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Labors of Hercules – The Myth in Pisces

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The Labors of Hercules

Pisces

Capturing the Red Cattle of Geryon

You will resonate with Pisces if your Sun, Moon, or Ascendant is in Pisces or if you have any of these in close aspect to Neptune. You will also be influenced by Pisces if you have several planets in the twelfth house, or if you were born with the Neptune in the first, fourth, seventh, or tenth house.

Don’t know your chart? You can request one here.

The Red Cattle of Geryon

Capturing the Red Cattle of Geryon

Listen to Kathy Newburn Summarize the Myth

Pisces

Pisces

The Soul’s Task in Pisces:

Pisces

Hercules is sent to capture the red cattle of Geryon in the task assigned to Pisces. With the assistance of Helios, the Sun-god, he assumes responsibility for the welfare and return of the entire herd. Here he battles the two-headed dog Orthus, fells Geryon, and successfully returns the cattle to the sacred city.

Pisces’s strengths and gifts:

  • Mystical
  • Intuitive
  • Compassionate
  • Romantic
  • Sensitive
  • Imaginative
  • Selfless

Pisces’s shadow and weakness:

  • Unrealistic
  • Escapist
  • Dependent
  • Self-pitying
  • Fearful
  • Easily Led
  • Weak-willed

Click on the link to listen to a reading of The Capture of the Red Cattle of Geryon, from The Labours of Hercules, by A. A. Bailey

~ Read by Karen Johannsen

The Myth

In this labor, Hercules is sent to capture and return the red cattle of Geryon. Geryon was a giant three-bodied monster who also had three sets of arms and legs. Hercules is advised to seek the support and aid of the Sun God Helios prior to beginning the task. In doing so, and because of his bravery and success in his previous tasks, Helios presents Hercules with a golden chalice, which he uses to sail across the sea each night to his home in the East.

Hercules and Red Cattle of GeryonUsing the vessel given him by Helios, Hercules arrives safely in Erytheia where he is confronted by the two-headed dog, Orthrus. Orthrus protects the herd and immediately attacks Hercules. With one swift and direct blow of his club, Hercules levels the dog. This infuriates Geryon who, breathing fire and flame, attacks Hercules with a spear hurled through the air. Hercules steps effortlessly aside, and the point misses its mark and falls to the ground.

In return, Hercules lets loose an arrow at Geryon with such force that it pierces all three of his bodies. Emitting a shrill scream, he falls to his death. Hercules then gathers and drives the red cattle to the sacred city. Once again, in an attempt to defeat him, Hera sends gadflies to disturb and scatter the herd. But, committed to the task, Hercules gathers each of them back and continues with them to complete the journey. He finally returns, bringing the herd intact with him.

Understanding the Myth’s Symbols and Meaning

An essential task for the soul is to learn to coordinate the three aspects of personality so that the soul can work effectively through it. Geryon is a three-headed giant with one body, which symbolizes this three-fold nature of the human constitution. It is Hercules’s task in this labor to bring these three into the service of the soul.

The Red Cattle of Geryon

The cow is a feminine symbol. They are nurturing, gentle, non-aggressive, and sacrificial. They provide milk for nutrition and meat when needed through sacrifice. Numerous cultures around the world revere the cow as a god, and so their worship offers a link between the physical and heavenly realms. They also hold significance as a bonded community because they are social animals. Geryon’s cattle are red, stained with the color of the sunset, symbolizing the completion of the day or a cycle.

The chalice, or cup, is also a symbol of the feminine, carring symbolism of the womb of creation, and the qualities of the intuition, subconscious, and collective. The Sun God Helios uses the chalice to sail across the sea each night to his home in the east. This nightly transition tells us that Helios retreats to the numinous world each evening as he returns to the East, the direction of spirit. Signaling that he is acting on behalf of spirit, Hercules again earns the God’s assistance in his endeavor. Giving Hercules the chalice as a gift indicates that he is worthy of travel between the worlds of spirit and form.

A two-headed dog guards the red cattle. The two-heads symbolize our dual nature, which is represented in Pisces by the two fishes. Each fish swims in opposite directions, one upward into the heavens, the other downward into form. This symbolizes the requirement for the Pisces native to learn to live, unprotected, in the two realities of spirit and form. Hercules fells the dog with one blow of his club, signifying his resolution of the problem of his duality.

Geryon represents the integrated three-bodied personality, breathing fire and flame. With one arrow (the arrow is an ancient symbol of spiritual effort) Hercules pierces all three of Geryon’s bodies. The mental, emotional, and physical forms are pierced by the arrow of spirit, defeating the beast nature of an untamed personality. With this act, and by its ease, Hercules has demonstrates he has achieved full mastery of his lower nature. His soul has fully mastered his lower personality instrument.

