Hi everyone!
There’s been a bit of a delay in getting this episode out. In shorter words, I got a little sick there. But we’re here, and we’re standing!
Today’s episode is focused on the Leo archetype. Initially I was going to attack this episode with some myth-busting shots, but later decided to just…not, haha. I’m sure it’ll come up, but mostly, I figured it best to talk about Leo in and of itself, and if myths come up during the while, then that’s totally fine.
So to start us off, I have some great quotes I wanted to share first + foremost...
In cracking a joke about how the sun-sign columns are written by Leo’s Public Relation Staff, who work to portray Leo as “king of beasts,” Liz Greene comments in her book Astrology for Lovers.
“So we have the traditional portrait of Leo: mane flying, radiating confidence and sunshine, ready to outshine any foe, loving himself, life, and the applause of the crowd. Most Leos do their best to help cultivate this image. They will be the last to tell you it isn’t what the sign is really about. But it isn’t.”
She continues:
“If you see someone with lots of Leo in his chart, don’t make the mistake of thinking that he’s confident, radiant, egocentric, creative, self-assured. It means he’s striving to develop confidence in himself, trying to radiate himself outward into his environment, trying to find out who he is, trying to express his creativity.”
– And this goes for every sign. Each sign represents the potential that we ultimately strive for.
I touched on this briefly in the previous episode, however, I’ll mention it again – we are not automatically the traits of our sun sign, we are meant to develop into our sun sign. Which is why Liz Greene specifically mentions the word, “TRYING” in her statement.
Another quote to get us started on our discussion of Leo is by Darby Costello in her book Water + Fire:
“In Leo, the fire that burns at one’s core, and the images that rise from that fire, express themselves through the planets inhabiting the sign. Any planet in Leo is activated by the feeling of heat that arises from expressing its light in such a way that others receive it with appreciation or love. Planets in Leo are always looking for a Sun in which they might bask, or a bit of shade to rest in before prowling back into the light.”
FIRE
Of the four elements, Leo is a fire sign. Before I dive in, lets do our fun exercise and consider the physical traits and characteristics as described by actual fire. When I think of Fire, I think of warmth, speed, reactive, biting, and thrilling (in both a good and bad way). ((Because fire can be dangerous, right? But it can also be an awesome experience)).
As Karen Hamaker-Zondag describes:
“Fire approaches the word with enthusiasm, and confidence.”
And, as most astrologers will contest, Fire is exuberant, energetic, passionate, excited, willful, creative, enthusiastic, inspiring, and so forth. And these traits sound awesome. Like a brilliantly aesthetic campfire, inspiration + appreciation, and creativity is born in a just a moments time.
But just as is in life, with light there is shadow, and with good there is bad. And though these traits are awesome, should the fire element lack in self-control, or get a little carried away in itself… like an aggressive roaring fire, fire signs can also do major damage. Thus the notorious picture of fire as: selfish, aggressive, and extravagant.
That said, as Liz Green puts it:
“The element of fire Is concerned above all else with the discovery and fulfilment of future possibilities.”
Fire is very visionary. And in Jungian Astrology, Fire is related to the personality type: Intuitive.
And as KHZ says:
“The intuitive type is marked by a certain attitude of expectancy and an unprejudiced + naïve outlook on life.”
Fixed Cross
Leo is also a fixed sign – and I think this is where it becomes quite notably obvious how misunderstood the sign Leo really is.
The fixed cross is one that is inwardly focused. This means that unlike Aries who needs the external world to bounce off of, or Sagittarius who balances and shifts between external to internal; Fixed is 100% an inward facing sign. They are constantly confronted with the deep waves of their unconscious + subconscious. Even if they were able to accomplish ignoring whatever was going on within, in truth, it would last long. The Fixed Cross, which consists of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, and Aquarius, are, as the word indicates, fixedly focused. And these are the kind of people who have no choice but be stirred about by their inner worlds. The fixed cross is one that will consistently confront with the unconscious self – that includes all of the stuff we usually try to stuff down deep, and far away.
So how does this relate to Leo?
Well first, I want to point out that I think we can easily see how the fire element works in tandem with Leo’s approach to the world. We can all recognize Leo as that warm, creative, heartful, and enthusiastic, loyal sign. But what about it’s fixed qualities?
In many memes and on many websites or commercialized descriptions of Leo, we don’t see a person who is constantly being surrounded by their subconscious, or a person who is facing their internal at a constant. Instead we see the King of beasts (as Liz Greene) put it. The royal showman who always steals the show with confidence and pride.
