Three Misconceptions of the Zodiac Sign: Leo

Transcript:

0:01
Hey everyone, this is Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology and today we are going to talk about three major misconceptions that people have about the sign of Leo. So this should be a good talk, I'm continuing in the series on all 12 signs of the zodiac talking about misconceptions or major stereotypes about all the 12 signs. If you haven't checked this series out, we've gone Aries all the way up to Leo today. So be sure to go back and check it out. If you haven't heard something about maybe your sun, your moon or your rising sign or a sign that you maybe someone in your life that you'd like to learn more about their sun sign or something like that. Before I dive in, I want to remind all of you that my new class ancient astrology for the modern mystic is starting soon. There's two ways that you can learn more about this. You can email us info at nightlight astrology.com if you want to ask us any personal questions about the course. Otherwise, you can go to our website which is nightlight astrology.com. And you can click on the courses page go to the first year course, everything you need to know about the course is here. And if you sign up now, with the early bird discount, you can get $500 off there's a payment plan. There's also need based tuition. If you're someone who, you know might be struggling a little bit financially, but you'd really like to study astrology, check that out, see if it's for you. In the meantime, I wanted to show you guys what the actual class website looks like. No, this is from the administrative end, but it'll show to sort of show you when you're registered for the class, you can watch all of the you can attend all of the webinars live. They are on Saturdays at noon Eastern Time starting November 13. But the and they each lasts about two to three hours. But I know a lot of people come from all over the world and can't necessarily take the class live. So what you'll have is we use a website called Thinkific. And we have all of our programming material here. So for example, on the left side of the screen, you'll see course information and under here you'll see overview course goals and syllabus recommended reading recommended software requirements for certification. The course calendar is important class lengths, billing and payment information if you're on a tuition plan, all sorts of stuff like that. And then if you go down like if we look at lesson one and brief history of Western astrology, you'll see the video for class video download link if you want to actually download the video as opposed to watching it in a browser. We've got the audio if you want to download that and listen to it while you're jogging or something. Got the slides, which would be like your PowerPoint or PDF. Flashcards for study homework and self self study quiz. Two different reading optional reading assignments if you want them, bonus videos, several bonus videos in these different bonus sections. And and we also have, like some of the mantras that I chant at the beginning of every class and stuff. So if you go through every lesson has this kind of material, you'll see all sorts of videos, slides, homework, bonus materials, quizzes, etc. So it's a really, you know, it's a really awesome programme in that regard. And then we also have a class forum that you're part of with a staff of tutors that are that I've trained myself that are there answering questions, and then you can always email me if there's a question you prefer that I answer. And I'm available year round. So we also have breakout study sessions in between our major units and guest speakers that come in and it's a fantastic programme. So check it out. Hope to see some of you in class soon. Again, you can visit at nightlight astrology.com or email us info at nightlight astrology.com.

3:45
Let's get into talking about the sign of Leo. And three major misconceptions that people have here they are in no particular order. Number one, Leo's are all about needing the spotlight. Okay, how many times have you heard that before? How many times have you maybe even made a comment like that before, if you have a Leo in your life or something like that, no offence to our Leo's out there. Leo's thrive on drama, there's another one and they need praise all the time. So we're all a little bit similar. All the stereotypes tend to come, you know, they're all sort of similar to one another with all of the signs. But here they are again, Leo's all about needing the spotlight thrives on drama, and they need praise 24 seven.

