The Sun enters the sign of Leo today. Leo is a fire sign, and one of the most dramatic of the twelve signs. All fire signs are visionaries, idealists, and futurists, but Leo connects these traits to the development of the Ego and desires to manifest those visions through the personal development of one’s own will and personality. Leo is primarily concerned with his or her Self and the creative expression of that Self.

Leo is symbolized by the Lion, King of the Jungle, and there is always a sense of royalty or entitlement with Leo. Perhaps there was a royal bloodline in an earlier lifetime, perhaps in the genetic history. In any event, Leo needs respect and admiration from others in order to feed the internal need to develop self-confidence and self-esteem. It is not uncommon to find individuals with a strong Leo influence in the acting profession where the attention of others can be constantly focused on them.

Because Leo’s motivating force is to learn to recognize his own importance and achieve the confidence that comes from within, he or she often will instead seek this sense of importance from others. In doing so, Leo often will perform deeds of such heroism and generosity that are rarely found elsewhere. Leo strongly adheres to their own moral code and often requires others to adhere to these values as well. Leo is a fixed sign, and not flexible when it comes to morality or ideology. Like the Knights of medieval times, Leo follows a romantic and idealistic pursuit of the highest possible aspirations (Leo is, after all, ruled by the Sun).

Leo comes with an enormous amount of personal power and charisma, and when Leo is shining with positive light they have a strong effect on others. In the same way, their negative energy is also strong and can make it impossible to be near them. The shadow side of Leo occurs when the need for creative expression of the self turns into self-centeredness and egotism. When that happens, the generosity of Leo can become perverted into a manipulative device to gain attention from others.

The key for Leo is to develop one’s inner awareness and achieve a sense of confidence from within, to perform acts of greatness for their own sake rather than for accolades from others. By cultivating the light of the Leo personality to shine from within, the admiration from others so craved by Leo will follow in a natural progression of development, and the doing of great works for their own sake will ultimately bring about that respect that Leo deserves.

I found this wonderful poem by Cyndi Kirkpatrick correlating to the Sun card in the Tarot, and beautifully describing the journey of Leo:

A naked child rides bareback on a horse of white.
His head held high, his arms and legs flung out full wide,
he seems to rule his centerpoint, and gravity
upholds his claim, for though he japes with silly tilts,
they’re just a game; he never waivers from his course
nor takes a spill from running mount to rocky earth.

The Sun draws close to judge his worth, so near
it pushes Sky aside. Audacity is nothing new,

but this boy lightly takes a road that founders knights
and stymies fools. A doubtful Sun expects him downed,
like others who outreached their skill, instead the pair
make daring leaps and gallop onward, faster still.

With impish grin, the boy shows off, as though he knows
his path full well. He gathers petals from the wind
then twists his wrists – now flowers twine around his hands,
a living crown of summer wealth. Adept for one
who looks so young, he sets it on his head and laughs.
Amused, the watching Sun approves The King of Day.