The constellation of the lion is one of the most recognizable in the sky. Astrologically, the zodiac sign of Leo is associated with kings, nobility, sunshine and gold. But this sign is facing challenges with an opposition from the planet Pluto in Aquarius for the next few years. Leo must respond to these challenges and learn how to function in a democratic world. All we can do here is present a guide to some of the issues.
ONE
Leo is a fire sign, along with Aries and Sagittarius. Aries is cardinal fire, the ignition, the birth of the flame. Sagittarius is mutable fire, the beacon leading us on. While Leo as the sign of fixed fire keeping the fire going, preserving it, keeping it alive.
Before the classical civilisations of Greece and Rome, before the founding of the ancient city states of Egypt and Mesopotamia, back in the days while we still lived as wandering tribes, fire was something that happened by chance. Maybe it was caused by lava from a volcano. Maybe a tree was struck by lightning causing a wildfire to spread across the grasslands. Fire was useful, if you could control it.
Fire became a campfire, a place to gather of an evening, after a day of work. A time of conviviality, of enjoying food and stories or just spending time together.
Later, in settled communities, fire becomes the centre of the home, the hearth, the fireplace. It becomes the household spirit for example as the domovoy in Slavic traditions, respected as the spirit guardian of the hearth. In other traditions it is celebrated as the eternal flame or where the passage of time is marked in candlelight.
This is the energy of Leo, the sign of social gathering around a sacred flame. Keeping the fire going, keeping the culture going.
TWO
Leo is ruled by the Sun. The central fire of our solar system, the source of all light on earth, the light that illuminates the moon and all the planets as well as keeping the solar system together with its gravity
So many cultures venerated and worshipped the sun under different names: the Greek Apollo and Helios, the Egyptian Ra, the Japanese goddess Amaterasu, all associated with life and rebirth.
But we no longer worship the sun as a god as this story from the Talmud relates:
A Roman emperor asks Rabbi Joshua to show him God. Rabbi Joshua tells the emperor to try and look at one of God’s ordinary servants – the sun – shining in the midday sky. The emperor replies that he cannot look at it because the glare is too blinding. Rabbi Joshua points out the logic: “If you cannot look at the sun, which is only one of the countless creations of the Almighty, how much less can you gaze upon the Divine Presence itself?”
TWO and a half
In the Rider-Waite tarot pack (designed by Pamela Colman Smith) the card for the sun shows a naked child riding a white horse surrounded by sunflowers and under a radiant sun. The imagery speaks so clearly of joy and abundance and echoes the energy and symbolism of the sign of Leo.
This is Leo at its purest, most optimistic and brimming with self-expression.
THREE
Leo is the Cosmic Will. The will of the universe that underpins everything. Will is not rational, and it has no purpose. Just as the nuclear reaction inside a star has no purpose. Just as the photosynthesis inside every green leaf is without aim or purpose. It just is. Just as love has no purpose. It is, as they say, blind and often irrational.
This is the nature of Will as described by the German philosopher, Schopenhauer in his book “The World as Will and Idea”, as the fundamental, underlying essence of all reality – a cosmic energy that possesses no intelligence, no memory, no morality, and no final destination.
This will is impersonal but, as humans, we personalise it, projecting our own nature onto it. We talk about a personal God and the Will of God. We say “Thy will be done” subjugating our individual will to the will of a divine creator. We say “God Willing” or “Insha’Allah” meaning that something will happen if God wills it.
When it comes to human society and democracy we talk about The Will of the People. Also political will when we say for example that governments lack the political will to deal with the climate emergency.
At the individual level, we say that someone is strong-willed, or has the will to succeed, or that someone has or has lost the will to live. And then we talk about free will – the ability to choose between different courses of action.
While philosophers discuss the nature of will, astrologers see the strength of an individual’s will in their birth chart through the sign of Leo and the position and aspects of the sun, the ruler of Leo. A well-aspected sun in the birth chart suggests health, vitality and confidence. An afflicted sun suggests a weak will, that the individual is compliant, inhibited, lacks determination and cannot assert themselves. Then the challenges that life presents them will teach them to step up to the plate with determination, assertiveness and confidence.
This all depends where the sun is in the individual’s chart. Which sign, which house position, is it rising, culminating or setting, how it is aspected. This is the basis of chart interpretation.
FOUR
In the birthchart, Leo is associated with the 5th house, described as the house of creativity and children. This is more than just the physical process of giving birth. Leo’s warmth is the psychological process of nurturing the child and imbuing them with the awareness that they are loved and valued. That warmth is needed for the child to develop a sense of self and self-worth. Without that warmth, the child can suffer core damage that may never be healed, and they will spend their life seeking for that warmth and validation in the external world, buying it, borrowing it, stealing it even.
The inner child is inherently creative. This creative urge is a manifestation of the individual’s will. It needs recognition, validation. And if the fruits of the child’s creative urge are disregarded or dismissed, then it is a long journey back to that state of innocent, joyful creativity.
Ursula Le Guin stated it clearly when she said: “The Creative Adult is the Child who Survived”.
Here’s the full quote:
“The creative adult is the child who survived after the world tried killing them, making them ‘grown up.’ The creative adult is the child who survived the blandness of schooling, the unhelpful words of bad teachers, and the nay-saying ways of the world.”
And to quote Pablo Picasso: “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
FIVE
Leo is associated with the archetype of the hero and the mythology of the hero’s journey.
