Mars Retrograde in Leo: Divine Lessons and Insights

Hey everyone. This is Adam Elenbaas from Nightlight Astrology. Today we're going to take a look at the Sun in Sagittarius making a trine to Mars in Leo. This happens just prior to Mars turning retrograde in the sign of Leo, so it’s a really good time to stop and think about the Mars-Sun combination from an archetypal standpoint. We can reflect on some of the unique spiritual insights or lessons that may be available to us as Mars turns retrograde in Leo at the beginning of December and continues through the retrograde for the rest of December before dipping back into Cancer.

We have a significant portion of the retrograde focused on the sign of Leo, and because the Sun is the ruler of Leo, and is connecting with Mars in Leo right now, it makes for a really special moment to reflect on this combination. So that’s what we’re doing today.

Before we get into it, remember to like and subscribe, and share your comments and reflections if you’ve got them. Of course, you can find transcripts of any of these daily talks on my website, NightlightAstrology.com. Now, you guys know we’re currently in the midst of our annual Kickstarter campaign, where, for the last 40 days or so of the calendar year, we rally support from all our viewers to fund the production of the free content you get on this channel year-round in 2025. If you go to the Kickstarter link, which is in the description of this video, in the comments section, or on the website, NightlightAstrology.com, you’ll find the link that says 2025 Kickstarter.

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I’ve been talking about different things that I try to include in the “cooking process” of my daily content, and today I want to discuss something I call "multi-valence." "Multi-valence" is an astrological word you might have heard before. It’s the idea that an archetype is like a jewel. Depending on which angle you turn the jewel and how the light bounces off of it, you’ll see different things. You’ll encounter different facets of the archetype, different images, metaphors, lessons, insights, and patterns.

The point of my astrological work is to give people a multi-valent perspective on the aspects forming in the sky, day by day, week by week, year-round—rain, sun, or snow. I show up, and my work is to sit down and explain what’s going on, whether it’s Mars retrograde, Pluto entering Aquarius, or whatever else. My goal is to present the material for all of you in a way that offers a multidimensional and multi-valent sense of the possibilities contained within astrological configurations.

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I believe this is valuable for students who are listening because it aids in their education. And for people listening just to connect with their personal lives, it provides something to work with that allows them to see the presentation of archetypes in many different ways. Knowing that there are different possibilities out there helps us identify those manifestations more readily.

I bake multi-valence into every meal I cook here, and I hope you appreciate knowing that going forward. If you’re considering supporting us, you can find the link to the Kickstarter in the description of this video, the comments section, or on the website, NightlightAstrology.com.

Now, let’s take a look at the trine forming between Mars and the Sun. I feel this is a unique and powerful moment for us to consider.

As the week begins on Monday, November 25, the two planets are already in a trine to one another, almost perfectly. Today, as we’re watching this video on Tuesday, November 26, the trine is perfecting. This is really interesting because Mars is in the Sun’s sign, and the Sun is trine to Mars, meaning there’s a form of planetary reception. This means that when a planet is not in its home sign, it becomes dependent on its host. When Mars is in Leo, it’s not in its own sign, so it becomes dependent on its host, the Sun.

Now, it’s connecting with the Sun in a trine. Trines are of the nature of Jupiter, generally benefic—good, fluid, flowing, and helpful connections. All the more so because Mars is connecting with the Sun, its host. You can imagine that if you’re staying at a bed and breakfast while traveling, and the host is helpful and cheerful, assisting with travel plans, you’ll find the connection very beneficial. On the other hand, if the host is absent, unhelpful, or antagonistic, the experience would be different.

This is how ancient astrologers thought about planet-to-planet connections through aspects. Do the planets have reception, or are they strangers bumping into one another? In this case, Mars is in the Temple of the Sun and connecting in a trine, making the connection very powerful.

Before I go into some of the deeper lessons related to Mars retrograde in Leo, I just want to mention that this trine, in and of itself, has some very powerful and useful signatures. Let’s describe a few of them.