4:25
So are these fair? Are these are these fair assessments of the sign of Leo, sort of, but mostly not. And so we need to understand where the sign of Leo is coming from, what is the underlying, you know, meaning of this sign and how can it help us to understand validate something of these, you know, maybe stereotypes, but also go a bit deeper. So in order to do that, what I'm going to do as as I have been doing in this series, I'm going to pull up my astronomy programme, we're going to take a look Look at the solar year from the perspective of Leo. So here you can see the sun in the sky. Now this programme is called starry night. I really love this programme. What I'm going to do is I'm going to artificially hide the daylight. Now what I'm going to do is, in case anyone at home wants to use this programme, it's I think it's probably about 100 bucks but it is a great programme for people who are real serious about astrology and want to get to know you know, their astronomy as well. So I'm going to put the constellations in with some labels even though the tropical zodiac does not use the constellations as our guides we use equinoxes and solstices, but still handy just to look at them. So and then last but not least, I'm going to put in the meridian line, which runs from do south to do north. Alright, so next, what I'm going to do is I'm going to take us back in time, we're going to go back day at a time until we get to Leo season. Now Leo season, for those of you who don't know, begins in late July and stretches through late August. So roughly around July 21 or so, now what I'm going to do is, here we are. Now what I'm going to do is just step things forward by a couple hours, so we get the sun at about midday. So there it is. Now remember, this is this is artificially making the daytime into nighttime just so that we can see the constellations and see the sun a little bit better. Here's what's happening at this time of year, let's draw a little bit so that we can see. I'm actually going to insert one more thing here, which is the celestial equator. What's happening at this time of year is the sun has already reached the summer solstice at zero Cancer. So let's just say it's up here. And it is now steadily coming downward again. And through in Leo, the sun is steadily moving downward toward the dark half of the year. Now the dark half of the year is going to take place when the sun crosses the celestial equator, which will be zero Libra. When it crosses that marker, that means that from Libra all the way through Pisces, the sun will be moving below this celestial equator line, which means there's more darkness in a 24 hour day than there is light. Okay, so in Leo, the sun is now descending toward the darkness, but it's the middle of summer. So there's a funny kind of, there's a funny duality built into all of the signs because you usually have a seasonal movement. And then within one of the four seasons that's taking place, for example, in springtime, the planets are all moving up toward the summer solstice, in the summertime, they're all moving down from the summer solstice toward the equinox line or toward the celestial equator, in the autumn planets are moving downward toward the southern horizon on the bottom half of the year below the celestial equator. And then in the winter, they're moving back up toward the celestial equator, but still below it. So there's always this kind of interesting duality. That's at work. So what defines summer in a sense is the slow loss of light, while we are also on the light half of the year.

8:26
Leo is a solid sign that comes right in the middle of the summer season and solid are fixed signs have a way of sustaining things, they, they have a way of preserving, maintaining sustaining, they tend to be signs that that fix things. So here you have a sign that's fixing the light as the light is dying, fixing the light as the light is dying. So think about that a little bit. When you think about Leo, it's a really important understanding of the play between light and dark that can teach us a whole lot about the sign of Leo. So let's start off with a pretty, I think, a pretty basic analogy that most people will recognise right away with the sign of Leo. And that is that you know, Leo has a lot to do with kings, there's the sun, it's this the sign of the sun. There's usually a pretty strong association that people make in ancient in ancient astrology between the Sun and the sign of Leo and kings. In fact, there's the fire signs themselves were all sometimes called royal signs. So you have this association with the sun and with, with with kings. Now, we're not going to talk about kings from the standpoint of what they actually have been historically, we're going to talk about kings from the archetypal standpoint and what they ideally represent.

9:56
Okay, so ideally a king or a queen, it doesn't matter really masculine or feminine would just say, the leader, the the sort of monarch, the idea of like a monarch represents in the ancient world, someone who is both the embodiment of Divine Law, as well as potentially the embodiment of God in a human form. And both law and sort of the both the sovereignty, the power, the will the authority, and the law, and the law giver, all embodied in one, if you think, for example of something like the Divine rights of kings, or the idea that the Emperor is God, or something like that, you're getting close to the kind of thinking that's really sort of at the heart of the sign of Leo. Why would such a thing be desirable? I mean, we know that of course, Kings become tyrants and those with power become corrupt, and on and on. But ideally, where's the need for something like this? Well, it comes from the idea that society without law without order, without some kind of gravitational centre around which everything can find its meaning and its place and its organisation, its organisational patterns, that things tend toward chaos.

