Leo in love, family and friendship

Leo usually gets talked about where there is an audience: on stage, at work, at the head of something or other. The fifth of the twelve star signs becomes more interesting where nobody is watching. This page looks at how people with the Sun in Leo court, argue, raise children and keep friendships going.

How a Leo courts

He is bad at hiding his interest. A Leo who likes someone becomes obvious, often more obvious than he would like afterwards. He does not ask what one might do at the weekend; he has thought of something and proposes it. Effort is a language with him: he remembers what you like and goes and gets it, and he introduces you to others as though you were good news. Anyone who is quiet and approaches slowly feels run over by it, and the Leo notices late: to him the grand gesture is meant kindly, not as pressure.

Warmth, closeness, desire

With this sign, affection is meant physically: touch, closeness, warmth in the literal sense. Part of it is being wanted, and being told so. If that is missing for any length of time he withdraws without announcing it, and anyone who knows him barely recognises him in that state. It takes little to bring him back: one sentence that is meant for him and not for the circumstances.

What he needs in a relationship

What matters to him is belonging visibly. A bond that is warm at home and unrecognisable in company wears him down more than any quarrel; anyone who treats him like an appendage among friends loses him without anything ever having happened.

In return he puts up with a good deal. He takes criticism when it comes in private and is about the matter itself. Being corrected in front of an audience is the exception: he understands it as a breaking of the common front, and he holds it against the other person longer than the matter was worth.

Quarrels, pride and the apology

Quarrels are conducted head on. This sign rarely works behind anyone’s back; what bothers him comes out, sometimes louder than necessary, and is over with afterwards. The apology is harder: with him it often comes as an act rather than a sentence. He cooks, he tidies up, he comes to collect you, and that is supposed to settle the matter.

Anyone who needs the sentence may well ask for it; without onlookers it is given. A slight that was never cleared up, on the other hand, lingers here for a long time and resurfaces years later word for word.

As a mother, as a father

Leos are warm parents. They join in the games, they make a great deal of birthdays, they defend their child without hesitating, and their pride in the children is said out loud, which does children good. The turning point lies in the question of whom that pride is for. As long as it is for the child, it holds. As soon as it is for the parent, with the good marks serving as proof of their own parenting, recognition turns into expectation, and the child who has nothing to show comes off badly.

Among friends

Here the generous side shows itself without any background noise. A Leo keeps a circle of acquaintances together, he rounds people up when nobody else is issuing invitations, and he stands up for those who are absent without telling anyone about it. What he takes badly are friendships that consist of nothing but messages: he needs presence, and one evening a year weighs more with him than a hundred lines on the phone.

Two Leos

This pairing has a reputation for being difficult, and that is rarely true. Two people who both like standing at the front get on well, as long as they can take turns: tonight the evening is his, tomorrow it is hers. It only gets tight when both are playing the same room, the same circle of friends and the same job, and neither of them is willing to be the audience.

If you love a Leo

Two things cost little and work. Say plainly that he is the one meant, because he takes hints for politeness. And accept what he would like to do for you; an offer turned down hits him harder than a no on the matter itself. What the individual celestial bodies contribute to a birth chart is set out on the Planets page.