One major theme when the Sun and Mars work together harmoniously in fire signs is the attitude of “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” These planets are charismatic, fiery, and empower each other. Mars is like the right arm of the Sun. While the Sun represents a ruling principle, Mars provides the strength, decisiveness, and conviction needed to act on that ideal. This is a Mars-Sun dynamic. So when they’re trine to each other, there’s both an ideal, an ambition, and the will to make it happen.

These two planets have the power to inspire charisma, action, bold decision-making, confidence, and willpower. That’s what you can expect in your own life in terms of ambition, conviction, and determination. However, the combination can also be steamrolling, with confidence and swagger veering into arrogance, domination, or bullying.

On the spectrum of this transit, we need a balance of confidence, optimism, and boldness to get things done, but it’s important to be mindful of potential overreach. The Sun in Sagittarius and Mars in Leo make a great pair for confidently speaking and doing things, getting things done, or expressing truth with passion.

Another subtle dynamic is that Mars is in a superior trine to the Sun from the Sun’s sign. This means Mars is exerting some pressure on the Sun. Ancient astrologers classified aspects as either superior or inferior, and in this case, Mars is demanding something from the Sun. This can be likened to a scenario where the head of the military (Mars) asks the Empress (the Sun) for something crucial in order to get their job done.

Mars, in this case, may place a bit of pressure on the Sun to get something it needs in order to act. It could represent a situation where one party needs something from the other to make progress—like needing financial support to complete a task.

The Moon in Libra is also playing a role in this, bringing a sense of balance, negotiation, and diplomacy to the connection. Venus, the ruler of Libra, brings in themes of harmony and fairness, which may help resolve any pressure or demand between Mars and the Sun.

As we move through this week, keep an eye on Mars, as it will soon turn retrograde. This trine serves as a crucial moment before the retrograde, and once the trine has separated, Mars will station retrograde, about 10 or 11 days after the trine perfects.

So, we’ll continue to reflect on these dynamics as Mars moves into its retrograde period.

 

Now, don't believe me, let's watch this again. Let's take this — I'm sure you do, but okay, so let's roll this forward and watch what happens now. Mars is retrograde back into Cancer by this point, but watch what happens once the Sun comes into the range of the whole sign trine to Mars. It's always in the range of a trine, degree-based whole sign usually, but it's either really close to a degree-based trine, or it's real close to the whole sign trining.

So notice Mars is stationing around February 23 as the Sun is now approaching the trine. If we roll this forward another few days, we'll see that Mars stations and Mars is direct. Then, as Mars is barely picking up motion at that 17th degree, there's the trine. See the Sun trining Mars at the 17th degree — the degree that it's stationed at. You can set your clock to it, right? You can track this out.

If we do this in the opposite direction, watch. You'll see it again. Let's take Mars and the Sun forward together. We're going to see that they go through their synodic cycle and reach their conjunction point. The Sun, because it moves faster, will conjoin Mars at the 19th degree of Capricorn in about January 2026.

Now, if we keep taking it forward, the retrograde will happen once Mars — once the Sun hits the trine to Mars. So that's going to take a while to get to, right? So here we go. We're speeding this up a little bit now. Here we go. See now, here is December 25, 2026. Look at that — they're about to trine one another. Take this forward a week. They've just trined. Take it forward another week. Mars is now stationing. See that? And retrograde.

So that's a little trick you can use between the Sun's trines to Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn. The cycles all work in the same way. Anyway, bringing this back to our conversation for today, the reason that I'm pointing this out is that that Mars-Sun trine right now is positioning us for the retrograde, and this passage of the two planets is important.

Let me go back and share with you an idea that I've worked with and have found to be an effective one in the past. So here are the two planets just separating from the trine. Isn't it interesting that the retrogradation happens after the trine and the turn direct happens after the trine? Why might that be?

One idea is that when it comes to the superior planets, they are all working in some ways — as all planets are — in synodic cycles with the Sun. The Sun was really seen as one of the central principles and symbols of the entire system of astrology. That’s because the Sun was associated with that which is illuminating or enlightened. It was associated with that which is divine and of a higher nature of truth, like the archetypes themselves being like thoughts in the mind of the universe or of God.

