July 23 – August 22

Leo · The Lion

Element
fire
Modality
fixed
Ruling Planet
Sun

Leo is the zodiac's fixed fire sign, ruled by the Sun and traditionally associated with self-expression, leadership, creativity, and a warm, magnetic personal presence.

Core Traits

Leo decans

Leo spans 30 degrees, and astrologers traditionally divide every sign into three 10-degree decans. It is where the “July Leo” versus “August Leo” distinction comes from. The dates below are approximate: the sun does not move at a perfectly even rate, so a cusp can shift by a day either way from year to year.

  1. FirstJuly 23 – August 1
  2. SecondAugust 2 – August 12
  3. ThirdAugust 13 – August 22

Leo Man

The Leo man runs on Sun-ruled fire and fixed conviction, which means he is simultaneously the warmest person in the room and the most immovable. He'll arrive at your dinner party having already decided what the best bottle of wine is, order it for the table without asking, and somehow make that feel like a gift rather than an imposition. The generosity is real. So is the need to be seen giving it. He argues well and loses badly. Tell him his idea is flawed and he'll engage, push back hard, eventually concede — but he'll need a day to get there with any grace. Fixed fire doesn't reverse easily. What saves him is that the warmth always comes back. He rarely nurses grudges, because his attention is trained on what's ahead, not what stung him last week. Six months into a project he's still the one talking about the vision. Sometimes that's the most useful thing in the room.

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Leo Woman

The Leo woman is not performing confidence, and that's worth saying plainly because people sometimes mistake her assurance for theatre. Sun-ruled and fixed in fire, she's just decided who she is and sees little reason to apologize for it. She'll walk into a job interview, a first date, or a confrontation with a neighbour and hold the same posture in all three: direct eye contact, unhurried speech, a sense that she has considered the matter and here is where she lands. What surprises people is how attentive she is. The stereotype flattens her into someone who takes up space, but she notices when a friend has gone quiet at a gathering, and she does something about it. The dramatic streak is real — she does not underreact to things that matter to her — but it comes with genuine loyalty underneath. Cross her once and she'll tell you clearly. Cross her twice and you're just gone from her orbit, and she won't lose much sleep.

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The fire signs

Leo shares the fire element with Aries and Sagittarius. Signs of the same element are traditionally read as sharing a basic temperament — the way they take in and give out energy — even where the rest of the chart differs.

The fixed signs

Leo is fixed, alongside Aquarius, Taurus and Scorpio. Modality describes how a sign meets change: cardinal signs start things, fixed signs hold and sustain them, mutable signs adapt and let go.

Traditional compatibility

Fire and air signs are traditionally described as energetically compatible with each other, which puts Leo alongside the air signs below. Treat this as a starting heuristic rather than a rule — a whole chart has far more to say about two people than their sun signs do.

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