AUGUST 2017- MONTHLY HOROSCOPE FOR LEO

Hi all

After a brief break, we're back! 

Monthly updates continue with what promises to be a very very interesting month ahead. It is the year 2017 and in August, we see some spectacular celestial action. Big hugs and many many happy returns to Leos, the crowd favourites of this season and this year....for as we are about to see, this month is special. It has not been this special for a few years and some even say decades. 

What makes it so special, dear Leos and others, is the number of grand trines set to take center stage this month, and of course the eclipses that you would have heard about. 

I have a bad habit, I'm a Scorpio myself and simply can't help but see the veil drop. So here's me on what Leos really are. There's a really sweet story that I once read called the Emperor's new Clothes. In this story, there's an Emperor who declares that he will parade through his kingdom and in his imperial style, orders everyone to prepare for this most exquisite parade. 

In all the fuss, the Emperor runs out the door, with all this ministers and entourage behind him, all in place, except, he's butt naked! And through the parade, all the people bow down to him, and whisper and giggle amongst themselves, but no one, no one dares to tell the king he's naked, except for one boy, whom the king catches mid-giggles. When he questions him, the boy, he laughs out loud and tells the King that he's naked. 

Leos are assigned with imperial qualities, great generosity and magnanimity. Kings are born to rule, and its a pity that very few can really understand what that must entail for them. Endlessly boastful, endless songs of praise, selflessness to the point of dim wit, Leos are worshippers of the I. A colossal I, the size of Ozymandias, which I reprise here for your pleasure.

I met a traveller from an antique land,Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stoneStand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,Tell that its sculptor well those passions readWhich yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;And on the pedestal, these words appear:My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal Wreck, boundless and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.”

-PB SHELLY.

Madonna, a Leo Woman, has written in one of her songs, "... too blind to see the writing on the wall."She must have had an insight into her own weakness and vulnerability. This is important this particular month because celestially, there's something extremely soulful happening for Leos. 
On an individual level, the year, two eclipses forewarn Leos of something they must reckon with, a sense of equality and justice that all will seek, all have a right to seek, and eventually let go to the humble realization that the king is really in each one and the kingdom of peace, prosperity is really something each person must seek in himself and herself and its not about the Imperial Rule of one over many, but of the many over one. Leo's opposing sign Aquarius is about the all, if Leo is about 'I'. This year, a full moon eclipse in Aquarius on 7th August overshadows the I, and urges individualism to take a back seat while collectivism can show what its power can be. There may be many who do not yet know this. It is about owning the power to effect changes in one's own life and bring that generosity to work harder at making kings within. A king has enormous power to bring resources to whatever he wishes to do, to erect, to leave behind for his people. But is it inexhaustible? No. In this sense, Leo's opposing sign Aquarius holds the space for the king within, creates sources of power and what is seemingly inexhaustible using technology and inventions that could help the King's people enjoy the fruits of his vision for longer than his rule lasts. If Shelley persuaded us then to see the colossal wreck boundless and bare of the defeat of the king, of selfhood, of living for I, today, Shelley would revise his observations.  

Leos in Love
Leo is one sign that's completely at home in defining love in the plural, for a sign who is invested with so much of the I, of self hood, Leos are remarkably blindspotted, when it comes to love in the plural. Everyone who has every been with a Leo will agree that its a different rule book for them, and entirely other book when it comes to others. Leos somehow know that any other love is simply not even close to their love. And there is every truth to this. Anyone who has experienced the complete, playful love of a Leo always leaves them wiser than what they started with. While this is also true of Pisces, Leos are much more active and involved with every aspect of expressing their love, unlike Pisces who assumes a much more passive role in love. 

This month sees Venus in Cancer and Mars in Leo. Male leos, and generally most men should be feeling very amorous because Leo is a very flamboyant sign and with Sun and Mars both in Leo, they could feel extraordinarily hooked to their partners, or if single, very much busy on dates, looking for the perfect partner to lavish their attentions on. 
Venus in Cancer loves to be pampered, she loves to be comforted, and she appreciates someone who can intuit her moods, but she find that Mars with the Sun in Leo are rather occupied with affairs of the state, of people's welfare, of home and family. Venus in Cancer is rather lonely. Both Venus and Mars continue to rush to meet each other from August onwards till October this year, in the signs of Leo and Virgo, crossing the North Node of the moon, which helps them both find clarity of purpose and the way forward. 

Health and wellbeing 
This months, one word stands out: PAMPER yourselves Leos. Its time to throw out old patterns and habits that you really find so boring yourself and start something new. You know what must be done, enjoy doing it. Try exotic teas, foods, lose weight if you have to, get looking and feeling good. It'll help you make the most of something truly delicious that the universe has made for you. You are really the biggest winner this year, and if you can recognise this and be grateful for it, you will find that you have more power to do the things you love. 

Career
Leos, you are all on a career spike unlike any other time in your history, with benefic Jupiter in Libra sending lovely vibes through your career house. To add to this, Venus is in your second house of earned income, and you would have already received many monetary benefits from this transit of Venus, expect promotions, raises, contracts to be signed exactly as you've specified them, and sources of income to increase. Jupiter is exalted in Cancer and with Venus in Cancer, and Jupiter in Libra, which is ruled by Venus, you can expect everything in terms of money to move swiftly. Remember also, to make room for inspiration, to be moved by it, to take any action that your intuition tells you to do. 

If this month is really an inward focus, then coming up for you is a year a Jupiter through your 6th house of work and this will bring a lot of projects requiring vast resources, in sectors like mining, oil, fisheries and technology, because this is in the sign of Scorpio and it rules natural resources. The forth coming year will also involve digging, in a sense, deeper layers of your subconscious mind and is a fertile period to lay the groundwork for your biggest, grandest dreams.  

On the occassion of India's Independence Day, here, we take a moment to honour the struggle for independence which surely goes on in all our lives, on many levels. To reflect, what do we want to be free of, what do we want to be rid of, in our lives? 

Where would be rather be?

Let us take a moment, and reflect on this and breathe into a genesis of sorts, to birth new beginnings, and truly welcome the spirit of freedom, the simple and elegant freedom to be.  

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