The Symbolism of the Lion
Introduction
The lion traditionally symbolizes royalty, and rulers.
Greek leon was sometimes translated as 'king' (rex)
from Greek into Latin,
because the lion is the king of all the beasts.
It is also associated with the Sun
and thus the colour yellow or gold.
The positive symbolism of lions is well known.
A masculine symbol it represents leadership,
drive [or Will] intellect, and creativity, courage, and charisma.
But other subtle aspects are added when we look at
this symbolism from the Mystic’s point of view.
The negative side
Not a lot is said about the negative symbolism of the lion,
but it should be.
On the negative side,
it can represent aggression and dominance,
inflated ego rather than charisma and misuse of strength.
And again on the negative side it can be associated
with stubborn resistance to change
and an inability to see it was wrong, or even admit it was wrong.
Manilius, Astronomica, 1st century AD, p.237
Who can doubt the nature of the monstrous Lion ...
The lion ever devises fresh fights and fresh warfare on animals,
and lives on spoil and pillaging of flocks.
The sons of the Lion are filled with the urge
to decorate their proud portals with pelts
and to hang up on their walls the captured prey,
to bring the peace of terror to the woods, and to live upon plunder.
they display mangled limbs at the shop-front,
slaughter to meet the demands of luxury,
and count it gain to kill.
Their temper is equally prone to fitful wrath
and ready withdrawal”.
But Manilius does have at least a few good words to say
"guileless are the sentiments of their honest hearts".
So they are at least not cunning like the fox.
And Lions are symbolically big hearted and generous,
especially in sharing the spoils
- amongst their own kind of course.
The laziness of the lion
There is one supposedly negative attribute of lions,
however, which is incorrect.
Lions are supposed to be ‘lazy’. But this is not true.
Lions are very active at night when it is cool,
but eat their prey during the day when it is hot.
Both male and female eat huge quantities of meat at one sitting
simply because if they leave it the hyenas or vultures will get it.
They then sleep.
So they presumably feel much the same
as we do when we have eaten a huge meal.
The Lion, the Circus and the Tarot
In practically every Tarot card
we see a woman standing over a male lion.
In some cases, the card is called Strength.
Occasionally La Force.
But in each case the feminine appears to have conquered the brutish,
dominant aggressive male lion and ‘tamed’ or pacified the creature.
If we now turn to the Circus we see a similar scene being acted out
- a woman ‘tames’ lions.
In some cases a man dressed as a woman does the same thing.
But the impression is given each time of
a feminine figure overcoming masculine aggression
until it becomes submissive and obedient.
Thus the Tarot card and the circus act,
both preserve a key symbolic act if one was on the spiritual path
- the necessity to tame and control
the negative ‘lion’ in one’s character.
In other words Squash the big I am [the sense of rightness].
And tame the aggression, the misuse of strength,
the arrogance and the dominant behaviour.
The Leo Constellation
The sky was used before people could read or write
as a ‘blackboard’ to teach symbols and myths.
And The Lion can be found in three places in the night sky,
Orion, Leo Major and Leo Minor.
The Orion constellation contains the Greek and Roman
Nemean Lion slain by Hercules.
The first of Hercules' twelve labours was
to slay the Nemean Lion and bring back its skin.
This constellation thus represents a myth,
the lion’s skin is impervious to attack and thus shields Hercules
when he attempts to capture Cerberus,
adding another dimension to lion symbolism
- they are thick skinned and impervious to attack!
Leo Minor
Leo Minor is a rather contrived collection of stars
that were once known as ‘The Leaps of the Gazelle’ in ancient Arabia,
before the Arabs adopted the Greek figures for the constellations.
Leo Minor more correctly known as - the Gazelle
- is found ‘under the hind paws of Ursa Major’.
Leo Major
The Leo Major constellation lies in the northern sky
and is one of the largest constellations.
It is also the third largest zodiac constellation.
And one of the oldest constellations in the sky.
Mesopotamians had a constellation similar to Leo as early as 4000 BC.
The constellation was first catalogued
by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the 2nd century.
Under the tropical zodiac, the Sun transits this area on average
between July 23 and August 22 each year,
and under the sidereal zodiac, the Sun currently transits this area
from approximately August 16 to September 15.
Clearly these are the hottest times of the year
reinforcing the Sun symbolism.
The Leo constellation is home to the bright stars
Regulus and Denebola, the nearby star Wolf 359 [a red dwarf],
and to a number of galaxies. It has 11 stars with known planets.
And contains 13 named stars.
Regulus, the alpha star of Leo,
was referred to in Greek as Basiliskos by Ptolemy.
Greek Basilískos, is translated to "little king".
In Latin it is Regulus, a diminutive of Latin rex, "king".
The term Aryan is connected with this sign as well.
The Syrians called Leo Aryo,
and the Jews, Arye; meaning a Lion.
Ari or Aryeh, is the Hebrew for "lion".
Manilius also said that the god Jupiter [Roman name]
or Zeus [Greek name] was its guardian.
roar of a lion