading The Language of the Goddess by Marija Gimbutas. The picture of the 7,000 year old pot from which this detail was taken appears in The Language of the Goddess. The caption reads, "The spiral enlivens the ceramic art of Old Europe with its fluid dynamism."
Gimbutas associates the design with the vital flow of energy in life.
Carroll Bishop directed me to this image of Thetis and Peleus, which shows the interlocked hands of Peleus rendered as a meander.
The meander is repeated in the pattern which forms a circle around the perimeter of this piece. The headband worn by Thetis is also decorated with meanders.
A picture of the cup (of which the pictures here are details) appears in The New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology. The caption reads, "Peleus wrestling with Thetis. Humiliated at being ordered to marry a mortal, the Nereid Thetis attempted to escape from her future husband by turning herself successively into fire, water, a lion and a serpent. With Chiron's advice the Thessalian hero succeeded in overcoming her resistance and they were finally married. Their son was Achilles. Bottom of a Greek cup by the painter Peithinos. Late sixth century."
I was struck by the way the image of interlocking hands is clearly associated with the pattern drawn in a circle around the perimeter of the cup, just as I associated the interlocking spiral design with the image of interlocking hands in my dream.