Solar Zodiac · The Sun's Path
Leo
“Warm, unembarrassed, and better company than it is a critic.”
Polarity: positive · Modality: fixed · Element: fire · Ruler: Sun
Leo is fixed fire and the only sign ruled by the Sun itself, which is the whole explanation. It does not orbit anything. It generates, and the warmth is genuine: Leo is generous with attention, credit, hospitality and praise, and it wants the same back without pretending otherwise. The pride is honest rather than calculated, which is why it is easier to forgive than most people expect. The constellation is the Nemean lion, whose hide no weapon could cut, which is why Heracles had to strangle it and then wore the pelt for the rest of his labours. The brightest star in it is Regulus, from the Latin for little king, one of the four royal stars the Persians used to mark the seasons, and it sits almost exactly on the ecliptic, so the Moon and the planets pass directly over it. The sky arranged a throne and then had everything else walk past it. A Leo runs the party, backs the friend who is struggling, and takes creative risks in public that other people only take in private. They are loyal, theatrical, and much more sensitive to being overlooked than to being criticised. The cost is the audience: this nature needs to be seen, and a long stretch without recognition curdles into performance, or into a hurt they will not name because naming it would be undignified.
Leo Dates
The Sun is in Leo from July 23 to August 22.
The boundary moves by a day or so from year to year, because the solar year is not a whole number of days. If you were born within a day of either end, check your birthday against the finder rather than the table.
Leo Ancient Zodiacs
Every sign a Leo can be, one for each year of the Chinese zodiac.
- Meerkat: Leo Rat, “Stands up first so everyone else can keep eating.”
- Bear: Leo Ox, “Warm, enormous, and best not woken suddenly.”
- Hippogriff: Leo Tiger, “The impossible combination, walking around perfectly fine.”
- Cheetah: Leo Rabbit, “Fastest thing on the plain, and it does not roar.”
- Sphinx: Leo Dragon, “Answer correctly, or do not approach at all.”
- Gecko: Leo Snake, “Holds on to anything, and talks back while doing it.”
- Satyr: Leo Horse, “Turns any evening into an occasion and never wants it to end.”
- Cat: Leo Goat, “Accepts the comfort, keeps every claw.”
- Macaw: Leo Monkey, “Loud colour, quick wit, and a room that turns to look.”
- Griffin: Leo Rooster, “King of the ground and the air, and unwilling to choose.”
- Wolf: Leo Dog, “Leads the way a parent leads, which is the only way that lasts.”
- Koala: Leo Pig, “Small, indulgent, and possessed of a startling roar.”