Loving Leo Energy

The lion heart, sun-moon synastry, loving your inner Leo, and working with Venus Retrograde

Leo season has arrived! Queue the karaoke, vulnerable TMI shares, being loud and proud, summertime celebrations, and dramatic displays of the heart.

Though, with Venus retrograding the entirety of Leo into Virgo season, this Leo season feels like a time to deeply reflect on, reclaim, and liberate Leo energy, rather than just dancing in the disco party vibes Leo season typically brings us. (Don’t forget we still have Lilith in Leo, too! Listen to the Weaving Your Web episode with Jeff Hinshaw for details on Lilith in Leo)

This Leo season is really asking us to reflect on our relationships (Venus Retrograde) and what we love, value, how we need to be loved, how our heart wishes to express, what are our truest and deepest desires, and what are we here creating in the world. We may revisit old creative projects, communicate with or release old loves, change our values, or find ourselves doing a relationship sweep to create space for the people truly aligned with our hearts, the people who really see us and love us the way we desire to be loved. You can look to what house you have Leo in to get more guidance (I wrote a key for you at the end of this piece).

I find Leo to be one of those signs people either love or love to hate. Leo is the sign that is ruled by the heart and they love BIG, but not everyone is ready for the power and volume of their heart, because most people are disconnected from their own heart’s field and the passion that comes with it that the Leo’s warmth can feel too hot. Of course this devastates a Leo. Leo’s want everyone to love the way they do. They love so much and carry so much light and warmth, that they just want the same love and admiration in return to feel reciprocal in their connections, which isn’t always easy to receive because Leo energy needs to be fully expressed to receive fully. Leo needs to be seen, to be heard, to be witnessed. They need a stage, a crown, and a mic. But if they don’t step into the right spaces, frequencies (internally AND externally), or relationships that have what they need, that give them the space to show up fully without conditioning or judgment, their lives may turn into a drama movie—the kind where it hurts to watch but you can’t look away.

Leo is the sign the rules children and the inner child, as well as creativity, which are connected. Leo is the artist, the actress, the pop star, the king, and the playwright. Their creativity knows no bounds. But leo’s must guard their innocence and playfulness so that they can show up whole in the world and be the creators they were born to be, which is something I am always reminding myself as a Leo-dominant person. There is no creative expression without the heart, and the heart doesn’t have energy to express without the fuel that joy and play bring us. Leo teaches us the importance of the inner child in our roles of web-weavers and story-tellers of life.

Leo in its maturity also carries a regal strength and queen-like mother presence when they are embodying their truth. A kind of energy that beckons loyalty and generates bravery. You just want to be around their glow. Leo’s are the leaders that lead with the heart of a lion and understand that courage that is required to protect your cause/heart’s desires. If ever you need to do something hard, get a Leo on your team to cheerlead you, remind you of your beauty and gifts, and to embolden your auric field.

Learning to Love Leo

I grew up with a Leo sun mother, and I myself am a Leo moon (conjunct Jupiter with Leo midheaven), so Leo energy has always felt core to my healing and purpose in this lifetime.

(fun sidetone: It’s actually very common for children to have the moon signs of their mother’s sign, because the moon represents the mother/inner child! I always thought that was really special)

My mom has been living in that wounded Leo drama movie for most of her life, cycling through endless insanely chaotic, blockbuster-level life loops, not receiving, and feeling like she has to give and give and give, only to be hurt, betrayed, or abused in the end. I too carried this Leo-wound passed down from her, only I experienced it more emotionally (moon).

The cool thing about having a core person in your life web sharing a sun-moon conjunction, no matter which sign it falls in, is that the sun sign person will embody and externalize what the moon sign person feels deep within, and the moon sign person will reflect and support the sun sign’s expansion/expression. The sun person will be actively acting out what the moon person desires/needs, and the moon person will understand the process of how to get the sun person to align with their goals, which happen to be shared between them both. Because the sun and the moon are the brightest things in the sky, there is a strong magnetism and mutual support to this dynamic, and the houses this conjunction falls in for both people will show the area this energy is amplifying. More on that in a minute.

But my mom and I didn’t have a good relationship for most of my life. In fact I would go as far as to dramatically (Leo) say it was quite violent, and anything but mutually supportive. While when I was young and less emotionally evolved (baby Leo moon), I thought this dynamic was the worst thing to happen to me, and rejected my mother. I now see having a Leo mother as my greatest gift to catalyze me into my soul’s purpose, and to reclaim my deepest needs and desires as a Leo Moon who is here to create and lead others in how to create. But when we were younger, we were both operating from unconscious/shadow Leo expressions and were unable to see the luminous Leo light we both carried that would help us both get free in this lifetime.

