leo – Kongo Kosmo 7

Leo’s energy has always been challenging for me to articulate because I could never really grasp what it is. Like it’s polarity Aquarius, Leo is very vast, far-reaching, spilling across multiple arenas and boundaries. Leo is akin to the chest, and the heart that circulates blood vitally and repetitiously. After Cancer season has cracked the shells of our chests, Leo is the exposed heart, beating to a lively rhythm.

People often mistake Leo’s engagement with power as cockiness or self-centered, but Leo holds reservoirs of power (power of self as it begins to relate to the other), and Leo also manages the ways power should be displayed. What often seems like superficiality is Leo deciding how they should most efficiently display their power to the outside world, while being conscious of how to show their power in the most efficient, kind manner as possible. Leo rules the 5th house, the area of big hearted, sunshine, children, liking. The 5th is the first articulation away from the 4th house, which is the ancestral root of the chart. In a sense, this is the space where children and ancestors connect, and this rush of power from the ancestral realm begins to be articulated and circulated effectively through next generations. All this occurs in the Leo-ruled 5th house.

But, as for me and my house(s)! Leo serves as the 12th house ruler. Maybe that’s why it’s always been challenging for me to grasp what Leo energy is, because the 12th is the space of subconscious, intuition, dreams, secrets, what Susan Miller references to as “the self-undoing.” I can only speak on this present astrological current through my own understanding of Leo, especially since Leo is my 12th house ruler.

So, during this self-deconstructing season that is Leo, I’ve learned that power is not meant to be guarded. It’s meant to be activated. It’s easy to interpret Leo energy as guarding power and shaping discourse around power in a way that only benefits their Self. Remember that the Leo-ruled 5th is fresh from the ancestral soils of the chart, so Leo is really the articulation of the Self through the Others who have come before me. Once we stop conflating guarding power with activating it, we realize power strives toward unity, a true balance of the Self and the Ones who have come before us, the Ones around us: a literal circulatory eco-system of beings.

Leading with the heart space, we must have conversations about power, how can we all bask in sunlight, without shading the lights of others but also being honest about what makes us feel empowered.

For the readers of this post, I pulled a Card:

Corona Borealis depicts the crown Dionysus gave Ariadne on their wedding day. It represents triumph after sacrifice and new beginnings. Being willing to learning about sacrifice is the beginning of navigating how to use your power. Whatever “new” thing that comes in your life next, lead with your heart space, be willing to be open and honest about how power should be regulated around you. Despite brokenness and heart matters, love finds healing, but you can’t guard your power: there has to be a way for healing to come in.

Libra season always comes in like a mental breath of fresh air. Connections become more laxed as we begin to recognize our social habits and the things that we should shut down and pick up as we balance rest and passion after the equinox. Being a libra has taught me many things about interaction with my environment because the energy is very atmospheric. It’s not just about connecting with people but it’s about the position of objects, the swaying of trees, the beauty of rolling clouds, the way the corners of a lover’s eyes crinkle when they smile- it’s about presence. Because I’ve come to the planet under a libra sun, imbalance is the very thing I must resist and revamp, as the vibrancy of atmospheric pressures could easily lead to disharmony.

I’ve come to see the energy in a way that mainstream astrology tends to exclude. And each solar return my experience is radically different. This year I see libra’s balance with the nodes of the moon as energetically significant. As we know, the sun doesn’t particularly enjoy transiting in this zodiac sign because it is the beginning of its death, autumn’s grip slowly sinks all warmth as this part of earth turns away from its fiery luminary. Libra energy is about the “other,” not the self/the sun, but about the things outside of the self, while seeing the self through the lens of the other, the expression, not the initiation, of growth. This season is the sun’s last inhalation before its energetic rest. Libra is the initial knowledge of the intimacy and beauty of release and transformation.

Since libra is about balance, the sun is beginning its fall in this sign, but the north node of the moon is rolling about in leo. Here is the balance, the mirror of the soul. This node represents one’s soul path, away from the karmic cycles of past lives, and onward to territories and internal space that the soul has never experienced. Because the north node of the moon is in leo currently, our destiny is in the light or in accessible conscious awareness while the sun transits toward the dark, or the depths of the inner self. So, during this particular libra season, the sun and the north node are functioning as a mirror of the soul, striking balance between past and future, death and rebirth, cacophony and symphony.

10622716_1542475986070210_7672790111790547557_n — Saint Michael, detail – Carlo Crivelli (about 1430/5-about 1494)

This year has been drastically transformative for me on many fronts. I have begun a shamanistic journey led by Reverend Joyce of livingjoyfulnow, and I have connected to my dark and light realms in ways I would have never imagined. Being a shaman awakens one to see the things that are in plain sight, things that seem to have been hidden before but are now brought into conscious awareness. The atmosphere becomes enlivened with meaning and patterns that mirror the soul. I feel that I can explore the darkness and light of the balance without fear, a trait that the libra must acquire to find true harmony. All in all, this energy is just that: bringing light to every dark place in your being without fear, without judgment, without hatred. To simply look at the self and to know peace are the lessons that the setting sun brings to mind.

The card pull for this post is: Nebula

This card speaks directly to the darkness of the soul that the libra sun wants you to acknowledge. Made from dust, hydrogen, helium, and remnants of supernova explosion, the nebula is literally the growth after a storm, the incubation of newness and creativity. The same duality that exists in this season is found in nebulous creativity: a dark womb of beginning and the intelligent light of intentional growth. Now is the time to stock up for the journey ahead, as you look into the mirror to see youself as present and sentient and worthy of serenity. From the depths, hope bursts forth, just like a volcanic overflow of being.

Note: For libra season, I am offering special $7.77 readings. You can order here.

Much light and peace.