I have always considered Cancer ascendant to be the most challenging of the lot, written about it here. This post is a study on Leo ascendant, a bit less challenging than Cancer, but it too has its moments.

If your ascendant is either Cancer or Leo do read both these posts. These two ascendants are somewhat similar. Leo never changes his behaviour. Cancer ascendant too cannot change. They cannot adjust themselves as they are most directly connected to the individual soul (existence itself) and the power of creation (distribution of pran). They are ruled by the luminaries of the zodiac, the highest spiritualising agents, the Sun and the Moon.

Leo is the natural 5th sign of the zodiac, a Kona/angle sign. Here your personal connection to the divine spark (Sahasrara chakra), your individual soul, your self-ego, confidence, self-creativity, genius, final knowledge (anand-mai-kosh), love affairs, children, etc are seen.

• Sun is considered to be a friend by Moon, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Ketu.
• An enemy by Venus, Saturn and Rahu. So these 3 planets cannot be expected to give very good results outrightly, they need to be examined.
• Jupiter and Moon own the 8th and 12th signs, but these are not their Mool-trikon signs which makes them not so bad, but they cannot be relied upon, do examine their roles.
• But Sun considers, Moon, Mars, Jupiter as friends. And Saturn, Venus and Rahu as enemies. And Mercury and Ketu as neutrals. (So evaluate Mercury and Ketu too carefully.)

So there is sheer power vibrating about him, he exudes royal vitality and energy. The essence of the personality is ultra radiant, he has a lot of energy at his disposal and his environment is also enabling. Body is well built, he looks and feels huge. Health is generally good, but there is a propensity for heat related disease, pitta unbalances, blood diseases, fevers, piles, etc. Analytical process, communication skills, ability to think logically, mental stability is high, observant, alert. Can be egoistic, selfish, self-centred, has secrets, likes company, spends time with his friend circle. Does not like getting linked to one person much. Affairs and long term girlfriends/ boyfriends are less, as is not emotional by nature. Moon rules Cancer the 12^th house so passion, emotion and mentality will not come on the surface nor interfere overtly with his decisions. Even after marriage, will not be seen much with the spouse, he will maintain his own separate circle. As a parent he can get possessive (if damaged Sun then this can get very unhealthy), generally takes pride in his child’s accomplishments. He aspires to higher things, will maintain useful contacts, connect with people who are higher placed than him. Likes using luxury items, generally materialistic by nature, sometimes interested in spiritual stuff and likes a comfortable life. His attitude, perceptions and outlook are stable, individualistic but regal, capable of appreciating the higher things. He may be materially well-off but wants more, information, knowledge, intelligence. He is not a gossip but will have information on others.

Leo is a fiery sign, very intense. Whatever he takes up he does so with full focus and commitment. He is completely involved in whatever has his attention at the moment, he will ignore the other aspects of life. And finally he is unpredictable, (a Leo guy once told me, ‘even I don’t know what I will be doing next!’), he can abandon his interest as suddenly as he took it up. He can be a loyal ally but can abruptly abandon his friends mid-stream and not look back. This behaviour can be viewed as ingratitude by others but is inherent, natural to him. His convenience is paramount to him. He has an unyielding nature, brusque, abrupt, not deeply involved in others including his own family. Highly self-involved. All one-one relationships are a source of dissatisfaction to him. They do not match his personality. He does not have the endurance or interest in maintaining any sort of one-one relationships for long. Spiritual practices cannot be sustained for long, he loses interest. Karmic bindings chafe. Saturn is the worst malefic for Leo ascendant. He is the owner of the 6^th and 7^th houses. So the demands for service/suffering increase after marriage/ partnerships. The desires for experience, Rahu, which pull him are antithetical to his basic nature, give him discomfort and he does not get deep satisfaction from anything he does.

If Leo is occupied, then this planet will exert its influence on the personality. Sun here is an excellent position, guaranteed victory everywhere. Moon here is not so good, there is deep internal loneliness, may waste energy as projects fail. Mercury alone here is not so good, body is weak, mental processes can get extreme, immaturity exists. Venus here will give him material gain from females, but can also make him selfish. Mars is very good here, can give all power and position if he can control his aggression. Jupiter here is mixed, can grant health and knowledge but also sudden disruptive changes. Saturn here is not good, grants hardship and ill health. Rahu/ Ketu axis here can grant spiritual gifts on the material planes they cause suffering physical, mental both.

