Leo
The Lion
,_0328,_leo.png)
The Lion
Empty of grain the arid fields appear
When first the sun into the Lion enters.
Aratos.
The figure of Leo, very much as we now have it, appears in all the Indian and Egyptian zodiacs, and of all the zodiacal constellations it is probably the most famous. As many authorities claim, its prominence is beyond question due to the fact that the place of the sun at the summer solstice was in this constellation at the time when the star groups were designed. There was thus a visible connection between the constellation Leo and the return of the sun to the place of power and glory at the apex of the heavenly arch. This obvious relationship is the principal reason why Leo was held in such high esteem and reverence by the ancients.
Owing to the change wrought by the Precession of the Equinoxes, the sun in ancient times entered this constellation about a month earlier than it does now, at a time when the heat of summer was at its maximum. "The sun glows in the Lion," says Seneca, meaning that when the sun enters the sign of Leo at the summer solstice, the highest temperature of the year is experienced. The placing of the fiery and ferocious Lion, the king of beasts, in this part of the sky, symbolised the fact that the sun reigned supreme when it arrived in this constellation.
To escape this season of heat, the lions of the desert sought the valley of the Nile, that river attaining its highest level in the latter part of July, when the sun was in Leo, and this fact is thought by some to account for the name of the constellation.
The figure of a lion's head was usual on the gates which opened the canals irrigating the Nile Valley, and we find, even in modern times, fountains springing from the gaping jaws of graven lions, patterned after ancient fountains, a decorative symbol that was universally employed throughout the Greco-Roman world.
At Athens, Ephesus, Olympia, Agrigentum, and many other places, lion fountains are found, but it is not definitely known where the idea of the design originated. Curtius describes an Assyrian bas-relief from Bairan, showing water streaming from a ring-shaped vessel, and on either side of the fountain, as if on guard, stands the figure of a lion.
The water clock, which was used by the ancients in judicial proceedings, had the form of a lion, and a name which signified "the guardian of the stream," and some think the idea of protection may have been the origin of the association of lions with fountains, and that the custom may have been originated in Asia.
The connection between the sun, king of the heavenly hosts, and the lion, king of beasts, is obvious. Macrobius says: "This beast seems to derive his own nature from that luminary [the sun], being in force and heat as superior to all other animals, as the sun is to the stars." The Lion is always seen with his eyes wide open, and full of fire.
There is little doubt as to the existence of the Lion among the first Babylonian constellations, and throughout antiquity it has held a close relationship with the sun. It was "the Fiery Trigon" of the Arabs. The Egyptians worshipped it because the sun's entrance into the sign coincided with the inundation of the Nile, and some authorities think that the mysterious Sphinx syrnbolises Leo. The Mexicans also worshipped the Lion, and the chief Druid of Britain was styled "a Lion." The national banner of the ancient Persians bore the device of the sun in Leo, and a lion couchant with the sun rising at his back was sculptured on many of their palaces.
Among the Peruvians, Leo has the form of a puma springing upon his prey, and thus we find the primitive people of the eastern and western world viewing in this region of the heavens a gigantic feline creature.
The lion was the symbol of the tribe of Judah, and the constellation appears in the Hebrew zodiac. It was this tribal symbol of Judah that appeared emblazoned on the shield of Richard I. the Crusader. The association of Leo with Judah arose from the fact that Leo was Judah's natal sign. In the Bible there are frequent allusions to this connection between Leo and the tribe of Judah. Thus we read: "Judah is a Lion's whelp," and again, "The Lion of the Tribe of Judah hath prevailed."
Christians of the Middle Ages called Leo one of "Daniel's Lions," and distinct reference is made to Leo in an inscription on the walls of the Ramesseum at Thebes. To Schiller Leo represented St. Thomas.
According to Greek fable, this Lion represents the formidable animal which infested the forest of Nemæa. It was slain by Hercules, his first labour, and placed by Jupiter among the stars in commemoration of that dreadful conflict. Hercules is generally represented as wearing the lion's skin, and he is said to have reclined on it as he awaited his doom on the funeral pyre. Some aver that Hercules strangled the lion with his hands, but according to another legend he seized the lion by its jaws, and drove his heavy club down the creature's throat.
Maunder points out a curious relationship between four of the zodiacal constellations, one of which is Leo. He says: "The four most important signs of the zodiac are those in which the sun is located on the longest and the shortest days, and on the two days when the days and nights are of equal length. These four signs in the days of Noah were the Bull, the Lion, the Scorpion, and the Water-Pourer.