And so the Sun, in many ways, is always telling us what the ideal image is that is shaping the rest of the story. All planets exist in relation to an ideal image. They all circle around the Sun. So when a planet like the Sun contacts Mars in a trine, and then Mars changes directions, the way that I like to look at that personally — and it could be just a creative metaphor that I've come up with, maybe there's something to it — but the way I like to look at it is that the trine means that the Sun is imparting a new kind of image, a new kind of ambition, a new kind of ideal.

Let's just call it an image. And as soon as it imparts that image, we see the planet with — in this case, Mars — slow down, station in retrograde, as if it needs time to now reorient, revise, redo, reconsider, make some kind of important shift so that the new image can be enacted according to the archetype of the planet.

So in other words, it's as though Mars is being given a new image, a new image for itself, a new image for what Mars means: strength, will, maybe broadly speaking, the metaphysical masculine power, confidence, assertiveness, work and perseverance, courage, a sense of individuality and independence, autonomy, and strength.

What this looks like for us psychologically, or how these principles play out with respect to the topics of the house they are located in in our birth chart, is something to observe. When they turn retrograde, however you want to put it, it's as though the trine provides Mars with a new image. And now the retrograde commences.

Now, when the second trine happens, it is as though that new image is coming back around. And once again, the direct motion will take place. It's as though the planets, through their synodic cycles with the Sun, are getting this constant sense of refreshment. New ideals, new ideas, new archetypal patternings are being imprinted upon them through their synodic cycles.

In the case of Mars turning direct, it receives another imprint from the Sun, and then voila, changes direction and starts moving forward again. That's really fascinating, because one thing that you could do is study the kind of dichotomy — like in this chart, for example — you could study the dichotomy between the way that the eighth house Sun in transit is inflecting itself on Mars's retrograde in the fourth, whereas eventually it’ll be the eleventh house Sun in Pisces inflecting itself upon the retrograde Mars in Cancer that shifts it to its direct movement.

That would mean that the changes being inflected upon Mars are coming from the eighth and eleventh houses. Now, I know that's complex, but I will tell you that tracking this for me has been very fruitful. So, you know, kind of high level and somewhat abstract, but the patterning is incredible if you take time to study it in your own chart.

Take time to study where the trine happens before the retrograde. Connect it to the meaning of the retrograde. Look at the trine and where it's happening when the retrograde is finishing and turning direct again, and you will see really beautiful connections that create a deeper story arc with a little bit more nuance and depth than just focusing on the house of Mars alone.

It is as though the Sun is inflecting itself on the story of Mars. In other words, I wanted to give you guys that for something you could do, something you could play with if you want to. If that's kind of too high level and feels like, "Yeah, dude, that's just out there," then let's turn our attention to five divine lessons that I believe come from right now. The Mars-Sun connection, but also the general archetypal combination of Mars turning retrograde in the sign of the Sun, which we will be experiencing between now and the end of the year.

Eventually, in the spring, when Mars goes direct through Leo again, we may revisit some of these, especially since Mars will also hit Pluto in a retrograde coming up here in Leo, and then in direct motion in the spring. By the way, let me show you guys this. This is my Grateful Dead mug. It's one of my most prized possessions. I got it on Shakedown Street in Las Vegas, and we went to the Sphere to see Dead & Company, which was absolutely incredible. My wife and I got these from a vendor who makes them by hand. And, yeah, I became a deadhead. Oh, my God.

Okay, anyway, sorry. So, five lessons — five divine lessons, not just any lessons. They're spiritual, and they really have to do with some of the astronomy of Leo. You know what? Screw it. I'm going to show you guys something. I'm going to use my astronomy program, because I think it will really drive the point home in a beautiful way.

So let me just get this going. It's going to take a minute. It's like starting a lawn mower. The people who build these programs are like, "We'll just, we'll someone should have to have a computer just for this program." Okay, let me see.

Okay, so. Let me get it going here. Okay, good, I've got it. Welcome to Starry Night Pro. Now what I'm going to do is, first of all, I'm going to hide the daylight so that it looks like it's nighttime, even though the Sun's out. And then what I'm going to do is I'm going to put in the labels of the planets and moons, and then we're going to put in the ecliptic, which is the Zodiac, and then we're going to put in some constellations. How about the Zodiac constellations?

