According to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the following tarot cards represent Leo:

• Strength (VIII in Smith-Waite deck; XI in original decks)
• King (or Prince) of Wands
• Five of Wands (Saturn in Leo)
• Six of Wands (Jupiter in Leo)
• Seven of Wands (Mars in Leo)

In this article, I’m going to give some traditional ideas about Leo, then three ideas I personally associate with Leo, and last I will give my interpretations of each tarot card.

Traditional Ideas about Leo

In her book The Only Astrology Book You’ll Ever Need, Joanna Martine Woolfolk describes Leo as “enthusiastic, powerful, expansive and creative, generous and extravagant, dogmatic and fixed in opinion.” (p. 28) She also describes the Sun, which is Leo’s ruling planet, as follows: “Center of our solar system, a star that burns with intense fire and supplies us with light, heat, and energy. In astrology, the Sun is the most powerful planetary influence, bestowing vitality and authority.” (p. 28)

In his fifth lecture on Astrotheology, Manly P. Hall says that Leo represents the vices of pride and forcefulness, and the virtues of vitality and gentleness. Echoing Woolfolk, Hall also describes the Sun as “the sign of energy.” He then clarifies that, while this energy by itself is neither Good nor Evil, we can use this energy in Good or Evil ways. For example, we can build a nuclear power plant to energize a city, or we could build a nuclear bomb to destroy a city. In order to use this energy for Good, he says we must never force or pressure others into obeying our will. Like the maiden who binds the lion’s jaws with her handkerchief, we must use “gentleness” instead of “force.” Elaborating on this point, Hall says, “…nothing that is Good shall ever be attained by force. The moment you use force, the force becomes Evil. Yet it is life without force, energy without pressure, action without aggression—these are the secrets that the ancients tried to tell us must be conquered and mastered and understood by the soul…” (1:26:39) I am reminded of aphorism 146 of Friedrich Nietzsche’s Beyond Good and Evil: “He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster.” Leo provides us with the energy to do Good in the world, but if we are not conscious and careful about our choices, we can trick ourselves into doing Evil in the name of Good.

Teaching from an esoteric astrology standpoint, William Meader said in his blog and lecture at the Theosophical Society that Leo’s apparent “extraversion” really stems from a deeper, more fundamental drive, which is to answer the question, “Who am I?” He says Leo is about our never-ending search for the true identity at the center of their being—our “Sun center.” When an extraverted person gets recognition from other people, they think, “Oh, this must be who I am because this is what everybody loves!” Meader says that the big surprise of Leo is that there’s not one, but two lions! The first is the lower Lion of the Personality which often relies on its physical environment in order to validate itself, seeking both control of and adoration from the world around it. However, the second lion is the higher Lion of the Soul which “is all about standing in one’s authenticity—without inflation (which would be egoism) or deflation (which is diminished self-esteem).” (36:12) To help understand this, I personally contemplate on the metaphor of an acorn. An acorn is a tiny little seed that’s maybe an inch long, yet it’s capable of growing into a gigantic oak tree that is 50 to 100 feet tall. The current state of the acorn—of the seed—can be thought of as its Personality, while the dormant potential of the massive oak tree within itself can be thought of as its Soul. The goal of the acorn is to allow the oak tree to grow out of it. In Leo, we must learn to identify, not only as the acorn, but also as the oak tree. I believe that, once we learn to identify as both our personality and our soul, we begin to unlock the energy and vitality of the Sun center of our beingness.

One last thing Meader talks about is how Leo represents the power of “will.” He says this “will” expresses itself in three ways. The first is the “will to be,” which is allowing for the authentic expression of our Soul nature. The second is the “will to lead,” whether it is literally leading others in an organization or even just being an example for what authentic living looks like. The last is the “will to illumine.” Most of the zodiac signs share planetary rulers—both Gemini and Virgo are ruled by Mercury, both Taurus and Libra are ruled by Venus, and so on. However, Leo is the only zodiac sign that is ruled by the Sun. Not only that, but according to esoteric astrology, the Sun is both Leo’s lower ruler and higher ruler. Since the Sun is the primary source of light for our solar system, that makes Leo the sign of illumination. Richard Rohr in his book “The Universal Christ” said, “We must remember that ‘light’ is not-so-much something we see, as much as something by which we see.” Thus Leo is a sign of teaching and education, for its illumination helps others to see.

Now that I’ve touched on some traditional ideas, let’s move on to the ideas I personally associate with Leo.

Concept #1: Attention As A Nutrient

As established above, Leo is traditionally associated with the Sun, and therefore Light and energy. Following this train of thought, I personally associate the Sun with the idea of attention and awareness, because even our language frequently links the idea of “awareness” with “light.” For example, when we are unaware of something, we say we are “kept in the dark.” When we become aware of something, we say it has been “brought to light.” (I’m reminded of “The Blues Brothers” scene where Jake “sees the light” and becomes aware that he’s gotta get the band back together.) In fact, the ancient Sanskrit root “bha” which means “to shine” was eventually brought into ancient Greek as the word “phainein” which means “to bring to light.” This Greek root “phainein” is incorporated into modern English words such as “phenomenon,” “phantom,” “photography,” “emphasis,” and “hierophant”—all of which have to do with revealing or becoming aware of something.

