Festival of
Scorpio
Keynote for Festival of Scorpio:
"Warrior I am, and from the battle I emerge triumphant."
Recommended Reading
For details on meditation at the full moon as a potent means of service to humanity, please visit the Lucis Trust website for more information.
The World Service Group worldservicegroup.com publishes articles as food for thought for each full moon. (If their home page does not display an article on the sign you are interested in, check their archives.
The Labours of Hercules
Labour VIII: Destroying the Lernaean Hydra
In this labour, Hercules uses discrimination, patience and humility to overcome a nine-headed monster - the hydra. In her book The Labours of Hercules, Alice A. Bailey teaches us that each head of the monster "represents one of the problems that beset the courageous person who seeks to achieve mastery of himself."
The following are extracts from pages 140-154 of her book.
The Nine Heads of the Hydra
Nine tests
Alice Bailey tells us that the nine heads represent nine tests:-
| The tests of appetite: | 1. Appetite for Sex 2. Desire for Comfort 3. Desire for Money |
| Tests connected with desire and the astral plane: | 4. Fear 5. Hatred 6. Ambition or the Desire for Power |
| The three vices of the unillumined mind: | 7. Pride 8. Separativeness 9. Cruelty |
The three qualities of character
Humility, courage and discrimination
Alice Bailey tells us:-
"The three qualities of character that Hercules had to express were humility, courage and discrimination: humility, to see his plight objectively and recognise his shortcomings; courage, to attack the monster that lay coiled at the roots of his nature; discrimination, to discover a technique for dealing with his mortal foe." [p.145]
The work of modern psychoanalysis
Uncovering the cesspool of base desires and egotistical urges
Alice Bailey tells us that :-
"Uncovering the cesspool of base desires and egotistical urges that fester in the subconscious nature has been the work of modern psychoanalysis. The latter technique brings the unsavoury data of repressed impulses to the surface, it is true, but often stops at that point. The individual realises that a monster lies concealed in the subterranean areas of consciousness, yet feels baffled and bewildered in trying to deal with this formidable enemy. " [p.145]
Invoking a brighter light
The light of the soul
Alice Bailey continues:-
"Hercules invokes a brighter light than that of the analysing mind. He seeks to raise his problem to a higher dimension, not to stir endlessly in the slough of the subconscious. Endeavouring to see his dilemma in the light of that wisdom which we name the soul, he confronts it from a new angle of vision. By so doing, he breaks the hydra's grip, and eventually subdues the beast."
The Prodigal Son
In Esoteric Astrology, the Tibetan Master tells us that:-
"It is in this sign that the prodigal son comes to himself, and having eaten of the husks of life and having exhausted the resources of worldly desire and ambition - he says: "I will arise and go to my Father." "