I don’t know about you, but when I am constantly confronted with thoughts of my inadequacies, I certainly do not feel confident, I certainly do not feel like the golden star of a show.
And yet – we have this image of Leo.
Believe it or not, there is a strong correlation between both of these images.
Lets begin with the psychology of the Leo Archetype
KHZ says:
“In Leo attention is paid mainly to the inner world into the personal inner voice. And Leo, that is to say, the conscious mind focuses on the internal desire of the psyche issuing from the unconscious.”
We are all familiar with the knowing that with challenge comes growth, or vice versa. Either way, it is the more difficult situations, or the choices that we make that define the direction of our growth. But how do we come to find our answers, our choices, our actions in those pivotal moments.
Some people handle this tumultuous experience via completely putting it out of mind, go out, and getting perspective; some people handle this via busy-work tasks and/or focusing on other’s problem that ultimately also put it out of mind; Fixed signs however, and in particularly Leo, the way to handle is not to put it out of mind, but to sit within it. To close the blinds, shut the world out, and just sit within it’s confines. There is no putting it out of mind so to later come to a conclusion – there is only focus, and accepting the required embracing of it all.
That said, if Leo hopes to grow naturally and develop wholesomely, then Leo is required to hone in on itself, and focus within.
Ego-centric is one of the common jabs at Leo, but…how could they not be? They have no choice but to be inward looking- the psychology of that sign requires it. In order for Leo to come OUT, it must first master within.
And of course, some Leos certainly take that inward looking to a hostile degree, flipping the idea of a large ego to a more negative tone, however, in a general context, Leo being fixed (inward thinking), and fire (which is ruled by the Ego), it’s quite natural for Leo to exemplify more egoic qualities – as they should.
Heres a quote by Karen Hamaker-Zondag in her book, Planetary Symbolism in the Horoscope, that will hopefully blow your mind:
“We have to remember that this sign is not as confident through and through. Leo merely behaves in a self-confident manner because that is the most suitable way to develop in keeping with inner desires. There is a weak spot that Leo is trying to make good. By acting confidently this sign instinctively senses he will acquire genuine self-confidence. Nevertheless, self-confidence is a problem, and this is the basis of the often-heard remark that an offended Leo will drop you like the proverbial hot potato. By hurting Leo self-esteem, you make him feel restrained, and this is something he cannot stand (either consciously or unconscious): his energy must break through. The touchiness and the all to quickly aroused aggression, also the accumulation of status symbols such as diplomas, metals and other palpable evidences of recognition, can all be explained in terms of the fixed cross. The fixed cross brings to the surface traces of its inferior element buried in the unconscious: in this case the element earth. Leo’s weak spot is therefore to be found in a confrontation with the physical, and an insecurity. Hence there is nothing strange and Leo taking an overdose of material things putting a shower and luxury in order to do a sense of insecurity.”
If this quote went over your heard, let me break it down for you.
Leo displays itself in a very confident and self-assured manner, despite not actually feeling this 100%. They likely do this for the same reasons the saying, “Fake it till you make it” exists. And honestly, I can’t help but wonder if that came from a Leo.
And this is honestly where a Leo goes wrong. It assumes that by receiving appreciation and value externally, that they will then feel that way internally. However, as said previously, Leo is a sign that works inside out. The value, appreciate, and love they are hoping to feel from others, they actually are really desiring to achieve from themselves.
Thus, why in her quote, KHZ mentions that hurting a Leo’s self-esteem really affects a Leo, to a pretty drastic point. Not because you touched their pride in a way they couldn’t handle, (sensitive ego) but because they genuinely are feeling or seeing the shortcomings you have described, and they don’t have enough inner confidence within *just yet* to be able to wave your comment away.
And this leads us to why Leo often gets the name of showman, or over extravagance. It is an attempt to fully step into the role they know they are capable of. Again – attempting to accomplish it via external means vs internal means.
Stepping away from the psychological, let’s now consider Leo and its ruler, The Sun.
The Sun is descriptive of our hero's journey, and Leo is an emblem of it. Leo is often referred to as the Divine Child of the zodiac, and it is specifically because of the Sun’s rulership over Leo, as well as Leo’s approach to the world.
I know we’ve been talking quite a bit about how Leo is constantly faced with internal confrontations, but Leo’s world isn’t one that is dark and dismal.