Since the word “consciousness” is defined by the Oxford dictionary as “the state of being awake and aware of one’s surroundings,” the Sun can be associated with the idea of consciousness itself, while the shadowy Moon can represent all of those mysterious “unconscious” forces that are still very much alive but exist outside of our awareness. Going one step farther, I personally associate this Sun rulership with the idea of the observing self, as described by Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. This is the idea that we are not our thoughts or feelings, but rather the “observer” that witnesses our thoughts and feelings. By learning to identify as the one who “observes” our thoughts and feelings, instead of being those thoughts and feelings, we provide ourselves with the opportunity to allow that “observing self” to decide our behavior instead of our thinking self or emotional self.

In our modern age of the Internet and social media, it is said that “attention is the new currency.” Platforms everywhere are fighting to keep us glued to their app or website for as long as possible so they can generate ad revenue. Mark Tyrrell of Uncommon Practitioners says that the psychological definition of a “trance” is “a state of locked attention.” This means that anytime we are scrolling social media, or watching TV, or responding to an email, or in a fit of anger ready to kick someone’s ass, we are in a trance state. In all of those situations, our attention becomes narrowed and focused onto one particular thing. Because we live in a society that provides a tremendous monetary incentive for trance-inducing content, our attention is currently one of our most precious resources. Thus, the heroic Leo in its most virtuous and valiant form becomes the hero who has total conscious control of their attention and awareness, who is not tricked into trance states, but who decides from their own inner nature which trances to enter into and which to avoid.

Going one step further Human Givens theory describes attention as a nutrient, no different than vitamin C or iron. They say that, at a biological level, every human being possesses an emotional need to “give and receive attention,” and if we do not satiate this need, we become malnourished and sick. This is why children are always seeking attention from other people—because attention is a nutrient essential to their development. This is also why a child who grows up in a neglectful environment develops issues, because the child is literally malnourished. Thus, the illuminating sign of Leo can remind us to be conscious of how we give and receive attention, for attention is a vital nutrient of all Human Life. I am reminded of the Carl Jung quote, “Loneliness does not come from having no people about one, but from being unable to communicate the things that seem important to oneself, or from holding certain views which others find inadmissible.” Said another way, no matter how many people have around us, we will still feel lonely if those people don’t pay attention to things that you feel are important.

Human Givens theory specifically calls out the importance of the exchange of attention. Attention must be a two-way street. In his book New Ways of Seeing, Mark Tyrrell says we can think of our relationships with others like a bank account. If you were to only take money out of your bank account and never put any money in, your bank would cut you off its relationship with you because there’s an imbalanced exchange going on. Sometimes, we have people in our life like this, who consistently absorb attention from us, yet never give any attention back to us. They regularly take attention of our account, but rarely put any attention back into it. In Leo, we can shine a light onto our relationships and do an audit of our attention accounts. If we find we have people in our life who are taking far more attention from us than they give back, then we can use the fiery will of Leo to stand up for ourselves. In order to do this both effectively and respectfully, I would recommend checking out Mark Tyrrell’s ASSA approach to establishing boundaries (as I mention in the 3 of Cups of my Cancer article) and Marshall Rosenberg’s Nonviolent Communication (as I mention in Concept 3 of my Gemini article).

Lastly, the extravagant and extroverted sign of Leo is often associated with confident people who like being the center of attention. However, as I mentioned above, the Light of the Sun is not so much something we see, as much as something by which we see. In its most noble aspect, Leo lights up not to reveal itself, but to reveal the world around itself. This concept works hand-in-hand with Brendan Bouchard’s ideas on how to develop confidence. In his Audible audiobook The 6 Habits of Growth, Bouchard says that we often think that someone who is “confident” is someone who can command the room and express themselves freely and powerfully. However, instead of focusing on ourselves, he says a great way to build confidence is to focus on other people, and to ask them questions about what’s important to them. Bouchard references the quote by Frederick L. Collins which says: “There are two types of people—those who come into a room and say, ‘Well, here I am!’ and those who come in and say, ‘Ah, there you are.’” When we stop worrying about what we bring to the table, and instead become curious about what others are bringing to the table, Dr. Benjamin Hardy says we become “interested more than interesting.” With Leo, we have a choice—we can be the Light that people see, or we can be the Light that makes people feel seen.

Concept #2: Let Your Future Self Lead

As William Meader talked about in his esoteric astrology lecture, Leo is driven by the fundamental desire to understand one’s own identity. In Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s book Be Your Future Self Now, he talks about how our identity must not only consist of our past, but of our future. In psychology, this field of research is called “prospective psychology.” Since the word “prospect” comes from the Latin roots “pro” meaning “forward” and “specere” meaning “to look at” (like “spectacles”), prospective psychology could be thought of as the study of what we look forward to. Whereas the majority of psychological study has been focused on how a human’s past experiences—like childhood trauma or parental upbringing—influence present attitudes and behaviors, prospective psychology is about how our ideas about the future influence our present attitudes and behaviors.

Dr. Victor Frankl has a famous quote that goes like this: “So live as if you were living already for the second time and as if you had acted the first time as wrongly as you are about to act now!” In other words, imagine you already lived your entire life, and you screwed it up big time. Then imagine that, while you’re laying on your deathbed, a magic genie or fairy godmother or something came to you and said, “Well, you sure made a mess of things! I’m gonna give you one more chance to go back and do it right this time.” Then, they transported you back in time to this exact moment, right now. If you gave this thought experiment a try and truly believed that you are actually your “deathbed” self transported back in time to this current body, what would you do differently? In Be Your Future Self Now, Dr. Benjamin Hardy tells the moving story of how this quote inspired him. He was in his 30s at the time and, instead of imagining himself on his deathbed, he imagined himself 20 years in the future, when he would be 50-something years old. He wondered what Benjamin in his 50s would want to do if he got a chance to be Benjamin in his 30s again. He then drove home, saw his 3-year-old daughter waiting for him at the front door, and got tears in his eyes. She’s 23 years old in his future! After playing with her in the front yard, he goes on to describe how he was able to appreciate his entire family in a totally new way—one that was much more “I am so grateful for this moment with you” rather than “did you do your homework yet?” The moral here is that, by choosing to identify with our future self, we become more aware of the temporality of life, and it becomes easier for us to appreciate the blessings that are right in front of us.

