Leo I - Power Struggles
By Michelle Craft
The Leo I decan has a reputation. A mask, a spotlight, per Austin Coppick. Under pressure and strife. It’s been affectionately called the “stagefright decan”. The sign of Leo has an association with sorrow, sadness, and fear, and these themes also appear in Leo I. This makes sense when we reflect on Saturn as the Chaldean ruler of this decan.
To break down the decan, we have to start with the domicile ruler, the Sun. The Sun is raw and untamed power. Its light is vital because the light of the sun emits life-giving heat, a necessary component for the formation of life (moisture being the other). In excess, the Sun’s light is consuming. It burns up any planet that gets close to it and weakens its power. Its heat can be so intense that it scorches and burns the Earth, leaving it cracked and dry. The light of the Sun is pure power, capable of both creation and destruction.
Saturn’s rulership over this decan refines the Sun’s power. Saturn is the shadow that the light casts, the fears, anxieties, and dread that lie entangled yet juxtaposed to the light. Saturn also brings in a certain balance; wisdom gained through experience, and mastery of something over time. In combination, the Sun and Saturn rulership can show power that is destructive when fueled by fear, sorrow, or left to its own devices. At its best, Leo I represents power that is tempered with restraint and wisdom. The Sun and Saturn together have the potential to grant endurance and long-lasting reputation, for better or worse. Both planets also share a temperamental quality of dryness, so there will always be a need in Leo I to distinguish oneself and stand separate from others.
Leo I has the potential for incredible success but also for total self-destruction.
King Louis XIV of France aka “The Sun King”
King Louis XIV of France (reigned 1643 -1715) is one of the most notable monarchs in European history with his reign lasting 72 years. He outlived all of his children and some of his grandchildren.
When King Louis XIV ascended the throne, he eliminated several official government positions and consolidated power under himself, so that he could rule the country more directly. He considered himself a warrior and spent three decades of his reign engaging in warfare throughout Europe to expand France’s borders and the influence of French customs. This also included expanding the French colonial empire, and under his rule, France invaded and conquered land and peoples in Africa, Asia, and the Americas.
Louis XIV also limited the influence of the Pope in France and placed himself in charge of religion as well, so that nearly all aspects of life were directly under his control. Politically, he created an absolute monarchy and heavily emphasized the doctrine of the Divine Right of Kings to further legitimize his consolidation of power. With nearly all matters of state under his direct influence, his own reign was enduring but no one after him could maintain the sheer amount of responsibility that the King of France acquired. Louis XIV’s ambition to control all aspects of life directly paved the way for the downfall of France’s monarchy in the French Revolution. He effectively established himself as a tyrant.
King Louis XIV curated a very specific image of himself to align with his perception of his rule. He styled himself as “the Sun King”, making his image into that of Apollo, the Greek god of the Sun among other heroes and Hellenic deities to emphasize the might of his rule and power. In his effort to establish his court outside of Paris, where he disliked the aristocracy, he ordered the construction of the vastly opulent Palace of Versailles and moved his court there.
King Louis XIV had a Moon-Venus conjunction in Leo I, with Saturn opposing in Aquarius. The Sun in Virgo is averse to all three. The history of his reign shows the story of Leo I plays out as a cautionary tale. In his attempt to make France the most powerful and influential country in Europe, he also set it up for the destruction and downfall of everything he built. Saturn in the cardinal fourth house of legacy suggests that the impact of his rule and his actions would be enduring, which we see through the way he elevated the arts, especially ballet, and his construction of the Palace of Versailles.
One of his most famous quotes is “L’État, c’est moi” or “I am the state”. His determination to pursue glory over creating structures that supported the population and welfare of the citizens was ultimately an error of hubris. By the end of his reign, the state was in debt and that debt carried over until the French Revolution seventy or so years later. While his feats as King cemented his personal reputation and legacy, no successor could maintain what he established.
If we view Leo I as a mask, Louis XIV wore solar imagery to justify and reinforce his accumulation of power in such a way that he became the State, and removed restraints and limits to his own power. However, in doing so, he left his heirs in financial trouble that set them up for failure in the future. Perhaps this is the pitfall of Leo I, the promise of incredible power and success, but at the risk of a complete absolution of self, that cannot exist outside its role.
The Internal Struggle of Leo I
King Louis XIV makes an excellent example with his angular Moon and Venus in Leo I. The way his life so publicly exemplified the story of this decan is illustrated by those placements being in the cardinal whole sign tenth house. He lived out the story of the decan in a very public and visible way. The inner experience of a person is a little harder to capture.
To have this decan show up in a less actionable space brings a different type of story into the fold. I’d like to use myself as an example. I am a Sagittarius rising, with the ruler of my ascendant, Jupiter, at 4 degrees of Leo, conjunct with my Lot of Fortune at 0 degrees and South Node at 6 degrees. Leo is my whole sign ninth house, a cadent house. As a cadent, or less actionable space, Leo I as part of my ninth house story speaks to something invisible in my life, that is to say, my internal experience.
