I am the Alchemy of Presence
What’s new pussycat
Symbol – Lion, Ruler – Sun, Metal – Gold, House – 5th, Element – Fire, Modality – Fixed, Humor – Choleric, Body – Heart, Polarity – Aquarius, Quality – Masculine
The name Leo comes from the Latin word for lion. The Leo glyph ♌️ is said to represent the lion’s tail, the symbol for Leo.
Leo is the fifth sign of the zodiac; it presides over the fifth house, the house of pleasure, romance and children, and is the second of the fixed signs. Fixed signs can be stubborn and inflexible, but they are reliable and steadfast. Leo starts in the middle of summer just before Lammas, one of the eight Wiccan sabbats that mark a seasonal turning point. Lammas celebrates the grain harvest, the golden wheat ripened by the golden Sun.
Leo is ruled by the Sun, the dazzling celestial body that governs life and vitality. The energy is yang and quintessentially masculine. Leo is a fire sign which correlates to the choleric humor, hot and dry.
Leo is represented by the lion, the kings and queens of the celestial jungle. They are natural leaders and embrace their royal status. “Everybody wants to be a cat.” Vivacious, theatrical, robust, and passionate, Leos love to bask in the spotlight. They are romantic and make dashing suitors. They like to hold court, think of the Sun King, Louis XIV (although he was a Virgo), of his lavish Palace of Versailles, and his belief in absolute monarchy and the divine right of kings.
Leo may dress flamboyantly, wearing gold and vibrant colours. Like Aries, Leo may drive a red sports car. They often have lots of hair, a lion’s mane. My friend’s Leo daughter is testimony to this and has never had her long golden tresses cut; she is now 13.
On the negative side, Leo can be arrogant, self-centred, impulsive, and bossy.
“You can always tell a Leo, but you can’t tell them much.” – Esoteric Astrologer, William Meader
They can become very depressed with suicidal ideation if they don’t get recognition for their accomplishments. Leo rules the heart; love and adoration are a matter of life and death to them, rather like football was to Bill Shankly (Scottish football player and manager).
“Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it’s much more serious than that.”
Homeopath Luke Norland associates the Sun with Sankaran’s psoric miasm, “Prometheus stole fire and opened Pandora’s box, containing hope but creating struggle and toil.”
The archetypal remedy picture of Leo is Lycopodium Clavatum. Lycopodium, like Leo, can be boastful, arrogant, dictatorial, superior and egotistical, but also intelligent, refined, ambitious and successful.
Lycopodium has fears around abandonment and they also can have anticipatory anxiety about appearing in public. Leo may sometimes get stage fright.
Leo also rules the cardiovascular system, the circulation (alongside Aquarius), the spine and the spinal column.
Leo pathology comes from their arrogance, fixity, and egotism leading to hypertension, angina and heart attacks. We might therefore consider heart remedies such as Crataegus, Cactus Grandiflorus, Digitalis, Strophanthus and Glonoinum.
Ruled by the Sun whose metal is gold, I also see Aurum Metallicum as representative of the Leo archetype. Not only is it a well-indicated remedy for heartbreak on every level, physical and emotional, but it is the remedy of success, achievement, ambition and recognition. It is also the remedy of depression, despair, worthlessness and broken dreams. Leo, like the Sun its ruler, can light up the world or sink into darkness.
To paraphrase homeopath Peter Morrell on gold:
Gold is king, proud, refined, and naturally superior. Vain, arrogant, and somewhat haughty, the Sun type is nevertheless very warm-hearted and kind. Once you get past the vanity, you see that they are kind givers who love to throw parties and splash out on big shows. They are music lovers and especially like opera. They make loyal friends, and though intent on big schemes, will always help others in need. Gold people succeed very easily and are gifted as natural winners; they come top, come first, get the gold medals, strive to win or win without even trying; they can be proud, aloof, smiling, aim to succeed, become famous; kings, queens, bosses, directors, music lovers (Apollo, the Sun god and his lyre), etc.
In his writings about astrology and the periodic table, homeopath Luke Norland maps stages 7 to 12 of the periodic table to the fixed signs. He equates stages 10 to 12 to Leo.
“From Stage 10-12 this is transformed into leadership (Leo) of three types; overconfident, proud (10), magnanimous, benevolent (11), over-the-top, tyrannical (12).”
Aurum is stage 11, Leo in all its beneficence, the benevolent boss, noblesse oblige.
I would consider the noble metals Platinum and Palladium at stage 10 of the periodic table as potential remedies for Leo in some cases, when Leo is fighting its way to the top, acting as crown prince, looking for accolades, wanting adoration, and yet getting stage fright.
A friend of mine played in a known orchestra, and I often used to think she needed Palladium as, although she is a gifted musician of many years, she still felt nervous before every performance. She isn’t a Leo Sun, but she has Leo on her 10th house, the house of profession, so no surprises that she made her career on the stage.
The remedies Sol (sunlight) and Helianthus (sunflower) may be indicated because of their relationship to the Sun. Sol can be used for sunstroke, too much Sun, like Icarus flying too close to the Sun and getting burned. Leo might just do that. Helianthus tends to be used as a tonic to boost well being and the immune system. It is useful in cases of SAD (seasonal affective disorder) which Leo can often suffer from being a creature of the Sun. Without the Sun Leo may wither. Sunflowers bloom beautifully and are claimed to track the Sun as they grow, but this may not be wholly true, although younger flowers apparently do exhibit some heliotropic motion.
According to homeopath Marcia Wiechers, Sepia matches the female Leo picture. I can see why this might be so: If Leo/the fifth house is badly aspected in the natal chart it can denote issues around child bearing, such as infertility and miscarriage. Additionally Sepia may be indicated for the Leo career woman who wishes to escape her family commitments.
Magnesium Phosphoricum is the designated tissue salt for Leo. Mag Phos targets involuntary muscles, the heart being the hardest working involuntary muscle.
This is a whistle stop tour through the Leo constellation and Materia Medica; there are of course many remedies that may match the Leo constitution and the presenting complaint. An astrologer/homeopath would draw their conclusions from studying the case and also the natal chart/transits in their entirety.