This is one of 114 sayings taken from the Gospel of Thomas, a gnostic noncanonical gospel, banned in and around the 5th century a.d. and rediscovered early this century in what is now called the Nag Hammadi library. The Gospel of Thomas was a collection of sayings attributed to Jesus, and has many parallels in the canonical gospels of the New Testament. This gospel though has a decidely gnostic theme to it.

It's not often that one finds in Christian theology a reference to transformation, so i thought this interesting enough to take a further look at, Gnostic philosphy aside, which is VERY different from orthodox christianity. As this gospel is just a collection of sayings, there is no interpretation to fall back on. It is left to the reader to find the wisdom in the words.

In looking at this saying, i break it down into several parts, these being:
1) who or what is the Lion?
2) who is the Man?
3) what is meant in each case by "consumed"?

As is the case in most transformation myths i have found, this too seems to be a metaphor. The Lion in this saying is not literally a lion (well, i guess it could be, if that's your thing), but rather i think represents a goal. This goal could be, if you are Orthodox christian, the Kingdom of Heaven, or if you are gnostic, the Kingdom of the Father (much different from the former). For the Therianthrope, the Lion could mean the grail of so many weres, the physical transformation of the body. It could mean wisdom to transform the soul, it could mean immortality. I think for each person, the Lion is unique. Why is Lion used, rather than another animal? Lion in mythology is a solar animal. It is the warmth of the mother who nurtures, it is the blistering heat of the sun which destroys. Lion is both of these things, and more, Lion is magnificence with danger. We do well to remember this. Our goals, our Lion, can be both salvation and our destruction.

The Man has the same multiple meanings as the lion, i think. Man represents of course, ourselves. We quest, it is in our nature, in this all men are equal. Man could also represent our humanity. It is our humanity which allows us to quest, to question, and to appreciate what we find, and to lament what we do not. Were we not human, we would not search. Unless by some miracle, a way to physically transform is found, we will always be human, no matter how much we may wish otherwise, or convince ourselves to the contrary. Whether you pray to the Nailed God, or to Allah, or to a God of the forest, or no god at all, we were created as we are, Men. Our purpose, our being, no matter how we may justify ourselves, we are Man. (as an aside, the gnostics have some interesting thoughts on men vs women, but that's another story) Whether or not we are an animal born into the body of a human, or we share the spirit of an animal, or we have a totem spirit, or a spirit guide, or none of the above, or even all of the above, we are still Man.

The word "consumed" is used twice in this saying, yet, on the one hand it is a curse, and on the other it is a blessing. If the man consumes the lion, and the lion becomes man, then it's a blessing. But, if the Lion consumes the man, and the lion becomes man, then it's a curse. Why? What difference does it make? I think the difference comes down to priorities and control. If you keep your head, and your heart, then you will not be consumed by that which you seek. If you keep your wits, and your priorities, then you may not ever find that which you seek (always a risk), but you will be the stronger for your journey. Ok, what's this have to do with therianthopes? What happens to those who become obsessed by their search for PSing? They become bitter, unable to free themselves to consider other possibilities. Their quest consumes them. But a therianthrope who keeps his heart pure? What he finds, will become a part of him, and he will gain strength from it. The Lion will become him. I think it's a matter of taking in, versus being taken over. Taking the Lion into you, or the Wolf, or the Bear, or Enlightenment, or Wisdom, or what have you, and letting it Become You, is the key.

Why does the Lion become the Man, and not the other way around? I think this is because if we become the animal, or we become what we seek, then we loose our humanity. Some may not find anything wrong with this. And, well, that's their prerogative. It is our humanity that allows us to seek. It is being human that allows us to appreciate what we have, and what we do not have. If we become consumed by the Lion, then we loose something crucial. We become mired, unchanging. If we consume the Lion, then we add it to our being, and be become stronger for it.