Linda Goodman's Sun Signs (28 page)

It's sad, but true, that Leos seldom raise large families. Many of them have no children, are separated from them, or raise an only child. Too bad, because they make warm, wonderful fathers, perhaps somewhat too permissive between stern talks about proper behavior. Your offspring may chafe under his demands and be bored with his long lectures, but they'll soon learn how to flatter him into submission. He'll insist on their respect and get it, but they're liable to wheedle him out of anything by the clever usage of “Yes, Sir. You're right, Sir.” Therefore, the real discipline may be up to you. The children may resent his arrogant ways, but Leo fathers are almost always remembered with affection in later years. One tip. Don't give the youngsters more attention than you give him, or you may end up with quite a lot of trouble on your hands in the form of a giant bruised ego, which will be nearly impossible to heal.

How can you size up the puzzling male Leo? Is he kind-hearted or dangerous, generous or cruelly selfish? Is he really a sociable fellow, who loves people? Does he gain his reputation for superiority under false pretenses, or does he, like the real lion, deserve to be called King? Obviously, by his own standards at least, he does deserve to be the Lord and Master in his love life and his career. You have to admit that he's usually highly successful in both romance and business.

Whether the Leo man is truly a king, or just a pretender to the throne, we may never know. But there are several things you do know about your own lion. He has insatiable appetites, and he's as proud as a peacock. He has an enormous need to command and to be loved by those he rules. Remember that Leo secretly fears he may fail and be ridiculed. It's a constant inner torture, and the true source of his vanity and exaggerated dignity. Yet, when his nobility has been aroused by a great cause, he knows no fear. Only then does the lion learn that the magnificent strength and courage he's been pretending to have has really been there all along.

Your Leo may drive you wild by his antics during courtship, but he's not at all a bad mate for a long term possibility. If you don't mind submerging your ego, and building your life around his, once you've tamed this man, you'll be adored and you'll never be lonely again. Besides, he can fix those bathroom faucets.

There's one thing the Leo woman probably owns that you won't like. A scrapbook of pictures and mementos from all her old boyfriends. It's no use trying to get her to burn it, because the lioness is sentimental.

She's not a wallflower. She's a sunflower. Chances are she's ridiculously popular, and you'll have plenty of competition if you want her to descend to using your name for the rest of her life. You will be a few leaps ahead if your name is St. Hoyme or Mountbatten, Cabot or Lodge. Anything that sounds royal or noble or important. I honestly can't imagine a Leo woman marrying anybody with the name Carbunkle or Smith. It's possible. Anything is possible. But she'll probably change Smith to Smythe.

Most likely, she'll be the social leader of her group, lording it over lesser women like a queen, but with such disarming warmth and such a beautiful smile, no one really minds. Perhaps the other girls sense she was born to rule and dictate styles, customs and manners. Anyway, it wouldn't do much good to try to usurp her authority.

Nature seems to have shown some prejudice when she fashioned the lioness with enough vivacity, cleverness, grace, beauty, and just plain sex appeal for at least three women, with some left over. If you're the victim of an inferiority complex, you'd better set your sights on a bird with less brilliant feathers. Don't expect to tame her into a docile little maid, who hangs on your every word. The man who expects a Leo girl to worship at his feet is living in a fool's paradise. Consider yourself lucky if she meets you halfway, respects you, is willing to be your partner and allows you to possess her emotionally. By the very act of permitting you to love her, she's practically knighted you, for heaven's sake. Seriously, you could do a lot worse. A lioness is a lot of woman. She's rather a luxury item, not available in the bargain basement.

