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By ERIC FRANCIS Image: "Spirits of Fire" by Lilla Luoma, www.littleriverstudio.com |
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IN THE EGYPTIAN DESERT near Cairo, someone has left a big statue of a cat. Besides the distinctly mysterious look on its face, there is the oddity of water damage around the base, which I saw personally several years ago prior to its being 'repaired'. Cats have long been a fascination to humans, and the Great Sphinx, among other great felines in our lives, helps keep the mystery going. If you roam around England, France and Germany, you'll see statues of lions many places. England is sometimes referred to as the Lion, and there are two lions on the steps of a monument in Munich between which a famous German politician made inspiring speeches in the 1930s. The doors to the New York Public Library are guarded by a couple of huge lions as well. Cats follow humanity everywhere, and seem to be revered everywhere -- even by hunters who get a huge ego trip out of killing them. They have been essential to keeping nature in balance within densely populated urban areas, turning potentially deadly vermin to snacks. Like the owl, another constant companion of humanity, they possess an almost daunting presence and a tangible connection to human thought and the human soul. They are often the best friends of witches and medicine people, providing grounding and protection, and a connection to the deep instinctual world. Yet as far out as you get, your cat can always lead you home. And though house cats generally weigh between seven and 14 pounds, their presence on the higher planes of consciousness is utterly daunting. Any evil spirit who tries to get past them has a vole's chance of doing so. Approximately contemporary with the Sphinx is a cat that stands toward the center of the zodiac in the form of the sign Leo, the Lion. Ruled by the Sun in both the traditional and esoteric schools, Leo offers us a unifying principle in a world where things fall apart. It is the sign that we look to for the most self-aware aspects of humanity, for wealth, strength and power, for health and vitality, and for consistency. But somehow there is more. Writes Alice Bailey in Esoteric Astrology, Leo "is the key or clue to the entire zodiac." Meow. This shouldn't be too surprising. In the words of Joni Mitchell, "we are stardust / we are golden," and the star whose gold dust of which we are made is the Sun. (These words are from the song 'Woodstock', which event happened with the Sun in Leo in August 1969.) The Sun's energy fuels every drop of our physical life, and it is the all-consuming fire to which the scene of our planetary experience will return in a little puff of smoke. In the short term, just as the Sun provides the vital force behind all life, it can just as easily kill, dehydrate and destroy, so balance is necessary: shelter, water, fresh air. And, of course, the seasons, which temper our experience of the Sun and in many climates make it a bit more diverse and bearable throughout the year. Leo's Tarot card is Strength or Lust, always featuring a cat of some species and usually depicted in yellow or orange. In the traditional deck, a woman separates the jaws of a lion whose head is between her legs, a visual (and verbal) metaphor for the vulva that didn't make it into the Bible. Nice pussycat. The cat guards the gateway to life. The card for the Sun is The Sun, to which cosmic bad-boy Aleister Crowley gave the keywords "the freedom that brings sanity." Both Bailey and Fred Gettings, author of a really good modern astrology dictionary (shockingly) agree that the Leo glyph is beyond comprehension or deciphering. But it's always looked like a lion's mane to me. Technically, Leo is a fixed sign -- that is, one of the four signs that marks the center of the seasons (the others being Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius). The fixed signs are like the beams on which the system of the zodiac is built. The symbols for these four signs appear under many rocks: the Cow, the Man, the Eagle and the Lion (which imagery did actually make it into the Bible, in The Revelation). Notice the fixed sign people in your life, or the role you play in the lives of others if you are a fixed sign person: you might see a level of consistency that has an unusual quality of persistence (whether you or anyone else likes it or not! But you probably do.) Leo is also a fire sign, the others being Aries (cardinal fire sign) and Sagittarius (mutable fire sign). Feel those energetic distinctions; cardinal signs all begin the seasons with gusto and initiative; mutable signs end the seasons with gentle diffusion into the next realm. The path of the Sun, Leo's ruler, is the line by which the paths of all the other planets are measured, called the ecliptic. This is the horizontal reference point of the zodiac. One interesting quality of the fire signs I've noticed is that so much is measured around them. Aries, for example, is the beginning of our zodiac. The reckoning of the seasons begins here, with the first day of spring. The Aries Point, in turn, is used to measure the progress of the tropical zodiac as it turns (precesses) inside the backdrop of the stars (the sidereal zodiac, pronounced sy-dairy-all, by the way). As for what is measured by Sagittarius, this sign is the home of the core of our Milky Way galaxy, with which the Sun aligns each December. Though this is ignored by 99% of astrologers and astrology, I think this is one of the most important points of reckoning we can use. It's also involved with the 2012 phenomenon because it is so close to the location of the Sun at winter solstice, which I'll be getting into as I develop my series on that