Lion eating sun

A lion eating the sun. Detail from the Alchemical and Rosicrucian compendium - c.1760. Credit:  Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

The end of Jul - beginning of Aug, Leo, is the hottest time of the year in the northern hemisphere. From that moment on, the earth begins to cool...This is also the time of the year when the characteristics of the sunlight actually change...I talked about this in my post "Transfiguration"...

But there are other possible meanings of this image. In Mesopotamia Jul/Aug, Leo, is hottest and driest part of the year...

Which is why lion was the symbol of Nergal, the deified destructive "burning" sun in Leo, that brings drought, disease and death. He was actually depicted as a lion man and held a lion sceptre...

Talked abut him in my post "Winged superhuman hero"...

BTW, Jul/Aug is marked by a lion because the main mating season of eurasian lions starts in Jul/Aug...

In the "THE ASIATIC LION: A study of ecology and behaviour" by Paul Joslin we can read that based on the observation of the large number of wild lions, the mating season of the Asiatic lions starts in August and lasts until October. 

Jul/Aug is the middle of the hot dry half of the year (Apr/May - Oct/Nov), the old Sumerian summer. Which is why Sumerian dragons have lion body and seven snake heads. Snake being the symbol of sun's heat. I talked about this first in my post "Seven headed dragon" The oldest depiction of a Hero(es) killing a 7 headed dragon dragon...Mesopotamia, 2200BC...With 7 snake heads...One for each hot month of Mesopotamian summer...They are killing the 4th head. Apr/May, May/Jun, Jun/Jul, Jul/Aug...  

Leo...The time when Sirius rises with the sun..Do you see "The Lady" (of heaven), Inanna/Ishtar, standing under a star (Sirius) 🙂...

Here is Inanna/Ishtar, deified Sirius, which rises with the sun (morning star) in Leo, Jul/Aug, the hottest time of the year. Which is why she is depicted standing on a lion with the sun above lion's head and is known as "The Lioness of heaven"...

I talked about Inanna/Ishtar as Sirius in many of my posts...

Same girl, same beast (summer)...

Woman of the Apocalypse...I gave Full symbolic analysis of the Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation in my post "Apocalypse"...

Here is another depiction of the lions eating the sun. See seven stars? Seventh month, Jul/Aug, Leo? Or seven months of old Sumerian summer, Apr/May - Oct/Nov? 

This is same "Beast" was also depicted like this...

I talked about this in my post "Angra Mainyu"...

The beginning of the Eurasian lion main mating season marks the beginning of autumn and the mating season spans the whole of autumn (Aug,Sep,Oct)...

Which is why lion is also the symbol for autumn. I talked about this in my post "Symbols of the seasons"... 

So on our original image, if the head of the lion represents Jul/Aug, the beginning of autumn, then the lion tail represents the Oct/Nov, the end of autumn...

Do you see all the birds flying away above the lion's tail? Autumn bird migration season starts in Jul/Aug and ends in Oct/Nov, the season marked by Leo...

But also, do you see that there are actually 7 birds. Could these be 7 doves of Pleiades, which become visible int the night sky in Oct/Nov, at the end of the summer. I talked about Doves and Pleiades in many of my posts...

Some people would ask what cold be the connection between Mesopotamian lion/sun symbolism and Medieval European lion/sun symbolism. 

The answer is Apollo, the terrible sun god, who was directly linked to lions and Nergal...

You should check my articles about Apollo if you want to fully understand what I am talking about here:

"Palil". About "Palil" a nickname of Nergal, the terrible, burning, destructive sun of Jul/Aug, Leo...And about the origin of the name Apollo and its meaning...

"Lord of the flies". About Nergal and Apollo as "The lords of the flies"...And about Jul/Aug, Leo, being the peak of the fly and fly born diseases season in Northern Hemisphere...

"Lions of Delos". About the Lions of Delos, the burning destructive sun in Jul/Aug, Leo, and the fact that both Nergal and Apollo are linked to lions. 

"Apollo and dolphins". About Jul/Aug, Leo being the "best time to sail in Eastern Mediterranean", and the link between dolphins and Lions...and Apollo...

"Marble throne of Apollo". About snakes (symbols of sun's heat), dragons (symbols of burning sun's heat) and terrible sun gods, Nergal and Apollo who are dragons themselves...

"Apollo and Python". About why Python followed Apollo after his birth? Cause snakes are solar animals...According to the Delphian tradition, Apollo was born on the 7th day of the month of Bysios (Jan/Feb)

"White raven". About the black and white raven legend which is found in both Nergal and Apollo mythology, Egyptian vultures and the twins that guard the gates of hell. And some other weird stuff...

"Threshing floor of Apollo". About the threshing floors as solar observatories/temples, about the threshing floor of Apollo from Delphi, about Jul/Aug, Leo, being the holy month of Apollo, and about solar bonfires...

"Apollo the great archer". About why Apollo was the terrible "far shooting" archer...About arrow and bow constellation from Mesopotamia, Ishtar, Sirius, and Jul/Aug, the season of Perseid meteor shower...

"Apollo Sminthius". About Apollo and peak infectious diseases season, Jul/Aug

That's that. To read more about ancient animal and plant calendar markers, start here…Then check my twitter threads I still didn't convert to blog post...I am way way behind...