A hero is someone who is admired or idealized for their courage, outstanding achievements, or noble qualities. In fairy tales and legends as well as in traditional and modern literature, they can be of humble birth, someone whose life journey leads them to show their true nature, their courage and fortitude in the face of the darkness that they must conquer. Harry Potter is an example of this, as is Bilbo Baggins from the Lord of the Rings.
Then there are the superheroes from the Marvel or DC universes: Spiderman, Green Lantern, Black Panther, Wonder Woman and of course Superman. Those with a special talent or power that they use to avert disaster and defeat evil.
Some heroes may be tragic figures, those who are flawed in some way and whose fate is to die or lose their powers in the performance of their heroic deeds. These include Shakespeare’s Macbeth, whose arrogance finally brings him down, Admiral Nelson who died at the Battle of Trafalgar, Philip Marlowe in the stories by Raymond Chandler, Sparrowhawk in Ursula Le Guin’s Earthsea series.
Others may be of noble birth, Kings or Princes, for Leo, the lion king, is associated with royalty and nobility. These include Odysseus, King of Ithaca whose triumph in the Trojan wars and epic story of his homecoming is told by Homer in the Iliad and the Odyssey, Richard I of Britain, known as Lionheart, Louis XIV of France known as Le Roi Soleil (the Sun King) and of course the legendary King Arthur, the once and future king.
And this is what these Leonine heroes do. Long after their lives are over, the legends of their valour and honour continue to inspire us, to stand as role models for who we can be, how in our little ways we can overcome humble origins, show our true worth, and conquer darkness by our sheer solar brilliance.
SIX
Leo’s colours are the colours of royalty: scarlet and crimson and the Tyrian purple of the Roman emperors. It’s also the colours of the sun, from the brightness of midday to the rich purples and pinks of sunset. Then of course there’s the colour of metallic gold and finally the soft browns of the lion’s fur. Everything speaks of nobility and valour, luxury and power.
SEVEN
In medical astrology Leo rules the heart and the back. Both are central to the functioning of the organism. While Leo is the heart, its opposite sign, Aquarius, is the circulation distributing the blood around all the organs and returning it to the heart.
Both the heart and the spine are resonant structures that respond to physical and non-physical or subtle vibrations.
The heart consists of muscle fibres arranged in a spiral, a single continuous band of muscle running from the pulmonary artery to the aorta to form a functional vortex.
The spine is also a resonant structure, a standing wave from the tailbone to the base of the skull that creates different vibrational frequencies according the emotional and physical load it has to bear.
According to holistic health practitioners: ”A healthy spine generates its own harmonic waves that not only maintain the spine’s structural and neural integrity, but also are transmitted to the brain and the autonomic nervous system where they help balance breath, heart rate, digestion, and other body functions…”
The spine also focuses the seven main chakras. This makes both the spine and the heart responsive to sound and vibrational therapies such as sound healing.
EIGHT
Leo is ruled by the sun and in ancient alchemical symbolism, the sun is associated with gold. Gold has not only physical value but also symbolic value. It is jewellery, wealth, luxury, treasure. Gold is the king’s golden crown, worn to symbolise rulership and divine right.
Gold is Eldorado, the mythical golden city that explorers and conquerors crossed oceans for, searched and fought for but never found.
But what makes gold so special? For those who remember their high-school chemistry, gold is resistant to both acids and alkalis. In other words from an alchemical point of view it is pure and incorruptible.
For thousands of years the gold standard was the basis of money in many cultures. Even though the direct convertibility of currencies into gold has ended, countries still keep gold reserves to underpin their economies. Gold is an investment, something that keeps its value when economic systems go haywire.
NINE
Lions are an apex predator, known as the king of the jungle. But they also embody higher spiritual values.
The Timbavati game reserve in South Africa is home to the iconic white lions. They are not albino, rather they are a unique mutation that is prized by the local Shangaan/Tsonga people as sacred animals, sent to Earth as messengers of God and representatives of higher consciousness.
The story of the white lions and the struggle to protect them from big game hunters has been told in several books and movies. Linda Tucker’s 2001 book, ‘Mystery of the White Lions: Children of the Sun God’, and Gilles de Maistre’s 2018 film, ‘Mia and the White Lions’
The appearance of white lions is linked to the need for human beings to realign with nature; serving as stewards of balance, respect, kindness, compassion and harmony towards all beings. These are the higher values of the astrological sign of Leo.
TEN
The ego cannot see beyond its own limits, but the higher Self (capital S) has no limits and connects all living things through universal consciousness and boundless compassion. Unevolved Leo is tied to the ego. It sees everything in terms of “I, Me, Mine”. This can come across as ‘main character syndrome’, treating everyone else as bit-players in their life. Their confidence and charisma shines. They own the stage. They cannot but own the room. For Leo, everything is personal – while for Leo’s opposite sign, Aquarius, everything is impersonal.
I can’t say it better than Isabel Hickey in her book “Astrology, a Cosmic Science” :
“Leo people are too attached where those they love are concerned. They have to learn true detachment. Can the Sun shine for itself or just one other? Only when Leo individuals become impersonal and give their warmth and affection to all do they come into their inheritance.”
“There is dignity, self-respect, courage and integrity in the evolved Leo individuals. They are honest, direct and fully dependable when they are evolved; arrogant, egotistical and bombastic when they enthrone their ego where their Higher Self should be.”
“The Leo destiny is a high one. No man can be a true leader until he is willing to be servant of all. The greatest gift a Leo can bring to the world is an understanding heart.”
Ben Belinsky
August 2026
Featured image by Foto Martien
