Leo is dominated by the Sun, providing its natives with an exuberant and dynamic quality. Strictly speaking, the Sun is a star but, for astrological purposes it is considered to be a ruling planet. In mythological aspects, the planetary ruler of Leo is likened to Apollo, the Roman Sun God. The strongest of all planetary influences, the power of the Sun is so forceful that it can seldom be repressed...although its fine qualities may be neglected or dissipated. The acquisition of knowledge and artistic achievement are keynotes of the Sun's jurisdiction. Natives ruled by this planet put ideas into practice, often overriding all obstacles. Frequently, these individuals are regarded by others as somewhat lucky souls, but this is chiefly due to their inherent optimism which does not allow them to accept temporary setbacks as an indication of failure. The Sun denotes a dignity of manner, integrity of nature and loyalty to a cause. It possesses the gift of good speaking and a magnetic personality...if an effort is put forth to develop these attributes. Such are the positive aspects of the Sun's influence.

The weaknesses associated with this planet are found in the neglect of small things or the overwhelming desire for personal glory rather than high achievement. Thus, these natives must strive to overcome their imposing dark sides. Those who fail to dispel such "shadows" can easily become demanding, domineering, insensitive and rather destructive. They may risk drowning in egocentricity and materialism, lacking both the desire and the capacity for spiritual development, as well as leaning toward the type of exaggeration that can debase many of the gifts possessed by these individuals. In short, those who fall within the jurisdiction of the Sun should strive to avoid becoming high-handed as well as high-minded. Pride, domination and general arrogance are the major negative aspects associated with this planet. However, in general terms, the influence of the Sun is considered to be favorable and thus, should always be encouraged.

In an astrological sense, the influence of the Sun is dual in nature. Highly visible, it is nonetheless contradictory...a benevolent source of life and beauty which is, at the same time, capable of immense destruction. The Sun governs the essential self, ambition, spirit, will, energy, power and organization. It is said to confer creativity, pride, generosity and dignity. However, it is also linked to egotism, pomposity, arrogance and overbearing condescension. The Sun is associated chiefly with the inherent character of an individual...how personal will is expressed and the direction an individual is most likely to take when simply being himself or herself. In short, it represents basic nature, as well as being the constant thread which runs throughout the timespan of life from birth until death. The Sun also governs and is symbolic of the most important men in the life of a person...father, husband, brother or male superior, for example. The Sun is represenrtative of dry, hot masculinity in a partnership of opposites with the Moon, which is cool, moist and feminine. Essentially, the Sun is consciousness...the "lighted" portion of the mind.

Physically, many Sun subjects have a strong and virile appearance, coupled with well-formed and usually rather handsome features. They are keen of eye and smiling in manner. The height of the well-developed Sun native customarily runs to the average with a proportionately good physique.

The metal associated with the Sun is gold, expressing the splendor and radiance of this planet. By tradition, it is the most noble of metals and the only one which will never tarnish. Gold can resist the fiercest of fires and has a unique relation to light and color. It is said that gold needs to glitter in the Sun in order to express itself. In an anatomical sense, the Sun has particular influence upon the heart, circulatory system, spine and skeletal structure. It is also linked to health and vitality in general terms. The Sun is said to indicate the right eye in a male and the left eye in a female.

Items particularly associated with the Sun are: marigolds, daffodils and lavender; cedar and palm trees; oranges and grapes; lions, peacocks, swans and cats. The semi-precious stones linked to this planet are: carbuncles, rubies and diamonds. Sunday is considered a particularly lucky day for those who fall within the jurisdiction of this planet, while the special associated colors are gold, orange and yellow.

The great moral lesson to be learned by the children of the Sun is to be aware of the
need to keep radiating joy and optimism, no matter what the circumstances might be.
They should also take note that their particular color is gold...indeed, there is no
better color to be found for those who fall within the jurisdication of the Sun.

The Sun is a medium-sized luminary with a gaseous body, consisting chiefly of hydrogen and helium, located at the center of the Earth's Solar System. It is referred to as a "G2" spectral class star by astronomers and, at a distance of 93 million miles, is much closer to Earth than any other star. It is the sphere around which the Earth and the other planets rotate in an elliptical orbit, thus causing the distances between the Sun and its planets to vary. The Sun is immense in relation to the planets...approximately 700 times larger than all the planets put together. When viewed from the Earth, the Sun seems to cross symmetrically from East to West. However, this is simply an illusion. Following the Vernal Equinox, the Sun actually moves to the North until June 21...the day with the shortest amount of night hours in the Northern Hemisphere. Upon reaching its climax in Constellation Cancer, the Sun then changes direction and veers South, continuing past the Autumnal Equinox until it reaches the northern turning point once more in Constellation Capricorn on December 22...the day with the longest amount of night hours in the Northern Hemisphere. The Earth completes one entire orbit around the Sun every 365.25636 days.