11:29
And so, because everything tends to descend into chaos, remember, this is a sign where the light is slowly descending into darkness, and one of the meanings of darkness, one of them, is going to be chaos or disintegration. And so, there is the need for systems of order, some central organising principle or person in some cases, to, to be like a gravitational centre, just like the sun is a gravitational centre around which all of the planets orbit so to speak. So, similarly, whether it's a law or a government or an institution, or a king, or even a queen, it doesn't really matter, the person that becomes emblematic of higher order, and a higher sense of Central meaning, authority and organisational power. That's all kind of embodied in this idea of the sun. And the way that ancient people thought about the sun and kings and law givers and and so forth, even in, in ancient Indian culture, the kings are paired together with the Brahmins, so the kings are the rulers, but they they have to have this like symbiotic relationship with the brahminical cast who have the knowledge about the law, the heavenly laws and the religious and spiritual laws. You see similar things in Egypt, where there's, you know, a court of diviners that are paired with a pharaoh. So, either way, the sun has this dual meaning in ancient astrology one has to do with kings and rulers and the other one has to do with divination, and with higher truth. So you'll see the sun talked about as the noetic light, the light of higher knowledge, and associated with, say, the ninth house, ninth house was called God and it was associated with higher knowledge, priesthood priestesses, diviners, sages, mystics, you know, search for higher truth whether you're a physicist or a mystic. So, then you also see the sun talked about as the king or the ruler, or fame or authority or something like that. So these two principles, the idea of higher wisdom, higher law, higher truth, the will or guidance of the gods and creation and the ability of human beings to know that divine light and to be in touch with it within our own hearts and within our own lives, to receive some kind of higher guidance, to have a sense of higher purpose or motivation, a sense of calling that comes from the gods, the noetic light of the sun in all of our charts, whether you're a Leo or not, or whether you have strong you know, sun moon rising in Leo or not, the sense of higher calling or purpose that's inspired by the gods, it's the will of the gods for our lives, even the Sun's relationship with the daimon, the idea of a spirit guide that conjures up a numinous image in the heart that we have to follow. These kinds of things come from the sun.

14:54
Now, at the same time, there is also the sense of authority. Who has the authority to call the soul to anything? Who has the authority to orchestrate our, the actions of our lives around a central principle like a calling, right? Well, this is also the Godhead, the the, the idea of an all pervasive, all good, all beautiful, all just all powerful source. Now, in societies of course, in ancient societies, you know, oftentimes that exact same principle will be embodied either in the structure of the government, for example, Plato's Republic, is very similar to the Indian system, where the rulers are like a marriage of like authority of philosopher kings, right, so their marriage of like, authority and power, but also knowledge and wisdom. So the pairing for Leo that everyone has to start with is understanding that all of these principles of knowledge, wisdom, power, authority, that these are the things that grant not just society a sense of stability, meaning and coherence. And, but also individuals that each individual life is conceptualised as having a daimon, a little God in the heart that's that's there guiding us or leading us and giving us a coherent sense of meaning and purpose. And why? Because otherwise we tend toward either discord and strife, or selfishness, or vanity or disintegration or chaos, or hedonism, or nihilism. That's kind of the message.

16:40
Now, you don't have to necessarily agree with that. But this these are archetypal ideas that are all sort of constellated in the sign of Leo. And why because remember, here's a sign where the sun is powerful, it's sustaining the light of summer while the light is dying. So there's the eventuality of death, while also a simultaneous need to carry light. And that's always imbued in the sign of Leo, one of my favourite books by Liz Greene. I've referred to it a few times in the series called The Astrology of Fate. In this book, Leo is described in terms of Parsival's Grail quest, and I love that story, if you want to read, I'm not going to go into it so deep here, but she does a really good job of talking about the Grail quest. And what is the Graile quest all about, it's about the search for the healing waters of the healing waters of the Grail, this holy cup that carries these numinous healing waters. And it's being brought back for a dying King. Right? So Parsival has to go off and find this heat these healing waters. You ever saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, it's very similar in the sense that, you know, Indiana Jones has to go at the very end into the temple of the the Grail, and he has to bring the Grail back. And he has to talk to the guardian of the Grail who's a Grail Knight, like an ancient figure who has been living in this cave for 1000s of years. And he has to bring it back to his dying father who has been shot by the Nazi's - it's always the Nazis in Indiana Jones movies. So he has to bring it back to his dying father's it's the play on the same thing, the grill quest. And along the way, you know, he has to face temptations, the ultimate temptation for Indiana Jones and this one is his lover who wants to take the Grail for for herself because she's seduced by it. Unfortunate that it always has to be a woman seducing Indiana Jones, but maybe, you know, maybe our next Indiana Jones will be a woman dealing with some kind of the temptation of an a-hole man or something like that, right, but at any rate, the temptation that parseable faces are many along his quest, actually. And there's a really good movie that came out that has very similar sense of the potential distractions that the night faces on a holy quest, and it was called The Green Knight, it just came out. It's like, I just saw it like two weeks ago, it was so good. And just in terms of like straight up archetypes, you won't see one that has more of that sense of the solar archetype, the night on the quest and the potential temptations that the knight faces to deviate from this honourable sense of purpose that gives it grants eternal life.

