«Warrior I am and from the battle I emerge triumphant.» Introduction This full moon meditation series is based on an astrological interpretation of the twelve labors of Hercules from the Greek myth. The twelve tasks of Hercules are symbolic lessons for every human from the way of selfishness back to the Heart of God. As mortals we do not exactly know the way to the higher worlds but the path itself knows and leads us through sometimes dramatic experiences to our goal. So we travel "on the path until we become that path", from Aries to Scorpio - and further through the astrological signs to Pisces. In Scorpio self-confidence sets the standard tone. Its fundaments are devotion, humility and modesty. Abstract Hercules is called to his eigth task through a shining light in the sign of Scorpio:
When Hercules approached the stagnant Swamp of Lerna, he had to pause, for the smell alone well-nigh overcame him when he drew closer then seven miles where the hydra lived. The oozing quicksands were a hazard too and more than once Hercules had to quickly withdraw his foot for lest he be sucked by the yielding earth. At length he found the monstrous beast within a cavern of perpetual night. Resorting to a stratagem, Hercules dipped his arrows in burning pitch, and rained them straight into the yawning cavern. A stirring and commotion thereupon ensued and the hydra with its nine angry heads breathing flame, furiously emerged. Again and again Hercules attacked the raging monster, but it grew stronger, not weaker, with each assault and for every dissevered head two new ones grew in place. Then Hercules remembered the words "we rise by kneeling". Casting aside his club, Hercules knelt, grasped the hydra with his bare hands, and raised it aloft. Suspended in mid-air, its strength diminished. On his knees, he held the hydra high above him, that purifying air and light might have their due effect. The monster, strong in darkness and in sloughy mud, soon lost its power when the rays of the sun and the touch of the wind fell on it. The nine heads dropped and when they lifeless lay Hercules perceived the mystic head of the hydra that was immortal. So he cut it and buried it, still fiercely hissing, beneath a rock. Thus the victory was won. Explanation The nine-headed hydra represents the profound examination of the weaknesses and failures which, during the long history of humanisation, have been collected as barriers to the inpouring light of the soul. They hang on like clumps of lead, poisoning their surroundings und pulling us down into the depths, into the darkness of prehistory. Humbly recognizing this objective situation we need to differentiate and courageously battle the "Guardian of the Threshold", our nine-headed hydra and lift it up into the pure heights of our divine heritage. This is the task of humanity today. In Scorpio each of us has to prove that he can stand beyond form. Every form is a means of expression for the divine part through which we can contact a subtler sphere of the one reality. Mortals can realize their selfish personal attitutes in the light of their souls and thus make room for their own inner resurrection. The three signs of death in the zodiacal cycle are Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. Death always opens the door into fuller life by means of elimination that we may realize our potential. The sign of Scorpio is represented as an 'm' with a barbed tail, sometimes used as a weapon to harm and sometimes used as an eagle to swing upwards. The eagle symbolizes the divine part in us. As long as the "snake", our hydra slumbers in the mire, the eagle circles above her at unattainable heights. The keynote expresses the assurance that we - as warriors - eventually win the battle between good and evil. Meditation on the seed thought of the month
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Scorpio - Full Moon Meditation