What's Your Sign? Series: Leo

We Are Leo 

By Dr. M Leona Godin
QuailBellMagazine.com

I only believe in astrology insofar as I believe myself to be a Leo. I'm told that this is a very Leo trait, but it's true. I don't read my horoscope, and I don't care what sign my boyfriend is, though I admit I have a bone to pick with more than one Scorpio dude in my sorted past. Furthermore, I have no idea how heavenly bodies moving through sky houses might influence my personality, and I will have nothing to do with my Cancer moon. Still, there is no doubt in my mind that whether it be serendipitous or sidereal, I was born a Leo, with the magnanimous heart and magnificent mane of a lion.

I am very generous and encouraging, and I prove this time and time again in bars, where I will always buy drinks "for all my friends" as declaimed by Mickey Rourke in the movie Barfly, which was  written by Charles Bukowski about himself. Bukowski was, of course, a Leo (August 16).

Although people think I'm super confident, I am really very sensitive. I need attention and flattery and for people to placate and pet me. I MUST BE APPRECIATED! I, like Dorothy Parker (August 22), love my man to "stroke my prideful head" and am not averse to worship. If you want to keep on the velvets of my paws, laugh at all my witticisms.

As a professor of English literature, I loved having a captive audience and bending young minds to my will. I taught Wuthering Heights many times and Emily Brontë (July 30) did a fantastic job portraying the ambitious and relentless determination with which we Leos get what we want. It never hurts to dust oneself with melodrama and pencil in the eyebrows with black passions. That is how you make yourself memorable. We Leos are bigger than life and claim Heathcliff as one of our own.

My friends tell me that I am stubborn, as if this were a problem. I do not see it as such. How else can a body prove that they are right in the face of such obstacles as unreason and wrongheadedness? Anyway, I hold on to my ideas as I hold on to my friends: tenaciously! Like Queequeg in that whale of a book by Herman Melville (August 1), I am extremely loyal and courageous and capable.

That said, I do have a touch of the Ahab in me since I can be a bit bossy, which is fine when you are the boss, which I am. Always have been. I was the president of my freshman class and picked up writing in order to create and control my worlds. It is also very pleasant to think that I am, at this very moment, controlling you, my dear reader!

WARNING: Never, never, never seek to dominate me! I may be placated and pleasantly persuaded with gifts and flattery, or lulled out of my single-mindedness by a warm sun and piña coladas, but if you think you can command me, know you will be playing with my affections, and my life! If you tell me what to do, I will certainly do the opposite. Just as the rebellious Peter Rabbit finds fame for himself and his author, Beatrix Potter (July 28), I too will triumph against any and all prohibitions and long outlive the fleeting humiliation of losing my clothes, or getting sent to bed with nothing but chamomile tea.

It must be said, however, that calling a Leo vain is pure slander! Rather, we are extremely self-aware. We acknowledge our strengths and weaknesses (though, to be sure, there are not many of the latter), and are very honest and forthcoming about the strengths and weaknesses of others. If you want a truthful, intelligent and clear-sighted opinion, seek out a Leo. We Leos will not hold back. We are not afraid to hurt feelings in the interest of a much-needed critique. But don't worry; we will not hold you in comparison with our kingly self!

In conclusion: While the Leo annals contain legions of pop stars and world leaders from Madonna (August 16) to Obama (August 4) and Napoleon (August 15), from Martha Stewart (August 3) to Mick Jagger (July 26) we find relatively few authors. Yet there are two lionesses we've heretofore neglected. J. K. Rowling (July 31) and Danielle Steel (August 14) write books for which we would not give two mouse droppings (yes, we are literary snobs), but whose wild success demands our glad acknowledgement of kinship. We love success! We love wealth! We love power! We love luxury! We are Leo.

#Real #What'sYourSign? #Leo #Royalty #Bossy #WillNotBeConquered #MagnificentMane

Visit our shop and subscribe. Sponsor us. Submit and become a contributor. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.