whole business. Note also that guarding the gates of heaven in the direction of the galactic core is a centaur, the symbol for the sign Sagittarius. So that's a quick overview of the fire signs. Back to Leo. Here's what I can tell you, from experience. Leos love praise. This is a fact. Not everyone does; many people wince when you tell them how amazing they are, or think you're lying, or up to something. Not Leos. If you're one of those people who loves to sing to the glory of others, keep a few Leos in your life, and give them something important to do; even if you don't they will do something important anyway. Leos must be at the center of whatever they are involved with, even if that thing is not General Motors. Just let them do their work, and have perfect faith that their appreciation of competence and their healthy pride in themselves will get you a job well done, with love. Especially if they are working near a big, bright window, but even that is not necessary. What is absolutely necessary is the cat door. While Leos are sometimes accused of being self-centered, it is precisely this quality that is so dependable about them. When they're in their zone, they will do their best work when their hearts are into what they're doing, and it will be absolutely selfless. Study this quality. It's really important. This activity can involve anything or anyone, but to be happy they must come from their hearts. That is what they teach the rest of us, and it's a good lesson to learn in a world where just about everyone has just about every excuse to come from everyplace else. In relationship to Leos, you must rise above all your mundane conditioning, various forms of paternalism, prejudice and control, and let them live their lives their way. Leos are not merely individuals; they know they are individuals, and if they don't know, they are figuring it out while you watch. Treat them in a straightforward, transparent manner and you can barely go wrong. It's possible to corrupt this energy, and when that happens, the results are ugly. Our pseudo-president has Leo rising, and he can do no wrong. Our prior president, Mr. Bill, who had problems with doing no wrong but did considerably less of the stuff, also had Leo rising, along with the Sun, which helped him a lot. Anyone studying astrology would do well to cast the charts of these men (and please do check Clinton's secondary progressions during the impeachment). As for those ascendants: Dubya has Pluto and Mercury in Leo rising (open mouth, talk about death) and Clinton had Neptune, Venus and Mars in the ascendant (sex charisma radiator on the scale of Chernobyl, the kind of sleazy that so many drool over). Some of my favorite people are Leos. One is Chelsea Bottinelli. Another was Jerry Garcia, who could turn night to day. Garcia's stage presence was nothing short of breathtaking, even blinding, at times seeming to emerge from beyond reality, peering out from over his glasses. His guitar lines are like a golden heartbeat that spanned 30 years, most of which you can still hear today because his work was so carefully documented. His music has a spectral, visual quality, like the Sun. I have never heard another guitarist who could pull the most astonishing sounds seemingly out of thin air, which then appear before your eyes. Put six of the most competent rock musicians around him and they would seem as mere planets (some, like bassist Phil Lesh, were rather large planets, in Lesh's particular case, Saturn, who held up both roof and floor). There is a theory of astrology which says, basically, that the Sun works as a kind of radiator for the rest of the planets, absorbing and then re-broadcasting their energy. It's a pretty good theory. Oh, speaking of Leo, I cannot forget Arthur Joseph Kushner, my beloved metaphysical teacher who died in 2002. Leos need to take care of their hearts. Exercise, good food and good love, please. For a little taste of how Leo works at its best, I'll leave you with two paragraphs from my tribute to Arthur, published in Chronogram magazine in New Paltz, where he lived: "He was one of our community's most dedicated and effective leaders of ritual and ceremony. His sweat lodge ceremonies were so clear and so grounded in Native American tradition that he had the personal blessing of Charlie Thom, the Karuk Indian leader of California's Kalmath River region, with whom he shared a long friendship. Arthur was also closely involved with the Tanio tradition of Central America, and was also deeply learned in Hindu mythology, the work of J.R.R. Tolkien, most any poet you could name, and of course Jewish mysticism, Kaballah and Tarot. His rabbi, Bill Strongen, consulted him regularly for advice on his sermons. Strongen once remarked that he left the deepest levels of Jewish mysticism to those who were not afraid to take a trip into the dimensions from which one might not return. Arthur had no hesitation. "He possessed -- and shared -- an astonishing gift for moving between myth, metaphor, symbol and tangible reality. I have worked with some pretty amazing teachers but can think of no other who could hold awareness on so many levels simultaneously, then show you something in your hand, or draw a picture, or tell a story that made the point clear and concrete." Like your own cats, it's never really possible to understand a Leo, and I don't recommend you try except very passively. Talk to them in plain English (they will think you're a dork if you use kitty-baby-talk). Ask them direct questions and explain yourself. Then listen. Let them communicate their needs their own way. Tell them how beautiful they are -- eyes, their coat, and especially their dangerous claws. And remember the cat door. ++ |
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