Archive for July 2010
Mark Cuban
Leos are generally quite self-satisfied people. Like Mark Cuban, I’d probably be happy with myself if I was a billionaire, too. However, when Cuban competed on “Dancing with the Stars,” fans reacted poorly to how pleased Cuban was with himself.
I don’t believe for a second that Mark Cuban thought he would win DWTS. I do believe that he was thrilled with himself for doing something so out-of-character for someone in his shoes. If that came off as smug, it was because that the way Leos can come off. They sometimes need to work on appearing magnanimous rather than smug. That’s usually not such a tall order because most Leos are magnanimous. It’s in their nature to be nice.
Sandra Diaz-Twine
Today’s birthday girl is the only person who has won the game of “Survivor” twice.
Even the most badly-behaved Leos have a way of making you like them. Sandra Diaz-Twine played the game without hiding her feelings of animosity toward certain players, yet her castmates kept her in the competition because she was fun to be around and seemingly non-threatening. Still her “as long as it ain’t me” strategy proved to be the most effective strategy in the history of the game. It’s just like a Leo to look out after number one!
Diana Vreeland
Leos are the supreme rulers of the zodiac. If they don’t want to follow the rules, they make new rules.
Famed fashion editor Diana Vreeland, today’s birthday girl, was known for making up her own rules. As the most influential figure in American fashion for decades, Vreeland was the Anna Wintour of her generation. The biggest difference between the two women, however, is that Vreeland was beloved rather than feared. In the 1957 film “Funny Face,” the character of Maggie Prescott was inspired by Vreeland. She was no Miranda Priestly — if you know what I mean.
No one else can get away with acting as if they are the center of the universe quite like a Leo can. We not only tolerate outrageous behaviour, but we encourage it with our celebrity worship. When a Scorpio acts in a similar manner (Anna Wintour, for example), we demonize her behaviour and turn her into a movie monster.
It must be nice to be a Leo!
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
No individual in the zodiac has the power to become an icon in the way that a Leo does. There’s something about the sign that allows them to command the attention of the public while redefining the role of celebrity, thereby establishing themselves as pop culture icons.
I know people talk about Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis as if she was some “classic” example of American style. However, she was exactly the opposite. She redecorated the White House. She enlisted high-profile fashion designers to recreate the role of First Lady so that she didn’t resemble a single President’s wife that came before her. She wore big sunglasses and big hairdos. Without resorting to shock value, she became an icon of American style so effortlessly that her style is now considered classic rather than controversial.
In fact, if there was a national holiday devoted to style, it would have to correspond to Jackie O’s birthday. Only a Leo could get away with inspiring that sort of celebrity worship. She’s an icon, indeed.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
I make a lot of allusions to royalty when I discuss Leo. When you deal in stereotypes, you find the one that fits. So I find it interesting that Jonathan Rhys Meyers, today’s birthday boy, has found his greatest success in playing a couple of kings on TV.
I don’t know much about the guy except that he’s been in the news for punching people like his fellow Leo, Sean Penn. But I do know that nothing in his career has compared to his critical success in “The Tudors,” where he plays Henry VIII, and his award winning performance in the title role of the miniseries “Elvis.”
When the shoe fits . . .
Mick Jagger
It’s no surprise that today’s birthday boy, Mick Jagger, is a Leo. Leos thrive on being the center of attention. However, they’re also terrific at sharing the spotlight. Jagger’s relationship with Keith Richards is one of the most successful and most enduring partnerships in show business.
Jagger fits the bill as a Leo with his looks. He’s got a shaggy mane of hair and a catlike prowl that has become his signature onstage. But it’s his ability to work well with others that defines him as a Leo. You wouldn’t see that sort of loyalty to a group from an Aries like Diana Ross or a Virgo like Beyonce. Some people just need to have the spotlight all to themselves. Leos, on the other hand, can be the star of the show without sacrificing their entourage or slamming the door on creative collaborations.
Iman
When people first discover that I’m an astrologer, I often get bombarded with relationship questions. While it’s fun to talk about sun signs in relation to romance, there are plenty of other aspects to consider.
Nevertheless, I often answer those questions with the most obvious generalization that comes to mind. For instance, when people ask me what sign is compatible with Leo, I usually mention one of the fire signs. Still, whenever I talk about celebrity relationships involving Leos, the first couple to come to my mind is Iman and David Bowie.
I wouldn’t have bet on the staying power of this relationship, but it’s lasted a long, long time. Perhaps it works because both Leos and Capricorns have huge egos, yet both signs are willing to share their thrones. The only sign I can think of with a comparable ego is Aries, and they don’t like to share.
In theory, it shouldn’t work. In practice, it seems to be all right. By show business standards, it’s about as stable as a relationship gets.
Jennifer Lopez
Today’s birthday girl, Jennifer Lopez, couldn’t be any other sign besides Leo. She’s got the big hair, the diva reputation, the attention-grabbing wardrobe, etc.
Leos thrive on being the center of attention; the more they get, the more they want. Even if her acting/singing career dried up tomorrow, I wouldn’t expect J-Lo to go away too soon. She’d find her way back into the spotlight somehow, hawking products on QVC or running for Congress, or something . . .
Slash
Although I mentioned the sign of Leo yesterday, it was while I was discussing a man who is probably a Cancer. Today’s birthday boy, Slash, is definitely a Leo.
Let me preface this upcoming month of birthday posts by mentioning that Leo is the big hair sign . . .
Oscar de la Renta
I get a Leo vibe from the work of renowned designer Oscar de la Renta. However, for today’s birthday boy to be a Leo, he would have had to be born after 9:38 PM. That makes it about a one-in-eight chance that he’s a Leo and not a Cancer — not the best odds.
Nevertheless, de la Renta does have both Mercury and Jupiter in Leo. I don’t know his rising sign because I have no accurate time of birth, but either of those planets could be personalized if he had Leo rising or on the midheaven.
Furthermore, like Karl Lagerfeld and a few other designers, Lagerfeld could excel designing for the sign where his negative-polarity sun is expressed in its postive form (Virgo to Gemini in Lagerfeld’s case, or Cancer to Leo in de la Renta’s case). I like this idea better because de la Renta seems like a Cancer but designs like a Leo, just as Karl is definitely a Virgo designing for Chanel, a label that epitomizes Gemini style.
The idea of these polarities intrigues me more than any other concept in astrology. Traditionally, polarities were an important part of understanding signs. You had Leo/Cancer, Gemini/Virgo, Libra/Taurus, Aries/Scorpio, Sagittarius/Pisces and Aquarius/Capricorn. Each pair was ruled by one planet expressed in either a positive or negative polarity. Modern astrology threw that out the window when the outer planets became responsible for three of those signs. While I agree in the sub-influences that these outer planet impart, I don’t treat them as sign rulers. I regret that I ever did. I bought into the claptrap that modern astrologers made up to feed their own egos. No one needed to mess up a system that was thousands of years old, and the fact that they believed they were important enough to do so should have been a red flag for someone as smart as me. Every day I kick myself for including modern astrology rulerships in my book. If I rewrote it tomorrow, it would be the first thing I would change.
