The fifth house corresponds to the fifth sign of the zodiac, Leo. Leo is a Fixed Cross, fire sign. As a general statement, it is through the fixed cross that human emotion and human desire is fostered, then is used for spiritual maturation, and produces the ultimate end-result of desire becoming transcendent. It is then emanated into the worlds and cosmos as benevolence. Desire is a universal seed. From it comes thickets and flowers, cacti and fruit.

The mutable signs pick up where the fixed or cardinal cross have ended in the development of the previous life. The mutable signs all have a certain mental focus to them. Mind is somehow massaged into greater flexibility and thus is more accessible and broad. Mind and mental are vast terms: computation or analysis, critical mind or open mind are only a few of the aptitudes that the mutable cross provides. This general statement as well as the one about the fixed cross are just that: general. Yet, the statements are valuable if one is trying to understand oneself through the medium of astrology. There are overarching themes and dominant tendencies to the signs and the planets represent spectrums of qualities and skills, defaults and afflictions. The ticket to awareness is to boldly observe one’s self without judgement or preference. Then, and only then, can awareness dawn and, with it, understanding, empathy, daring, and diligence regarding transformation or washing away of the old and revelation or generation of the fresh. BTW, the cardinal cross is generally about drive: unstoppable forward momentum. Think of a seed sprouting (Aries), a baby birthing through the womb (Cancer), the progressive beneficence of collaboration and justice (Libra), and breaking through self-made realities (Capricorn).

Desire is, indeed, universal. It shape-shifts into magnetism which produces chemical bonds or rejection; morphs into attraction which generates appearances in all species, forces migrations, and is the root of all battles for mate, food, or territory. Desire transfigures when people fall in love – with other people or pets in an animal shelter. Under the spell of infatuation the messy untrained puppy is cute, the solitary cat “will” enjoy my lap, and the person who is the object of infatuation is perfect. The trouble with desire is its chameleon-nature. Emotions can change on a dime, and often do. That which was cute, no longer is; that which was perfect, no longer is. That which never was cuddly is realized as so, but “Oh, I wanted a cuddly cat.”

Now, we are stuck. That’s the fixed cross. It is fixed, stuck, not easy to move, stubborn, and – in truth – fairly self-focused. Are other zodiac signs self-focused? YES, absolutely. Human beings are self-focused! To assist us in awakening, the fixed cross holds our situations static long enough to offer an opportunity to recognize them, thus notice the emotions and thoughts involved, thus discern the personalization or self-ing going on. All of this belies the long-term and spontaneous realizations with are the function behind fixity. The fixed cross signs earnestly foster wakefulness and awakening.

If one has strong fixed cross elements in one’s horoscope or in the archetypal fixed houses (2, 5, 8, 11), reflect on desire and its many manifestations pertinent to your life and you. The progressive agenda behind the fixed cross only works if the person notices emotions, attachment, preferences, and self-indulgence. Doing so is a great gift to one’s self, and one that no one else can provide.

The rulers of Leo are the Sun traditionally, the Sun esoterically, and the Sun hierarchically. That’s a lot of brightness! Why that much light? So that we see. First we must see ourself and like what we see while transforming what we don’t. Then we are to see others more truly, see their needs, their pain, and our collective need for one another. With that, we are to perceive beyond appearances, situations, and circumstances, beyond meaning and mysteries. We are to recognize that the search for who and what I am, who you are, and what “this” is all about has been lifetimes of theatre. The sun shines due to Being, not doing. Having grown our self and made the way easier for others, we come to deeply understand that the radiance of simply being is and provides the greatest radiance. With that, we have illumined our Way.

The Sun’s rulership is considered a veil in esoteric astrology. The Master DK is a little cagey regarding the planets being veiled. He says what they are but then states that not in all cases is it like this. He offers Jupiter veiled traditionally, Uranus and Neptune for the higher turns of the spiral. I have contemplated this many times and observed people with Leo operative in their charts including myself and my Path since I have a Leo Moon. What is offered here is for your contemplation and observation as I have tried to “see” if the higher rulers are fluid according to point on Path or to essential energy (monad). May we all illumine our Way.

