“I promise I shall never give up, and that I’ll die yelling and laughing, and that until then I’ll rush around this world I insist is holy and pull at everyone’s lapel and make them confess to me and to all.”
- Jack Kerouac
***
To love a Leo — madly, truly, deeply — takes one hell of a determined heart, for she is as wild as they come.
In her commitment to ever-evolving and ever-transforming her self and this world, she will push and pull — because she understands that any life worth living well must be built on a solid foundation of truth. So to love a Leo, the beating in your chest must be strong and you must know how to root down and stand your ground. Her ways, which she learns as she goes, will shake the dust until everything that does not belong falls away — and at times, this might mean she pushes you away, too.
As fierce as she is, hidden in her heart is a too-big doubt that she can be loved completely. Be prepared for her to bare her teeth if you get too close to the place where she hides her fear, as this is both a test of your intention and a way to keep her sacred heart safe. To love a Leo, you must love all of her, and the most vulnerable parts you must love most of all.
There will be moments when the need to race through the jungle (or around the world) takes over, and she will bolt, with no explanation. She will try her best to tell you why, but how a Leo lives is through feeling and even though words are a part of her craft, in these instances, her wildness can find none. And so she will go, her mane flowing behind her, soaking life in through all of her senses for she must do this in order to understand how life works — and when you find yourself feeling forgotten, her heart will beg you to be patient, for she will return to you as soon as she can, panting and heart pounding, full of all she has learned.
A Leo is loyal and before she can show up for the one she loves, she must first learn how to show up for herself and it is through this strengthening of will and compassion that she asks you to invest your trust in her; for while her heart holds love for all beings, the kind she has for you will move mountains and light all the stars in the sky. She needs this freedom to feed her creativity and she will look at you to see if you see it all, too. For because she is who is she is, she will want you to be who you are, too — nothing more, nothing less.
She knows the unsaid things — the ones we hold onto as our mouths move and the opposite words fall from our lips instead. She will often get alarmingly still and this is because she needs to in order to hear it all. In the hush, she will gather information and file it away, for if a Leo is anything she is organized and everything has a place (there is even a place for things that don’t have a place).
To love a Leo, understand that her lair must be in order before she can do anything. Her mind is the largest of libraries, for she is of this world and many others, and there is always work and learning to be done. In fact, it’s likely that if you find yourself in love with such a creature, your brain might roar at an incredible volume, for this is one of the locks your key must slip into in order for you to be that perfect imperfect match.
Before she can settle her attention on you fully, everything must be in place. Then she will curl up,for she speaks all tongues — and maybe, if the day is slow and the moon just right, she will purr as she waits for you to crack your chest open and show her your raw, beating heart. She has made it her practice to spill open — and so while she doesn’t expect you to make it yours too, there is a certain kind of give and take that offers a balance. From time to time, honor her — and more importantly, you. Show her that thing about you that you’ve taught yourself to hide away. A Leo will not shy away, for she knows in every stitch of her bone how to love like the ocean.
She will transform into wisdom what she has learned in these moments of deep listening, and as she gets older she will learn how to rule herself accordingly. On her path, there are no footsteps to follow. She will be uncomfortable in her impatience and when you stop by for a visit one night, you may well find her in pieces on the kitchen floor, tears and snot running down her face — and here is where you will witness the strength that vulnerability brings.
You will hear rumors about the lioness — they will say that she likes to be the center of attention and that she demands riches and gold. They will say a Leo is happiest with the weight of ten thousand jewels around her neck and that her ego rules her heart and they will tell you that she is proud and does not like to be reckoned with. In everything, there is a grain of truth. Trust that the a Leo is as rare as they come. Her heart rules all and so that this can’t be argued with, she will wear it, without apology, on her sleeve.
She will yearn not for a castle on a hilltop, but for a cabin in the woods, so that she can sit by the river that runs through the land and listen to the lessons the four directions have to share. She will bow down and touch her forehead to the ground often, in an act of reverence, gratitude and prayer — and she will understand that the breeze that whistles through treetops carries with it messages meant just for her.
She will need just enough to sustain a simple life, for a Leo knows that richness lies in the slow, humble moments of laughter and figuring it out, together. She will feel like royalty if you return from a walk in the woods with a handful of wild flowers. If you take her on a date to gaze at the stars, she will devote her heart to you, and you alone.
A Leo is proud — yes — but let not that pride be mistaken for anything other than the highest form of integrity. She will prefer quiet nights in to loud nights out and she will be happiest curled up with a book, for within the pages lies where her life began.
A Leo will make things with every blink of her eye and every pound of her heart because she thrives on seeing the harmony of elements meeting and falling in love — and she will want you to find new ways to keep her falling in love with you, too.
She is stubborn but kind, and her compassion reaches to the far corners of the earth. In her heart, she holds it all — the joy and the sorrow, the laughter and the tears. As much as she wants you to wrap your arms around her and be held, she also needs long moments to hold herself, for a Leo feels so deeply at times she wonders if it is a blessing or a curse.
So to love a Leo, let the space in your togetherness be like the sea in her rhythm. And you will learn the meaning of a heart roar.
(JC)