Similarly if there are planets conjoint/ aspecting the birth Sun they will also exert significant effect on the entire personality. Sun will combust planets and become a composite Sun+Planet energy. In this case analyse this other planet too in depth. If the Sun is in the 3rd 6th 8th or 12th the houses of turmoil be careful.

Now the Bhavat bhavam concept. The 1st house is the bhavat bhavam for the 7th house and only for the 7th. The 1st is ‘partnership of partnership’. The potential attributes of the 7th will be given scope and actualised by the power of the 1st. eg If you want to make your marriage work, you have to give your own personal time, physical strength, mental energy, spiritual strength etc. And since the energy of a house is limited, if you use lots of your resource on your spouse, you will neglect your business commitments or spiritual practices or the other things linked to the 7th. This is a general concept applicable across ascendants. (Similarly if you want to secure your 4th and 10th houses, your 7th house has to contribute its energy.)

The 1st and 7th houses are the rising and setting degree, ‘dawn and dusk’? Half in the dark half in the light. The 1st, morning dawn, things are coming out in the light, more optimistic. The 7th house is evening dusk, twilight, things are being obscured. Here malefic influences will be more powerful than benefic influences.

So analyse the 1st/ 7th axis to know about the entire personality. The 7th is the shadow part of the 1st. Choose your life/ business partners, spiritual practices and one-one relationships with due diligence. They have a very direct effect on your own personal energy. Always remember that the goal of all life and living is to rebalance karma and attain self-realization. This is the over-riding permanent goal, self-illumination, Moksh. The other desires are the waves of the mind (mano-vritta-asur), which are dissonant from this main goal.

The 1^st house (Dharma trikon) and the 7^th are opposite each other, together yet diametrically opposite. There is a subtle conflict always, the 7^th (Kaam trikon) has the power to distract the soul from his true goal. (Desire can upset Foundation) If you give your 1^st house energy to the 7^th house to function then naturally the energy of the 1^st house will be consumed. If you get involved with other humans, spouse or business, you are sending your personal energy out to others. It is ‘wasted’. If you use this personal energy to power your own spiritual practice (again a topic controlled by the 7^th), you are sending your 1^st house energy into your higher self, it is not being wasted on others but used for your deepest growth. 

• If the horoscope is overall highly materialistic, the person has chosen to ‘enjoy’ sex, companionship, luxury etc in this life then it is natural to use the 1^st house to power marriage/ business. You have chosen to break your spiritual journey in this life. You pay for these enjoyments with the essence of your own self. There is no disconnect, you have chosen this option at the time of your birth.
• But if the horoscope is highly spiritual in its orientation, you have chosen the spiritual path at birth, then this ‘waste’ of energy will be highly uncomfortable, the soul will strongly rebel against this waste, this is a deviation from the right path, destruction of personal power and the resources hoarded through so many lives. ‘Trying it out’ on the material here will have its repercussion on the spiritual.

Malefics in the 7^th house or a badly placed 7^th house owner will grant material pain, it is guaranteed. Death of husband/wife, divorces, abandonment, being cheated by partner, emotionally absent spouse etc are the deepest sorrows. These turn the soul more intensely into the spiritual if the horoscope grants the strength to bear this anguish. If not, then the life becomes miserable, a torment. Some might commit suicide or take morally wrong paths or self destructive paths like alcohol/drugs to drown the pain. More karmic imbalances to navigate through. Malefic effects gain the easiest entry into the personality via the 7^th house, the house of twilight, where things are going into the night, being obscured. So one has to be very alert in the matters of the 7^th. (This is more intense for Cancer than Leo.)

The supreme possibility of self-realisation is active for Cancer and Leo ascendants, a very big advantage. Saturn the 7^th lord is malefic, Venus the agent of desire is a malefic. Jupiter the benevolent benefic cannot be counted upon, Mercury shows his immature analytic processes. Rahu/Ketu are dowsy. But Yogkarak Mars supports, so personal courage, determination to conquer, pioneering spirit, to fight, power to control pran, wake the kundalini, attain Moksh etc all is possible. If the rest of the horoscope supports, that is. And if the person chooses to.

Now the weirdest. Sun is not good for Cancer ascendant he rules the 2nd house. And Moon is not good for Leo ascendant as he rules its 12^th house. This has implications on the material/ emotional/ vitality parts. But becomes more crucial for the spiritual. Cancer ascendant has the resource but not the interest in self-realisation, would prefer wasting the resource in the material treasure gathering activities. Leo ascendant does want to bask in his own radiance, but his unknown resources are lying in the 12^th house! These two ascendants suffer from very deep internal conflicts. If they can surrender to the fact that spiritual growth is the only possible goal and instead of ‘trying out the material and the subsequent anguish’, it would be overall better.