On top of being more appreciative, identifying with our future self brings more clarity over our current actions and decisions. This is summarized by 50 Cent and Robert Greene in their book The 50th Law where they say: “It is a law of power, however, that the further and deeper we contemplate the future, the greater our capacity to shape it according to our desires… If you have a long-term goal for yourself, one that you have imagined in detail, then you are better able to make the proper decisions in the present. You know which battles or positions to avoid because they don’t advance you towards your goal.” (source) Hardy elaborates on this idea by saying that the further out and the more clear our future self is, the more power it has to change our behavior in the present. In other words, if we imagine a “future self” 30 days into the future, it will influence our present actions, but not as much as a “future self” that is 30 years into the future. Also, if our future self looks exactly like our present self but older, then our daily behavior will not change; but if our future self has a set of accomplishments and experiences totally different than our present self, then that future self can hold a tremendous influence over our daily behavior.

One of the main goals of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was said to be helping initiates discover and unite with their Holy Guardian Angel, commonly referred to nowadays as the HGA. The idea of the HGA is similar to the idea of our Higher Self, although it is different in the sense that the HGA is thought of as a being that is totally separate from ourself… like a spiritual entity who is unique to you and you alone, and who will become your partner-in-crime in this incarnation if you let it. According to this metaphor, your current self is like Sleeping Beauty—a princess who is asleep, unconscious, and ignorant to her authority in the Universe—and your Holy Guardian Angel is like the Prince whose kiss wakes you up out of this slumber. Only after this “true love’s first kiss” can your Prince become a King of the Cosmos, and you become a Queen of the Cosmos. I believe this idea of the Holy Guardian Angel and the Future Self are similar in that, both represent a total reframing of our sense of identity in order to allow the highest aspect of our Self to lead us. Manly Hall describes this as supporting the best within ourselves, for it is only from this “best” self that we can truly integrate our psyche and get the many parts of our self to work in harmony toward a common goal. It is a lost cause to try and force the Earth to become the center of the solar system; instead, we must recognize and allow our Sun center to use the solar system of our self.

I’ll finish this concept with one last thought. Humans are monkeys. Just as monkeys learn by imitating other monkeys, humans learn by imitating other humans. However, humans also have this amazing resource called “an imagination.” Because of this imagination, we can not only imitate the forms we physically see in the external world, but we can also imitate the forms we mentally see in our internal psychic world. With Leo, we must imagine the absolute best possible version of ourself, then imitate them. By doing this, we not only become authentic versions of ourselves, but we also serve as a visible and tangible role model for other people in the physical world. In his recent episode with RamDev, Duncan Trussell mentioned how the job of a “guru” is not necessarily to teach you how to become enlightened, but to give you the experience of meeting someone who has become enlightened themselves. He said that once a student meets a guru, then the student realizes that this level of humanity is possible, and the guru’s job is done. It’s then the job of the student to discover their own path to that level of human development. With Leo, we must become an example for how to live, rather than tell others how to live. As St. Francis said, “Preach always. Use words if necessary.” As Rev. Howard Thurman said, “Don’t ask yourself what the world needs, ask what makes you come alive, because the world needs people who’ve come alive.”

Concept #3: Resurrect The Christ Vitality

In the Qabalistic Tree of Life, the Sun is associated with the center Sephira Tiphareth, which in turn associates it with ideas like Christ consciousness, Buddha consciousness, the Holy Guardian Angel, and the Higher Self. Since the Sun rises anew every morning bringing light to a dark world, it has long symbolized rebirth, rejuvenation, awakening, and enlightenment. (This is also why the rooster is a sacred symbol in some spiritual traditions, such as upon the head of Abraxas—because roosters greet the new Sun with a loud crow that helps wake everyone else up too. Both the rooster and the Bodhisattva Vow of Mahāyāna Buddhism are focused on not just awakening themselves, but awakening others.) Since the Sun sets each evening, it also has an element of self-sacrifice and death in its symbolism. In ancient Egyptian mythology, it was said that the Sun journeyed through the underworld—the land of the dead—before it rose again in the morning. Thus, in its totality, the Sun symbolizes the dying and resurrecting God—a motif found throughout many religions.