It pays to remember that the Leo female can act up a storm, and pretend to be as sweet and harmless as a bowl of jelly beans. She may have a voice like a whisper, gentle, courteous manners and big, soft eyes that sparkle delightfully when she bats her lashes. A Leo female can appear to be as smooth and calm as a cool and placid lake. On guard. That's just a role she assumed because it got good reviews. Remove her as the star of your love production, cast her in the part of the understudy or second lead, and you'll soon find out just how shy and submissive she isn't. Of course, most of the Leo women to whom you pay homage will openly make it clear that they're too proud and dignified to take any nonsense. I'd just hate to see you stumble in case you get involved with the other kind of lioness, who hides her claws, but sharpens them every day just the same.

The first step when you're courting this girl is to go prepared with gifts. It doesn't make much difference what they are, so long as they're expensive, in excellent taste, and you're dressed properly when you offer them. Then you should practice different ways of complimenting her. Please be original and creative. Phrases like “You send me, Baby,” and “You're really hot, sweetheart,” will get you thrown right out of the palace, back with the peasants. Vulgarity and slang both leave her ice cold. Remember, you're wooing royalty. She can't exist without flattering appreciation, but keep in mind that she admires your masculinity, and she has no desire to turn you into a henpecked weakling. A Leo woman couldn't love you if you weren't strong. It's just that she won't permit you to insult her with a condescending attitude. In her mind, she is definitely not the weaker sex.

Lots of Leo girls are athletic and enjoy sports, but you'd be smarter to take your lioness to the theater than to the ball park. The stage and footlights will never fail to magnetize and transfigure her. (Better buy orchestra seats. Forget the balcony.) Choose a play in which the heroine behaves the way you want
her
to behave that night, and your chances are better than average that she'll act the part unconsciously and never miss an inflection. After the festivities are over, don't take her to a hamburger stand and expect her to sit at the counter munching french fries because she's so much in love with you. You're better off to take her out less often to more glamorous places. She's not necessarily a gold digger; in fact, she's usually generous—she won't object to frequent Dutch dates and she'll probably shower you with almost as many gifts as you give her. But she's just plain uncomfortable in shabby surroundings. The poorest Leo woman in the world will manage to accumulate enough pennies to buy draperies for the windows, rings for her fingers and bells for her toes. Now and then she may go slumming, out of curiosity, but only as a spectator, aloof from the crowd. Poverty depresses her and makes her physically ill. If you dress like a slob and offer her a shack, you haven't got a chance.

There's a story about a noble Frenchwoman, who turned to her lover in the gardens of Versailles and asked, “Darling, do the common people know this exquisite emotion of love?” When she was assured that they did, she cried out in injured surprise, “It's entirely too good for them!” She was probably a Leo.

Don't blame the lioness for her occasional arrogance and vanity. It's her nature to feel herself above the common masses. People seldom resent it, because the Leo woman who's warmly loved and respected can be the kindest and most generous of females, with a womanly compassion for children and for the helpless and the forsaken. You can't really expect her to step down from a throne that's her birthright. If she's a typical Sun child, she's so gracious and dazzling that most people gladly give her credit for being out of the ordinary. Truthfully, she is. She's intelligent, witty, strong, and capable, yet deliciously feminine at the same time. No one in his right mind could call that common.

A little flattery will get you everywhere with your Leo lady. You've already found out it's her secret weakness. And here's another secret, if you plan to marry her: eventually, she'll tire of her gilded cage and want to roam the jungle to see what's doing with all the other cats out there. Confinement inside four walls and under one roof can soon rob her of her sparkle. Let her have her career. She'll wither on the vine if she's forced to be just a hausfrau, unless you have enough money to allow her to be a constant hostess and an extravagant home decorator.

The Leo girl usually makes a jewel of a wife. You'll seldom see her dressed frumpily in a tatty bathrobe, wearing curlers and wrinkle cream. Not that she skips the beauty treatments. The typical lioness will spend hours in front of the mirror and a fortune on cosmetics, but she wants you to see the results, not the strategy. Many a husband of a Leo woman finds himself pleading, “Honey, do you have to spend so much money at the spa?” But most lionesses need to be pampered, so permit them their manicures and massages.