The Sun is composed of a series of layers. The outer atmosphere of the Sun is the corona. The corona is extremely hot and the gas here is spread very thin. Thus, the corona is only visible from Earth during a total solar eclipse when the Moon completely covers the disk of the Sun. The inner atmosphere is the chromosphere. Faculae and flares often arise in this region. Faculae are bright luminous hydrogen clouds which manifest above regions where sunspots are about to form. Flares are the most violent events on the Sun...bright filaments of hot gas erupting into fiery explosions which emerge from sunspot regions and extend tens of thousands of miles above the surface. These flares shoot charged particles into the Solar System which, when they reach Earth, can disrupt radio and television signals causing colorful displays known as the "aurorae" or Northern and Southern lights. The Sun's visible surface, known as the photosphere, is where almost all of the Sun's visible light originates. This area is very hot...approximately 5,500 degrees Celsius...and yet is still much cooler than the Sun's inner layers. Sunspots often appear in the photosphere. Sunspots are dark depressions with a typical temperature of 4,000 degrees Celsius. For reasons yet to be determined, the number of sunspots appears to increase and decrease every eleven years. Sunspots were first observed by Chinese astronomers over 2,000 years ago and in 1612, Galileo studied them with the aid of a telescope. A large sunspot may be five times larger than the Earth. The convective zone is the Sun's "mixing pot." Here, the process of convection carries energy from the Sun's core to its surface. The photosphere is at the top of the convective zone. The radiative zone is where energy from the Sun's core radiates outward through a layer of hydrogen and helium gas into the convective zone. The innermost region of the Sun...its core...is the "power plant" of the star. Here, where the temperature is 15,000 degrees Celsius, hydrogen is so tightly packed and the temperature so hot that individual atoms ram into each other, thus forming heavier helium atoms and releasing energy in the process. This solar energy takes many thousands of years to make its way to the photosphere and from there, out into space.

The sunlight viewed from the Earth every day is composed of tiny units of radiant energy known as photons. Each photon carries only a tiny amount of energy but trillions of them hit each square meter of Earth every second and, together, they form sunlight. It is believed that the Sun has been active for 4.6 billion years and possesses sufficient fuel to continue for another five billion years or so. At the end of its life, it is thought that the Sun will likely begin to fuse helium into heavier elements and start to swell, ultimately growing so large that it will swallow both Mercury and Venus and, possibly even the Earth or at the least, making the surface of the Earth semi-molten. Thought to then become a red giant, it will exist in that form for approximately a billion years before collapsing into a white dwarf...the final end product of a luminary such as the Earth's Sun. It is theorized that it could take as long as a trillion years for the Sun to completely cool, at which time it will become a black dwarf cinder.

On May 14, 1973, NASA's first experimental space station, Skylab, was launched from Cape Kennedy. It made history later that month by becoming the United States' first full-scale manned space observatory. The purpose of Skylab was to study the Sun, particularly the corona. Skylab used several different telescopes mounted on its Apollo Telescope Mount to observe the Sun in x-ray, ultraviolet and H-alpha wavelengths, as well as white light. Many new and exciting qualities were discovery about the Sun courtesy of Skylab. The structure of and changes in the solar chromosphere were noted and the magnetic loops of the corona were identified. Skylab also studied coronal holes and confirmed that they are the source of solar wind.

As the first and most important celestial body to be observed by humankind, the Sun plays an important role in the mythology of most civilizations. Personfied by the Greeks as Apollo, by the Romans as Helios, by the Hindus as Brahma, by the Persians as Mithra, by the Aztecs as Quetzalcoatl and by the Egyptians as Aton Ra, this universally-worshippped God provided enlightenment and healing. In Norse mythology, this deity was female. Named Sunna or Frau Sunne, she rode through the sky on her chariot pulled by two horses called Alsvid and Arvak. In ancient times, the Sun was perceived as a powerful and life-giving deity whose arms or rays reached down to convey vitality to mortals. Indeed, throughout history, kings all over the globe have claimed to be descendants of the Sun.

It is possible that the earliest depiction of a Sun God was the Latin and Pagan deity named Sol, later defined as Helios (or Helius the All-Seeing) by the Greeks, whose fiery chariot pulled by four horses (Pyrois, Eos, Aethon and Phlegon) transported the Sun across the sky. A statue of Sol still stands on the Arch of Constantine in Rome and it is believed that the Colossus at Rhodes (one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World...completed in 292 B.C. and destroyed by an earthquake in either 224 B.C. or 226 B.C>) was created in the likeness of Helios. However, it is as Apollo that the mythological image of a Sun God is most well-known. Apollo was also the God of Music, Archery (shooting arrows of insight and/or death), Prophecy, the Arts and Healing. Indeed, he was the father of Asclepius, God of Medicine who possessed the power to raise the dead. Also associated with the retinue of Apollo were the Nine Muses...personages called upon by humankind to aid in creative imagination. However, Apollo was not a native Greek God. His cult (and that of his twin sister, Artemis the Virgin Huntress) were imported from the North. His name likely means "Apple-Man" and is thought to be derived from the Celtic word "Abal," which translates to "apple." "Abal" is also thought to be the root origin of "Avalon."