In his book The Universal Christ, Richard Rohr points out something that people sometimes forget: the word Christ is a title—not Jesus’s last name. In fact, the Gospel of John alludes to the idea the “Christ” existed long before Jesus was ever born. Rohr writes:

“…the Christ mystery specifically applies to thingness, materiality, physicality. I do not think of concepts and ideas as Christ. They might well communicate the Christ mystery, as I will try to do here, but Christ—for me—refers to ideas that have specifically ‘become flesh.’ (John 1:14)”

Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ (Audiobook, Chapter 1 5:38)

Rohr makes the case that, when the spirit of God first said, “Let there be light,” and the world became visible for the first time, that holy light embedded itself within the fabric of all matter. He says that, throughout the New Testament, sometimes Jesus is talking, and sometimes this holy light is talking through Jesus—which we call “the Christ.” When Jesus talks, he says things from the standpoint of a human being living in the physical world, but when the Christ talks, it says things from the standpoint of the divine light pouring out through physical matter. Rohr argues that when Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” we are not supposed to interpret that as “This guy Jesus is the light of the world” because it was the Christ speaking—not Jesus. From the standpoint of the Christ, we can interpret that saying as, “I am the holy light embedded within the physical world.” Rohr calls this belief, not “pantheism” which says that the universe is God, but “panentheism” which says that God lies within all things and also transcends them. (This kind of reminds me of how FM radio waves can be found both inside you and all around you.) The “good news” of the Gospels is not that Jesus—the human—arrived on the scene like some sort of superhero to save the select few who go to church on Sunday and who abstained from sex until marriage. The “good news” is that the Christ is hidden within all matter, including ourselves, and it is slowly waking up in all things. The “good news” is that we can be saved, we can attain salvation of our souls, if we just let go of our ego and allow the Christ within us to express itself through us. As Jesus said in the Gospel of Thomas, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”

The idea of “light” is associated with enlightenment and awakening. Both enlightenment and awakening represent radical transformations of who we are. Think about the radical transformation that happens when you wake up from a dream. It’s as if you suddenly teleport from a confusing world of vague people and weird situations, to an objectively concrete world consisting of definitive and undeniable truths such as, “I am lying in my bed right now.” Just as the physical light of the Sun wakes us up from our dreams and causes a radical transformation of who and where we think we are, the spiritual light of God also wakes us up and causes radical transformation of who and where we think we are. Once we wake up from our sleep and realize who we really are, we become revitalized, rejuvenated, and reinvigorated, as if we’ve completed the electrical circuit between our inner Christ and our outer World. We awaken to our authentic divine nature. Leo, in its highest aspects, represents people in the physical world who allow this Christ vitality to lead, both themselves and others. Leo represents humans who have become Suns, who have awakened and who awaken, who act as proactive agents guiding others toward the next stage of human evolution where “…the World shall awake out of her heavy and drowsy sleep, and with an open heart, barehead, and bare-foot, shall merrily and joyfully meet the new arising Sun.” (Fama Fraternitatis)

Tarot Card Interpretations

Keeping in mind these traditional and new ideas, here’s some of my personal interpretations of each of the Leo tarot cards.

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Strength (VIII in Smith-Waite tarot; XI in original tarot)

In the Hermetic Qabalah, the Strength card sits on the path between the fourth sephira Chesed and the fifth sephira Geburah. According to Dion Fortune, Chesed represents the principle of construction and support, while Geburah represents the principle of destruction and opposition. She says that the center sephira Tiphareth, which represents our Soul and Higher Self, stands at a pivotal mediating position upon the tree. Below it are the “forms” of the universe and above it are the “forces” of the universe. Since the Strength card bridges both the constructive and destructive forces of the universe, it represents the energy that flows through and empowers both. This energy is often associated with the Hindu idea of the Kundalini. I am far from a Kundalini expert, but here’s some key ideas from what I’ve read. The word “Kundalini” comes from the Sanskrit word meaning “coiled snake,” which makes me think of the charged potential energy of a snake right before it jumps out to strike—like a coiled “compressed spring” which will convert its potential energy into actual energy as soon as the resistance is lifted. Similarly our Kundalini represents our energy sleeping in the base of our spine—at our root chakra—and when it is unleashed, it unlocks an incredible amount of energy (or Strength) within us. The Strength card has been associated with this Kundalini energy. It is a power that comes from deep within ourselves, instead of our environment.

While the ordering constructive principle of Chesed and disordering destructive principle of Geburah both exist on the same horizontal axis of the Qabalistic tree, I believe it is fruitful to remember that the destructive principle emanates out from the constructive principle. Contemplating this, I arrive at two insights about the Strength card. The first is that often times people are not causing disorder just for the sake of disorder, but so that a new order can take its place. It’s not that people are “anti-order.” They’re “pro-order”—just not “pro- this current order.” This is something I learned from John Dewey in his book Experience and Education when he wrote, “Most everyone believes some form of social control is necessary. Even the theoretical anarchist who wants to completely dismantle the government, wants it so because he believes other ‘more normal’ modes of control would take their place.” (p. 52) Thinking along this line, one message of the Strength card can be that you, as an agent of God, have the authority to get rid of the forms in your Life which are not conducive to your growth. However, you must also be conscious of what new forms you want to grow in their place. You must have a constructive end goal behind your destruction, otherwise you may become intoxicated by the madness of your soul’s destructive nature and do things you will regret—like Hercules killing his wife and child in a fit of madness.

The second insight of the Strength card is that, since the destructive principle emanates out from the constructive principle, then this means that the principle of construction and love is ultimately larger and more powerful than the principle of destruction and hate. Manly Hall once said that Good is always stronger than Evil because, although Evil may be more powerful and controlling in this moment, Evil always devours itself in the long run. When Lifeforms act out of a place of Goodness, they collaborate with each other and build up a collective being that is beneficial to all and greater than the sum of their parts—like how our current state of consciousness is the result of 37 trillion cells all collaborating with each other. On the other hand, when Lifeforms act out of a place of Evilness, they compete with each other with the goal of stealing each others resources to keep for themselves, which creates an environment where its only a matter of time before their own resources are stolen.

