Leo III - Brave
By Paola Rodelas
When I’m not thinking about planets and transits, I’m working at a labor union. I’ve been doing this work for 11 years and was drawn to it because of my experience growing up in a working-class family, and then struggling in the workforce myself after graduating from college.
I’ve stayed in the labor movement for this long partly because of a 51-day hotel workers’ strike we organized in 2018.
I knew what a strike was in theory: a group of workers stop working to get their employer to meet their demands. Thousands of hotel workers did this in 2018 because the world’s largest hotel company was refusing their demands, even ones that would cost little to no money, like better protections for workers against sexual harassment from guests.
Seeing workers go on strike indefinitely showed me what a strike really means: every day, every one of these workers wakes up and decides whether to go without pay. And they’re trusting that their thousands of coworkers are making the same decision–because a strike won’t work if only one or a few workers do it.
Thousands of hotel workers sacrificed and went on strike until the company agreed to their demands 51 days later. The company went from refusing everything to giving the workers everything they wanted.
It called to question: what is worth fighting for? And am I willing to fight tooth and nail for it? This experience makes me reflect on the only planet in my natal chart in its own decan: my Mars at 24º of Leo.
The 3rd decan of Leo covers 20° to 30° of the sign. There are two different systems of rulership for the decans (listen to this podcast for an in-depth explanation). But both systems have Mars as the ruler of the 3rd decan of Leo. According to T. Susan Chang’s 36 Secrets, a Mars-ruled decan (like Leo III) almost always follows a Jupiter-ruled decan (like Leo II). Jupiter is expansion and Mars is severance. After growth comes pruning.
What are you willing to sacrifice and what do you hope to gain?
Tarot Cards Associated with Leo III
The 3rd decan of Leo is represented by the 7 of Wands in tarot. In the Rider Waite deck, the 7 of Wands depicts a person with a furrowed brow and scowling face holding a wand across their body as they face down six wands sticking out from below, presumably carried by unseen foes.
The card that precedes it, the 6 of Wands, shows a triumphant person on horseback with the laurel of victory and followers in the background. How did we get from victory to conflict?
Victory is always short-lived. Every win is followed by the fight to stay at the top. Champions stay champions by defending their titles.
The Major Arcana cards linked to Leo III are The Strength card (representing Leo) and The Tower card (representing Mars). These two combine neatly in the 7 of Wands as inner resilience and upheaval. Resilience comes from within – your courage, discipline, and drive – and shows up during turmoil.
What keeps you fighting–even when hope is lost, even when you feel betrayed or disappointed? Austin Coppock’s 36 Faces says of Leo III: “Those who walk this face must learn what is worth holding on to, and what is not.”
The 1st decan of Virgo follows Leo III, represented by the 8 of Pentacles. When looking at the 7 of Wands, it’s unclear whether it will end in victory or defeat. Either way, the 8 of Pentacles follows: you are rebuilding after a big fight, whether you won or lost. You are fine-tuning your skills, preparing for the next battle.
But when is it time to stop fighting?
The Sun rules Leo and is strongest in this sign. The Sun is our ego, individuality, and self-expression. Yet Coppock’s 36 Faces says that those with the Sun in Leo III “do not know when they have won the war, and do not understand when to remove their armor.”
Returning to the 7 of Wands, we don’t see the attackers, unlike other cards like the 5 of Wands and the 5 of Swords where all assailants are shown.
While the Sun may be strong in Leo, being in a Mars-ruled decan stokes its paranoia. It can be lonely at the top if everyone is an opp. And when we’re scanning the room for them, it can blind us from seeing when we are being our own worst enemy.
Be Brave
I have my Sun and Mars in Leo III. Going back to that 2018 hotel workers’ strike, it was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I was working 100-hour weeks for the first two weeks alone. And that didn’t compare to the sacrifice the striking workers were making.
Months before the strike, I qualified for the world powerlifting championships and was set to compete in November. The strike started in October. It was an indefinite strike, so I had no idea when it would end. But as the days passed and the championships drew closer, I grew more anxious. I had to decide whether I would travel to the competition or withdraw.
I worried I would disappoint someone regardless of what I decided (shoutout to my fellow Venus-ruled risings). I didn’t want to disappoint my coach, teammates, boss, coworkers, and the striking hotel workers. And I was equally worried that I would disappoint myself. I was not an elite powerlifter, nor did I ever aspire to be one. But I knew the world powerlifting championships were a once-in-a-lifetime experience. So was a massive hotel workers’ strike.
As someone with the Sun and Mars in Leo III closely trining Jupiter in Aries and Uranus in Sagittarius, I often have to quell my urge to do it all. But in this instance, it was worth it for me to do it all: I decided to travel overseas to compete in Las Vegas for one day, then return to the strike. Mars was in Aquarius exactly opposing my Leo Mars when I made this choice.
Despite the long hours working on the strike, I continued to train for the championships 8-10 hours per week. I did very well at the championships and got a personal record on my deadlift. I got to see my teammate win “Best Young Lifter”; she was the one who suggested I come to the championships even just for one day. I flew back to Hawai’i and went straight to a negotiation session between the hotel workers and the company.
When the strike ended triumphantly, I was inspired by the bravery of the hotel workers. If I was going to be asking workers to do incredibly scary things like go without pay indefinitely or stand up to their bosses, I had to be willing to do scary things, too. Talking to my boss about leaving for a day to compete in a powerlifting championship was a start. In the years that followed since then, I drew on this bravery to end my marriage, fix my finances, and leave Hawai’i to move to New York.
A friend shared a quote with me by author Cheryl Strayed (who has Mars at 27º of Leo):
“Be brave enough to break your own heart.”
I carry this very Leo III message in my heart through all the scary things. I hope it can be a treasure for you this Leo season and beyond.
For more Leo III content, listen to The Fixed Astrology Podcast episode I co-hosted on the decans of Leo.
About the Author
Pao (She / her) is an astrologer based in New York City. She practices traditional astrology, with a focus on natal, solar returns, electional, and horary. She co-hosted Fixed Astrology Podcast, which includes a series on the decans and the planetary joys. Her big 3 are: Leo Sun, Taurus Moon, and Taurus Rising. Pao’s other interests include crafting, powerlifting, writing, and the labor movement.
Twitter/X: Paostrology
Podcast: Fixed Astrology Podcast
References
Chang, T. S. (2021). 36 secrets: A decanic journey through the minor arcana of the tarot. Anima Mundi Press.
Coppock, A. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans.
Wow, great job Pao. Learning to choose our battles is a major professional lesson and I really appreciate the fascinating personal example. My father and I both have Jupiter here, and he was a union official while I was growing up. So I have first hand knowledge of the street fights it took for him to defend the brother/sisterhood. I wish more people had an understanding of how important the Labor movement was to the formation of a middle class in this country, so thank you for shedding some light in that regard