So Cancer and Leo ascendants, do some deep self-introspection on this. Try to know what is your purpose in this life. You have chosen the highest luminaries as your ascendant owners, why did you do this? Meditate on this and arrive at your own conclusions. Only you can help yourself, this post is just to get you thinking.

And back to the Leo ascendant. His challenges are all the one-one relationships in the family/ friends, profession/ business, spiritual practice etc. The logic is this,

1. The ascendant lord Sun covers one sign in every month, the ascendant return is once a year. Whenever the ascendant covers one complete movement around the zodiac the personality also completes one cycle and noticeably changes. Thus the rate of change (personality/environment) is rather high.
2. Sun represents the self-ego, luminary, the King of the zodiac, presiding over the highest chakra, Sahasrara. He is different from the rest of the graha.

The 7th Aquarius is owned by Saturn. Saturn considers both Sun and Moon as his enemy. Slowest, he goes round the zodiac in 30yrs. So the partner does not change his basic personality for 30 long years and dislikes sudden changes. Coupled with point (1), this will give disagreement in partnerships of marriage or business.

Saturn is linked to the lowest Mooladhar chakra. He is earthy, bound by karma, hard-working, dour, resistant to change, servant class, very serious, the divine spark is dimmed to the lowest denominator here. This and point (2) ensures that ‘love’ in the marriage becomes irrelevant and only duty remains. He and the spouse, both are uncomfortable, often frustrated and alone. This affects the children if any. On the outer levels they may continue in a marriage of convenience or divorce.

Aquarius is the Mool trikon sign for Saturn and he is more comfortable here, ie the energies represented by Saturn are more easily expressed in Aquarius. And the Sun’s Mooltrikon is Leo itself. So there is discomfort, but not as traumatic as what is faced by the Cancer ascendant. (Mooltrikon is an important concept when interpreting planets and their own signs.)

Partnerships, the 7th house, Aquarius. Spouse likes social groups, mixes with them anonymously, Leo wants to be the center of attention, with yet apart. Spouse is hard working, dour, not ‘shining’, dull, methodical. Also alert about spending money, calculative, self-centred, individualistic (somewhat like Leo but with a Saturnine streak) this leads to clashes. Leo will then start keeping his secrets, hide crucial aspects of his life. He does not trust anyone in any case. He is not made for equal one-one partnerships. But Leo ascendent is generally not unfaithful, sex is not very attractive to him, so he won’t have affairs outside marriage. (Cancer ascendant on the other hand can be unfaithful). There is incompatibility between the two at all levels. Leo basically wants a ‘servant-spouse’ (Similar to Cancer, it is more intense for Cancer as emotions as well as personality/ environment are affected). 

If you have Leo ascendants around you and their marriage seems to work, observe. Note these things, the spouse will take care of the house, the children, all domestic stuff everything, he/she will be over-worked, physically ill, often a chronic long term disease, emotionally suppressed, sexually dissatisfied. His/her dress sense will be like a servant, shabby, drab, personal grooming is not on a priority etc. Will not have many friends, no enjoyment in life. The Leo will not pay attention to the spouse, no movies, no dinner out, no intimacy. The spouse is does not openly resent the superior attitude that the Leo shows towards him/her. The minute he/she protests, the cracks in the marriage become evident. If the spouse stops being subservient, the marriage collapses. Both are unhappy and the children too suffer. (This spouse thingie is very true for Cancer ascendant’s spouses too and more intensely. The examples I have seen are unbelievable!, some in my own family)

Now the inter-linked karma. When you marry someone you take on the attributes of his/ her 7th house. Marriage means that you really take on more karma. If you observe people married to Leo ascendants, they become all this as above after the marriage. Saturn and Aquarius change both him and his spouse after marriage. I have seen young women who looked like film stars before marriage turning into the shabby servant-spouse after marriage with a Cancer or Leo ascendant. And of course the Leo (or Cancer’s) internal misery also increases with marriage, as it chafes on the internal levels.

The 7^th house covers business partnerships and spiritual practices too so these are also affected. The 7^th is the bhavat bhavam for the 4^th and 10^th houses so this effect spills over on the family/ friends and profession/ social image matters too. (I have observed Leo ascendants, some in my own family. Families can be a great life-time study samples. Observing our relatives closely and their charts through the years.)