19:35
Now, why is that important? Because death is eventual. There's no escaping it in terms of our mortal frames. Everything dies, but remember with the principle of the sun, why do we also have kids, you know, Kings, rulers, governments, churches, you know, all these institutions that uphold these principles, because they can carry the light after the literal you know, the literal frame. That temporarily hold the institution up have passed have passed, for example, you know, there's going to be a kingly succession, you know, the king may die, but the Office of the king, the position of the king will be moved on. Similarly, even in the Puranas. In the Vedic literature, you'll see that Lord Brahma who is a creator, he's like, in a sense, like the first source creator, he's like, the architect of the universe, that even other people become Brahma. And that they're the post of Brahma is something that exists in in multiple, multiple universes. So there's one really great story in the bhagavat Purana, where Brahma gets to realise that he's only one of like a zillion Brahma, and a zillion universes. And he's like, Whoa, you know, I thought I was the only one. And this is also central to the sun and Leo, because we're not just talking about someone who's more important than everybody else, we're talking about something that is of the utmost or central organising importance. Within a realm of impermanence and flux and change, how do you hold on to something of eternal value when you're walking, you know, through the valley of shadows, a place where there's, you know, there's, there's variegatedness, there's constant change, there's impermanence, there's death. So you know, the idea of the The king is that they uphold some kind of principle of eternality, whether it's through law or order, or ideally organising society around central principles that can bring harmony and peace, but then they die, but then someone else takes the throne.

21:42
Of course, the dark side of this would be like the show Game of Thrones, right, where everyone's vying for the throne, because it represents power represents something that places me above everyone else. And that's the perversion of the sun. In a sense, that's sort of the dark side. And that's where all the stereotypes of Leo really come from, is when the principal the ideal archetypal principle of a central organising force, or power of goodness, that upholds some semblance of eternity is replaced with the desire to be above or better or more special than anyone else. So it's important to recognise that everyone has a son, and that the purpose of the sun is not to grant some sense of all powerful, all special, you know, I'm so much better than you to anyone, not to any nation or society or individual, but rather to give us a lasting central core of organisational integrity to our lives through calling and purpose through meaning and integrity and virtue, to keep us on a path that imbues our lives with transcendental meaning, and society as well. And that's sort of the ideal sun. And we can do that while also honouring that there is a light in the heart of every individual, every nation and people in society.

23:09
So once it starts getting nationalistic or egotistical or chest thumping, or I'm sovereign, and you're not, that's typically when you get the tyrannical King motif of the Leo, which devolves into I need the spotlight, I need praise, or potentially I thrive on drama all the time, because drama being a code word for self centeredness. So when the Leo confuses self glory for serving some kind of larger purpose or legacy that that grants eternality to life, even in the midst of it, and even in the midst of the, you know, the eventuality of death, when they confuse that mission and that purpose for self glory, then sure, we could say Leo's are all about the spotlight. But that's not really what Leo is designed for. In a sense, that's not the that might be a lesson that a Leo is learning along the way, just like Parsifal in the Grail quest has many distractions, temptations of of egotistical aggrandisement that, you know, little side quests that come up that tempt him to think Well, hey, forget about the Grail look at you could just have a little Kingdom over here all to yourself. And he has to get through all the distractions and stay true to something bigger than himself. So it's very, it's a byproduct of the mission that we sometimes get distracted by selfishness or by the need for praise or accolades or, you know, honour or something like that personal honour.

