Leo

What the sign is like

The Sun sits at the centre of everything it lights, so the older books saw Leo as the most whole and balanced of the signs.

Leo meets life with faith and confidence. It is generous and trusting, frank in what it says, and too big-hearted for revenge. It would rather show mercy than punish.

The same warmth can grow too large. Pride, a quick temper and a taste for praise are the old warnings. Leo is a fighter more than a grinder, and it can tire in a long uphill climb.

With other people

Leo loves completely. It spoils the people it cares for and feels hurt when the love is not returned the same way.

At home it likes to be the warm centre of things. The lesson the older books gave was to remember that everyone else wants room to shine too.

They paired Leo with the other fire signs, Aries and Sagittarius. With Taurus, Scorpio and Aquarius they said Leo should watch its pride.

How it was read before

The older books told Leo's story through the Sun god: royal, aware of both his glory and his fate, and sure he would rise again.

The Greeks gave the Sun two faces, Apollo the young and Hercules the grown man. Both belong to Leo.

They also used the old fable of the lion and the jackal, where flattery tames the lion. And they pointed out that the Sun at noon is already starting to turn toward evening. Glory is beautiful because it does not last.

Its tarot card

The card most decks pair with Leo is Strength. The 1927 book I draw on names no card for this sign, so I follow the Golden Dawn's pairing, the one printed on most decks.

I read Strength as courage, patience and quiet inner power. That is the Leo I hope for: the lion held gently, a big heart that does not need to roar.

Sit with this

Your warmth lights up a room. You do not have to earn the right to be seen.

Sit with this: whose praise are you waiting for? Can you give yourself some of it today?