And remember, we're using a tropical zodiac, so they don't align with the measurements of the Zodiac that we use for the signs. That is a conversation that we have at length in my classes. Uh huh. Meridian line. Let's get it all going. Oh, you know what we need? We need some boundary labels. Here, constellations. How about some labels? There we go.

Okay. Now, what I want to do is take you back to Leo. Season starts. We'll just say it starts around July 20. It's rough, July 21, something like that. Okay, we are going super slow here. See, can I go back by month? Let's go back by month, and there we go. Now we're talking, okay, all right, so we're going to take it up to about... we're going to show you some of the astronomy of Leo.

All right, so this is right about here. Now, what I'm going to do is I'm going to go ahead and draw in the whole ecliptic. There's Leo.

We're living for a spiritual evolutionary process, or we're living to contribute something to the world where we're living, to overcome the faults of our ancestors and pass on something better to our kids, and they're here to shine on beyond our limits, right? So, the point is this concern with legacy, immortality, and that which lives on despite the dying of the light is of central concern to Leo. This is why we also constantly see the challenges or shadows of Leo giving rise to a temporary but false sense of eternality.

If I have a lot of money, power, fame, or if I’m high up in a hierarchy somewhere, I might develop a false sense of having risen to something more important. But what am I measuring it against? “I’m more important than you” – ego, right? That’s what we’re talking about as the shadow of Leo. "I’m more important. I’m more special. My legacy is better than yours." This can sometimes manifest as the sense of superiority that so many people find distasteful about the new age movement. It’s like, we're just pumping ourselves up to make ourselves feel more special and important than others. Every workshop is about finding your power, your voice, your calling, your specialness—standing up for yourself.

While there is a real, deeper need to find transcendence, purpose, and meaning in life, there’s also real gold and fool’s gold. And we need to discern between the two, a process that is very much at the heart of Leo’s archetype.

We could say a lot more about this, but there are some important lessons that come up when Mars, the god of will, power, strength, confidence, facing fears, courage, but also violence, warfare, division, and separation, is in the sign of the Sun. We have some very important things to consider.

There is a hexagram in the I Ching that I really love, though I can’t remember the number right now (typical). One of the texts says, "Be like the sun at midday. Do not lament the descent." The hexagram essentially talks about what many people often think: what a great placement it is to have the Sun in the 10th house. Oh, my God, what a fantastic placement. But what we forget is that the Sun in the 10th house only has one place to go in terms of the diurnal motion—and that is down.

We often don't think about how difficult it can be for people with a 10th house Sun to bear the responsibility of being at the top of something. That responsibility can weigh you down. There are other ways to think about the 10th house, but the point I'm making here—and the I Ching hexagram is the key—is that we need to be careful of what we aspire to and how attached we become to images of loftiness, fame, reputation, calling, success, and self-worth. There’s a natural way in which anything that rises to a highest point will eventually come back down.

I remember watching a documentary about mountain climbers, and there was a climber who had just made it to the top of Everest. She was exhilarated, thinking, “Holy cow, I made it.” But then they told her, "You have 30 minutes here at the top." The conditions, the altitude, the lack of oxygen meant she couldn’t stay long. And she said, "What I didn’t think about was how difficult the descent would be. I thought the hard part was getting up, but the real challenge was coming back down."

If we only aim high but don’t know how to come back and descend, we’re in trouble. If we only know the taste of victory, confidence, boldness, and self-assurance, but we don’t know what it’s like to doubt ourselves in a healthy way, to be humble, or to relinquish power or control, we’re missing a key aspect of growth. We need to learn to let others make their own choices, to collaborate, and to allow ourselves to transition into new phases of life.

Mars in Leo will force us to examine these relinquishments of power and the descent that is involved in living a good life. A good life might mean reaching the top of a mountain, but it’s just as much about how gracefully we descend. Can we hand power over to others? Can we empower others as we succeed? Can we retire gracefully? Can we move into the final third of life, where we rest and begin to reflect on the divine, or will we just try to work until the very end? These are things Mars retrograde in Leo can help us see the value in.