Hercules then begins driving the cattle into the sacred city, and once again, Hera attempts to sabotage his successful labor. This time she sends gadflies, which bite the cattle and scatter them. Gadflies have an essential social function. They stir things up and upset the status quo by forcing people to question themselves and their conventional norms. This questioning is necessary for spiritual awakening. So, these Gadflies are of essential service to the collective. It takes Hercules a year to gather every last cow and return to Eurystheus. Recovering every cow signifies that, from the perspective of the soul, no-one can be left behind, every stray and lost being must return to the home of the soul.

The Spiritual Task

Pisces is ruled traditionally by Neptune and Spiritually by Pluto. The Piscean task for the soul is to learn to access the subtle realms of intuition and bring it’s impressions forward into consciousness. The spiritually mature Piscean accomplishes this by moving beyond the hidden (and sometimes dreamy) field of desire and worldly concerns, to connect with the unifying field that underlies all consciousness. Most importantly, the spiritually mature Piscean must do some thing (service) on behalf of the whole, rather than escaping into the realm of emotion, abstraction, dreams, visions, and high ideals.

Through the veilBoundaries are essential for the maturing Pisces. They can have difficulty differentiating between “I” and “other.” They must mature their sensing nature into awareness of what is real, imaginary, self, or other. This is often the Piscean’s greatest challenge.

More than any other astrological sign, the awakened soul in Pisces is capable of great sacrifice. Indeed, this is the sign of Christ-consciousness, and the age of Pisces was initiated for humanity by Christ Jesus. However, sacrifice without discernment and wise use of the mind can often result in futile and self-destructive outcomes.

Unwise service by the personality in Pisces opens them to manipulation by the bad habits of others. Described in modern terms as co-dependency, there is a risk for inauthentic sacrifice. Sacrifice for the one is self-destructive at worst, and wasteful of personal energy at best. True Piscean energy of sacrifice must be expressed in its higher form, sacrifice for the betterment of the whole. When the spiritually mature Pisces successfully externalizes their inner world, their service is authentic, genuinely loving, and transformative.

Applying the Pisces Lesson in Everyday Life

Pisces

Pisces by Johfra Bosschart

If you ‘haven’t already done so, it may be helpful to read the article “Spiritual Transformation is a Team Activity” “https://soulbridging.com/spiritual-transformation-captain/. This useful article highlights how the energy of the personality shifts its expression from personality dominance to soul control.

Pisces is a mutable water sign, ruled traditionally by Neptune and Spiritually by Pluto. The Pisces personality must learn to manage their access to the numinous and intuitive realms. For this to happen, they must learn to handle their emotions and establish boundaries so that they work effectively, not scatter energy and effort. They are called to grapple with the subtle and numinous, and most of all, with the boundaries separating fantasy, imagination, and reality.

The personality in Pisces can benefit by looking to its opposite sign, Virgo for a remedy to psychic permeability. Virgo can teach the Piscean personality to establish boundaries, obtain order, and apply necessary detail to impression. Through the Virgo attention to form, the spirit can express more effectively in the mature Pisces.

The spiritually mature Pisces will then be able to face the pain, suffering, and needs of the world from an open heart and with wise action.

Explore the Ancient Keynote

These ancient and profound Keynotes provide insight into the expression of the sign by the personality and the soul. Kathy Newburn explains how we can better understand their meanings.

Practice

PracticeIt is helpful to meditate on the ways you use the energy of Pisces to create, imagine, dream, and serve. Consider how the spiritually mature Pisces native uses the power of the sign. Take some time to journal your answers to the following questions. This practice will support you to deepen your awareness and integrate the highest expression of Pisces and to manifest it in your everyday life.

The Voice of the Personality in Pisces Says, “Go forth into matter.”

Questions for Transformation of the Personality

  • Do I get lost in my dreams of what could or should be?
  • How do my self-worth and worry impact my ability to be more effective?
  • Do substances, addictions, or unhealthy relationship create a “toxic mimic” of what my higher self is trying to express?
  • In what way do I experience boundaries? Does this prevent me from being effective and if so, how?
  • Do I lose myself in shyness and the energy of the crowd? How can I manage my energy so that I ‘don’t get lost in the “others” energy and feeling?

The Voice of the Soul in Pisces Says: “I leave the ‘Father’s home and turning back, I save.”

Questions for Expression of the Soul:

  • What are the tools and practices that you use to access the formless and intuitive?
  • Does the work that I do in the world play to my strengths? What could I do to work effectively in service to others?
  • As the last sign of the zodiacal cycle, Pisces is a sign of completion. How do you feel that you are completing an aspect of your being or humanity? What is needed to find fulfillment?
  • How can I transform mystical experience into transformative wisdom and become a Practical Mystic?
  • What can I do to bring more Virgo qualities of order, mental focus, and discrimination to my life?