When we pull the Strength card, we can use this as an opportunity to redefine what it means to be “strong.” We often associate “strength” with someone who can powerfully control the world around them, who can get the world to bow down before them. However, as Carl Jung wrote in The Red Book, “Mighty is he who loves. But whoever distances himself from love, feels himself powerful.” In the 8th episode of Steven Universe: Future, Steven’s friend Lapis Lazuli faces off with two mean alter-egos of herself who are hell-bent on destroying the world around them. Lapis eventually explodes on them and takes them down. After they surrender, one of the alter-egos says, “After that ridiculous show of strength, we’ll do anything you say!” Lapis gets angry and shouts at them, “That wasn’t strength—that was weakness! Restraint takes strength! Patience takes strength!” Ultimately, the Strength card can teach us that strength does not always mean forcing the world to obey our will, but restraining ourselves from the unnecessary imposition of our will. It takes strength to put the spatula down and allow the food to cook, instead of constantly stirring and poking at it. It takes strength to only offer advice when asked. It takes strength to listen when you want to talk. It takes strength to give others the dignity to follow their own path, even if you think it will lead to their demise—for as Carl Jung said, “A sad demise in dignity is better than an ill-dignified healing.” It takes strength to be your authentic self, and even more strength to allow others to be their authentic selves.

The last thing I’ll mention about the Strength card is that it often features the image of the Maiden and the Lion. The Maiden is said to be the feminine Soul, and the Lion is said to be the masculine Ego. This symbolism can be related to the Hindu Goddess Durga, the warrior goddess who rides atop a lion or tiger, and who is most commonly shown slaying the demon Mahishasura. While her feline is portrayed as vicious and aggressive, Durga’s face is always shown as calm and serene because she only destroys in order to empower creation and liberate from oppression. In other words, Durga’s conscience is clean—she is acting out of a place of love instead of hatred or fear. Similar to this theme, the Strength card can represent a total integration of our assertive nature (what Jung calls the “animus”) and our receptive nature (what Jung calls the “anima”). Without our assertive nature, we will not have the courage or audacity to impose change into the world, and without our receptive nature, we will not know what change to impose in the world. The Strength card represents the indestructible fortitude and inexhaustible energy that grows from the place where our Justice meets our Love, where our Severity meets our Mercy, where our Flail meets our Crook, and where our Values meet our Actions.

King (or Prince) of Wands

The King (or Prince) of Wands represents “airy fire” which can be interpreted as “transparent motivation” among many other things. Joe Monteleone, the amazing teacher over at the Tarot Mysticism Academy whose Level 2 class inspired me to start this blog in the first place, associates the King or Prince cards with more mass interactions between you and a group of people, whereas the Queen cards represent interpersonal one-on-one interactions between you and one other person. Keeping this in mind, I would say the King of Wands is the court card of leadership. This card does not say to stand back and let someone else do this, but to become the leader toward the change. However, we must remember that this is the illuminating solar leadership of Leo leading the charge, not the fiery Mars leadership of Aries who does what they believe is right regardless of other people. Leo incorporates other people into its leadership style.

When we pull the King of Wands, it is a good time to reflect on two questions:

1.) “What is my true motivation behind cause I am advocating for?”
2.) “How can I be the best leader toward this cause?”

Before we can advocate for a cause, we should truly understand our honest motivation behind the cause, otherwise we may end up pursuing the wrong cause for the wrong reasons. Also, until we understand our motivations for pursuing a cause, it will be difficult to know how to motivate others toward the cause. The airy King represents our rational linguistic mind while the fiery Wands represent our deepest drives at the core of our nature. This card represents a good time to journal and communicate with others about what motivations we believe are at the core of our cause. If the motivation is pure enough, then it can be inspired in others as well.

In order to become a great leader, I highly recommend reading and contemplating on Lao Tzu’s Tao te Ching. It is full of leadership advice. For example, Chapter 17 says the following:

“The Highest type of ruler is one of whose existence the people are barely aware.
Next comes one whom they love and praise.
Next comes one whom they fear.
Next comes one whom they despise and defy.
When you are lacking in faith, others will be unfaithful to you.
The Sage is self-effacing and scanty of words.
When his task is accomplished and things have been completed,
All the people say, ‘We ourselves have achieved it!’”

Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching, Chapter 17

In other words, the best leader is the one who uses their light to illumine the cause instead of themselves, who is more concerned with bringing about the change rather than getting credit for the change. With the King of Wands, we can be “scanty of words” and focus on speaking through our actions. In Matthew 21:28, Jesus says he prefers the son who says they will not work the vineyard but then does, over the son who says they will work the vineyard but then does not. In other words, your physical actions are much more important than your words. When delivering a message, let your flesh be the text for others to read.

Here’s another passage from the Tao te Ching:

“A good soldier is never aggressive;
A good fighter is never angry.
The best way of conquering an enemy
Is to win him over by not antagonizing him.
The best way of employing a man
Is to serve under him.
This is called the virtue of non-striving!
This is called using the abilities of men!
This is called being wedded to Heaven as of old!”

Lao Tzu, Tao te Ching, Chapter 68

This chapter resonates with what Manly Hall said about Leo. We must learn to cause change without force, to assert ourselves without aggression, and to use our energy without inflicting harm. When we pull the King of Wands, we can reflect on all of these things.

Five of Wands

The Five of Wands is composed of 4 building blocks:

• Five as Geburah (Mars), representing heroism and conflict.
• Wands as Fire, representing motivation and self-transformation.
• Saturn, representing form and restriction.
• Leo, representing leadership and authenticity.