It’s not wrong to aim for the top of a mountain, but do we know how to come back down? "Be like the sun at midday. Do not lament the descent."

Another lesson is that "heavy is the head that wears the crown." I mentioned earlier how people don’t always associate the Sun in the 10th house with the burdens of responsibility that often come with it. When you achieve something great, you don’t always consider how difficult it will be to maintain what you’ve built.

I remember when I made it through my first year of writing daily horoscopes. I was so proud, celebrating with Ashley. But she said, "Yeah, but you’ve just told everyone you’re going to do it again." And I thought, "Right. The challenge isn’t just achieving something; it’s maintaining it."

When we aspire to great things, we don’t always anticipate the responsibility that comes with them. Whether you’ve learned to play an instrument and are now responsible for teaching others or have created something and must maintain it, there’s a weight that comes with success. Mars retrograde in Leo asks us to think about how we bear the responsibility for things bigger than ourselves, and also how we bear responsibility for ourselves.

In many stories and movies, it’s never the person who wants to be king or queen who ends up being chosen; it’s usually the one who doesn’t want it, who sees it as a burden. There’s something to be said for knowing your limitations, for wondering if you can handle what you’ve been given. These are the credentials that qualify us for great things. The leaders I admire most are the ones who constantly wrestle with self-doubt, who aren’t so sure they’re capable of what they’re meant to do.

Mars in Leo can knock our confidence down and, paradoxically, make us better at what we do. It helps us realize the importance of being careful what we wish for. We should be cautious about the kind of power, validation, or transcendental meaning we seek in life.

Many great philosophers and mystics throughout history have echoed a universal message: We should ask, "What can I do? How can I serve?" rather than insisting, "I know exactly what I should be doing." Some of us might have a clear sense of our purpose, but even I, as a writer, spend time each year reflecting on what I’m supposed to do next. I don’t think about making huge changes, but I do think about how I can gradually develop and improve.

Anyone who has something they love—whether it's parenting or a relationship—needs to take time to reflect: How do I meet the sacred responsibility that’s been given to me, even if it’s small? What do I do with it now? What direction should I go in?

Mars retrograde in Leo is a great time to reflect, to humble ourselves and pray, "Please guide me. Not my will, but thine." Mars is like the sword, and our sword is in service to something greater, whether it’s our higher self, divinity, the universe, or a relationship or part of life where we have a sacred responsibility. We lay down our will and ask for guidance. It’s a prayer of service, and Mars retrograde in Leo is a perfect time to reflect on that.

Lastly, real strength means real generosity. The Sun shines on everyone, good and bad alike. It’s generous, unconditional, life-giving. We aren’t meant to be the Sun, though. If we try to be, we might fall into a martyr complex. We are limited in what we can give, and that’s an important lesson during Mars retrograde in Leo.

But one sign, I think, of a good solar archetype, whether we're talking about the sun itself, or the placement of a planet in the sun sign, or whatever, even planets in areas where the sun is exalted, you're thinking about the way in which when power starts filling you, when life and vitality and charisma fill you, and confidence fills you, that you don't just think of it as something that belongs to me.

See the mistake we make, and I do this too. You do something, and maybe a good result occurs. And you go, yeah, look at me, you know, like, yeah. Look at how great I am. Instead of going, Wow, look at how great that was. Look at how great it was that that happened. Thank you, and thank you for letting me be part of it.

Generosity of spirit means that when we come into contact with something great, we recognize it as something flowing through us. The soul is like a medium. So when we experience light pouring through us, confidence pouring through us, success pouring through us, we think to ourselves, how do I make sure that other people get some of this? Though, maybe I can't give it all away, because some of this is filling me with vitality and health, and I need that, right? I need that to just like plants need light. But I can give some of this. I can redistribute.

Plants are smart. When plants grow, a lot of the time, what they grow in, the way they grow, benefits the entire ecosystem around it, in all these intricate little ways—not often super pronounced ways that are just obvious, like, look at that dandelion. He's gifting everyone with millions of dollars. It's like those little things that plants do—the fruit they provide, the shelter they provide for little bugs that do this and then end up doing that for the cross-pollination later in the year. But on any level, whether it's very small and we're all just little, itty bitty beings doing what we can, when we come into contact with life energy, we think to ourselves, how can I use this? What can I make with this that shares, that is generous, that spreads light and life, just like the sun spreads light and life.

