Leo and Me

One of the gifts Graham received for his recent birthday was a gift certificate to a book store. The two of us whiled away some time perusing all the titles before one of the books Graham (and I, heh!) chose was  Georgia Nicol's book You and Your Future, a book on astrology.

Both of us watch Georgia on Global News on Sundays and have enjoyed her sense of humour and her accuracy. But I had no idea she would teach me something as profound as the Rising sign.

The Rising Sign is based on the time of day you were born, as opposed to the Sun Sign which is based on the day of the year you were born. Most of us know our Sun Sign...be it Pisces, or Cancer, or Taurus, etc.

Georgia writes that the Rising Sign is my persona. It is how I project myself outwardly to the World, with my appearance and my personality. She tells me it's the style I use to get what I want, now and in the future. It indicates to me how I will make things happen in my life.


Now, I have always been happy with my Sun Sign of Pisces. It seemed to cover most of the peccadilloes in my personality. It sat right with me.


Georgia says my Rising Sign shows how I survived in my family.  Upon looking back, had I only had Pisces in my sign, I would have been swallowed whole in my family group, instead of only some parts of me.

Keeping Georgia's warning in mind about her Table of signs as being too simplistic (she suggests using an astrologer or Googling the Rising Sign Calculator in order to find your accurate Rising Sign), I found my Rising Sign to be....Leo!!


Ouch. Leo was my mother's Sun Sign. It was not until a year or two before she died that I grew closer to my mother, that I began to understand her. I wonder what my mother's Rising Sign was; there is no way to find that particular nugget now. Leo has never been a favourite sign of mine, keeping my mother's persona in mind.


And in looking up family members' Rising Signs, I find Brianna, my granddaughter, and Graydon, my grandson, have Leo Rising,  Graydon and his Dad both have Aries in their makeup (one as a Rising Sign and one as a Sun Sign), that Graham has Pisces Rising, and Heidi, my daughter, is a Pisces with Libra Rising. The twins are Pisces with Aries rising.


How very strange to find how intertwined we all are, in the eyes of Astrology!

I find the section on Leo with trepidation. I know quite a few people whose Sun Sign is Leo; I've liked and even loved them. I wondered what the negatives were in regard to Leo...had my mother been stuck in that contrary area?

And sure enough, the pessimistic words flew off the page on the negative qualities of the Leo archetype. Arrogance, pride, extravagance, ostentatious, egocentric, patronizing, opinionated, didactic, and uncompromising...all of these fit my mother well.

And then I think...do all these words fit me, as well?


But according to Georgia's book, Leo's are also generous, principled, honourable, warm-hearted, forthright, energetic, brave and intelligent. Certainly my mother's friends thought so of her.


Georgia presents three broad qualities of the sign of Leo. She states the sign of Leo is creative, generates warmth, radiance and generosity, is a leader with a need for recognition.

AAAargh!!! The last part...the need for recognition...that part does not sit well with my Piscean sensibilities. But oh! did my mother ever require recognition! There were never enough compliments to make my mother happy, and I cringed each time she sought them.


Suddenly, in a strangely obscure way, I understand why I secretly love compliments, yet spurn them when they arrive as unimportant (Piscean)...and why my granddaughter, a Sagittarius with Leo rising, loves recognition, accepts compliments with grace and loves to create happy situations.

My mother loved to create situations, as well. However, many of hers were not as happy as I might have liked...

As I think about all this, I realize I have much to thank my mother for. My mother had many tough times, many crises in her life. She chose to become embittered; her choice led to my being strongly averse to living my life in that way. I watched her as a child and later a teen, at home, and I made a very strong, conscious choice to use optimism and hope, instead. I made the choice to work my Leo aspect in the most positive manner I could, even though I didn't realize how important Leo rising in my sign was, at the time.


Leo is the sign of the Sun. Leo is the Lion. I learn, by reading Georgia's book, that Leo can be timid, but will rarely show it. How true that is...I will face down any situation with a roar, yet tremble inside the whole time I do it.


Georgia went a little further for me, after I'd written to tell her how much I'd enjoyed her book. She actually drew out my Natal Chart and sent it to me, along with the other signs I need to read. She also told me I had the stronger Leo aspect, while my mother was the 'authority' in my life...and Georgia says...Of course you would clash!


