Sun Signs - Leo

- LEO –
23 July to 24 August

Ruler: The Sun Fixed-Fire Sign

When we have Leo strongly emphasised in our charts (i.e. Sun, Moon or Ascendant or Mars in Leo), life is always viewed as a grand creative project. It is seen as a stage and we are in the starring role. We are born leaders with our authoritative style, executive abilities and creative approach. We are trend-setters, even though we might not see ourselves as such. The image that we project to others is powerful, confident, warm, sunny, stylish, fiery and enthusiastic. We are generous and magnanimous, especially with our followers, but with our tendency to take charge and take over, we need to remember to leave room for them, to appreciate them a little more. We may not always realise that some people are not as forward or unafraid as we are and sometimes we get so carried away with our own self-importance that we forget others need boosting too. Often we cast partners, parents and peers in the supporting role, and we need a fan club to bolster our self-esteem, pride and self-confidence. Without this support, admiration and love, we are like a lion with a thorn in its paw.

We are dominant and self-promoting, and others might label this as vanity; but we are simply natural show people with a huge creative reservoir and we cannot understand why people would want to hide their assets away. Any chance to display our considerable talents will be taken advantage of. We may unintentionally hog the limelight with our boisterous, fun-loving, slap-on-the-back style. We are loud and bold, bossy and brash, and always flamboyant. We go out of our way to be noticed. As children, we may have been demanding and difficult to understand, and just like the great actors of our time, we may still have storm off in a huff if we aren’t given adequate attention, which we need by the truckload. A Leo child or adult needs to be encouraged, praised and nurtured - constantly. We want to be the center of attention – always. We like to exert our influence over others, but often we lose respect for them quickly if they are not as strong-willed as we are. We enjoy challenge in our relationships, and we expect romance, passion, drama and fireworks. And we simply adore being showered with gifts. We are great gift-givers too, lavishing and spoiling our children, partners and friends. We spare no expense, are high on quality and big on quantity. Only the biggest, the best and the brightest will do.

We take great pride in our appearance and are very sensitive to other people’s appearances. We are dignified and regal, and even if we are not tall, we have this aura about us that makes us seem larger than we are. We often stand out from the crowd as someone of interest and considerable charisma. Our hair may be our crowning glory, certainly it can be our best feature or main concern when we look in the mirror. We toss it, brush it, swish it and adorn it. We often have an air of warm ambience that attracts others to us, even though we like to size people up first. We are easy to be with, put people at their ease, and we are immensely popular when we are sure of ourselves. When we are not, we can be haughty, egocentric, childish, boastful and arrogant. When we suffer an identity crises, we slam doors, throw glasses and drive off with screeching tyres. We make graceful entrances and exaggerated exits.

Because this is the sign of royalty, we enjoy pomp and ceremony, ritual and tradition. Despite all this, we are quite formal in our approach. We would never, for instance, gate crash a party we did not receive an invitation to – we would never risk the humiliation of either being turfed out or the other guests finding out we were never invited in the first place. We definitely hate to be left out. We have pride and self-respect but underneath our “who cares, it sounded boring anyway” attitude we are sure to be hurt and may turn petty and vindictive against the person who has left us of their guest list. We can create drama out of nothing, blowing things out of all proportion. And even if we were innocently overlooked rather than blatantly ignored, we would still be upset. We want to give others the impression we are someone of importance, someone to be respected and we hate to think that we could possibly be insignificant enough to be forgotten.

Generally though our comradeship is highly sought, and we take friendships seriously, for we cannot survive without the faithful. This places us in a vulnerable position and we can be hurt by the more fickle, changeable types. We are a Fixed sign and this means long-lasting, forever-type relationships. We may flirt wildly but we cannot abide vulgarity, commonness or pettiness in others. Bad manners and rudeness are a total turnoff.

In relationships, we feel happiest when we have a partner we can show off and feel so proud of. We like alert, unusual, independent people who have intelligence and wisdom. We often make them feel like a king or queen and, of course, they must treat us in the same way. But socially, we need to be careful of a tendency to relate only to those who make us look good and feel wealthy. We are often attracted to the powerful, the important, the beautiful and the influential. But if we take this too far, this tendency can make us appear stuck-up and snobbish. We may need to look beyond outer appearances. Love goes hand in hand with pride, integrity and respect, therefore, relationships are over once we lose respect for our partner. We are fiercely loyal and committed, with an ability to fight any injustice.

We are extremely loyal and protective of our favourite people and it goes without saying that we make wonderful parents. Children are an issue in our lives, whether or not we have them; and we may find ourselves in their company often. If we are too young or have missed the boat with raising a family of our own, or our chickens have flown the coop, we will seek out nieces, nephews, grandchildren and friends’ children. We relate to them, understand them and can easily adapt to their level. We enjoy their innocence, purity and spirit. We also discover we have a captive audience to dance, sing and act the clown to. We like children because at heart we are children ourselves.

(c) Tracey Rizvi, 2006