24:44
And also, let's be real when people say that Leo's thrive on drama, let's be real sometimes where this is coming from, is the fact that a lot of people who don't have a transcendent sense of purpose or meaning or who aren't as acutely aware of the need for one hour A Leo maybe will project something of their own envy or their own there's there's a lot of jealousy that gets protected projected on to Leo's because Leo is trying to protect a sense of, you know, I there's something that I'm living for that's bigger than me and it grants my life a sense of nobility and purpose beyond myself beyond my temporary lifetime. For some people who don't have that that's going to smack of self aggrandisement. I'm sorry, but the bottom line is that everyone has the sun in the birth chart. And everyone needs that sense of transcendent meaning and purpose that could be found in something very mundane. It doesn't have to be glorious dig romantic quests. It doesn't have to be Disney on Ice, you know what I mean? But it is to to, to suggest that someone who is living with a sense of mission and purpose, and that they're their soul is fed by feeling like their sights serving a divine commission that they've been given a dove that has somehow descended into their heart and mind and that they're following it and it gives them joy. It gives them courage, it gives them heart, it gives them strength. Why? Because they're acutely aware of the fact that they're going to die someday, that things are really impermanent, that it's that there's not a lot of real solid ground. There's not solid ground for the heart and soul in this world. It's easy to find, where you can stand on your two feet and feel like I'm here I have meaning I trust and have faith in my mission. That's not why a lot of people don't have that. And so they'll project. Oh, Leo's so self aggrandizing so romantic, so dramatic. It's like when, when my dad was when I was a kid, you know, and I'm just like, I'm so bored. I'd be like complaining about how bored my dad would look at me and he'd smile and he would be like, we'll get a life. He was joking of course. And you know, with a smile on his face but you know, sometimes people Leo's so self important, so dramatic, well get a life. Sometimes Leo's are the ones who remind us of what life is all about in life is dramatic. Life is worth being dramatic about life is like a stage and Leos are sometimes more acutely aware of aware of the fact that you have a role to play, and be damned, if you don't step into it, and method act the shit out of it, you know, what I mean? That's what you that's what we're here to do, right? And sometimes Leo's are, they're more compelled than others because of that core solar symbolism that needs to be fulfilled, there. And they may be more aware than you think they are, that it is a role that they are method acting, and this is the lila of God. So, you know, don't underestimate the Leo may seem more dramatic, but like, so sue me for loving life, you know what I mean? So sue me for, for taking it seriously, and enjoying the fact that I feel like I have a role to play, you can cast shade, all you want in your, in your boring little corner. But the thing is, is that at the heart of Leo is also a lot of generosity and encouragement. And, you know, the word encouraged with the little co are in there, the core that encouragement means to you know, coming from the heart, and the coeur de lion, the heart of the lion. So, you know, this idea that Leo's sometimes hurt easily. That's another stereotype. I don't think it's so much that Leo's like personally get their feelings hurt as much as it is that Leo's are sort of, you know, doing their best to also by example, when we step into the role that we're meant to play and do it the best we can, you know, even if we struggle, we do our struggles, the best that we can. And even if we suck, we do our sucking the best that we can, you know, we just fill it with heart. And when you're doing that, and a lot of the times the Leos are gaining encouragement from within. It's like there's a little furnace chugging away in the heart, you know? And it's like, Leo's No, because they see that if I live that way, it around me other people suddenly lift their head up.

