WRITTEN IN THE STARS?

Did I grow up knowing I would live with lions?

Shy but proud of being in The Lions Group
Well actually I had never really thought about lions. But on thinking about it now, it comes to mind that at Nursery school I was in the Lion Group and I was pleased about that. At temple Emmanuel Nursery school, when my wild haired teacher Sheila called for the Lions to please come into the classroom with the lion logo on the door I felt that I belonged. I'd look over at the Elephants and feel quietly sorry for them.

 In addition, it turns out that my star sign is Leo (and apparently moon, sun and planets). Yet for many years of my life I tried to become a Cancerian as I felt that being a Leo was to 'obvious', to overtly the 'sign to be'. For my 10th birthday I got my mother to take me to a circus because I had seen that I could hold a lion cub there.
Ironic isn't it? I live for them and against this.

The drive, standing in queues and the show itself were all aspects I had to endure to get my chance to hold the lion. But when intermission arrived and I saw how the ordinary people all queued to hold the cub, I was embarrassed. I had dreamed that it would be special, just the lion and me on my birthday. Shyly, hiding my desire behind my mother, I went ahead with it anyway. I have a Polaroid photo of a moment which lasted all of half a minute before the lion master whisked the cub on, working swiftly through the line made up of the general circus going population. I loved the photo but I did not like the experience.



For my 7 years in Primary school my House was called Regulus (the constellation of Leo) our banner carried the image of a male lion. Our house was not the winning house. Taurus or Aquila usually won with Scorpio and Regulus vying for 3rd and 4th place. But I wouldn't have wanted to be in any other team than the one representing the Lion. In Std 5 I was House Captain and I was proud to carry the Lion banner around the field in fourth place.
Head of Regulus the Lion House at primary school


 I have never really thought about lions, it is only now upon typing this that I have recalled those symbolic lions from my past. The closest I came to dreaming about lions was living with Hew, a boyfriend for 4,5 years, who dreamed and obsessed about his connection with lions. For his birthdays I always found a lion card. For his presents I painted lions, drew lions, printed them on fabric, on walls and carved them into wood for him. But the connection with them was his. I found it silly to assume such a thing and I only indulged his fancy because it gave me a gift theme to work with.

Personally, I had always had pairs of domestic cats. I loved my cats deeply. Leaving Morlan and Luna the pair I had at the time that the lion farm appeared in my life, was one of the hardest choices I have been faced with.

On the 10th of December 2011 when I was desperately debating with myself about staying at the lion farm or heading back to my real life in Sedgefield, Knysna. Two tiny white lion lives fell to the ground and Elias and my daughter Taiga asked me if I was going to pick them up. I responded that I would not know how to care for cubs and that we would then have to stay at the farm for at least 12 weeks. Taiga said, “mom, everything in your life so far has brought you to this point, you keep asking for a sign, this is your sign.” Elias sad,” you cannot leave them to die, here take them” he handed them to Taiga and me, “now you are the mother, you must love them.”

Remarkably I had not felt the Earth tremble, nor even felt an auspicious nuance to the day, I had not ever dreamed about a life lived for lions, but it happened anyway. On that morning, I fell into their lives or they into mine and I simply could not walk away.

I will write about the births of the cubs and all other cubs born into my life in a post called All The Lions In My Life.





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