In the Five of Wands, there’s a struggle. It has the fiery and active components of Wands, Mars, and Leo, but these are all going up against the restrictive and limiting Titan Saturn. There is a lot of fire in this card and it wants to shine bright, but Saturn acts like a blackhole that eats up all of the light. This card says, “You can do it, but it won’t be easy.” However, do not be disheartened, because the strongest steel is forged by the hottest fires. There are two universal experiences which can cause radical transformation of a person: Great Love, and Great Suffering (or Great Challenge). From slight challenge comes slight growth. From tremendous challenge comes tremendous growth. This card says that, while this may be an incredibly difficult obstacle, it may also be one of your most transformative experiences yet. You make feel overwhelmed and disheartened by the distance between you and your goal, so you can combat this in two ways. The first is to remember to judge yourself against who you were yesterday, and not other people. As long as you are growing, then you are winning. The second is to take time near the end of each day to reflect on and integrate the small wins you’ve experienced each day.

Since this challenge is going to require so much moral stamina and determination, it is a good time to reflect on what exactly you are trying to accomplish and why exactly you are trying to accomplish it. What is the emotional need that you are striving to satiate? Be honest with yourself about your motivations behind this adventure, because if your Soul is not 100% behind you on this mission, then chances are you will be crushed by the obstacles ahead. Only the pure of heart will be able to pull this sword from the stone.

Once you’ve determined that your heart is in the right place, one tool that may be able to help you overcome the challenges ahead is to recognize that the “willpower” of Mars is actually “mind power”—this is why Geburah is situated on the left pillar between Hod and Binah. This is something I first learned from Joe Rogan’s conversation with Steven Pressfield. Here’s Joe’s exact quote:

“…physical activity is mental activity. You just don’t think of it that way because your mind is forcing your body to do the work… You think of it as being physical, brute, grunt work for cave men, but the reality is, it’s the mind that forces the body to do that, and you must have a strong mind in order to get that done. So a strong mind is not just one that can do calculus. A strong mind is not just one that can write books. A strong mind is one that controls the body and all of its inherent weaknesses and all of its inherent urges to be lazy and sedentary and self-destructive. That’s a strong mind.”

Joe Rogan, #1901 – Steven Pressfield, around 2:22:22

We are composed of a mental brain self that thinks thoughts, as well as an emotional heart self that feels feelings. Sometimes, our brain needs to listen to our heart. However, the reverse is also true—sometimes our heart needs to listen to our brain! Otherwise it would be a one-way relationship where one person does all of the talking and the other only listens. With this obstacle, you may feel as if you can’t do it, or you don’t want to do it. Your Venusian emotional self may be screaming, “I am scared for you! Putting yourself out there like this sounds dangerous! What if people laugh at you?” However, your Martian assertive self can say, “I hear you, and I honor your loving concern for our safety, but I know this cause is just and worth fighting for, so we are going to do it anyways.” Willpower IS mindpower, and mindpower is the force that lets you decide, “Okay! Time to get off the couch and get to work!” We can’t let this Martian mindpower aspect rule our life 100% of the time, but we also can’t let it rule our life 0% of the time. When you pull the 5 of Wands, maybe it’s time to give your mind some power back.

The last thing I’ll say about the 5 of Wands is that, since Saturn represents restrictions, obstacles, challenges, and limitations, perhaps we can work with that energy and ask ourselves, “What can we remove from our life in order to make this whole project a little easier? How can we simplify in a way that increases our power?” The 80/20 rule says that 20% of our work gives us 80% of our results, so what can we remove from our life in order to focus on that 20%? Along with that, in Qabalah, Saturn is associated with Binah which represents the formative principle. If Chokmah is the Divine Father who acts as the spirit and inspiration behind Life, then Binah is the Divine Mother who encapsulates that spirit into Lifeforms. Chokmah is the force of Life, Binah is the form of Life. Thus, if we want to work with this formative nature of Binah, perhaps we should focus on creating a physical form of some kind—whether it is a book, a work of art, a video, a song, or a structure. Or, it could even be a more abstract form, like a social structure within a company or a community. Chokmah represents the spoken word, and Binah represents the written word. While the spoken word is ephemeral and can only be heard by people near you while you are speaking, the written word is much more permanent and can be read by people thousands of years after you have died. Thus the written word is a way to imprint our consciousness into the material world so that its impact is felt long after our physical being dies and disintegrates back into the cosmic energy field. Throughout this challenge, consider the question, “What form will I leave behind after all of this is said and done?”

Six of Wands

The Six of Wands is composed of four building blocks:

• Six as Tiphareth (Sun), representing awareness and the Higher Self.
• Wands as Fire, representing motivation and self-transformation.
• Jupiter, representing construction and organization.
• Leo, representing leadership and authenticity.