29:25
And it's not that they're lifting their head up in praise of you the knight of all reality, right? People are lifting their head up in their in their chests are coming back in their hearts are coming out. Because when one person lives that way, that light shines out and other people want to live that way. It's very encouraging to be around strong solar people, or strong Leo people that say. So how discouraging is that when you're trying to do your best to live in that heart space? You're trying to find the motivation often from within yourself not from encouragement from others for Leos it's self generated, and so you can feel very alone. To be constantly trying to generate the courage to live a life that's filled with some sense of meaning and the the sense of impending death that's there and the need for eternal legacy and eternal relevance and things like it's hard to live that. Sometimes it feels like you're doing it by yourself. It's totally can be a little dramatic and Shakespearean. Then imagine how much more discouraging it is when people make fun of you for doing it that way. Or they're jealous of you for doing it that way. But they're going to they're not they're jealous, but they're going to try to make you feel like oh, it's not my jealousy. It's your self centeredness. Right. So these are some of the things that Leo's are also up against. The other thing is that the sense of praise that Leo's need, we all need praise, everyone has a sun in their birth chart again, and Leo is a sign. It's not so much about needing personal praise as much as it is the Leo themselves needs to feel like what they're doing with their lives is praise worthy. The main distinction is that praise worthiness does not mean that you receive accolades from other people. It's that you know, with faith and trust and conviction in your heart that what you are doing is worthy of praise. The praise comes from the heart clapping, whoo, let's do this. This is good. This is making my heart feel good. And when you feel good in your heart, there's a step sense of praise. worthiness is like the Grail. It's eternal giving of life, it's healing, it heals all wounds, you mess up, you have a bad day, but you just get you dig into it, you feel the remorse, you feel the correction of maybe some mistake that you made you feel the drama of, of trying to do your best but struggling with it. And somehow you find a thrill and a joy in even in the struggle of it all. And you come out and you feel like man, this whole thing is praiseworthy. Now this whole thing, the good parts of it the sucky parts of it, the whole drama of life. I am not giving up I'm sticking to it because it's praiseworthy. That's what the heart is always trying to give us that's what soul is right? soul is nothing but a good man feeling blue. And it's like, Leo is in a sense, like, learning to sing the blues. A lot of the times and and and when we say that a Leo needs praise. What we really mean is that a Leo needs to be able to praise all aspects of the drama within their heart and find validation. They're now you know, the image of sort of immature Leo energy will feel like only when I'm getting it right. And I'm a perfect emblem of virtue and people are giving me praise, is it good, but mature Leo energy, which takes its knocks, you know, licks its wounds, and so forth, is like, it's so soulful, and it knows that there's a light, there's a light that shines even in dark times and even in dark spaces. And that light is just as worthy of the hallelujahs as as the sun rising in the east, you know what I mean? So once you get to that space, as a Leo and I think lots of Leo's do that or love that anyone with sun sign does write that then you know, okay, you know, it's about, it's about living a praiseworthy life, and the good and the bad and that's got to come from within. And weirdly, the more that that comes from within, the more that you find people around you being encouraged by you, and being encouraged by just the way that you live. And when people try to praise you, you're like, whoa, whoa, be careful, don't, I'm gonna, I'm gonna trip if you get in my way her. Almost like an aversion to the praise. You know, the head is up and high when you're in your in your heart, but when other people try to praise you, like your head goes down, you become humble.

33:47
So the ultimate like, weird thing about the lion is that the the sign of its greatness is it's humility. So, at any rate, these are some of my favourite topics, since my Ascendant ruler happens to be Venus in the sign of Leo, so and my father was a Leo and my grandfather was a Leo and so on. So got a lot of Leo energy in the family. Um, all the misconceptions that we have about the signs we should validate and understand where they come from, but also, we need to understand what each sign is struggling with what their what is the core mission that they're on in life so that we don't because glomming on to stereotypes doesn't help any of us to grow. Understanding helps us to grow. Compassion, and empathy helps us to grow. So let's replace stereotypes with wisdom right about the science. So anyway, I hope that this was useful for all of you get a heart pep talk from the sign of Leo today. Remember that in ancient astrology, astrologers didn't even necessarily look at the chart from the standpoint of signs so much, they really looked at planets. And the signs were ways of distributing topics. So we're talking about these signs also in more of a modern set from a modern psychological standpoint and trying to understand the way that the archetypes of the planets and the signs go together when it comes to human behaviour, psychology, and so forth. But it's important to note that in ancient astrology It was not as common for people to walk around being like well I'm a Leo and that means this or you're this and that means that it wasn't, wasn't really like that. Anyway, those are distinctions that we spend a lot of time on in my courses too. So don't forget new course coming up. Check it out on my website, nightlight astrology.com. Hope to see some of you in class soon. We'd love to hear your stories about being a Leo having strong Leo energy, knowing people who are a Leo, anything like that is always welcome. Hope you guys have a great day. We'll be back tomorrow for some more on Venus's square with Saturn. Alright, take it easy, everyone. Bye