Happy Birthday, Leo! July 23 – August 22

Happy birthday, Leos! I hope that the coming year brings you a tremendous amount of joy and love.

There’s no denying that Leos are absolutely some of the most elegant people around- no kidding, I have known Leos who were high-end fashion models on down to one that works in a sewage treatment plant: and not a single one of them carries themselves without this commanding presence. Even the ones who are more often jokers than not: there’s just something about a Leo.

As a general rule, Leos tend to be very hard-working, very loyal- and, at times, a bit stuck in their ways. They’re fixed signs, so, that tends to happen. They don’t give up easily, either- if you think that Leo is a conceited jerk who will simply walk away at the first sign of trouble: think again on all counts. Nothing could be further from the truth. Oh, they can be pretty confident, but underneath it all is someone who has a desire to be the best. As such, you will often find them to be some of the more self-conscious and introspective people you could ever hope to meet: even if you never seem to see that side of them.

Leo is symbolized by a glyph that’s meant to look like a lion’s mane and is based on the Nemean lion. This comes from the tales of Hercules- and his 12 labors: as a matter of fact, it was the first of them. You see, the Nemean Lion had a thing about snatching people up- it would take the women from a nearby town back to its cave, and this would then act as a draw to would-be heroes. Well, the second the hero would approach- the woman would no longer be a woman, but another lion who would then kill the rescuer-hopeful and then, throw his bones down to Hades, God of the Underworld. So, King Eurystheus told Hercules, “You gotta kill this lion.”

So, Hercules wanders around until he meets up with a kid in a town called Cleonae. The boy says, “Well, if you kill the lion within 30 days, we’ll sacrifice another lion to Zeus but if you don’t- I have to be the sacrifice to Zeus.”

No pressure there, right?

So, as he goes to find this lion, Hercules gathers up arrows- only he doesn’t know that the hide of the Nemean lion is impermeable. He gets there, shoots it at the lion, and it bounces right back off. He runs the lion into the cave, and then, blocks one of the ways in and goes into the other one. Then, he shoots the lion in the mouth- where it doesn’t have fur, thus vanquishing the beast. But, once he tried to skin it, he finds he couldn’t. Athena looks at him and says, “Um, you have to use one of its own claws..” and so, he does. Well, he gets back, and the King freaks out, says he can’t come into the kingdom anymore- but, you know, keep doing work for us, and leave it at the gates.

It’s interesting to note that many Leos are like this. Seemingly impervious to anything you shoot at those thick skins of theirs: but, really, they’re not. And yes, the mouth of a Leo has been the downfall of more than one of them- and I am not just saying that because my teenager happens to be a Leo: they tend to speak straight from the heart and sometimes, that doesn’t always work out so well.

When the Sun is in Leo

When the Sun is in Leo- you might find yourself feeling a bit more playful, a bit more like being true to yourself, and really, you may not be content with the status quo. There’s always a little bit of a dramatic air to things during the Sun’s stay in Leo- and often, this is because we feel so much more compelled to express ourselves candidly and with courage. Though you may start to notice that yourself- and others seem a little more self-absorbed during this time. There’s also a tremendous capacity towards generosity and giving during this time.