Claim Your Territory - Venus in Leo

That feeling when your favorite song comes on - you feel like smiling, your body is flooded with good feelings and all of a sudden the world is a happy place. If you´re like me, you won´t be able to stand still no matter where you are :-). Dancing is the only time when I´m not afraid to take the space even if no one else is dancing and I always take my shoes off no matter how formal the occasion is. I just don't care - this is my space, my time, my rules. You can join me or you can stay on the sidelines. Dancing is my wild side.

It has not always been that way. All it took was just one little comment during my teen years. Since that moment, I was always trying to consciously control „how I look“ when dancing. The change came when I started to go to intuitive dance sessions. The instruction was „Get in touch with your body, do whatever the hell you feel like doing – dance, sit, lie down, sing, scream“.

During these sessions, I´ve experienced the greatest sense of freedom, pure expression of untamed feminine energy but also dancing allowed me to process the most difficult feelings that naturally come up when we let go.  Even though I don´t have Venus in Leo natally, I do have natal Leo placements. Over the years, I´ve learned how life-giving this energy can be both for myself and my environment when I let it flow freely.

Leo as a home sign of the Sun is the light temple. Leo is the light, warmth, radiance, the heart that pumps blood/life, all over our body all of the time. The energy of the sun is outward-facing, expressive in its nature. It teaches us to be comfortable in the light, to open our hearts and let out the mighty roar of our wild animal. Early in life, we often lack the courage in Leo part of our chart and through life circumstances we are learning how to keep our shadows at bay, how to overcome our doubts and rise like the sun.

Leo is the coming-out energy. Sun shines through those moments when we confidently rise above our doubts, facing the world. Like lions we are not afraid to mark our boundaries, to distinguish ourselves from others, to stand out from the crowd.
We are not afraid to take our space, to claim our personal territory, an area in which we have unique rights and responsibilities – an area of knowledge, activity, or experience.

What we learn from the animal kingdom is that the territory is not for everyone. Territory differs from other spaces that are habitually inhabited by a majority of other animals. These spaces are called „home ranges“. Home ranges of different animals tend to overlap but the groups tend to avoid each other rather than confront each other. Lions are highly territorial and occupy the same area for generations. The main feature connected to territory is a defense against others. The ultimate function of defending a territory is not conflict or agression, it´s main purpose is to increase the ability of an animal to survive, protect food sources and raise young.

What I find really fascinating is that lions - unlike other big cats that choose to live alone - live together in a family group called a pride. As we know, pride is traditionally a quality connected with the sign of Leo and more often than not it is perceived very negatively as a tendency for self-absorption, arrogance, inflation of ego and etc.

When we look at other meanings of pride though, we learn that it is where our goddess of love and joy, Venus, comes into play. Pride is all about pleasure and satisfaction that comes from our achievements, from qualities or possessions we admire. It can also be a pleasure that comes from our associations, relationships with certain people and in its healthy expression it is ultimately consciousness of our own dignity, our healthy sense of self-respect.

So how do you feel about Venus in Leo? And how do you feel about pride now? How do you feel about the delight and pleasure that you take from passionate self-love? How do you feel about not letting people overstep the boundaries of your territory?

Food for „Venus in Leo“ thought:

🌞What is your wild side? Where do you let out your wildcat?

🌞What is your territory? How do you define your unique territory? What makes you shine? What makes you stand out from the crowd?

🌞Are you ready for confrontation? Are you willing to defend your space? Are you willing to defend your right to free self- expression?

🌞What is your Venus in Leo story? 

🌞Has it made its entrance yet or is it still staying on the sidelines?

Keep hope alive, keep dreaming.
Petra