I am emphasising the 7^th house when I am supposed to be analysing the ascendant sign. But you cannot separate the axis. What you do with the essence of yourself? How will free will operate? How will you choose? What will make you choose? There are some inbuilt factors in the chart but in the 7^th house, your mind wants to decide, to choose, to create new karma! You want to use up the energy given to you. How do you use it? This is the most important question.

Eg. you may have 100% energy but you choose to use it on a doomed marriage. Then the wife dies and leaves you with a small differently-abled child. Your free will, your choice and your own repercussions. You have not only used up the hoarded precious resource, but also created new karma. If Parabrahma now appears before you and tells you that you were going to be a Guru in this life, but you have lost the opportunity, now you will need more lives, as many as the leaves on this tree! How do you react? 

And equally important is what will feed you energy? Which of your free will choices are going to boost you? This is again the domain of the 7th. The most important boost is spiritual practice, thus the 7th house governs spiritual practice and your relationship with your higher self. If you are aware that your chart is spiritually oriented and you choose to immerse yourself in Dhyan, you are feeding yourself more power.

For Cancer and Leo ascendants especially, these philosophical questions are important. For the other ascendants, all this might sound crazy. (But when you study charts, you learn to appreciate different mindsets and each very typical.)

If Aquarius is occupied, then the person will generally get married with its typical issues. Sun here makes the Leo very dominating, ill-health/ death of spouse is possible. Moon here makes the Leo unfaithful in marriage. Mercury is better here, the spouse may suffer ill-health but is adaptable and efficiently manages the household. Venus gives very bad results here, as both are manipulative towards each other. Mars can give both extremes, a good marriage or divorce. Jupiter if here gives ill-health to the spouse, this spouse otherwise is generally good. Saturn is not good here, after marriage there is depression, disillusionment and sorrow.

On the marriage front, I have seen that several Leo ascendants do not marry, they are happy in their own royal solitude. If Aquarius is vacant, then there is a real possibility that marriage will not occur. A distant marriage. Or a marriage of convenience, both doing their own thing, not unfaithful per se. Divorce or death of spouse is also possible if there are other combinations. Leo ascendants do not enjoy a happy married life as internally there is no affection no mutual respect no compatibility nor companionship nor empathy nor shared interests between the two.

On the business/ profession front, I have seen he generally does better in service, possibly government service or politics. If he starts his own business, he should choose a partner whom he can dominate in some way with the power of his charisma, his knowledge of secrets etc.

On the spiritual front, he is always lonely and hides his loneliness well. The Royal is always alone. Very private, he will not show his emotions to others, alone in his private joy and grief. The route to the one-one relationship with the Higher Self is invisible in the radiant glare of the Individual Self. If he wants real happiness, he will have to stop his pre-occupation with his individuality. Only then will the route be visible. Sun looks outwards from himself, not really within himself. There is a saying ‘darkness beneath the lamp’ which completely applies here. 

At present, Saturn has returned to his own Capricorn after 30yrs, will next move to his Aquarius. These total 5 years are going to be very crucial for Cancer and Leo ascendants. If the person is more than 36yrs of age then this will not be so difficult as maturity has set in. But if the Saturn is still immature, should be careful. Whatever path he commits to now, cannot be revisited in future as it will be powered by the irreversible Saturn+Capricorn power. This will have deep implications for his remaining and next lives.

• For Cancer, the lord of the 7th and 8th, now himself in the 7th house (later will shift to the 8th house). Unfavourable for one-one partnerships of every type. Deep catastrophic changes in the personality/ environment as the very psyche will change. Body, mind and soul all will be affected. This time period has to be navigated with care. Choose your actions, you might end up creating more karma and internal sorrow for yourself. Sudden decisions or life-time decisions will not give favourable results.
• For Leo, the 6^th and 7^th lord, himself in the 6^th house (later in the 7th house). It will have a favourable effect on his karmic requirements of service/suffering. But as the lord of the 7^th in the 6^th house will mean that the one-one partnerships which he will choose will have karmic repercussions. He can create new karma or choose to dissolve the root of karma itself. 

Cancer ascendant is deeply disinterested in the game of Creation. Leo ascendent internally knows that he will Integrate his flame into the infinite fires of Reality. So will this happen in this life or not? This is your own choice and free will.

 

(Only Cancer and Leo ascendants have these deep spiritual implications. For the other ascendants, my posts will not be so philosophical nor lengthy.)