"The Bull, Lion, and Man are three of the four Cherubic forms frequently referred to in the Bible, and so often an object of worship in early idolatries. The fourth form, the Eagle, is so closely associated with the Scorpion, that it is an evident fact that the guardianship, as it were, of the four quarters of the heavens had been allotted to these four mysterious forms."
The Medes, who dwelt in the vicinity of Babylon early in the fourth millennium b.c., invented an astronomic monogram in which, some claim, there may be clearly read an allusion to these four constellations of the zodiac, which at that date marked the four seasons.
This monogram was used as a standard thousands of years later by the Semitic Assyrians. The principal stars in these four constellations were known to the ancients as "the four Royal Stars."
The Persians had a tradition that four brilliant stars marked the four cardinal points, i. e., the colures, and these Royal Stars were Regulus, in Leo, Aldebaran, in Taurus, Antares, in Scorpius, and Fomalhaut, in the Southern Fish. These four stars were celebrated throughout all Asia. The brilliant star in the Eagle, Altair, has been suggested as the fourth Royal Star instead of Fomalhaut. Thus, as in the vision of Ezekiel, so in the constellation figures, the Lion, the Ox, the Man, and the Eagle stood as the upholders of the firmament, as "the pillars of heaven." They looked down like sentinels upon all creation, and seemed to guard the four quarters of the sky.
Leo is for many reasons significant to Masons. In the four Royal Stars, the four great Elohim, or Decans, gods ruling the signs, were believed to dwell. The four Decans who ruled the four angles of the heavens were the most important and most powerful.
To these four stars divine honours were paid, and sacred images were erected in which the Lion, Eagle, Ox, and Man were variously combined. These figures appear on the Royal Arch Banner, and the Royal Arch itself is best exemplified by the appearance of the constellations themselves, and Leo, typical of strength, is at the very summit of the Arch at low twelve on Feb. 5th. This is the best time to view the Arch, says Brown,[1] as it then appears in all its beauty in the starry skies.
The symbol of Leo (Ω) some think is intended to represent a crouching lion, or its mane or tail; others claim that it outlines the conspicuous figure in the group, the so-called "Sickle of Stars," by which many identify the constellation. The centre of the "Sickle" marks the radiant point of the celebrated Leonid meteor shower, that astonished the world by the brilliant displays of 1833 and 1866, and to which we owe much of our knowledge of meteoric astronomy.[2]
Besides the figure of the Sickle which marks the head of the Lion, there is a rectangular figure which marks his hind quarters. In this place was situated one of the Hindu lunar stations, represented by the figure of a Bed or Couch.
Astrologers distinguished Leo as "the sole house of the sun," and taught that the world was created when the sun was in that sign. They called it "the House of Lions." Those born between July 22d and Aug. 22d are said to be born under the sign Leo and governed by the sun. Such persons are large framed, austere of countenance, with dark eyes and tawny hair, strong voice, and leonine character, resolute and ambitious, but generous and courteous. Leo governs the heart and back and reigns over Italy, France, Bohemia, Sicily, Rome, Bristol, Bath, Taunton, and Philadelphia. It is a masculine sign and fortunate. The morning-glory is the emblematic flower, and the significant stone is the ruby.
Only two Emperors in all history were ruled by Leo. They were Marcus Aurelius and Claudius Gothicus. In a recent article in the Century Magazine, entitled "A Discovery concerning Marcus Aurelius," the author bases his alleged discovery of the tomb of this Emperor partly on the fact that on the cover of the sarcophagus there appears the figure of "a lion all alone, a sort of heraldic-appearing lion reclining with paws crossed... the lion of the sign of the zodiac." This the author claims was the best evidence that the person buried in the sarcophagus was born under the sign Leo, and from further facts he comes to the conclusion that this tomb was that of the noted Emperor.
The constellation Leo bears little resemblance to the outline of the king of beasts, and some authorities think that the name was originally applied only to the principal star in the constellation, the first magnitude star "Regulus," meaning the "little King" or "Prince." This has also been called "the Star Royal," and the cuneiform inscriptions of the Euphratean Valley refer to it as "the star of the King." The Arabs knew it as "the Kingly Star," and it was one of the four celebrated Royal Stars before alluded to.
Apparently its position and not its lustre has made Regulus famous, for almost all the first magnitude stars exceed it in brilliance.
