Facing the Hydra: Living Myth and Sacred Healing
This week’s astrology is offering us a living myth to step into.
Before we dive into the alignments shaping this powerful moment, we must return to one of the great mythic teachings: the story of Hercules and the Hydra.
Hercules’s eighth labor began when his teacher, Chiron, assigned him the task of slaying the Hydra, a nine-headed serpent who had been terrorizing the land of Lerna. Before Hercules set out, Chiron gave him a final piece of guidance. One that would prove more important than any weapon he carried.
“We rise by kneeling. We conquer by surrendering. We gain by giving up.”
Armed with his club and his mentor’s wisdom, Hercules set off in search of the beast.
The Hydra was not easy to find.
She hid in a cavern of perpetual night, curled beside a stagnant swamp, in a place most resistant to illumination or reason.
Like the buried emotions we carry inside us, she lurked beyond sight, beyond reach.
At first, Hercules tried force.
He shot arrows into the cave, hoping to drive her out, but she would not stir.
So he dipped his arrows in pitch, set them ablaze, and sent them flaming into the darkness.
Enraged by the fire, the Hydra emerged from her lair.
Confronting her in the open swamp, Hercules swung his club.
Each time he severed a head, three more grew back in its place.
The more he fought, the more monstrous she became.
The more he tried to destroy her, the stronger she grew.
It was only then that Hercules remembered Chiron’s teaching.
He fell to his knees in the muck and slime, surrendering his battle stance.
He lifted the Hydra by one of her heads into the light of day.
And there, in the light, her power withered.
No longer fed by the darkness, her heads could finally be severed without regeneration.
Hercules cut off all nine.
At the end, a tenth head appeared
not a monster, but a jewel.
He buried it under a rock, sealing the final mystery of the Hydra’s defeat.
The victory was never about fighting harder.
It was always about bringing the buried beast into the light,
and meeting it with presence, not violence.
This is the myth we are living through now.
The astrology of this week mirrors every part of that ancient story.
On Sunday, May 4, Pluto stationed retrograde.
Pluto is the swamp — the fertile darkness, the place where our unconscious fears, wounds, and patterns have taken root.
He invites us into descent, not to punish us, but to transform us.
On Monday, May 5, Mercury sextiled Jupiter, giving us a glimpse of where we are being delivered to.
Mercury and Jupiter stretch open the vision of possibility, encouraging us to believe in our greatness and giving us the courage to move toward it.
On Tuesday, May 6, Venus sextiled Pluto.
Venus is the flaming arrow.
She brings beauty, love, grace, and abundance into the cavern.
She coaxes the Hydra out of hiding, not with fear, but with the warmth of her light.
Just as Hercules faced the Hydra with its three multiplying heads, Pluto and Venus met this week at three degrees — a cosmic reflection of the sacred task before us.
Three heads.
Three degrees.
Three initiatory moments across this portal.
To kneel.
To surrender.
To give up.
Each movement deeper into trust.
Each act dissolving another layer of fear.
Each step clearing space for the soul to rise.
The power of threes is ancient and undeniable.
Three represents wholeness coming into form — the weaving together of birth, life, and death.
It is the triangle that stands on its own.
It is the first number where completion becomes possible.
This week, the universe is offering us a threefold passage.
A sacred rhythm that guides us through descent, transformation, and rising.
And today, May 7, Mercury meets Chiron in Aries.
Mercury, the messenger, meets Chiron, the teacher who has transcended his wound.
Mercury brings the message. Chiron offers the method.
We are reminded that this is not a time to fight harder, suppress deeper, or avoid longer.
This is the moment to kneel, to surrender, and to lift our hidden hurts into the light.
The heads of shame, guilt, regret, fear… they lose their grip when we lift them, when we hold them, when we allow the light to do what the shovel we used to bury them never could.
We are being given the opportunity to be our own heroes.
Not by conquest, but by surrender.
Not by suppression, but by compassion.
We are stepping into living mythology.
We are invited to bring forth the most transparent and authentic versions of ourselves.
The monsters we fear within us are strongest when hidden.
They are weakest when loved into the light.
This is how we heal.
This is how we rise.
This is how we create, not from our wounds, but from our wholeness.
*If you feel called to go deeper into your healing journey — to bring your hidden treasures into the light — it would be an honor to walk with you.
I offer psychic healing sessions to support your transformation with compassion, clarity, and grace.
You can learn more or book a session here. 🌿