A house is influenced by the rulers of its corresponding sign. In the case of some houses, these influences are easier to recognize than with others. Astrology is a whirl and twirl of intermingling forces; and it is likely that the sign on the cusp of a house exerts its influence in a more tangible way than these rulers which are faded or ethereal by comparison. But, my guess is that the energy and force dynamics of each person’s horoscope is perfect for him or her. For example, I have Aries on the 5th house cusp. I relate to that and expressed that as a Girl Scout leader, in how my children were raised, and in the relationships that I have with them now in their 30’s. I relate with the cusp sign regarding what brings me joy, how I have had fun through my life, and how creative expression has demonstrated. My 5th house is uninhabited; the sign on the cusp is given free reign to exert its influence. Observation tells me that Uranus is the veiled ruler of my 5th house. But guess what? Uranus also is a ruler of Aries.

One could say that I just made a tidy package of esoteric bs. in wanting it to make sense to me. Fair enough. But, isn’t that what Path is about to some extent?

The Sun rules Leo traditionally. It veils Jupiter.
Jupiter is big, expansive, and its influence is hard to miss. Jupiter exaggerates or increases that which it touches. Most of these words describe growth, for good or ill. The sun in the sky is the driving force behind growth on Earth. The Sun in one’s chart represents what can grow in you during this lifetime. Parenthetically, the Moon in the chart- glowing by the grace of the sun – exhibits that which has been grown or developed over many lives. What all of these have in common is the manifest expression of potential growth and personal expansion.

Leo can be showy. Well, the sun during the day does that so well that the rest of the heavens is blotted out. Leo can be self-referencing and self-important. Yeh, the sun displays these tendencies through the daytime also. But, because of the sun, we can see. In fact, all life on Earth except that which is at the bottom of the oceans requires the power and life-giving nectar of the sun. The sun makes the winds, the winds make the rain, the rain provides growth in the soil made in millennia gone by through the same interactions. This analogy is important to understand Leo and therefore the 5th house. Things happen around Leos. Things get going. And all the dynamic, creative explosion called life on Earth? That’s the 5th house; and that’s Jupiter being veiled.

If you have planets in the 5th house, live them fully but not obnoxiously. Those planets are part of your shining, like those in the 9th and 10th houses for reasons described in earlier posts. Fully is a Jupiter word, and Jupiter’s nature is good, light, humorous, and not harmful. So, in living a 5th house planet fully be cognizant of the trickster – self-referencing. 5th house planets represent an abundance or exuberance that you have within you, a set of skills or character qualities that serve you and others well if allowed to properly shine.

Because Jupiter can express through embellishment and exaggeration, be mindful not to create tall-tales about yourself that you cannot or don’t live up to. This is so of planets in Leo also and comes down to integrity. Despite its jolly exterior, Jupiter asks authenticity of a us.

The 5th house traditionally refers to our children, our youthfulness, working with children or youth especially in fun, mentoring, and developmental ways that help mold them into “good” human beings without them noticing it. This is rather like the sun which promotes things to grow. The 5th house is also about one’s creative expression. For some people that’s inventing, others it’s making pottery, others it’s planning and throwing parties, and for others its organizing an Earth Day park clean up. Bottom line: everyone is creative in some way or ways. Don’t sell yourself short in this regard. The challenge these days is distraction and self-absorption in the screen of one’s phone. My friends, take up a hobby. Become human again. Oh, and, hobby does not include binge watching on Netflix.

Use your 5th house planets for the gifts (Jupiter) that they are to others and to yourself. Also, and germane to the fixed cross evolutionary agenda: 5th house planets represent how the native gets snagged by emotion, attachment, sentiment, and the desire nature in general. The relationship of fun (5th house) and gratification (desire) is pretty obvious with this house. This means that 5th house planets also provide direct access to transmuting attachments, shoulds, and lesser forms of entertainment that are actually imprisonments.

The Sun veils Uranus esoterically in Leo
Uranus is well displayed through lightening. Lightning is brilliant, instantaneous thus sporadic. It is pure potential that momentarily expresses. If we catch that display in the exact moment of its ferocious expression, we are awed.

We are awed precisely because lightning is brilliant, is sporadic, and expresses only for a fraction of a second. We are dumbstruck because we can feel the intense power and potency released with each strike, and we know that we are feeble by comparison. Uranus is all of these as well, especially when transiting one’s chart.

Uranus’ influence through Leo grants that anyone can be brilliant at something, can take us by surprise, for the good or ill, and can display amazing power and charisma. This is seen in the presence of power-hungry or greedy people as well as in selfless saints. The Uranian influence veiled by the sun is not so veiled. The sun’s power is strong but spread throughout a day, a season, a life. But Uranus is like the power of that luminous strength is concentrated and focalized into one bolt.