Even though I grew up with the language of astrology and a good understanding of the signs beyond typical personality traits from a young age, I was stuck in a belief hold of associating Leo with drama, neediness, being “too much”, too loud, and narcissistically self-absorbed, which my mom actively embodied (the sun represents our ego) because her own needs and desires were not being met (the moon represents our needs and desires and if they are not getting met our sun/ego cannot be fed or fully expressed, and we act out the shadow of our sun sign). Even though I was internally drowning in loud, big, bold, dramatic feels, desires, and needs that were also not being met, I denied them. I grew up being told to stop being dramatic, was ignored or criticized in my leo-perfromative creative expression, and there was simply no room for my big emotions in my family unit. So I stuffed all my bright and creative Leo light into my shadow, ignoring the very part of me that was fuel for my fullest expression, liberation, and desires. My unconsciously mom did the same, always saying she loved being a Leo, but didn’t resonate with any of the Leo “traits” because she too rejected them (even though she IS quintessentially Leo in every way—solar, strong, beautiful, magnetic, dramatic, the most loyal friend, loves giving, has big heart, and is the fun friend who throws disco karaoke dance parties complete with strobe lights and lamé pants).

Bottom line—leo needs attention, and if you deny your needs, desires, wants, or expression as a Leo, well…good luck dancing through the fiery chaos of your life as your Leo signs yell loudly and boldly for you to notice them, lol. At the core of this, Leos MUST love themselves. Leo’s loving themselves is really the only way Leos can operate in their full expression. Self-love IS a MAJOR part of their purpose. A Leo without self-love or self-worth won’t be able to receive the external reflections of love that they need to thrive, that they need to light up the world in their wake. They have to take all that massive heart energy and channel it into themselves and let that be a part of the love that naturally oozes out to the world. This is Leo’s contribution.

This is what my mom and I have both challenged in each other, and also have been teaching each other. Sun-moon synastry really speaks to two halves becoming whole, which is just so beautiful. When my mother and I fully separated and went off on our own healing journeys (we didn’t speak for years until after she got breast cancer/had her surgery—breasts are obviously ruled by the mother—and her health journey paralleled my marriage-pregnancy journey down to the same key dates. Major Mother-Child lineage healing), we were actually able to come back together and become whole together, and this gave me such a deeper understanding and love of Leo that I needed in order to free my own creativity as a Leo Moon. In order to love myself enough to choose myself, and center (Leo) my needs and desires (moon) in my own web.

My mom’s sun is exact conjunct my midheaven at 27 degrees Leo. Her very existence has been the biggest fuel and foundation for my career (midheaven) which centers around healing the archetype of The Mother/Creator (moon in Leo) to liberation your soul’s creative expression, truth (9th house Leo moon conjunct Jupiter, planet of expansion and wisdom), and align with your purpose (Leo midheaven).

My moon (and Jupiter) fall in my mother’s 12th house. Much of my purpose in her life has been about expanding her subconscious beliefs and liberating her big dreams, bold intuition, and unconscious creative potential. And also helping her to see what she is not seeing. Which hasn’t been easy. My Leo moon shines a light on her shadows and also gives her the courage, cheerleading, and motivation to heal. These are things that I consider to be some of my greatest gifts and ended up being a big part of what I offer to my clients as well.

Though both my mom and I once thought we couldn’t be less alike, we are foundationally so similar. We both have a lot to give this world, and we both just want to be loved in return. We both have sacrificed ourselves in the past for where we think we might find love, only to find ourselves depleted or taken advantage of because we didn’t respect our own hearts in the first place. And we both have been on a big self-love journeys in recent years, transforming through health crisis, divorce, business earthquakes, and friendship deaths. We even have recently started a weekly FaceTime workout where I guide breath work or a soft self-love practice because that’s what I am good at, and she guides us in a fiery workout, because that’s what she is good at. We both get to be seen and share what we love with one another in a way that is mutually respected, valued, and admired. This is Leo medicine and is so healing for my inner child who never got to be seen for who she really is by, or have quality time with, her mother as a little one.

Wherever you have Leo in your chart, recognize it as the star of that area of life and learn to admire, love, respect, honor, and uplift it! Feed it love like crazy. Your creativity depends on it! If your Leo is in the 3rd house, I hope you are at the center of your community and letting yourself be heard. This is the energy of the mom at the PTA meeting with a megaphone. If you have Leo in the 8th house I hope your are letting your sexual siren power dance boldly through your life. If you have Leo in the 12th house I hope you paint your dreams across the billboards of your mind and gather the courage turn them into fantastical art that heals. If you have Leo mercury I hope you never hold back your voice. If you have Leo Venus, I hope you are fully romanced in all your relationships, living out your dream rom-com movie. And if you are Leo rising, let yourself be fully seen in all your beauty, playfulness, and creative magic! Take up space!!

