How Progressed Sun in Leo Has Helped Me Shine

She asked me if I was a Leo. 

I know my chart well enough. I know I am NOT a Leo and know exactly which planets and house are ruled by Leo. She confused me.

Then I thought, Is she seeing my Mercury?

“Oh! You must be seeing my Mercury in Leo. I tend to be larger than life in my communications because I was a performer for many years.”

She didn’t seem convinced.

Little did I know that I was about to get a shock at my next astrology reading, 4 months later. 

I sat with my mentor for an annual reading to prep for the new year at the beginning of December. Her plan was to show me all the charts pertaining to the year’s big transits and some additional charts that I knew nothing about. Well, almost nothing.

The first shock came when she started talking about annual profections and lord of the year. I had heard of it, but didn’t understand how to calculate my own. I was excited to learn that it’s easier than I thought it was, and I mostly understood the concept.

“The lord of your year this year is the Sun!”

This means that I have an extra boost of energy from the Sun for this entire year, until my next birthday, when the Lord of the year changes. That was a shocker and exciting to note given my big plans to expand my astrological wisdom and grow this little passion project of mine. 

A Quick Primer on Profection Year Technique

Lord/Lady is calculated using a chart profection wheel, see the image below. The idea comes from Hellenistic astrology and uses Whole Sign houses to calculate the energy of your solar year based on your age. 👈 Really good resource to learn more about the topic, if you’re curious.

For every year that we live, the Sun moves through one house of our chart, starting with our birth year and the ascendant or rising sign. That’s why we adopt that “mask” when facing the world. It’s the energy that we know best.

Since I’m in a 44 year, I look to my 9th house and the ruler of that house. Leo and the Sun. 

It’s Not Unusual to Shine in A Leo Year

So great! Now I know that the Sun is supporting my efforts and giving me extra wattage to shine as I build this website and my capacity to serve as an astrologer and coach. But then she hit me with this one:

“Your progressed Sun is in Leo. Did you know that?”

Um…no?

This was all new territory to me. What the heck is a progressed Sun and why is it in Leo?

This technique is a bit more advanced, but the basics are that our Sun progresses 1º for every year of our life, starting with the degree in which it was at, the moment we were born. So, if you’re born a Cancer Sun, like I am, the Sun progresses into Leo once it completes the degrees of Cancer. That happened for me at the age of 20.

This blew my mind.

I nearly fell off my chair thinking back to that year. Without any deep introspection, I realized that was the year that I became extremely unhappy being a chamber ballerina and desiring more stage time. I had become extremely unhappy being a chamber ballerina and desiring more stage time. 

It was the year I made the leap from the tiny ballet company I despised to the Jubilee! stage.Then one day, a gift from the Universe swept me off to the big stage at the Jubilee! Theatre. I went from being a conservative ballerina to a high-kicking glamorous Showgirl just 6 months after my next birthday. The progressed Leo Sun was life-changing!

No wonder she thought I was a Leo. I have so much Sun and Leo heart supporting me right now!

Wild, right?

This news hit me in a good way, and then it made me deeply sad. There’s only 6 more years to enjoy this spotlight-loving energy before my progressed Sun moves into the conservative Virgo sign. I imagine my style will change drastically from the bright, audacious colors to muted and modest similarly to my tastes as a Cancer Sun all those years ago.

I have plans to make the best of these last few years by getting back onstage and performing and speaking. Gotta make the best of it, right!?

Leo, the Natural Born Performer of the Zodiac

I used to think I didn’t get along with Leos. I couldn’t stand their pride and boastful ways of being. Hard to admit that what I was really experiencing was my own progressed Leo Sun not liking other Leos enjoying the spotlight! Embarrassing, but I’m speaking my truth here as I heal collective and ancestral trauma.

Curious to learn more? Let’s dig a little deeper into the archetype of Leo. 

An archetype is simply a pattern of power, as described by Caroline Myss in Sacred Contracts, affiliate link. This is my favorite way to think of the energies swirling around and within us that we tap into daily. 

As with anything, there is the light and the shadow. Best understood when you think about the light in a room and what happens when you turn it off. It’s just the absence of the light. If your cup is full, you exhibit the qualities of the sign from the light, or high vibe. If you are depleted and have a low vibe, you will manifest the shadows of the archetype.

Leo archetype

Ruled by the Sun and rules the 5th house of creativity, children, romance and self expression.

Do you have strong Leo in your chart? I’m curious how Leo shows up for you in your life. If this information resonates with you and you’d like to dig in more, I’d love to give you a reading and show you how you can use your Leo energy to shine in life and in business.