Loki's Family: Fangs and Fire
The constellation known for millennia as the Lion has multiple (and rather famous) named stars in it. As a whole, Leo rules not only authority Ups but Downs—not only the rise of leaders but their fall and disasters. To get a good look at this, we will start with the star which was called Denebola by the Greeks, meaning the Tail of the Lion. Some of the Arabian tribes called it Al Sarfah, the Changer, because it was a harbinger of changes in the weather. In Persia and the Euphrates, it was the Burning One. It was traditionally a bad luck star, an omen of disaster and disgrace, earthquakes and mental diseases, royal assassinations and servants bettering themselves, and “initial happiness turned to anger”.
Denebola was traditionally associated with both an urge to reform and a quarrelsome nature; honors and preferment granted from above but then a later fall and public disgrace. Its most positive attribute was the ability to throw off and change tradition, to be willing to stand out and be different even if that means getting slapped down. Those with Denebola prominent in their charts were said to be daring, generous show-offs who always had their hands in other people’s affairs. Modernly, it is called The Nonconformist, indicating being unique and living on the fringe, seeing the world through different eyes. It is the star of the loner who periodically belongs and is periodically cast out for their views.
If this collection of epithets and associations doesn’t spell Loki, I don’t know what does. (I can hear him laughing at me now.) I suspect He thinks being the Tail is funny. Anyhow, while Sirius is Loki ready to Ragnarok and roll (OK, this is Loki’s, I had to put in at least one pun since I was all serious writing Sirius—there, I did it again, are you satisfied, Trickster?) Denebola is Loki’s story of social climb and fall, loyalty and turning. It is also Loki in relation to those He loves. When I asked Him whether the star was a “thing” or “place” of His, He just laughed and said, “Fly! What else would collect around what comes out the back end?” Then he said, “Hame. Shape. It could be many shapes.” So I am provisionally calling this star Loki’s Hame until he allows me to know more, and we’ll see how that goes.
The major named star in Leo which is closest to Denebola is Zosma, on the Lion’s back. The Arabic name means “girdle”, as it was the middle point of the figure; it was also known as Dhur (“back”) and Wadha (“wise one”). In Greek mythology, the Nemean Lion was defeated by Hercules, who broke its back and killed it; Hera, his nemesis, put the dead lion in the sky to spite his accomplishment. Zosma, to them, was the place where the Lion’s back was broken. When I looked at it, the one who came forward was Sigyn, the second wife of Loki, who joined him in the cave and held the bowl to keep poison from dripping on him. This star is Sigyn’s Bowl, and it holds both her strength and her pain.
Sigyn’s Bowl is particularly found in the charts of victims of those with power—those whom the system has crushed, who were forced into terrible situations through no fault of their own. Generally the planet with which it is connected will be abused in some way, and may be prone to suffering from depression and isolation. It also indicates a willingness to enter into a dangerous situation and to make sacrifices, often out of a strong sense of faith. This, too, is Sigyn as she walked into the cave where Loki had been bound, sacrificing her freedom to ease his pain. The star is associated with harm by poison, which echoes the dripping serpent which fills the bowl every night. Sigyn’s Bowl was connected in Christian mythology with the Virgin Mary, and Sigyn is syncretized by some modern Pagans with Mater Dolorosa, the Lady of Sorrows.
On the flip side, people with Sigyn’s Bowl strong in their charts may also, after having experienced being a victim, take up caring for victims and those who have been broken by circumstances and unfairness. It can be found in the charts of therapists and social workers. Sigyn is a gentle, caring goddess; it is said of her that she “takes broken things to her breast”. Sigyn’s Bowl is the wounded healer.
Then we move on to the largest star in Leo: the Lion’s Heart, called Regulus (“ruler”) by the Greeks. This is one of the four Royal Stars of Persia, called the Watcher in the North, and like its compatriots Aldebaran, Antares, and Fomalhaut, it is associated with archangels by the Christians. It is an important enough star that I assumed it would be aligned with one of the extremely popular Gods, but instead the Lion because the constellation of Loki and his two wives. The Lion constellation itself was first described as such by the Egyptians, for whom it was the largest predator and associated with Sekhmet; it does resemble a large animal laying down, and the star of its heart is the one with the heart of a predator. Of course, there are no lions in northern Europe. Instead, their place in the ecosystem is filled by bears and wolves, and it is Angrboda the Wolf Mother—Loki’s predator-hearted first wife—who stood forth for this star. I almost didn’t believe it at first, but right now I am still going with what I have been shown.
Angrboda was burned to death by Odin until only her heart was left in the ashes; Loki ate it and regenerated it, and brought her back to life with a lot of blood and help from the Iron Wood. So Regulus is Angrboda’s Heart, thrice-killed and thrice-regenerated, unbroken. She is the Chief of Chiefs of the Iron Wood, a ruler in her own right in Jotunheim, and Regulus is a star of leadership and courage. It is also a star of violence, destructiveness, and warrior honors which may eventually crash and burn. Angrboda’s Heart traditionally bestows pride, generosity, and a commanding nature which desires power, usually (but not always) with high and lofty ideals behind the drive.
It is generally considered to be a very fortunate star, but as with all the four Watcher stars, there is a catch. People with Angrboda’s Heart prominent in their astrology must refrain from revenge upon those who oppose of harm them, even though in their pride vengeance is excruciatingly seductive. The predator’s heart wants to lash out, and that will bring their fortune down. The Regulus person who has learned to grit their teeth and move on is the one who will succeed. There are those who claim that Angrboda (and possibly Hela behind her) was responsible for pushing Loki into killing Baldur—a son for a son, in trade for the imprisoned Fenrir. Her proud heart’s desire for vengeance set off a terrible series of mythic events, and as Regulus makes people dream big and work big, it can also make them fail disastrously when they indulge in the forbidden vengeance, with outlying effects that disrupt the lives of many others.