For the Leo within you to be free, YOU MUST honor the power of vulnerability, and have the courage to be bold and express what is on your heart. This is the high expression of Leo. Though Leo doesn’t require the intimacy and depth that Scorpio does, they do require freedom to be as big, bold, messy, creative, wild, loud, strong, brave, dramatic, and fierce as they feel in any given moment.

This is the medicine to remember this Leo season. As you explore your wants, needs, values, relationships, creative projects, and desires, notice the spaces where you can show up FULLY, unbridled in your heart’s expression. Notice the spaces where you can be witnessed in your vulnerability. Notice the spaces where you feel the more supported, uplifted, and loved. Notice where you are seen and heard and valued for your contributions. Notice where you feel you can take up the most space and be encouraged to shine bright. Invite those spaces in. Lean into the discomfort of being big if you are used to playing small. Start singing, take an acting class, put together a one-woman show starting YOU, and let your inner child lead you home.

Working with Venus Retrograde

This Venus retrograde could be affecting 1 or 2 houses for you. Venus stationed retrograde at 28 degrees Leo, and will move backwards all the way to 12 degrees until September 3rd. As I mentioned before, my midheaven or 10th house sits at 27 degrees Leo, so the retrograde is starting conjunct my house of career, then will retrograde the rest of the transit in my 9th house, before eventually coming back for my midheaven again once Venus is direct. So I will primarily feel Leo in the 9th house for this transit, but what comes up for me this week around my career (midheaven conjunct Venus retrograde) will be a little hint at what will come when Venus direct hits my midheaven later on, and all the 9th house review the retrograde brings will be directly affecting my legacy, goals, and career (midheaven). This is the way you can look at the flow of this time if Leo straddles more than one house in your chart. Start by looking to where you have 28 degrees Leo, and then follow to 12 degrees, and look to the houses below that those degrees fall into.

Leo in the 1st house - unravel self-consciousness, fall madly in love with yourself to receive the kind of fairytale love you desire, look to inner beauty not just outer beauty, rebrand yourself, and step into the spotlight.

Leo in the 2nd house - learn to honor that you are enough, do money/worth work, review your relationship to money/the material, make sure you are placing yourself in spaces where you feel worthy, but also learn to not outsource your worth.

Leo in the 3rd house - reflect on how you can best communicate effectively, seek advice, speak up, change your mind, review your relationship to your neighborhood/community, and spend time writing.

Leo in the 4th house - heal root/family wounds, heal your relationship with home and belonging, spend time meeting the needs of your inner child, maybe redecorating your home to match your needs, desires, and true self.

Leo in the 5th house - Open your heart to express yourself fully, reflect on your love life and what you desire in relationships, review dating, revisit old creative projects, romance yourself, play around with new or old art mediums to express yourself more boldly.

Leo in the 6th house - review the daily joys of your life, find beauty in the mundane or stress of the every day, prioritize ritual and wellness, start a new spiritual/self-care practice or return to an old one.

Leo in the 7th house - an ex may come back into your life, notice the lessons that arise from any old partnerships returning, and review your current partnerships or invest deeply in yourself if you are currently single.

Leo in the 8th house - pay back debts, heal karma, reevaluate the reciprocity within your relationships, focus on self-intimacy.

Leo in the 9th house - review long term vision, dive into higher learning, dream up new adventures/travel, or return to a place you once explored, update your philosophy on love, revive a passion project, broadcast your truth.

Leo in the 10th house - reassess work values and goals, reflect on the legacy you are living, rediscover your purpose, recommit to your work, change your career to align with your most authentic self and deepest needs and desires.

Leo in the 11th house - heal friendship issues, change friendship groups, reflect on your relationship with social media and technology, reevaluate community and center yourself in community/groups where you feel seen, heard, valued, and loved.

Leo in the 12th house - let yourself be vulnerable, honor the need for solitude and healing, find deep peace within, resurrect old dreams, start a dream work practice, make art from your dreams, try hypnosis work.

Wishing you all a liberating Leo season!

P.S. If you feel called, please join me for my Leo new moon Film Alchemy workshop on 8/16 where we will be working with the energy of the Leo new moon to alchemize our hearts desires into our art, expression, and embodiment.

xo,

Ash