Here we find another card of powerful leadership, just like the King of Wands. With the Wands fiery motivation, the Sun’s noble illumination, and Leo’s authentic leadership, this card encourages us to become the change we want to see in the world. With both Leo and its ruler the Sun found in the same card, the 6 of Wands tells us to pay close attention to what we pay attention to. Recognize your trance states, which psychology defines as ANY state of locked attention—whether you’re in a trance watching TV, scrolling through social media, or writing an email. The point isn’t to avoid trances, but to be conscious of which trances you allow yourself to fall into. Is your attention being directed to things deemed important by your own soul? Or is your attention being directed to things deemed important by environmental forces, such as family members or social media algorithms? In mass media research, there’s an idea called “Agenda Setting Theory” that says mass media—such as propaganda, news, advertisements, and so on—may not be able to tell you what to think, but they can tell you what to think about. For example, the news may not be able to convince you how to feel or think about Kid Rock shooting at cases of Bud Light, but it can get you thinking about it—in order to pay attention to one thing, you always must stop paying attention to everything else. The 6 of Wands tells us that we must be vigilant in our ability to set our own agendas, instead of allowing the environment to set them for us. We set agendas from the authentic center of our own highest soul nature, then our soul is invested in the fight and becomes an ally. Our soul gets behind the cause and becomes a bottomless well of vitality which we can draw energy from as we work to change the world.

An interesting influence in the 6 of Wands that helps to distinguish it from the King of Wands is Jupiter. Jupiter is associated with the sephira Chesed in the Qabalistic tree of life, and according to Rick Stewart of the “Kabbalah, Qabalah, and Cabala study” Facebook group, Chesed is considered the ultimate expression of the human as a created being. Chesed is centered around concepts such as mercy, love, reception, openness, construction, and values. Because of this, the 6 of Wands is a good time to ask, “What are my values that I want to adhere to as I fight for this cause?” Sometimes, we let the ends justify the means. The Jupiter in this card begs us to reflect upon, not just what we want to accomplish, but who we want to be while we accomplish it. Its loving and receptive nature reminds us that a true benevolent leader listens more than they speak. A great king does not tell the people what they want; a great king listens to what the people want and gives them that. In your quest to accomplish this task, do not underestimate the importance of listening. It is good to remember the quote by philosopher Epictetus: “We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.”

Last, I believe the receptive influence of Chesed on the 6 of Wands teaches us a counterintuitive lesson about leadership, which is that true leaders show their strength through their vulnerability and uncertainty. In his video on confidence, Brendan Bouchard says, “High performers are a lot less Superman and a lot more Clark Kent… Confidence is not holding back the deck of cards of your weakness. Confidence is comfort with vulnerability.” He goes on to say that the really high performers in any area, whether its athletics or entrepreneurial or whatever, are the people most likely to say things like, “Hmm I’m don’t know. What do you think?” or “Could you help me with this?” The truly confident person will be the one at the party who says to someone else at the punch bowl, “You know, I don’t really know anybody here, and I don’t really know how to start to meet some of these people. Could you introduce me to somebody?” A vulnerable Leo exudes a whole new level of confidence compared to a dominating Leo, because instead of shining their light onto themselves, the vulnerable Leo shines their light onto others saying, “Look at you! You are obviously a high value person who has some idea about how the world works. Would you be willing to help me become like you?” Bouchard says that once we redefine “confidence” from “the things I know” to “my ability to figure things out,” then we will have no problem telling people that we don’t have things figured out because we know it’s a work in progress. The 6 of Wands encourages us to be open with others about our shortcomings, because it will help keep us humble and it will help us find value within other people.

Seven of Wands

The Seven of Wands is composed of four building blocks:

• Seven as Netzach (Venus), representing emotional needs and instincts.
• Wands as Fire, representing motivation and self-transformation.
• Mars, representing heroism and conflict.
• Leo, representing leadership and authenticity.

Since all four building blocks of this card are associated with the element of fire, the Seven of Wands represents everything that fire stands for: self-transformation, illumination, and burning desire. Although it may not seem like it, all three of these ideas are connected with each other through “desire.” When we have a “desire,” we are saying that the current version of ourselves is missing or separate from something, and empty or incomplete until we unite with that thing (or more often “consume” that thing as fire does). In other words, we are seeking to transform our current self into a new version of ourselves that has united with what we desire, whether its money, another person, or a glass of water. Desire is the fuel and motivation behind self-transformation; if we had no desires, we would be like a rock—totally immobile and accepting whatever changes the environment imposes upon us. Alongside all of this, desire is associated with “illumination” because we only see what we are looking for. The light of our awareness typically only shines on that which we desire. If your phone is dying and you desire to charge it, suddenly you will become more aware of all of the electrical outlets around you. If you’re hungry and desire food, you will become more aware of all the food in your kitchen, or the restaurants around you. I challenge you right now to look around your room and find something red. Did you find it? Now look for something circular. Notice how, as your goal or desire changes, the way you see the room around you changes. This illustrates my point that our desires often dictate what we pay attention to, what we are aware of. (For another example of this, try taking this basketball awareness test.)

Since I associate Venus with our emotional needs, the 7 of Wands encourages us to reflect upon the question, “What is the fundamental emotional need at the root of my surface desire?” In her video on shadow work, Emerald of The Diamond Net uses the metaphor of searching for carrots when doing shadow work. She says it’s much find carrots if you’re looking for the green leaves at the top of the carrot instead of the orange root at the bottom. In shadow work, she considers the leaves above ground to be the “symptoms” or “expressions” of your shadow, while the root below ground is the unconscious shadow itself. Similarly, the 7 of Wands can ask us to reflect upon the question, “If my current goal or desire is like the leaves on a carrot, then what emotional or physical need is at the root of these leaves? Where does my goal or desire stem from”

