Lionhearted Leo Sun, Mercury Retrogrades
Leo is the sign of fun and friendship, of children, games and creative self-identity. Leo’s hair is a mane rising up from a regal high forehead. The lion appears on the arms (logo) of many royal houses. Richard the Lionhearted re-captured the Holy Land. The heart, center of our life force, is overseen by Leo. The heart is where all energy flows and the life-force (blood) emanates. Leo’s opposite is Aquarius, the circulatory system.
Leo is courageous, the lord of the jungle. Leo, the fifth sign, fifth gate and fifth labor, is fixed fire. Like a flame, Leo burns bright. Later their fire burns low, and there is an ebb and flow of life energy.
In the Old Testament Leo is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. In the New Testament, the Christians were thrown to the lions (symbol of Roman power). The fish (Pisces) later caged and subdued the lions. It’s written the Sun rose in Leo at the world’s creation. Egyptians worshiped the Leo Sun. Sirius, blue star of Initiation, appeared in the sky and the waters of the Nile rose under Leo. Egyptian temples were decorated with the lion. In China, the Leo constellation is the Yellow Dragon with the royal star Regulus. The Buddha loved the lion and often rested on his right side like the lion.
In the esoteric book Labors of Hercules, we read of the Nemean Lion, a divine creature as well as from the moon (humanity’s past). When the Sun enters Leo, Hercules embarks on his Leo or Fifth Labor – to destroy the wild parts of the personality (the lion) and to wear the lion’s hide (spiritual protection) as armor (used for the remaining seven Labors).
The lion and Hercules, now stars (95) in the heavens, signify the personality learning how to submit, adapt to and be directed by the Soul. Under Leo it is good to remember everyone has Leo in their astrology charts. Everyone is noble, everyone is royal, every human life creative, whole and sacred.
Note: Mercury retrogrades Sunday, August 4, 2024, at 4 degrees Virgo. Mercury will re-enter Leo, moving back to 22 Leo, where it stations direct on August 28. Where are those degrees of Mercury retrograde in everyone’s chart?
ARIES: Do you feel divided between four ways, standing in the middle wondering which paths to pursue next? There are angels standing at the threshold of these four directions. Talk with them. They offer guidance. Simultaneously, there are several past issues that will need tending before you will know how to proceed. They are being presented to you in subtle ways. So observe, assess, ponder, pray and have the intention to carefully and kindly complete all things unfinished. Mercury retrograde is Sunday. The pages turn back.
TAURUS: Maintain a focus that includes past, present and future. Pressures and people turn you around to face what has been. Simultaneously, new realities must be brought forth. Each sign has this responsibility. Each sign is a facet of that diamond. As Taurus you have the information and illumination needed for others to understand the purposes of the new era. You have land to buy, a model to construct, a community to build, expansions to bring forth so that many will be saved.
GEMINI: You experience confusion when you don’t stand directly in the center of all realities. You must do this to observe both sides of every issue. Then you are to create a triangle of synthesis, with you at the apex. There are two paths outlined for you. The past or the present future. Knowledge creates thought which creates symbols which reveal revelations so Right Choice can occur. Study is needed. Ponder upon, draw and visualize the seven pointed, six pointed, five pointed stars, a triangle and then a Cross. Again and again.
CANCER: A fusion and synthesis are occurring between what you were taught and what you now know and seek. Money is a concern. It will always be available. How is your communication with others? Are you harsh, possibly critical? Careful. You may not realize your tone of impatience. The homeopath Chamomile neutralizes impatience (an excess of electrical energy). At times you may feel like a summer rainstorm. Look back into your life and remember what brought forth joy. You need a dose of that now.
LEO: It’s possible that thoughts and feelings from previous relationships are being remembered. It’s possible there could be anger about the ways your parents raised you which influenced your behavior in adult relationships. It’s good to ask what you learned in each relationship. And to ask, “Did I give enough?” There’s still time. Everyone is learning from everyone else, all the time. Your self-identity shifts, changes, turns around and finds itself again. Try not to be a benevolent dictator, which can happen when stress arises. Love more.
VIRGO: Tend to finances; ask for assistance if confused or puzzled, embrace the future by investing money in land, gold and silver and in supplies to sustain you and others for several years. Plan on others joining you. When ongoing self-critical beliefs occur, heartache is the result. It’s important to know the difference between good and evil, truths and untruths, dispassion and intrusion. It’s best also to use words of praise all the time. Praise neutralizes mental and emotional illusions and distortions. The one who praises becomes a magnet.
LIBRA: Something profound, transformative and new has been occurring either in your life, your health or at home and it is affecting the foundations of your life. By autumn you’ll know more. Good things are about to appear in your professional life. Is family visiting or are you missing family? Are you thinking about and able to travel? Tend with care and kindness to all relationships. Your friends sustain, nourish and fortify you. But someone in your life is being left out. Do you not have room for them?
SCORPIO: It may feel that you need to structure your surroundings so that nothing is left to chance. Also you want to nurture and build an ever-growing participation in a social sphere. Put those plans aside as Mercury retrograde begins its three-week journey. You may wonder the best use of your money. Are you being offered two choices? One choice grows bright and strong, one dims. How do you decide which to choose? Which is more shareable?
SAGITTARIUS: It’s not time for something new in terms of relationships. It is also not the best time to travel due to Mercury’s retrograde. Next month is better. Then you will have new and clear perspectives. Do be aware of how much work you’ve done, how hard and where you are today. In the next eighteen months your usual ways of thinking and interpreting will change. Your creativity will change, too. Some of this is already occurring. Is it topsy-turvy at home with life tumbling about?
CAPRICORN: You asked for a playful column. I see why. Pluto has been in your first house of self-identity for so long and offered so many responsibilities, you may feel exhausted. Everything about your life has been deep and profound and you need someone else to make the jokes. You have been like Persephone in Pluto’s depths. About money – you have enough, you don’t have enough. In between is a childhood wound. You actually do have enough of everything. The way ahead is through gratitude. Gratitude, love and goodwill are the great healers.
AQUARIUS: There’s a new reality in your life as the old realities have tumbled about and fallen away. Perhaps you grew up with few resources. This has created a certain perception concerning money. And, here we are today, the monetary world in a state of chaos. Don’t be fearful. From ashes emerge new and greater opportunities. Ponder upon priorities concerning your true needs. What must (can) you do now? You will come to true answers and solutions to a problem over time. Mercury’s retrograde can help.
PISCES: Things feel very complex. Something over there somewhere is beckoning. But it’s in the shadows of the Mercury retro in Virgo. You are in a state of solitude for a while. Notice what surfaces, what appears, and what seems forgotten. Disappointments, sadnesses and unrealized hopes can actually make us ill. It’s important to be aware of this. Something about relationships will be revealed. Perhaps the need for a rebalancing and a recommitment. Pisces and Virgo, then Pisces and Leo. Health, healing and coming from the heart of all that matters. Your task.