It's Leo Season: Time to shine like the sun!

by Dianna Fontes
photo by Mike van de Los for Unsplash

“How can we fully embody our own Magical Gifts and Tools if we aren’t centered in our self”

As we step into the vibrant glow of Leo Season, we encounter the true power of The Sun. In Astrology, The Sun represents our ego, purpose, and heart light. It offers us the chance to embrace the power of the true SELF. The Lion’s Solar Season is a time for playfulness, creativity, and the dramatic expression of the SELF making this the purrrfect time to un/relearn what we know about self-care.

We hear a lot about practicing “self-care” thru the lens of the ‘Healing Industry’ but that is not what this article is about. This is a Magically SELF-focused article about how the oppressive forces surrounding all of us have intentionally blocked us from truly practicing SELF-care by keeping us afraid to be our true SELF. How could we ever truly care for our SELF if we don’t really know our true SELF? How can we fully embody our own Magical Gifts and Tools if we aren’t centered in our SELF? And, how could we ever insist that others be given the space to be their true SELF if we don’t really know how to do that for our SELF?

These are big questions and they’re such a lovely match for Leo Season, especially since this Leo is currently housing Venus, the planet of values, beauty, money, and integration. This is also a special time for Venus, as it is retrograde in the sign of Leo from now until October 7th. We’re strutting into a unique cycle that’s offering us powerful tools for peeling back the layers of patriarchy, capitalism, and whiteness from how we value our SELF and the SELF inside of others.

How can we un/relearn a more authentic way of being our true SELF? The first step is to acknowledge the truth about the system we are all living in. Our culture ultimately controls our expression of true SELF and while you may believe or experience otherwise it’s imperative that we continually examine the edges of how individuals are “allowed to” or “banned from” expressing their true SELF.

“No one is free until everyone is free.”

— Fannie lou hamer

We are all impacted by the ideals of patriarchy and the beauty standards of whiteness. We are all harmed by the systems of capitalism. If those statements make you uncomfortable or confused it’s best to start the journey to your SELF by unpacking these terms and understanding your reactions to them. It’s almost impossible to see how you’ve been harmed by a culture or a society if you can’t fully see how the system you reside in actually operates. If you need support with this unpacking process please reach out to a friend and discuss it. I am always happy to offer up resources or to listen with patience and compassion also. It’s hard for everyone to go thru the un/relearning process but we can do this faster if we hold each other up while we do it.

You can also check out some of my favorite resources:

Nap Ministry by Tricia Hersey

The Body Is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor

Interrupting Racism with Nikki BLAk

The Upstream Podcast

Do you feel you understand the roles these systems play in how you’re able to (or not able to) express your SELF? That’s great, the next step is to examine where the relationship you have with your SELF is rooted. During this magnified Venus Retrograde in Leo Season ask your SELF these questions:

Do I look the way I do because I want to or because I feel I have to?

Do I select things like hairstyle, make-up style, or clothing style because that’s what makes me feel comfortable and happy or is it because I want others to gaze upon me and have a positive reaction?

Do I express my SELF in an authentic and true way or am I often restraining my SELF; including quieting my joy, excitement, loud ass voice, or fashion choices because I want others to like me?

Do I feel comfortable expressing some parts of my SELF but not other parts? Why is this?

Do any of those hidden parts that I don’t express connect to any shame, embarrassment, or ridicule I’ve received from others, especially in childhood?

Do I believe the only way for ALL the parts of my SELF to be valid is for someone else to validate them?

Notice how you feel as you WeRK thru these questions. Finding the roots of SELF can be surprisingly difficult and this process may open portals that are painful. This is where leaning into the gentle sweetness commonly sold to us as “self-care” may be appropriate. Doing whatever you need to do to tend to your sore spots during this WeRK is encouraged. Gentle, tender self-care is often what we all need after we do our ShadowWeRK and that can be something as simple as a nature walk, a snack, or a nap.

And that’s a key part of finding your true SELF; doing your ShadowWeRK around where you need validation and acknowledgment from outside to feel whole and then giving your SELF some comfort without any guilt or shame for doing so. This system is uniquely designed to convince us all that we cannot truly love or validate our SELF. It tells us that validation must come from outside our SELF. It is also very, very good at telling us that taking true care of the SELF is selfish, indulgent, and wasteful.