Consider a child – a child is excited, enthusiastic, and interested in exploring the world. A child also views the world as an extension of itself. There is mystery, there is thrill, and there is curiosity. A child also enjoys receiving attention and recognition for that which it accomplishes. A child doesn’t necessarily extend telepathic-sympathy feelers out to it’s environment to know if attention should go to another person, nor they even notice that anything they might be doing is actually come off as rude or selfish – just like fire signs, just like Leo.
In truth, Leo is appalled by rudeness, selfishness, disloyalty, etc. And if a Leo acts in this way, assuredly it is for 2 reasons:
1. The Leo hasn’t found themselves yet
2. The Leo is unaware of what they’re doing
Not that this excuses any behavior, just providing context. If you haven’t voiced your feelings to a fire sign, be sure to do so – fire signs don’t really take the time to consider the energetics of a room. Distantly from water, they don’t pick up those same energetic cues, and actually need others to speak up.
Liz Greene does a fantastic job creating a narrative for Leo by explaining the hero’s journey – which can further be described in Joseph Campbell’s book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, which explains the journey of self-discovery. Greene describes Leo as the noble knight who is slowly but surely making his way to himself. She explains that in Leo’s perspective, life is similarly this romantic fairytale – where the maidens are sweet, and the roses are red, and the jesters are hilarious. Leo is fire, and as mentioned, Fire is quite visionary and focused on the futuristic possibilities. Fixed signs are very set on what they think, and believe. And so if we have this visionary energy who is set on their ideals, then we have Leo who is genuinely shocked when things don’t work out in it’s desired way. It’s a genuine + naïve misunderstanding of the world – until a certain point of age of course (though that doesn’t mean that they don’t think they're expectations will not be met).
Going back to Leo being ruled by the sun – our sun’s journey is the journey of individuation, as Jung describes it. What does individuation mean though? According to my iWatch, it means distinguishing from others of the same kind. Basically, we’re talking about being the brave face that steps forward to say no in a group of yeses, or showing up wearing a different color than the ones everyone else has agreed upon. It doesn’t mean purposefully defiance however. It means creating separation of the self from the group, becoming a unique individual in a group of others, all from the original desire to self-express.
Self-expression is not an easy feat. We think its easy, we’ve created an air of ease around it. But if sitting in a room of people who are all agreeing on a topic, and now the pressure is on you to express your inner disagreement. That takes courage. That takes major balls. That is uncomfortable, and not easy. It is not easy to step away from pressure in the name of self-expression. We can usually have an easier time if we do it for reasons of religion, beliefs, and philosophies, but in the name of “this is me, and these are my values…” that’s a whole different category.
And that is one of the major stones Leo is tasked to flip over in it’s lifetime. To fully embrace itself, to fully step into itself, and to utilize the confidence, self-love, and courage it has grown into, to express itself + lead others accordingly.
Now, as much as this extends sympathy to Leo, we must also be aware that any and all traits can be carried to a toxic points. A person’s development will vary according to their life, and also how far they take things will be dependent on their development. This isn’t to create excuses for some horrible Leo you know, this is to provide a backstory to some of the things we jab at Leo for.
A simple search of Leo shows us descriptions of how Leo is this confident leader who is majestic, and king of beasts, and courageous. And that is a potential of Leo’s. But most (just like all signs) are still trying to figure it out, and many don’t even get there. So to assume this awesome power form a person who is still focused on their faults, can be very pressuring. Perhaps if we stop putting pressure on Leo to already have these traits, and be the showman, and walk around a certain way – maybe more Leos would admit that they actually accomplish quite a bit of internal growth and development to then become their incredible selves.
Alright, we are approaching the end of this episode. So…
How does this all tie together? Leo must go within to fully embrace itself within its entirety, and only then can it gracefully step forward as the leader, as the King it truly is. Inspiring others with its ability to be vulnerable and fully express itself, with its confidence to step forward and call attention to itself courageously.
Steven Forrest asks us to consider what it must be like to be in the presence of a great beast. If a Lion stood before you – imagine the regality of the lion, imagine the grace, the honesty, the confidence, the elegant movements, the self-assuredness. This is what we encounter when we encounter a Leo who has found themselves.
A beautiful picture for Leo’s potential. A beautiful picture of what Leo can be if we allow for them to develop naturally, and provide them the space needed to be vulnerable, to look inward, and slowly make their way outward.
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