On July 22 at 9:53 pm ET, the Sun will move into Leo, the sign of its rulership.
Leo and Sun Significations
Leo is the fifth sign of the zodiac. It’s modality is fixed, meaning that it anchors the season. Leo falls in the height of the summer in the Northern Hemisphere, the time when the Sun burns at its hottest and brightest. It’s element is fire. In the body, Leo rules the heart.
Leo is symbolized by the Lion: the bold king of the jungle.
This already tells you a lot about what Leo symbolizes. Leo is a sign of boldness, a place where we assert our leadership without hesitation, where we embrace our fullest self-expression.
Leo is a sign of confidence, courage, and creativity. It’s also associated with leadership, drama, and playfulness. Leos generally love to be the center of attention. They don’t shy away from the spotlight, and usually they crave it.
The fire sign is also a sign of warmth, enthusiasm, and optimism. As a fixed sign, it is tenacious, persevering, and stable. It’s fire is a sustaining fire.
The Sun is the brightest light in our universe; it is the spotlight. In terms of our personality, the Sun represents our ego — which isn’t “bad” unless the ego is out of balance. In a healthy expression, the ego is simply our sense of self.
In Leo, the Sun shines unabashedly. Leo season is the heart of summer, the fixed fire sign in which we are invited to claim our space on the biggest stage and under the brightest, hottest, lights.
This is the season where layers of clothing strip away, where we spend more time outside, where there is no escape from the glare and heat of the Sun’s light.
Leo season is not a time to wait in the wings; in the heat of summer there are no cool shadowy places to hide.
The spotlight awaits.
The world is waiting to see you shine in your radiance.
What’s Keeping You in the Wings?
Of course, nothing happens in isolation.
This year as the Sun enters Leo, it does so while still in an opposition to Pluto. Meanwhile, the energy of the recent Mars/Saturn opposition still lingers.
And, just 20 minutes before the Sun crosses its threshold into Leo, Venus — almost at the end of its transit through Leo — stations retrograde. Venus will begin to move backward through Leo, retreading the territory through which it just traveled.
Each of these three events on their own invite us to look at what keeps us in hiding, what zaps our courage, what sabotages our confidence, and what holds us back from claiming our spot at center-stage.
Together, they invite a pause. Even as the Sun moves into Leo, we have some shadow work to do.
Venus’ retrograde transit through Leo will invite us to consider why we might be shunning the spotlight. What is preventing us from showing up as our bold, authentic selves? What’s the image we are projecting? Is this the role we want to play on the big stage of our lives?
The Mars/Saturn opposition reflected how we might get in our own way. What inner or outer obstacles interfere with our desire to take bold, courageous action?
And the Sun’s opposition to Pluto gives us an x-ray of our deep subconscious, the place where we may have long ago buried inherited emotions, beliefs, and thought patterns that have been driving our self-sabotaging behavior.
The Healthy Balance of Leo Season
In our age of over-sharing, it’s worth remembering that not everything needs to be seen.
In its balanced state, Leo is both courageous and humble. It knows what to reveal and what to keep private. Leo knows that a true leader is defined not by its followers, but by the willingness to take a stand for what matters, to fight for its values.
Leo may be a dramatic sign, but it avoids unnecessary drama. It is self-assured and confident, but not cocky or arrogant.
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