Deactivating selfishness from the three bodies of the personality
In this work, Hercules is tasked with bringing Eurystheus the red cattle of Geryon, a terrible monster with three heads and three bodies who lived on a remote island. Geryon was guarded by the dog Orthrus (with two heads) and the cowherd Eurition. Once there, Hercules defeats the guards and kills Geryon, then takes the cattle to Argolis, to King Eurystheus.
This task is particularly important from an esoteric point of view: Geryon symbolizes the selfishness of the current personality, the selfishness that controls and governs the three bodies of Man:
- The physical body—the world of sensations, instincts, and comfort.
- The psychic (emotional) body—the world of passions, attachments, and emotions.
- The noetic (mental) body—the world of thoughts, beliefs, and ideologies.
The three heads of Geryon are expressions of selfish thinking that justify possessiveness, control, and survival at each of these levels. It is a three-layered selfishness—deeply rooted, subtle, and difficult to dislodge.
The red cattle that Hercules must conquer symbolize:
- The vital energies of the personality, which selfishness guards.
- Sexual energy (red color), etheric vitality, and life forces misused for possession, manipulation, or personal gratification.
The dog Ortrus and the cowherd Eurition are the guardians of this selfishness. They are the primitive forms of instincts and old mental habits that keep the personality in a state of servitude.
For the seeker of Truth, this work means:
- Becoming aware that his personality is divided between the three bodies and that each is influenced by a subtle but powerful egoism.
- Identifying the forms of selfishness:
- In the physical body: attachment to comfort, pleasures, and image.
- In the psychic body: desire for validation, emotional control over others.
- In the noetic body: intellectual arrogance, dogmatic ideologies, and egocentric beliefs.
This work requires a deep inner struggle, radical sincerity, and the deactivation, one by one, of the selfish elements that inhabit every layer of the personality.
Hercules is not satisfied with stealing the cattle. He confronts and kills Geryon, that is, he destroys the source of selfishness—the false consciousness of a personality separated from the real Self-Ego.
The seeker of Truth, in this phase:
- becomes aware of all three bodies and learns to integrate them harmoniously;
- no longer allows selfishness to decide what he feels, thinks and does;
- replaces egocentric beliefs with wisdom inspired by his real Self;
- frees the vital energy from the grip of selfishness and offers it in the service of Truth and Divine Goodness.
This is the first task reserved for advanced seekers, those who have already deactivated the main elementals and are now moving on to integrating the three bodies under the authority of the awakened Soul.
Only then does the personality become a purified instrument, guided by the Soul-Self-Ego and ready for the higher stages of spiritual initiation.