Tarot and the Sign Leo
By Anthony Louis
Leo
The Sign Leo the Lion, the Strength and Sun Cards
The Sun Tarot Card
On July 22, the Sun enters Leo, the sign of the zodiac associated
with the strength card of the tarot. Leo is, of course, the lion,
an animal whose image and myth permeates Western culture. Leo,
with its majesty and golden mane, is ruled by the Sun, associated
with the tarot card of the same name.
Both Leo and the Sun partake of the element fire, one of the
four elements of Greek philosophy first proposed by Empedocles
around 450 BC in his poem On Nature. The suit of wands depicts
typical scenes requiring enterprise, courage and daring as
suggested by the element fire.
The Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot’s Strength Card shows a
beautiful maiden stooping over a lion, whose jaws she gently but
firmly holds shut. Having subdued the beast, she leads it with a
chain of flowers. Could this be the origin of "flower
power" in the 60s? In older tarot decks, the Strength card
is called fortitude; and in place of the woman, the Greek hero
Herakles grapples with the savage beast.
The Lion (Leo) in the Myth of Herakles (Hercules)
Strength Tarot Card
Hercules is the Roman name for the Greek hero Herakles, who was
the product of a love affair between Zeus and a beautiful mortal,
Alcmene. The mother of Herakles slept with Zeus while her husband
was away. Zeus named his new son Herakles, after his legitimate
wife Hera. Needless to say, Hera was royally piqued and vowed her
revenge.
Hera waited until Herakles became a husband, a warrior and the
father of two lovely children. She then cast a spell to drive
Herakles insane. In a psychotic state, Herakles murdered his wife
and children. He was found guilty by reason of temporary insanity
and received a sentence of twelve years of servitude, during
which he would have to perform twelve nearly impossible
labors.
Herakles' first labor was to kill the invincible lion
of Nemea. He had some experience as a lion hunter, having slain
his first feline as a lad of eighteen. The Nemean lion was so
fierce, however, that the usual weapons of war were of no avail,
and hunter's arrows simply bounced off its hide. Herakles
finally cornered the Nemean lion in a cave and choked it to death
with his bare hands. That's fortitude.
Androcles and the Lion
Another tale about a lion in a cave comes from ancient Rome.
Androcles was a slave in Africa at the time of Tiberius and
Caligula. He hid inside a cave to escape a cruel master, and
there he confronted a lion who was limping and in pain because of
a large thorn in its paw. Androcles removed the thorn and nursed
the lion's wound. Later Androcles was captured and thrown
to the lions in the coliseum. As luck would have it, Androcles
confronted his old feline friend who, instead of devouring him,
caressed him for all of Rome to see. Both Androcles and the lion
were then freed. George Bernard Shaw, who wrote the play
Androcles and the Lion, was born on July 26, 1856, with his Sun
conjunct Venus in Leo in his Third House of writing, so
it's easy to see where the inspiration for this play may
have originated.
The Lion and Christianity
Saint Jerome, the patron saint of students, was a fourth
century scholar and Father of the Christian Church. As part of
his religious calling he spent two years in the desert as a
hermit (another of the major aranca cards) searching for
enlightenment, strength and inner peace. Presumably, one day a
lion entered the monastery, terrifying all the monks except for
Saint Jerome who had found his inner strength as a hermit. Jerome
saw that the lion had a large thorn in its paw. Like Androcles
before him, Jerome performed a similar act of kindness and tamed
the savage beast.
Another powerful tie to Christianity is an ancient myth that
links the lion to the resurrection of Christ. In this legend, the
lion's whelp, or in some versions of the story, three of
its offspring, are born dead. After three days, the father lion
breathes on the dead offspring and brings them back to life.
Questions Posed by the Strength Card
When the Strength card appears in a tarot reading, we ask
ourselves how we are using our inner strength. Like Herakles, do
we need to make amends for some "insane" action on
our part? Are we being true to our inner selves? Do we have the
courage of our convictions? Are we letting the Sun shine within?
Are we using brute force when gentle persuasion would do? As a
math professor of mine used to ask students who offered complex
proofs for simple theorems, "Are you trying to dig a cellar
with an atom bomb?"
Tarot Meditations While the Sun is in Leo
This is an excellent time to meditate on the tarot's
Strength and Sun cards, as well as the suit of wands of the minor
arcana. Study their images, look for their interconnections and
reflect on how they relate to your inner and outer life this
summer. Recommended Reading
Tarot Plain & Simple by Tony
Louis.
Complete Illustrated Guide to Tarot by Rachel
Pollack,
Seventy-Eight Degrees of Wisdom by Rachel
Pollack.
Tarot and the Journey of the Hero by Hajo
Banzhaf.
The Tarot Companion; An Essential Reference Guide by Tracy
Porter.
What is the Tarot?
The traditional tarot consists of 78 cards divided into 22 major
arcana cards (greater secrets) and 56 minor arcana cards (lesser
secrets). The major arcana cards depict 22 spiritual lessons in
allegorical fashion. The 56 minor arcana cards are similar to a
modern deck of 52 playing cards and consist of four suits
containing ten pip or numbered cards plus four court cards in
each suit. The most influential tarot deck of the past century,
the
Rider Waite Tarot deck was conceived by
Arthur Waite, illustrated by Pamela Colman Smith and published by
Rider in 1910.
Bio: Anthony Louis is also the author of
Horary Astrology Plain & Simple and of
Tarot Plain & Simple. He has also authored
computer reports on secondary progressions and vocational
astrology for Halloran
Software. He has lectured internationally and has been
published widely in astrological literature. He is a member of
the Astrological Society of Connecticut.
 
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