By extension, planets in the 5th house resonant to Uranus’ influence represent this condensed and focalized power. Planets in Leo would also if one is living this turn of the spiral. The sign on the 5th house cusp with an uninhabited house would be the lightning rod to invoke these potencies within you.

Be mindful not to be careful not to be cavalier with these highly charged planets of the 5th house or in Leo. Because they are charged, they likely elicit all manner of responses from people, even strangers. The fixed cross signs exude magnetism to begin with, so if Uranus is affecting planets in Leo or the 5th house be mindful of the power behind those planets, veiled Jupiter and veiled Uranus. Use them wisely, with clarity, and according to the brilliance of the higher nature.

Neptune is veiled by the Sun hierarchically in Leo
Neptune can be challenging to interpret. Its manifestations are bit like Padmasambhava’s: wide ranging and distinct. Or, like the ocean, each section of its vastness is unique and must be explored specifically.

Neptune is the waves: changeable yet consistent as waves. Waves of emotion, thought, empathy, entitlement, confusion, self-doubt. Waves of joy, elation, exaltation. Waves of creativity, depression, appreciation and gratitude. In Buddhist psychology there are said to be 51 such waves. All have one thing in common: their intrinsic behavior. They arise, express, and dissolve back into the fecund waters of our psyche only to rise again moment to moment.

Neptune is the shallows and tidal zones. The coming and going that is that human propensity is a form of superficiality. We are easily distracted, easily bemused, confused, and easily diverted. The shallows of Neptune demonstrate as reactivity, excitability, enthusiasm that does not sustain, and gratification in that which is not factually healthy to body, mind, or spirit.

Neptune is the mid-zone: deep enough for big things to swim around in and where one has to dive and immerse in order to explore. Enticement expressed in the previous statements matures in Neptune’s mid-zones of the psyche. Searching, seeking, finding, devotion, conviction, following the trails of transcendence or beauty or harmony or oneness are in this middle zone. For a long time this middle zone has no middle way. Fanaticism, fundamentalism, xenophobia, martyrdom, dogmatism, faith without mind and belief without thinking are in this long phase of human development which exhibits in academia, science, religion, business, and politics. Yet, the mid-zone is deep and vast, and that fact is what leads to the middle way, the thoughtful and inclusive approach that Neptune also supports and nurtures.

Neptune is the dark depths which display as the phantasms of the unresolved and also as that which is possible beyond words. The latter is the womb of surrender, true intuition, sameness, and coemergent enlightenment. The ocean is the same water whether one mile down or in the tidal flow. The unresolved specter locked in our recesses is of the same pure beingness for which no specter ever could be.

Neptune is compassion, a love beyond all duality. It is friendliness that knows no distinctions. Neptune is simple joy, not exuberant thus often not noticed but always present like moisture in the air. Neptune is beauty and harmony that transcend and yet give rise to all particular illustrations of beauty or harmony. In all of these examples, Neptune is blissful reality.

In Neptune’s veiled relationship to Leo, the waters of life and compassion, of intuition, equanimity and oneness meet the life producing light and warmth of the sun. This combination is, in the end, unbeatable. Both will conquer all untoward circumstances, all defiled states of mind and emotions, but will live through them first, express in spite of them, and purify them all the while.

If planets in the 5th house or in Leo are under Neptune’s hierarchical influence, surrender to the ocean of being that you are through the qualities of those planets. For example, if Venus is in the 5th, surrender lesser Venus into the ocean of wisdom and compassion that birthed her. Lesser, common Venus is obvious in us, in our choices, our petty persnickety ways, and in self-importance. But higher Venus aligns completely with redemptive, absorptive, all inclusive Neptune. Higher Venus’s understanding and appreciation are a way to open up to intuition.

Neptune dissolves whatever it touches. If one clings to that something, only frustration and disappointment result. Neptune will fulfill its function in the end. Dissolution and erosion release. These methods free. Planets in the 5th house are to be expressed freely at every turn of the spiral, but with wisdom, mindfulness, and being heedful of the potential traps set by the ego for itself and others. Neptune’s influence on the 5th house will express as quicksand to stop us, almost drowning to scare us into right action, and empathetic sorrow for others and the world to undo the delusion of individuality. Each is to instill a full livingness of interdependent interconnectedness with life. Ultimately, Neptune’s influence is the gift of undoing. Its result is liberation.