the serpent and the lion

some added detail regarding the last post:
from wikipedia:

"Ṭēth (also Teth, Tet) is the ninth letter of many Semitic abjads (alphabets), including Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew Tet ט, Syriac ܛ and Arabic Ṭāʾ ط; it is 9th in abjadi order and 16th in modern Arabic order.
Its sound value is /tˤ/, one of the Semitic emphatic consonants.
The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Theta (Θ). The Persian Ța is also used however it is pronounced as a hard "t" sound and it is the 19th letter in the modern Persian alphabet."
 (here is the corresponding phoenician symbol)


note that another 't' related sound is the hebrew Tav (Tau) which means "cross", wheras teth means "serpent". the appearance of the letter itself resembles a coiled serpent, or perhaps, a pair of fangsט
ט"The Phoenician letter name ṭēth means "wheel", but the letter possibly (according to Brian Colless) continues a Middle Bronze Age glyph named ṭab "good", Tav in Arameic and Tov טוב in Hebrew, ṭayyib طَيّب in modern Arabic, based on the nfr "good" hieroglyph,
"
 . . .
in many tarot systems the letter teth is assigned to the card fortezza/strength, and associated with the sign leo.
in the deck designed by crowley the serpent and the lion are brought together, as well as wheels





i also noticed that the serpent/wheel/lion motif appears in conjunction with the astrological symbol for "Pars Fortunae"

  

Another assoication between the lion and serpent is in the Iconography of an Egyptian goddess named Sekhmet. She is depicted as a lion faced goddess. Also notice the solar wheel abover her head, with a serpents head in front. This same serpent appears on the head of pharo as his protection, or wadjet "the eye of ra". so here again we have the serpent, the lion, and the solar wheel. 

Since the relation of this symbolism to celestial bodies and events is obvious, let's break it down. The sun passes through the four seasons like the four arms of the tau/cross while the serpent (constellation Draconis), circles the pole-star and is visible all year, the constellation of the sun's increase, and its summer maximum was anciently Leo (the position of Heliacal co-rising at the peak of the day length during summer solstice).

Magical rituals around the world seem to use this cross & wheel, cross & serpent, or lion and serpent symbolism as a kind of measure for orienting ones place on flat ground to the horizon in four directions. Cultures have viewed this schematic as holy and as the source of mysterious power and knowledge. Outside the middle east there is one more telling association with this complex of symbols. Note that the buddha is referred to as lion of the shakya clan "ShakyaSimha". Further, he is always associated with the wheel of dharma or the 12 fold wheel of dependent co-arising. much like the 12 signs of the zodiac. Buddha also is protected by a giant serpent during his forest meditations.

In Tibet, the so called second buddha, Padmasambhava, is given power over demonic forces and the spirits of the dead by a yidam or tutelary deity called Simhamukha who is considered a high-level dakini who teaches the repulsion of psychic attack. Her tutelage apparently allows him to become the most powerful excorcist of all time. It is precisely this power that allows the third turning of the dharma wheel to benefit tibet. previous attempts had all failed to subdue the demons which inhabited the land and buddhism could not take root until Padmasambhava employed the gifts of the lion-faced dakini and her magical mandala wheels.