Deactivating the elemental of uncontrolled desires
After slaying the Nemean Lion, Hercules was sent by King Eurystheus to perform an even more difficult task: to find and kill the Lernaean Hydra, a giant snake with a monstrous body and nine snake heads. Each head had its own intelligence, and the Hydra’s breath was poisonous. Any creature that inhaled the Hydra’s breath died instantly. The monster lived in a dark swamp near the city of Lerna, in a place that was difficult to reach.
Hercules went with Iolaus, his brother’s son. He shot arrows into the swamp to bring the beast to the surface. When the Hydra appeared, Hercules began to cut off its heads, but he noticed with horror that two new heads appeared from each wound. The number of heads increased, and the wound closed immediately. Then, with intelligence and courage, Iolaus set fire to the surrounding forest and, using burning branches, cauterized each wound after Hercules cut off a head. Only in this way were they able to stop the regeneration, and finally Hercules killed the Hydra and buried its body in the ground.
This second task of the hero symbolizes an inner struggle that is even deeper than the first. If the Nemean lion represented impulsive rage, the Hydra symbolizes the elemental force of uncontrolled desire—that subtle, multiplying inner force which, once fueled, does not diminish but multiplies.
We desire something, we obtain it, but instead of feeling satisfied, our desire branches out and demands two things. Unfulfilled desire causes frustration, and fulfilled desire causes even more desire. It is a force that, if not understood, can dominate our entire being, leading to greed, attachment, craving, obsession, envy, or even hatred.
The hydra lives in the swamp—a symbol of the subconscious: a dark, unclear space, full of old emotions and unprocessed thoughts. It comes to the surface when an impulse awakens it: an image, a fantasy, a memory, or a lack. Its heads are varied: the desire to have, the desire to be admired, the desire for control, sexual desire, the desire for status, and the desire for recognition.
Hercules is once again the Soul-Ego Self, who, after mastering his anger, begins the work of purifying his desires. But, as in the myth, he discovers that mere will is not enough. If you simply “cut off” a desire without understanding it, without cauterizing its root with the fire of reason, it will return twice as strong. The help of Iolau, symbol of the Protective Archangel, is needed, who brings the fire of the mind—the ability to rationalize, to distinguish between necessity and desire, between pleasure and authentic fulfillment.
Hercules’ dagger is willpower—the force to cut desire. Iolaus’ fire is the discernment of the higher mind. Only together can these two tools disable the elemental force of desire.
The seeker of truth must, in his meditations, symbolically enter the swamp. He must mentally create the scene in which he is Hercules. He must see the Hydra and recognize all its heads—all the desires that haunt, seduce, or weaken him. He must cut them off with determination. But after each desire is recognized, a clear reflection must immediately follow: why did I want this? What inner void am I seeking to fill? What old wound drives me to desire this? Only through this inner burning of illusion will the desire not return.
The elemental force of uncontrolled desire is the most widespread in humanity. From gross forms (craving for food, money, sex) to subtle ones (the need for validation, power, security), it constantly generates emotions, attachments, pain, and illusion.
Confronting the Hydra means working systematically with all forms of desire in the subconscious. It means letting go of unconscious attachments, becoming aware of hidden desires, and transforming them into clear, pure intentions guided by the Self, not by the personality.
Once Hydra is defeated, the seeker does not become apathetic but free. He does not become will-less but capable of acting out of pure intention, freed from the deceptive calls of the world. He does not reject life but lives it without being possessed by what he desires.
This is Hercules’ second task. This is also our second inner task: to overcome uncontrolled desire not through repression, but through understanding, discernment, and transformation. And every time desire reappears, we must rekindle the branches of reason—until the beast is burned to its roots and the soil of our soul can receive the seeds of a conscious life.