Leo Vibes: Loyalty & Royalty
There is a certain passion that Leo has that is unique to this sign. It is the quality of fixed fire. A passion that burns eternal. Or that *wants* to burn eternal.
We’re about to enter Leo season in a couple of days, and in honor of that, I’ve got a new podcast episode for you, featuring channeled messages from my guides about the archetype of Leo.
If you’d like to listen you can do so here, and if you’d rather read the transcript, I’ve got that for you below!
Intro
Welcome to the Shadow Femme show, a show about humans, our feelings, and the ways in which we make meaning.
I’m your host, Sarah, and I’m a psychic medium, healer, astrologer, and human design reader.
I’m back with another episode of this ongoing series of zodiac archetypes. Today I’m going to talk to you about the sign of Leo.
Just like last time, I’m going to share with you some words that I channeled from my guides through writing before this recording. And this time, I pulled some tarot cards as well, and I’m going to share those with you now.
So here is what my guides had to say…
Message from My Guides
Hi everyone,
We’re here to talk to you about the archetype of Leo.
Fixed Fire
We want to start by talking about Leo’s fixed nature. Leo is a fixed sign, which means that it has a tendency to be a bit stubborn, but also, on the positive side, it can be quite steadfast.
We think that this comes through in the form of loyalty. Leo is one of the most loyal signs in the zodiac. This loyalty can be an honorable quality, though sometimes it can be misplaced.
There is a certain passion that Leo has that is unique to this sign. It is the quality of fixed fire. A passion that burns eternal. Or that wants to burn eternal. Leo energy wants to last, and it wants the fire to never die out. There is a whirlwind passion, whether of romance or of creative fervor, that a Leo knows well, and many Leos would like to bask in this feeling for longer than it can actually be sustained for.
The Lion + Royalty
Let’s keep in mind that the symbol of Leo is the lion. And the lion knows how to nap. A Leo who is in touch with their natural cycles of energy knows that there is a time for fire and fervor and even aggression, and a time for napping, recovery, and rest.
Another symbol attached to the Leo archetype is the symbolism of royalty. Leo is associated with sovereigns, with rulers, with the Queen Bee archetype, with the leader of the pack, and the star.
Leos want to, on some level, in some area of their lives, be treated and respected like royalty. This may be a broad statement, one that you think we may not be able to back up, but the thing is that not every single Leo wants to rule over other people, but almost everyone with prominent Leo placements wants to be deeply respected, and—if they can’t have respect—deeply feared.
Not everyone will own this desire to the same degree. Not everyone is allowed to express this part of themselves as strongly. And of course, this particular part can get carried away a bit in some people. This is where we see the stereotype of Leo as the narcissist, the diva, and so on.
But Leos don’t need to fall into that trap. Leo energy, at its best, is the energy that naturally magnetizes the eyes of others. It is the energy that knows how to entertain, how to host, how to warmly welcome people into an experience. Leos respect performance. They respect ritualized performance. The theater, the motions of courtship, the big screen, even certain religious rites, or the rites of marriage.
And now on to these cards…
The 6 of Wands Reversed
The six of wands speaks to celebration and recognition. Receiving your laurels. It is a card of victory. This figure is parading through the streets.
With the card reversed, this laurel that is tied to the figure’s wand is threatening to slip off.
This speaks to the uncertainty that some Leos feel when they achieve something or when they receive praise or attention. There may be a threatening feeling that, at any given moment, if this attention is not courted consistently, it might slip away.
This may be true more so for Leo Moons than Leo Suns. The Sun is much more comfortable in Leo than the Moon is. The Moon is cyclical, ever-changing, and in Leo, this Moon may feel that there is nothing solid about attention, about recognition, about having eyes on you.
There can be an emotional need, a yearning, a sense of safety that comes from seeking attention, but it can also feel unsafe to do so. It depends on how the person has been socialized. If they have been taught in various ways that they are not worthy of attention or that trying to seek attention makes them “bad,” “greedy,” or “selfish,” then they will internalize this and create a feedback loop for themselves that ends up shaming their natural impulses for simply existing.
The key here to break out of this loop is to listen closely to what these voices are trying to say, and to not judge or shame them. It is not inherently bad to want attention. The more a Leo Moon tries to suppress their impulse to shine, the more it will come out in unhealthy ways. Best to let this Moon out of the cage and let it do its thing, unencumbered.
The 10 of Swords
This is a scary card, we know. Someone is laying on the ground with 10 swords stabbed into their back. How did they get there? Who did all that stabbing? Must’ve been a bunch of people, all at once.
This is the fear of a Leo: that they will be stabbed in the back, and never recover.
We mentioned up top that loyalty is of utmost importance to most Leo placements. One of the worst things a Leo can experience is the feeling of someone—and especially a crowd—turning on them.
If this rings true to you, we invite you to do a thought experiment: imagine that you are that figure, (figuratively, of course) lying on the ground, stabbed in the back. In real life, these won’t be actual swords, but verbal or emotional ones. What do you do now? The thing is, the suit of swords does not end with this card. It goes on into the court cards: the Page, the Knight, the Queen, and the King of Swords. Life goes on after this card. You can see dawn breaking on the horizon. A moment like this will not be the end of you—not truly. It will be the end of something, but not of you.
The 8 of Swords
Okay, another scary swords card. This one is perhaps not as scary, because this woman is standing with the blindfold over her eyes but she doesn’t realize that she has a path forward—she really can escape this situation if she wants to.
This tableau can describe Leos—or people with prominent Leo placements—who are in situations (especially romantic ones) that they think they can’t escape. We are not talking about deeply abusive relationships—of course there is much more nuance to situations like that, and we do not ever mean to victim-blame—but rather, we are talking about situations (romantic relationships, workplace dramas, friendships, etc) which are indeed escapable, but which seem binding, because of the ties of loyalty and the emotional investments that make the Leo think that everything is final, a done deal, unchangeable, and unescapable.
This is where the fixed nature of Leo, and the loyalty that this sign enjoys, can be an Achille’s heel. Not everything is worth your loyalty, Leo. And sometimes it is useful to ignore the sunk cost—the rationality that you have already invested so much into a relationship and therefore you should stay—and instead liberate yourself by cutting ties, taking off the blindfold, and forging your own path forward.
Outro
Okay, that’s all I have for today. I hope you enjoyed this, and that this advice was helpful for you, whether or not you yourself are a Leo. I know that much of it resonated with me, and I hope it does for you too.
Thank you for joining me, and happy Leo season! I will see you next time.