This is the only way that I have consistently found of bringing this principle to play. The main way that I found of bringing this to play in my practice as an astrologer is: let's make sure astrology is accessible so the light of this divine knowledge can be shared by people, no matter what their financial circumstances are, because that's a basic prohibitive factor for many people. Let's bring other astrologers onto the channel and help them build their success. Let's make students successful, right? Let's use astrology in a way that makes lots of people successful. Let's be a place of generosity.

You know what? That's why I'm never surprised when the Kickstarter does well, because the spirit of generosity is circular. It just works like that. And then what do we do? We pour it back into all of the things that we do. We build a staff. We give people careers in astrology. We build the success of astrologers. We make astrology accessible for people. And whatever I see as coming into possession of, it goes back. That is a huge part of my life philosophy. And not surprisingly, I was born with my ascendant ruler in Leo, right? That generosity is such a core lesson for Leo.

Let me tell you, this is something that did not come easily to me either, because there was a significant portion of my life where I would consider myself to have been significantly more selfish. It was my work, for example, with ayahuasca for many years, that really helped me turn a corner and open myself up to just how profound generosity is. Now I could always be a little bit more generous. I'm not a sage. I've not realized anything, but I really do, at my deepest level, this is something that it's a simple thing that I can do, right?

But it's the same lesson that we always learn when planets go through Leo, Mars Retrograde in Leo, whatever we'll be dealing with when Saturn goes into Leo. Watch it then, right? That'll be incredible. But you get the idea: Leo is a sign that says I need to cultivate and build that sense of solar light just emanating from within me, for my own health, for my own vitality and sanity, and for giving a sense of larger purpose to my life. I have to build that solar quality, and if I actually come to be in possession of any of it, then I have to learn a way of being generous with it and redistributing it. Otherwise, I will get high on it. I will develop an ego, and it will be my downfall, right? That is like the karmic bind of Leo.

And like, you know, I kid you not, you can predictably tell how Leo transits are going to go if you're not careful to work the edge between what you're doing well with and how you're using what you're doing well with to be of support or generosity for others. This is why the polar opposite sign of Leo is Aquarius, right? That has so much more of an awareness of collectivity. So when Leo is doing well, its awareness of collectivity is raised.

Real strength means real generosity. Mars in Leo can be all about it. It is one of the most seductive placements for people who are charismatic but egotistical—charismatic in possession of great qualities, admirable, charming, strong, confident, decisive, authoritative, you know, just shining and strong. And yet, if you're egocentric, that pride will be your downfall in the end. That's a Mars Retrograde in Leo kind of lesson.

So how do we be strong, but generous—strong, but knowing that any strength we have does not come from us? We are just humble channels of whatever star power we come in contact with. That's the truth.

Real courage comes through real humility. Here's the other thing: it's very paradoxical, but whenever we have real courage to face something, it is usually because we have known the opposite of it—tremendous fear. We've gone through tremendous moments of humbling, of being humbled, of being afraid, of lacking confidence, and real courage somehow rises up despite those things, right?

So I think about this example, and I mentioned it in our roots and spheres Moon circle recently, for someone who was going through something really intense, and they articulated a fear in front of the group that they had. And I was so blown away because I could tell just how vulnerable and difficult it was for them to vocalize for the first time for themselves. It was very clear this was their first time ever vocalizing this. And for the group, of course, in front of a group, they were vocalizing a fear: "I am afraid of this." That's courage, right? That's courage. Why?

But you know that it seems like just admitting that you're afraid of something—yeah, but to even be able to say, "I am not strong, I'm a little weak, I am not so confident, I'm a little afraid, and this is what I'm afraid of"—that's where courage begins.

I remember when I was in the Amazon drinking ayahuasca, and there was a shaman there who said something like this, and I'm just going to paraphrase because I can't remember the exact words, but it was something along the lines of someone in the group had an experience (it was not me, it was someone else). They had an experience where they articulated how afraid of something they were, and it was quite clearly a breakthrough for them in the context of the ceremony, right? This is what I'm afraid of.

