Leo zodiac sign characteristics

Leo (The Lion), July 22nd - August 22nd

This is the middle sign of the Fire Triune and corresponds to the heart of the Grand Man. Its colors are yellow, red and green; its birth stones ruby and diamond; its profession—the ministry, the arts or society leader, and its chief characteristics are conservatism, faith, and self-control. Its tribe is Joseph and it has a double meaning, " Increase " and "Judgment—luminous, perfect." So we find two kinds of people in Leo, unregenerate self-seekers or spiritual-minded workers for the good of the world. Their planet is the earth and their star the sun.

These people are generally good looking, the unregenerates with a handsome, sinister type, and the more spiritually minded with a fine, delicate beauty less striking and more lasting.

They are well builf, strong and sinewy, with broad shoulders and slim figures. Their complexion is generally fine, with good coloring, their voices should be strong and deep, but are occasionally light and sometimes husky. Their eyes are either sparkling and quick or large and trustful.

This is a distinctively masculine sign. The women born in it are apt to be quiet and negative with high talents of which they make little use.

The men are aggressive, impetuous, magnetic, active and pleasure loving, or conservative, self-controlled, high-minded and religious.

Like Aries, these people reach their greatest heights through the nobility and intensity of their love-nature. They will go to any lengths and sacrifice themselves to any extent for those they love. The women make the most intensely loving and sympathetic wives and mothers, nursing their loved ones with untiring devotion. But given a patient to nurse in whom they have no interest, and only the most perfunctory attentions will be paid him. It is the quiet, gentle Leo mother who will fly into a rage at any one who dares correct her children.

Their love-nature is their mainspring, and from it they work out their salvation, or else bid fair to lose their souls.

All Fire people are active, standing always in danger of burning out their own vitality, and Leo people possess this quality in body as well as brain, causing them to succeed in mercantile as well as intellectual pursuits.

But with all this activity and nervous energy they can be the laziest people in the world, having a strong leonine, catlike love of comfort and ease. There is an indolent grace of movement in the Lion people too, and sometimes, a sneaking, stealthy, treacherous disposition which is inhumanly suggestive of their prototype. These are wonderfully adaptable people—seeming to fit perfectly into any position they happen to occupy, and if they partake at all of the self-control which is the heritage of any one in this sign who wills to have it, they invariably make their place a leading one by the magnetic attraction of their nature. Impetuous and rash they are apt to be; springing headlong at the thing they want, and caring little for consequences; but so lovable with it all that they are more than likely to escape what they most richly deserve.

Their intuition, which they in common with all fire people possess, helps them to far seeing conclusions which secure for them the reputation of philosophical thoughtfulness, but seems to stop at forming a correct estimate of human nature. If people are attractive, plausible, good looking and kind to them, they never seem to stop to analyze their character. They accept them with that exaggerated trustfulness they have in humanity, and as often happens, follow them blindly to their own undoing morally or financially. Thus we see their love-nature is their greatest strength—or weakness, just as they possess or lack self-control and good judgment.

They have remarkably orderly minds and great skill in the use of their hands. They are born communists, borrowing inordinately, but lending just as freely. As children they imitate those around them, generally unconsciously, sometimes much to their detriment.

These people are generally artistic, but in an intellectual way, which causes them to be better critics than artists. It is only by intense application and concentration of energy that they cease dreaming of doing something, and really accomplish it. From childhood they seem to live in dreamland, and it takes some very hard knocks to awaken them to the real facts of life. Some even seem to go through life to the end in an ideal world of their own, much to the astonishment of their friends and acquaintances. While the others, awakened perhaps too cruelly, are apt to go to the other extreme, thinking there is no honesty in the world, and become conscienceless self-seekers—thinking first and always of self-advancement and comfort, and unscrupulously appropriating everything they desire whether obtained by fair means or foul. These people show a great lack of natural policy at times, not even attempting to cover their selfish acts, which results in much unpleasantness and makes it hard for them to retain the unshaken confidence of their friends. In every Sign there are black sheep—and astrology, written for all humanity, must show the faults of the criminal as well as the highest virtues of the best minds. As a rule Leo people are too artistic to be brutal and too idealistic to be gross, and have too much natural refinement to lead any but law-abiding lives. And they are very quick to notice any one who infringes, unconsciously or otherwise on the laws of etiquette or state. Their observant nature and great adaptability help to cover their lack of tact, or to extricate them from the difficulties into which such a lack has led them. And these are the traits which make of them inventors, and improvers on existing forms, in all walks of life.

They belong to the heart of the Grand Man, and any weakness is apt to be felt in an impaired circulation which in turn affects the lungs and nerves.

Inharmony in the daily life is ruinous to these people causing nervous debility which merges at last into chronic nervous irritability, and actually impairs the health. Their ideal nature demands harmony as a medicine, and if they can obtain the peace they crave, their warm, sunny, geniality .of nature is as different from the irritable nervousness sometimes found in them as day is from night. The key-notes of this nature are faith, love and harmony—faith in mankind and something higher—and harmony of thought.

And when either faith or love is lacking, there will be no harmony, only a mass of irritating contradictions and a strong nature in impotent rebellion against a fate which its own blindness has made hard. Their salvation comes through their love-nature, the desire to sacrifice everything for the loved one, and a consequent ignoring of their own desires and troubles, tending to tranquillize the nerves, harmonize the conflicting emotions, and round out the otherwise unsatisfied nature.

These people are conservative rather than original and have a great regard for appearances.

" How a thing will look " is their law, and good form the breath of their nostrils, and many Leo persons have married unhappily for the simple reason that they judged the nature of their partners by their appearance. Another point which militates against their happiness is their inordinate desire to lead and direct. They are constantly giving orders, and not being natural leaders, neither coming under the commanding nor Head Signs, nor executive or Negative Poles, they receive either only tolerant obedience or utter disregard from those they attempt to rule which yet fails to teach them the self-evident truth.

These people should not marry until very sure of the absolute certainty of their heart, as inconstancy is one of the greatest faults of Leo.

A marriage with Sagittarius is generally sympathetic and harmonious—also one with Aries, though in the latter there is apt to be a clash between the real leader and the assumed one.

Gemini and Libra are both very congenial— Libra more so, as Gemini leads—where Libra would submit to be led so far as its judgment allowed. Perhaps Aquarius would be the most harmonious mate of all, in its quiet negative strength, and steady, unexcitable nature. Leo people are most fortunate during their own sign —and the week beginning January 27th.

"Astrology", by M. M. Macgregor (1905)