Of course! I wish I'd known this years ago!

Georgia also advised me to read all twelve signs with reference on How to Be Happier  Chapters. Within the first few paragraphs on the Piscean chapter, I find familiar waters. I find, more than any other sign, Pisces people have the strongest ability of all the Astrological signs to manifest their core beliefs. Whatever Pisces thinks about their World becomes reality. 


For example, were I to wear rose-coloured glasses, as I try to do, most of the time, the World becomes a wonderful, magical place. Yet, were I to believe the opposite, I could become my own worst enemy...because the World, or at least my World, will become whatever my negative thought patterns conjure up.


No kidding.


A happier Leo, on the other hand, should forego their
pride and arrogance...so much a part of this sign. I hope my Sun sign of Pisces will help me achieve the positive parts of pride and arrogance. Georgia, in her book, explains the difference.


I've heard Georgia say many times, on television, that astrology is all about math. Looking at my chart, I believe it...it looks like some mathematical test I failed at some point in my school years...


Astrology is great fun for me...I check where the stars and planets are every morning on the Cosmic Calendar. I have the added bonus now of having two signs to help me make sense of my day.


Even in times of angry disputes with my mother, a Leo, somewhere inside, no matter how ridiculous her assumptions, I knew where and how she had arrived at her conclusion. Somewhere inside myself, I understood her.


Georgia's book was really cheap at the price, if it means I move that much further along the completely convoluted journey of life.

I'm so glad I was with Graham, when he went shopping for his birthday gift...

Five Things People Don't Know About Me

Hmmm...my friend Lorna has tagged me. She was tagged by Matt. Look out, Matt, you are going to feel as if you have been hit by a Blizzard!

It was hard to come up with five things people don't know about me...I really am an open book. I hide very little, other than my feelings. But everybody has at least five things, right? This morning, however, my brain shut down and absolutely nothing came to mind.

Gray mentioned a few things...I told him those were items that were going to remain secret! There is a limit!

But here goes...pretty boring stuff. I'm sure there has to be more that is blog friendly...I just can't think of them at the moment.

1. I must eat licorice and read before I go to sleep each night. The licorice is a European brand, sugar free and salt free, that nobody likes other than me. It is one of my security blankets from childhood. I took licorice into the delivery room, when I had my first child. They tried to take it away from me...they only tried once!

And I have been known to read advertising flyers in bed, if I can't find a book. There is something about the written word that lulls me to sleep.

2. Until I met Graham, I used the same pillow that I grew up with. It was 50 years old...a feather pillow my mother made out of old goose down duvets. Gray was not fond of this pillow...he mentioned something about germs and mites, while I told him about all the dreams this pillow held.

But the germs and mites took the upper-hand; however, I was unable to throw it out. It still sits in a chair in our bedroom, a new cover replacing the old. It is so old, that washing it is out of the question now...there will be feathers all over the place. I tell people this pillow will be worth many dollars someday, as an antique. But I have to become famous first...there aren't many people who will overlook the germs and mites!

3. After a job at the age of thirteen ironing people's clothing, I rarely iron. For years, I didn't even own an ironing board. My tablecloths had better be permanent pressed; if they're not, I will put them on the table all wrinkled, dreaming of the time when they have been washed so often, there are no wrinkles left.

4. I won't pass a person on the street who is asking for money, without giving some. Sometimes, I get besieged...the word spreads quickly. One time, I handed out what cash I had, and then told them they had to share...they had to pass it on. I'll always wonder if some of them did, but I believe that when the time is right...they will remember.

5. Phew! This one is one that many of us share. I have to read four different horoscopes every morning, and I must read two or three different Tarot card spreads, again each morning. There is a tiny hole that is left if I don't check out the stars or the cards for what the day might bring.

I like my routine. I have been accused of being obsessive-compulsive...but everyone knows that!

So now, I am supposed to tag five other people. Here goes: Dirty Butter, Sheila, Hannalie, Dave and DaveM. I know all these people will thank me...in time.

Time heals all things, right?