Okay, wow. So the shaman said, as soon as you have the courage to admit what you are afraid of, you will overcome that fear. Spirit will help you, one way or another, you will overcome it, because it takes nothing more than the humility to admit that you're afraid. That is the first act and step of courage, and it is the only step required. Spirit will help you do the rest.

I thought, wow, this is such an encouraging thing to say. First of all, I was a big fan of it. I was like, "Yes, like Amen." But, I mean, this is the thing with Mars in Leo. Sometimes we think, "I can't do something until I have the strength to do it." People say this all the time with astrology. "I can't practice astrology for other people until I'm good enough to do it." No, most of the time, that's not the case. It's not like you need to know something—you need to study a little bit and everything like that. But actually, the prerequisite is knowing that you're going in over your head, knowing that you're not ready, knowing that you're afraid, knowing that you don't exactly know what you're going to do. You know, you like that.

And that's the prerequisite that I have noticed spirit acknowledging and supporting time and time again with students of astrology. It's like, "I don't feel like I can do this." "Go, you're perfectly ready." Then it's the ones I worry about. Are the ones who are like, "I am so ready to launch a practice." I just, you know, like, "No, no, you're—this is divine star power knowledge. You should not feel so confident wielding it, you know?"

And I'm just teasing, of course, but you know, real courage comes through real humility. It begins there. There's an opportunity for us when Mars is retrograde in Leo, to think about just that admission. I lay down the false confidence.

You know, I look and get courageous about the things I can't do, that I struggle with, that I can't see, that I don't understand. Just the honesty about those things, the humility required—then the real courage comes in, and Spirit does the rest. We're so scared to say, "I need help." But if we lay down our will as the greatest way to get somewhere, it's amazing how our will will paradoxically become so empowered.

Number five: the real Self is undefended. A lot of us experience the sign of Leo as something that helps us develop self-confidence, self-esteem. A lot of that has to do with the fact that we, human beings—just like certain dogs need a purpose, like, "Give them a job"—are like that too. We need a purpose. How many people come into my astrology client practice and say, "What am I here to do?" Leo helps us with that. Leo is a great sign for helping us develop a sense of purpose and meaning, because that is, in many ways, the job of the sun.

But here's the thing: one of the most beautiful things that happens when we take up a real purpose, we get really passionate about it. We feel like it's our calling. We take it as far as we can go. Eventually, we have to lay it down. So, that was a purpose—maybe that was the purpose of this lifetime. But eventually, purposes fade.

I think about my grandma. She was living with dementia in the last couple of years of her life, and her sense of self, which had been so invested in what she had done with her lifetime, was gone. She felt no need to identify herself with purpose any longer. There's a real way in which Leo will give us purpose, and it will also keep on calling to us: "My dear child, you are valuable and loved and beautiful." Long before you ever had a purpose, and long after you have fulfilled a purpose.

I think about that with my kids. You know, look at my kids, and I'm like, "You're going to start getting to a point where you're going to feel like you have to find a purpose, and you will, and it'll be amazing." Just know that the parent—which I think of as the gods, the goddesses, the universe, our higher self—has always seen you as desirable and beautiful, long before you ever had a purpose. Purposes rise and set like the sun.

The real Self does not need to defend its right to be here because of its purpose. In some ways, the most relieving thing we could ever say about existence itself—and I know for some people, it’s just almost offensive to hear this—is that there is no purpose. There are many purposes, but they are like features of a reality that itself is beyond purpose. It’s deeper than purpose. It’s realer than purpose. Okay? We’ll leave it there.

I had no idea this would be such a long video today, but we’ll let the inspiration take hold. So after I sign off, I hope that you will enjoy hearing about some of the rewards that are available when you donate and support this channel. I so appreciate everybody pitching in and supporting it. This is how I support myself, my family, my staff, all of the flexible pricing we offer, the mission, and the spirit of generosity I spoke about today. It runs through Nightlight, also because of the generosity of all of you supporting me and supporting us as a team and everything we do.

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