What happens when you realize that you may be the only person who can really love or see YOU? Why isn’t that enough? Nikki Blak once told me we can never, ever really know everything about someone else, even the ones we love the most, and that was such a profound thought because we so often hear the message that this deep knowing is the goal of living and loving; to see others completely and to be seen wholly. But the reality is, that’s a trick to keep us chasing an imaginary carrot that will never exist. It’s also a distraction to keep us from the power that comes from knowing our SELF without concern for what others know about us.

AND even more power comes with letting everyone else do the same.

Imagine what we could do with all the time we’d have left over if we weren’t constantly seeking external validation and acceptance. What would you do with all the energy wasted constantly trying to measure and compare your faux self to others? What if there weren’t those impossible beauty standards to focus on? Oooof, we’d all be making beautiful things with that leftover time and space. We would be free to do whatever we want with our SELF and that is extremely powerful. Hopefully, we’d use some of that time for one of those walks or a longer nap!

And this isn’t to say that we’d be able to do whatever, whenever either. The limit around hurting others still exists so before that narrative starts playing in your head think about how much time you spend policing and judging others (we are all trained to do it). Another part of this WeRK is noticing when you’re upholding those impossible standards or worse when you’re expressing the Shadow side of Venus: jealousy, envy, or body shaming. Yikes! This WeRK is challenging y’all AND it’s also so much simpler than we think. It’s about how we express our SELF thru the things that the system tries to tell us are superficial (while also ferociously and endlessly marketing those things to our limbic system). That’s right, this is about things like fashion, hairstyles, makeup, and expressing the things you really, really like creatively.

How old were you when you got the message that you needed to fit in? How was that message delivered? With shame? With the fear of being an outcast or with the threat of violence? Think of how those who refused to conform were treated. It’s not superficial at all. How we express our SELF is extremely powerful and nothing screams that truth like the way pure SELF expression is being legislated and litigated as I type this. If there wasn’t power in controlling fashion and true self-expression this system wouldn’t care about it at all.

So, as you move thru Leo Season will you be reclaiming this power? Will you be seeking out ways to help others do the same? That’s the last, and most important step in this process; using your SELF power to reclaim SELF power for others too. This is extra important for those who feel like they do fully express their SELF already. Some may have always felt this empowerment and if that’s you then this is an invitation to examine how that connects to your privileges. If you’ve always felt safe and supported to truly express your SELF you are very lucky. That’s nothing to feel ashamed of; it’s also an opportunity to find ways to use that power and privilege to change the larger system and make room for those who have been most restricted in our culture.

Engaging in this reclamation process is an act of Sweet Disruption (aka: an opportunity to participate in destroying a toxic system but it’s sweet and fun!). When we become a collective of empowered people we can see real change in the oppressive systems that surround us. It may feel laughable to think that fashion, hair, and personal expression can have that big of a social impact but it could and, it really, really does.

As you move thru this Venus Retrograde in Leo cycle I hope you get closer to your SELF. Even better, I hope you find that magnificent creature called your SELF and you decide to decorate that little beastie as an act of pure, unadulterated rebellion against any and all oppression out there. That’s what a royal lioness would do after all. And don’t worry, Leo Season isn’t your only opportunity for doing this WeRK. If you find you want to go deeper into this process of SELF discovery every Astrological Sun Season has specific tools for that WeRK. Yes, Leo is uniquely focused on our SELF expression but Virgo Season will bring us SELF healing energy, Libra Season will bring us a chance to relate our SELF to the other SELFS out there, and so on. Living in the ‘Solar Cycle’ Astrology offers brings us so many Magical Gifts and Tools, the most valuable one being the connection between a healthy SELF and a thriving COLLECTIVE. Learning about your SELF thru Astrology can show you how you’re uniquely designed and how you can show up for the larger collective too.

Enjoy that Leo sunshine and know that you are already truly loved… by your SELF!

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It's Leo Season: Time to shine like the sun!

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