Mythological dispatch

Hey, what is that anyway?

So before I started delving into astro and cartomancy topics and stuff, I thought oh I better explain the name…but like so many things I also said, nah I won’t do that yet. Or maybe ever! Not sure, but ultimately I decided to because it’s a funny story.

Of all your friends that may or may not be zodiac inclined, Leos are the most likely extremely proud of themselves because…well, look at them, they’re lions. They never miss a chance to actually tell you when our birthday is so you’ll already know, they also share a collective victim complex because they are so put upon! No one and everyone likes them lol. I know that because…I am that lion!

The truth is, fixed signs in general are goal- and desire-oriented and aren’t the best with change or pulling punches so I get it. I look into the myth of the lion a lot for more insight. I used to think it was actually really boring. Boo! A lion killed by Hercules (Herakles actually for my nerds out there) as his first trial, what’s so special and mighty about that? Why is it a constellation in the sky, known since antiquity? Well, there’s a crab and some fish up there too, sooo…

[ID: illustration of the challenge of Herakles. In the image he is shown wrestling a lion and in the background is seem again pulling fur from the defeated lion.]

We know — have known for centuries — in many cultures lions represent royalty; one can also say they represent cunning, the natural world, order, challenge. Why think about all this? There’s an interesting version of logic that exists sometimes that continuously asks “what’s next”. I grow frustrated by this in my own self because it feels like I never sit on my laurels. On one hand I say if you keep searching for shit around every corner you’ll eventually run into it, and yet sometimes I am the searcher. Sometimes I need to be confronted with challenge. Why?

I learn so much about myself and the world, what I want most and desire least through my relationships with others. I think of the story of the lion again. Herakles embarked on his 12 labors as penance, a man seeking spiritual and unearthly counsel after doing the unthinkable and murdering his family (likewise under possession). There's many versions and interpretations of these tasks and what we can take from the stories. I always think about how Herakles wasn’t expected to succeed. I think about how he learns to marry his own cunning and understanding of the world, he learns, he adjusts, he corrects. Is this really atonement? I’m not sure, but in a weird way its growth and the hunger for more.

The lion of Nemea is known to be unfuckwithable; it’s claws are sharper than any metal and it’s mane is impenetrable. Herakles quickly fucks around and finds this out and the simple adventure quest becomes one of using his brain AND brawn. It also is a story of how serious he is; after expecting him to die quickly, you can imagine that King Eurystheus saw Herakles coming back wearing the lion's pelt like a coat and muttered, “oh shit, he’s about that action” to himself. The tasks from there get substantially more absurd and Herakles mounts every single one over the course of ten years. Comes back to the same place every time, throws his sword down, and surely says the ancient Greek equivalent of, “what else you got, boss?”

One can follow that journey in tarot as well. In some telling, its also a story of sacrifice as the people of Nemea tell Herakles they will either sacrifice a ram in his honor for defeating the lion but more likely will sacrifice the ram for his funeral. In another, it’s a child - a little echo of Herakles’ murdered children.

So it becomes more grandiose, suiting the zodiac, but reveals some interesting complexities that I turn over a lot when I think about myself and my own decisions. Namely, when have I had enough spiritual emotionally physically etc…? Where are the points I’m willing to sacrifice and where do I fight back? Is it truly rest if you’re forever pivoting to a third option? A great reminder that strength also knowing when to fold ‘em and when to hold ‘em? That’s what I would like to contain here, the many mysteries of thought and life lol and the tasks laid at our feet that we meet to surmount.