In his video series titled “The Dark Side of Your Emotional Needs,” Mark Tyrrell lays out how our fundamental emotional needs—which are intrinsic and instinctual to all human beings—can be manipulated in ways that cause us to become addicted to drugs and alcohol, stay in abusive relationships, and even join death cults. For example, as mentioned above in Concept 1, all humans have an innate need to give and receive attention. If we do not receive attention from the world around us, we become like a starved animal, desperate for a meal and willing to take it from anyone anywhere. Cults take advantage of this by finding these desperate individuals and “love bombing” them, which essentially means the entire group will shower the person with more attention and love than they’ve ever experienced before. While this will make the starved person incredibly happy and satisfied in the short term, over the longterm the cult may get the person to believe that this group is their only possible source of love and affection. Thus, the person must obey the will of the group and its leaders—no matter what they ask—or else the person will be kicked out of the group and left to starve again. While this is an extreme example, this type of emotional manipulation happens every day at minor levels from things like advertisements, the news, social media, those around us, and even ourselves. The 7 of Wands begs us to become aware of our unconscious emotional needs, which are at the core of every human being, because we cannot be truly free nor truly empathize with others until we bring these needs into the light of our consciousness. (For a full list of instinctual human needs, you can check out the innate needs of Human Givens theory as well as the needs inventory of Nonviolent Communication.)

Since this card has both Mars and Venus together in one, the 7 of Wands can also encourage us to reflect upon the ideas of “push motivation” (which I associate with Martian energy) and “pull motivation” (which I associate with Venusian energy). Simplicable.com defines push motivation as “an activity that an individual pushes themselves to complete” and defines pull motivation as “an activity that an individual feels naturally pulled towards.” Examples of push motivation would be a student who studies long hours for weeks in a row in order to improve their grades, or an athlete who pushes themselves to break a personal record. On the other hand, examples of pull motivation are a fan who is drawn to the concert of their favorite band, or a gamer who is drawn back to their favorite video game whenever they have a free moment. I apologize in advance for the male-centric nature of the following metaphor, but the warrior Mars represents the ability to consciously inject change into the environment like a soldier charging into battle, while the beautiful Venus represents the ability to consciously draw change out of the environment like the classic trope of the princess who gets abducted and draws the prince toward her to save her. While that princess is typically portrayed as helpless, from this standpoint she is powerful in the sense that she’s the one drawing forth spirit from the prince in the first place. I believe Mars energy tends to be “repulsion” based; you are trying to “push” away the current situation and transform it into a new one. This leads to situations like applying for a new job because you hate your current one, or trying to “kick someone’s ass” and destroy them because you don’t like their current behavior. On the other hand, Venus energy tends to be “attraction” based; you are being drawn toward a desired goal. Examples of this include giving up a stable and comfortable job to start that business you’ve always wanted to start, or wanting to marry someone so you can be around them for the rest of your life. When you pull the 7 of Wands, it is a good time to reflect upon your motivation. What cause are you working toward? Is it mainly push motivation or pull motivation? While both are probably necessary, I personally believe that pull motivation is more powerful than push motivation, so the 7 of Wands could be a good time to ask, “How can I alter my circumstances so that I am more naturally drawn toward my goal, instead of having to push myself?” One way to do this is to enforce a deadline upon yourself. For example, if you are a musician and you want to write new music, then book a show for 3 weeks from now and promise that you’re only going to perform new songs. Or, if you’re an aspiring writer and YouTube content creator, commit to sharing one new article and one new video at the beginning of each new Zodiacal season.

The last thing I’ll mention about the 7 of Wands is that, keeping in mind Venus’s ability to “entice” or attract change out of the environment, this card can encourage us to think about how our cause relates to other people. In his YouTube video “How to Master Change For Success,” Dan Sullivan points out how entrepreneurs need to get into the heads of their intended clientele and figure out how their product or service can transform their clients into bigger and better versions of themselves. By lining up a product and service with someone else’s bigger and better future, not only will that person pay for the product or service, but they will get a sense of a new future for themselves. In other words, by lining up your cause with other people’s motivations, they will be pulled toward your cause. Also, the leadership of Leo in this card makes think about Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy’s book, “Who Not How.” Perhaps it is time to stop asking, “How can I accomplish this?” and start asking, “Who can I collaborate with to accomplish this?” The 7 of Wands can be telling you that it’s time to stop trying to do everything all by yourself. Ask for help, and try to make sure that the cause lines up with not only your own motivations, but the other person’s motivations so that they will be naturally drawn to see it through.

Conclusion

To summarize, the solar power of Leo can express itself through our energy, our attention, and our leadership. Just as the light of the sun provides nourishment to plants, the light of our attention provides nourishment to people, so it is important to reflect on how you give and receive attention. The end goal of the virtuous Leo is to learn how to shine as bright as the sun itself—not so you can call attention to yourself, but so you can help illuminate the world for others. The lower Leo walks into a room and says, “Well, here I am!” The higher Leo walks into that same room and says, “Ah, there you are!” With Leo, we must discover and connect with our highest nature—whether that’s our “future self” or “Higher Self” or “Holy Guardian Angel”—and allow it to become the Sun center which the rest of our being revolves around. Once we do this, we will unlock the power of the Christ vitality within us, which will serve as a kind of supercharged God battery that energizes us through all of our endeavors and self-transformations. As the virtuous Leo, you must remember that true “strength” doesn’t require others to obey your will, true “confidence” doesn’t require you to hide your flaws or insecurities, and true “leadership” doesn’t require love or even credit for the change you’ve inspired. Once we discover and connect with that fiery Sun that burns bright and deep within our heart and soul, we will become as mighty as the lion on the savanna who does not need to bear its fangs for its power to be known.