So...What Is a Leo?

Dates: July 21-August 22 

Quality: Fixed

Element: Fire

Symbol: The Lion

Body Area: Heart

Key Phrase: "I Create"

Natural House: 5th

Ruling Planet: Sun

Just as the Sun is the center of the Universe, so are the Leo personalities. Most often your actors, the do everything dramatically. Although sometimes they can seem self-centered, Leo's are also often generous and warm-hearted. 

Leo represents the ego. This is a sign that likes to have their ego stroked (more so than other signs), and depending on how okay they are with their own view of themselves, negative criticism can completely devastate. They prefer to be center stage, and can have a hard time sharing that glory with others. However, many of the limelight aspirations are well-deserved, as they are quite creative, whether that medium be acting or other artistic endeavors. 

With the fixed quality, and the element of fire, they make great leaders, that can see projects through to the end. Sometimes, Leo can take this too far, and tries to be a leader, when team players are needed more. This steady fire is also seen as a passion and determination to those observing a Leo.

The symbol of the Lion also brings an almost "royalty" atmosphere to native Leo's. Leo's are surrounded with family and friends that are really helpful with anything the Leo needs, and Leo is more than happy to let them do the work. 

Whichever house is ruled by Leo, is the one where you might feel the most creative, and have the strongest ability to create. It is where you need to have your ego stroked more than other realms of your life, and what area of your life really makes you passionate. Being associated with the 5th House naturally, this sign in your chart can also give insight in to how you prefer to spend your leisure time, any relationship you might have with children, or non-serious relationships.

To see how you might be able to utilize these energies for the upcoming Dark Moon in Leo, go see my friend Tenko's blog post about it, and the lunar mansion HERE.

The Fifth House In Your Natal Chart- How you Create and Express Yourself

With the Sun in Leo now, I wanted to talk a little bit about how to find in your chart how you express yourself creatively. In the perfect chart, Leo would rule the 5th House, and the Sun would reside there. However, it is probably close to impossible for anyone to have this setup in their own natal charts. For the sake of this post, I am posting up my natal chart.

The 5th House in my chart is ruled by Aries. Aries likes to start things. As a Cardinal Fire sign, and symbolized by the Ram, the influence of this sign in the 5th house might suggest someone who starts a lot of projects, has the desire to create, but may not always finish those projects.

This caused me to think about my past attempts at expressing myself creatively. When I was a child, I used to write stories. Story after story after story left my imaginative space through the tip of my pencil, and I really kept this up until about 4th or 5th grade. At this time, that's when it really stopped. Whether it was school commitments and sports getting in the way, either way, I no longer was able to express myself through this medium. Now keep in mind, that sports filling my leisure time also fell in to this realm of Aries, that competitive Mars spirit influencing this house. However, now, whenever I try to write, I come up with story lines, but I am no longer able to finish any story. No matter how hard I try, I always end up falling off the wagon, placing the story on the back burner. 

Meditating on this aspect of my chart, I realize that I can attack creative projects with such an energy that I get burnt out. I also get competitive and the fact that I realize that my projects are not perfect, causes me to quit. Developing patience and an appreciation for the journey of creating, not the destination, I think might help me to express myself more easily. I am going to work on allowing writing to fill up more of my time, and to be more compassionate, instead of critical, on my writing skills. 

What sign rules your 5th house? How do you find it affecting your ability to create? What can you do to change that? Utilize this Sun in Leo energy to make the progress you desire in this area of your life.