Apollo was the son of Zeus (Jupiter or Jove to the Romans) and Leto, daughter of the Titans Coeus and Phoebe. His twin sister was Artemis. According to some sources, both Artemis (the first twin) and Apollo were born on the floating island of Delos (whose name means "brilliant"). However, other sources state that only Apollo was born in Delos and that Artemis was born in Ortygia. As an infant, Apollo was cared for by Themis (daughter of Uranus and Gaia and the personification of divine right order of things as sanctioned by custom and law), who fed him nectar and ambrosia for a few days, after which he was an adult capable of assuming the full responsibilities of a God. Apollo is legendary in the realm of mythology for his numerous love affairs. What follows is simply a small sampling:

Cassandra: Cassandra was the most beautiful of the daughters of Priam and Hecuba, King and Queen of Troy. Apollo gave Cassandra the gift of prophecy but, when she refused to return his affections, the God's gift became a curse and her prophecies lacked the power of persuasion. Although Cassandra foresaw the dangers posed by the Trojan Horse, her warnings went unheeded and the City was captured. Given as a war prize to Agamemnon, she accompanied him to Greece, where they were both murdered by Clytemnesta and Aegisthus.

Calliope: The eldest and most distinguished of the Nine Muses with jurisdiction over eloquence and epic/heroic poetry, Calliope (whose name means "beautiful voice) is credited with being the mother of one of Apollo's most famous children, the poet and singer named Orpheus. Callipe was the arbitress in the argument between Persephone and Aphrodite over Adonis. She may have also been the mother of Linus...another of Apollo's children whom the Sun God is said to have killed for rivalling him in singing. The emblems of Calliope include a stylux and wax tablets.

Coronis: A mortal woman who became the mother of Apollo's son, Asclepius (God of Medicine). Enraged by her infidelity, Apollo killed Coronis prior to her giving birth to Asclepius, but saved the life of the infant before the corpse of the unfaithful Coronis could be consumed by the funeral pyre, which is said to have been created from the flames of Apollo's own anger.

Daphne: As the beautiful river nymph who features in what is probably the most well-known of Apollo's amorous adventures, Daphne fled from the unwelcome advances of the Sun God. According to some sources, Daphne was Apollo's first love and he pursued her relentlessly until, exhausted and terrified, she finally cried out to Mother Earth for help. Aid came in the form of Daphne's transformation into a laurel tree, resulting in absolute rejection of the mournful Apollo who took with him a remembrance circlet of leaves to wear upon his head.

Hyacinthus: A handsome Spartan youth who caught the eye of the Sun God, Hyacinthus was accidently killed by Apollo while being taught discus-throwing, whereupon the blood of the young man was transformed into a flower. One version of this fable tells that Zephyrus, the Wind God, was the one who caused to the discus to strike the youth by blowing the wind in his direction...the motive being that this God of Wind was also in love with Hyacinthus and thus, jealous of Apollo.

Sibyl of Cumae: This legendary Sibyl is said to have agreed to grant Apollo a single night of sexual favors in exchange for immortality. However, when she failed to keep her side of the bargain, she realized to her horror that the contract contained the clause: "Youth and Beauty not included." After a few centuries, the Cumaean Sibyl was nothing more than a tiny and wrinkled little creature, whereupon the priests encased her in a jar and hung the vessel from a tree, charging extra for people to observe this talking curio, who would endlessly repeat, "I wish to die."

Also known as the Lord of Parnassus, Apollo may have originally been associated with the tending of flocks and herds, and the personification of love of beauty and of balance. Often referred to as "the most Greek of all the Gods," Apollo would delight and grace Olympian banquets with the music of his golden lyre. Legend also tells that no false word ever fell from this lips of this deity and thus, he is considered by many to be the God of Truth. Usually depicted in art forms as a clean-shaven and often handsome young man, his head crowned with laurel leaves, Apollo customarily sports a lyre and/or a bow and arrow. He is also sometimes depicted carrying the tripod and/or omphalos, a sacred oval or hemispherical stone from Delphi considered by the Greeks to be the "Navel of the Earth," both of which are symbols of the oracle at Delphi, where stands the most famous Temple dedicated to this God and which is now a museum. According to legend, Apollo killed the Python of Delphi and assumed control of the oracle, thus becoming the vanquisher of unconscious terrors. There, Apollo's priestess would prophesy the future, but she was far from easy to understand. According to some legends, it is here that Sun God himself is actually buried. Many festivals were once held to honor Apollo, the most famous of which were the Phythian Games celebrated at Delphi every three years. Numerous creatures were considered sacred to this Sun God, chief among them being the Dolphin and the Crow.

Each of the astrological planets has its own ancient symbol or glyph, created from different combinations of three basic elements that the ancient astrologers referred to as the Circle of Spirit, the Crescent of Soul and the Cross of Matter. The glyph of the Sun, as seen from above, is a circle...an image of wholeness...and a point, for the center or focus of life. Some sources refer to this glyph as the "Egg of Creation."