Unless she has a Cancer, Virgo or Capricorn ascendant, you may have to watch her with charge accounts. Leos easily slip overboard when it comes to spending for fine feathers, furnishings for the home or gifts for friends. Her wardrobe can be quite extensive. She can look luscious in evening gowns, dripping with sequins and rhinestones, or low-cut, dressy outfits. But she'll probably prefer casual clothes and sportswear, if she's a typical Leo girl. She likes tailored cuts and rich materials, but not necessarily frills and ruffles. Soft cashmeres, good Italian knits and imported English tweeds are her favorites. Her taste is usually excellent, if a bit expensive. An occasional Leo woman will overdo and bury her sense of style in gaudy, shocking clothes, but she's an exception to the general rule of the traditional leonine exquisite flair for fashion.

You'll find her a superb hostess when you bring colleagues home for dinner. They'll think you're a genius to have won her. She'll probably make a hit with the wives, too, because the lioness is popular with both men and women, and each sex gets treated to her friendly smile and her outgoing personality equally. Anyone who happens to be standing in her bright sunlight feels the warmth. Leos seldom cast a shadow.

As a mother, she'll pour love on her children generously and lavish affection on them. It won't be easy for her to see their faults, but when she does, she'll be strict. Since she can't stand being taken for granted, if the children don't respect her she can pout in regal silence. Many Leo mothers have a peculiar way of spoiling the child without sparing the rod, quite a contradiction when you think about it. She may romp and play with her cubs, have long, chummy talks with them, but she'll also teach them to snap to attention like soldiers, polish their manners, and be obedient to their elders. At the same time, there's a danger of providing a shade too much spending money, and giving in to requests for luxuries. In a way, you might say she treats her offspring like petted members of a royal family, deeply loved, but expected to mind their p's and q's, especially in public. She'll be fiercely proud of their accomplishments, and heaven help the outsider who attempts to hurt them or judge them unfairly. With all this, she won't smother the youngsters. She's too independent to hover over them every second. She'll lead her own life, keeping a watchful eye out for her cubs, from a distance. Many Leo women are working mothers, but their youngsters seldom starve for attention. The career-minded Leos usually manage to balance motherhood and a job with perfect aplomb.

There are times when she'll lose her dignity and poise and become a rollicking, playful lioness, with a flair for pure slapstick. She can roar with laughter like a healthy animal, but when the moment is gone, the satin voice and regal bearing return. No one can squelch a fresh remark or a rude question with as much cold contempt as a Leo female. She doesn't appreciate familiarity from strangers. Although she'll clown around and be surprisingly casual with intimates, outsiders are expected to keep their place.

In the area of faithfulness, the Leo woman may remind you of the old toast, “Here's to me and here's to you, and here's to love and laughter—I'll be true as long as you—not a single minute after.” Enough said.

Don't be jealous of her knack for being the center of attention in a roomful of admiring males. Heads always turn when the lioness smoothly glides by. She feels it's only natural for men to pay court to her. She may encourage masculine compliments and indulge in light, innocent flirtations, because her deep need for applause and adulation covers a strange fear that she's not feminine enough and she must constantly reassure herself that she's desirable. It doesn't mean she's not still in love with you, just because she smiles at your best friend and tells him she adores his new sports jacket. But don't try telling
her
best friend you like her new skirt. That's a whole different ball game. What's sauce for the gander is not sauce for the goose, to reverse the old nursery rhyme. If she hears you call your female co-worker anything much more intimate than “Miss What's-her-name,” your purring kitten may scratch.

Of course, it's not fair. But if you want to be the proud possessor of all those gorgeous brilliantly-colored feathers, you have to make a few concessions. After all, owning a peacock is hardly the same thing as owning a cuckoo bird or a cooing pigeon. Humor her vanity. She'll probably be important in her own right, because few Leo women can resist competing with men for prestige, if not income. Your lioness could be anything from an actress to a surgeon.