Heads and Feet

“Heads or tails?”
“Head of the class”
“Put your foot down”
“Head of the table”
“Foot of the bed”
“Heads up!”
“Best foot forward”
“Good head for figures”
“Foot the bill”
“Use your head!”
“Head over heels in love”
“Put his foot in his mouth”
“Head of state”
“Underfoot”
“Dig in your heels”
Head and tail of a comet

We use heads and feet in more expressions than any other part of the anatomy except possibly the heart. This is not unique to English nor to this millennium. In fact, it is as old as astronomy itself.

There we see the foot of Hercules on the head of Draco; the foot of Ophiuchus on the head of Scorpius; the foot of Auriga on the horn of Taurus; the foot of Perseus on the neck of Taurus; the foot of Orion on the head of the beast.

These images reflect God’s great promise to mankind which He delivered as a curse to the serpent:

“And I will put enmity
between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
he will crush your head,
and you will strike his heel." Genesis 3:15.

They portray the primordial dealings of God with man, the determined final solution for the Great Rebellion, God’s supreme will memorialized on the dome of our sky.