Before putting my efforts into astrology, I had a more public role in management, and the level of responsibility was extremely demanding. The weight of having so much under my direct influence became consuming, and I felt like my existence was constricted to this one role, and that was unsettling to me. Eventually, I was able to dismantle myself and bring in other people to take over my responsibilities.
My struggles with this type of power and visibility in Leo I are usually more internal. They are struggles within myself, battles of confidence and never feeling enough - not ready enough, not prepared enough – for whatever task has been set before me. I felt this way as a manager, and
I feel this way now as an astrologer. I want to present myself with the astrologer “mask” and step out into the spotlight with it, but I’m scared, so I hesitate.
I find marketing myself one of the hardest parts. There’s something that feels so unnatural to me about the marketing process, and I hate the idea of doing something that feels disingenuous. It’s not that I don’t feel competent as an astrologer. It’s that I feel some internal unworthiness and fear the criticism of others. I have a strong desire to be recognized, and to demonstrate what I can do with astrology, but I’m intensely conflicted by fears of the potential consequences. My natal Saturn is in its domicile Capricorn, but it's also averse to Leo, and that may contribute to making it difficult for me to muster up an inner sense of authority.
This fear is especially potent around social media, which feels like a type of stage, where we all shine a spotlight on ourselves. To promote myself as an astrology business feels like I’m establishing myself as an authority in a discipline that requires so much time and work to be an authority in. Anyone can establish themselves as an authority on something on the internet, and it seems like a force of personality can often reign over competence. At the same time, it feels not uncommon to see someone lose themselves as their “brand” grows and abandon the things they originally stood for. I feel that there’s a certain responsibility that comes with establishing oneself as an authority - a certain moral code of honor that comes with it - and I am well aware not everyone feels that way (I do have Jupiter in Leo I after all). For me, that moral code involves principles of integrity, kindness, fairness, wisdom, and bravery because those are the values that are important to me, and that I would want to spotlight in myself and others. I’m afraid that without this code, there’s the possibility of losing myself and finding myself consumed all over again.
If the secret to taming the wild, feral nature of Leo is the restraint and structure of Saturn, then I wonder if my fears and caution are a type of wisdom as much as they’re a crutch to the success that I sometimes feel impatient for. I don’t mind growing slowly and organically. The clash of the solar desire for recognition and weighing the responsibility that it carries is the Saturn rulership of the decan battling it out in my head and my heart. This feels like the strife and struggle so characteristic of this decan but navigated internally. Sometimes it feels like a stalemate, but taking slow and deliberate steps forward feels in natural alignment with the decan story, so for now I’ll carry on that way, optimistic, but with caution.
About the Author
Michelle Craft (she/her) is a practicing astrologer in the San Francisco Bay Area and has been practicing for about 2 years. Although she started her astrology journey with modern astrology, she fell in love with the Hellenistic tradition early on and now practices with a combination of Hellenistic and Medieval Islamicate techniques. She especially loves using astrology for predictive work and solar return techniques are her favorite! In addition to consults, she has written for Stormie Grace Astrology and writes for her blog. Michelle will also be giving a lecture with the SF Astrological Society in November 2024. You can learn more about her and her offerings at www.soulhealingwithmichelle.com.
Twitter / X: Crystalsoulheal
References
Coppick, Austin. 36 Faces. Three Hands Press, 2014. Pg. 121-123
BBC - History - Historic Figures: Louis XIV (1638-1715). 18 Feb. 2011, www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/louis_xiv.shtml.
“King Louis XIV, the Sun King.” Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies (CRRS) Rare Book Collection, crrs.library.utoronto.ca/exhibits/show/cardinalrichelieu/louis14. Accessed 5 July 2024.
“Looking Into the Sun King Louis XIV Dummies.” Dummies, 26 Mar. 2016, www.dummies.com/article/academics-the-arts/history/european/looking-into-the-sun-king-louis-x iv-201042.
“Louis XIV.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 7 July 2024, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XIV.
Olomi, Ali A. “Leo or Al Asad in Astrology from the Islamic World.” Head on History, Patreon podcast. 3 Aug. 2021.
Ryberg, Kira. The 36 Decans Guidebook. Self Published, 2024. Pg 185-186
As a native Saturn (and Venus) in Leo, you have gifted me with fresh insight. I am reminded so very much of the concept, "With great power comes great responsibility." Many thanks 🙏🏻
This was a great article, which I just found my inner Leo (2nd House) to wax effervescently about with a Restack and Note. (And no, I did not spell effervescently correctly on first try---thanks Grammarly!).
Anyway, I very much relate to what you were writing about in terms of the marketing and also how seriously you take the idea of putting yourself out there as an authority on the extremely deep topic of astrology. I'll have to dig into my natal chart to see if I can identify why that is, but it might be related to my Capricorn stellium (Mercury 0 degrees and Sun, Moon, and Jupiter with North Node between 14-18) in the 7th House.
Having said all of that, I want to say that if this article indicates your work, you're doing great in living up to your sense of integrity. The Cap in me loves to honor those with integrity!
Okay, keep up the good work. I learned a lot from this one and will follow you!