Regulus has been a famous star in all ages. The ancient belief was that it ruled the affairs of heaven, and with astrologers it was always a fortunate star. According to the best authority, Regulus was not named from the illustrious Roman Consul of that name, as has sometimes been supposed, but was named by Copernicus from the diminutive of the earlier "Rex."
The impression of greatness and power connected with Regulus was universal. This was doubtless due to the fact that it was the brightest star in the principal zodiacal sign.
"Cor Leonis," or "the Heart of the Lion," was another name for this star, and Al-Biruni called it "the Heart of the Royal Lion."
The importance of Regulus in ancient times is well attested by the great variety of names assigned it, titles for the most part signifying power and might. In Babylon it was "Sharru," the King, in India, "Magha," the Mighty, in Sogdiana "Magh," the Great, in Persia, "Miyan," the Centre, among the Turanians "Masu," the Hero, and in Akkadia it was associated with the fifth antediluvian King of the celestial sphere. In Arabia it was known as "Kingly," in Greece βασιλισκδς άστήρ, the equivalent of Rex, the King Star.
On a Ninevite tablet there is this reference to Regulus: "If the star of the great lion is gloomy, the heart of the people will not rejoice."
Regulus is one of the so-called "Lunar Stars," and is consequently much used in navigation. On the 20th of August Regulus almost marks the position of the sun. It has a spectrum of the Sirian type, and is approaching the earth it is said at the rate of 5.5 miles a second. Some authorities claim that this great sun sends out a thousand times, as much light as our sun, and is 160 light years distant from us.
Mrs. Martin, who has endowed the first magnitude stars with an individuality that will ever enhance their beauty, and endear them to all star lovers, regards Regulus as the most neighbourly of stars, as it is visible for eight months in the year. The following reference to Regulus is quoted from Serviss's Round the Year with the Stars: "When the 'Royal Star' crosses high on the meridian in the vernal evenings, the imagination is thrown back almost the whole course of the history of the Aryan race, and the rays of Regulus bring again the dreams of Babylon and Nineveh, of Greece and Rome, of India, and of the star- watching deserts of Arabia. Cyrus, in his conquering marches, may have looked to that star for help and inspiration, for it was the heavenly guardian of the Persian monarchs."
Regulus appears above the horizon a very little north of east about 9 p.m. on the evening of New Year's Day, and culminates at 9 p.m. April 6th.
The star β Leonis, or "Denebola," from an abbreviated Arab title meaning "the Lion's Tail," is an interesting star. It marked the tenth Arab lunar station known as "the Changer," i. e., of the weather, and Al-Biruni wrote of it: "The heat turns away when it rises, and the cold turns away when it disappears." Denebola is one of the stars forming the so-called "Diamond of Virgo," a great diamond formed by the four stars Denebola, Arcturus, Cor Caroli, and Spica.
In astrology Denebola was considered unlucky, portending misfortune and disgrace. Its spectrum is Sirian, and it is approaching our system at the rate of about twelve miles a second. It is said to be thirty-three light years distant, and about ten times as bright as the sun. In all probability Denebola was a brighter star in former times than now, for Al-Sufi speaks of it as "the brilliant and great star of the first magnitude which is found on the tail." It comes to the meridian at 9 p.m. on the 3d of May.
γ Leonis, also called "Algeiba," an Arab name meaning "the Forehead," is one of the finest double stars in the heavens. Doberck estimates its period as four hundred years. Both stars can be seen very well in a three-inch telescope, with a power of 130, and the marked contrast of colours renders it a beautiful object. The colours are bright orange and greenish yellow. Sir Wm. Herschel discovered its duplicity in 1782. This star is approaching our system at the rate of twenty-four miles a second.
δ Leonis bears the Arab name "Zosma," the "Girdle." Ulugh Beg called it "Duhr," the " Lion's Back." In China it was known as "the High Minister of State." It is said to be approaching us at the rate of nine miles a second.
ε and μ Leonis were designated by an Arab writer as being "a whip's length apart." The distance is a little over two degrees.
π and σ Leonis were known to the Chinese as "the Honourable Lady" and "the Higher General" respectively.
- ↑ Stellar Theology by Robt. Brown.
- ↑ "The 'Sickle' in its entirety," says Serviss, "is an attractive asterism, and hanging so conspicuously in the sky on a spring evening it may be imaginatively regarded as a harbinger of the opening of the season when the thoughts of men are turning to preparations for future harvests."