Theos-Talk Archives (February 1997 Message tl00438)

The full moon occurs this Saturday in Pisces.  Pisces is the twelfth sign,
and the twelfth labor of Hercules was the capturing of the cattle of Geryon.

Geryon was a monster with three bodies, who lived on the far island
Erytheia.  He kept there unlawfully a herd of dark red cattle, guarded also
by a two-headed dog and watched over by the shepherd Eurytion.  Hercules
began this labor with prayer to Helius, the god of fire in the Sun.  A
golden chalice was materialized before him, and Hercules travelled in the
safety of this golden chalice across the rough seas to Erytheia.  Once
there, he slew the two-headed dog that had immediately come at him, but he
spared the life of the shephard.  Driving the cattle before him, Hercules
left the island but soon perceived that the monster Geryon was chasing him,
intent on retaking the herd; Hercules then slew Geryon "with a arrow which
burned the air, and flew so forcefully that it pierced all three bodies
together."  Hercules continued on then, returning the cattle to their
rightful home.

The first ten labours of Hercules depict individual steps along the Zodiac,
as the disciple learns by experience the necessary lessons of the Path.  In
Capricorn the individual lessons cease and the emphasis shifts to a larger
field of service: the initiate Hercules serves in Aquarius by diverting the
cleansing waters through the accumulated filth of the ages, and in Pisces
the Saviour Hercules works to redeem the masses.

There is a great deal of symbolism in this last labor: the "three-bodied
monster" seems clear enough, as the physical/emotional/lower mental aspect
which guards over the "animal herd," the lower nature.  The magical chalice
from Helius is the Grail, and in some versions of the story Hercules not
only travels to Erytheia in the golden cup but delivers the herd back in it
as well.  In killing the two-headed dog, Hercules overcomes the problem of
duality, which is symbolized also in the astrological symbol of Pisces as
the two fishes bound together by a ribbon.

Hercules (and all men on the spiritual Path) travel the "reversed Wheel" of
the Zodiac.  For the present majority, the wheel revolves clockwise and in
the greater cycle we are transiting now from "the age of Pisces" of the last
2,000 years or so to the incoming energies of Aquarius.  Most of us have not
yet solved the problem of duality -- of dual appearance -- and so the
greater lessons of Pisces are not easy for us to relate to.  The lessons of
Pisces are of idealism and sacrifice, a willingness of spirit to embody
matter for the purposes of redemption.  In the greater scheme, that's the
world Saviour work of a Buddha or a Christ.  In our lesser fields, we can
each apply the available energies of Pisces to redeem aspects of the "dark
herd" of our lower natures and thereby better represent the purpose of the
Soul or Self.


************

The full moon in Pisces occurs Saturday morning (Feb 22) at 05:28am, EST USA
(10:28am GMT); a group meditation will be held on the theme of Letting in
the Light.  At the time of each full moon Festival, energy qualified by the
constellation influencing that period flows into the range of human
awareness, thereby establishing the divine attributes in the consciousness
of humanity.  This spiritual inflow can be channelled in meditation into the
minds and hearts of all people, and everyone is invited to participate in
the group effort.