Its Leo Season!

The Sun entered Leo on July 23 and now today, on July 28, the New Moon is in Leo as well. What a powerful opportunity to release, grow and take inspired creative action!

Leo is all about generous loyalty, love, pride and self-expression. This is the second fire sign of the zodiac and it is where the Aries fire of new beginnings, the spark of initiation and new life takes form and begins to express, create and shine their bright light in an inspired way. Aries is the spark of the fire, but Leo is the FLAME of the fire - prideful, fierce, fun and dramatic. Its the sign where the sun is literally its life force, its ruling planet, and this is where you journey to self awareness in your cosmic cycle of life through living out loud, the world being your stage and where you help others learn to not fear expressing themselves in an empowering way. Leo says "watch me shine, and I will help give you courage to shine too!" There is no better ally than a loyal, loving Leo - and a great person to invite to your party if you never want a dull moment! Leo likes to be seen - it needs to show off that beautiful mane.. or snazzy outfit.. or whatever it can get you to notice! Leo just kinda likes attention, and wants to be in the center of its own experience.

As with all zodiac signs there is a high road but also a low road, and the caution that while Leo wants to be the center of its own experience, it can have a tendency to feel like it needs to be the center of attention in order to be validated. The shadow has a need for approval and validation through the praise and admiration of others. Leo needs to see that his/her gift of the ability to shine, be creative, and love deeply is a personal power and they can be their own validation. Leo's need to have people notice all they do can put them in a trap of doing for others only because it gets them attention. Leo's lesson is to be willing to serve selflessly, even if no one knows its you, or even if you don't get applause! A Leo on the high road is here to attract, create and inspire themselves and others, but a Leo on the low road attracts, creates and inspires DRAMA and attracts attention in a negative way! You are here to express yourself authentically for YOU, and do it for those you love because of your generous heart, and not so that others can pat you on the back.

The Moon in Leo is actually quite different. The Lunar Leo is much more introverted and the quest for the Lunar Leo is to know itself through creative expression but it is more of a private matter. Lunar Leo's can be quite shy and introverted. They are tasting life's experiences internally in order to know what is true for themselves, and learning how to be willing to "be seen" and show up for what lights them up. Still fiercely loyal, and generous of heart, the Lunar Leo enjoys the praise and admiration of others, but can be at a loss when they are in a spotlight, especially if they are around people they don't know well and can blunt their light so that they can avoid criticism of others. Sometimes this can become a conundrum for the Lunar Leo who needs to hear they did a good job, or that something they did was well received, but because they fear confrontation or criticism they keep their light dim.

Leo rules the heart, and just like the sun that is the center of the solar system, it is also the center of our own personal experience. It is the source of our internal strength and the creative impetus that encourages us to show up, be seen and be a source of joy in a world that can be a little dark sometimes. In the Tarot, Leo is represented by the Strength card. It embodies life in its most primal form, believing in oneself and your own ability to stand up for yourself and be true to who you really are and achieve all that you aspire to achieve.