KEY 8 – Strength        LEO                                        CHARACTER ─ DESTINY                  REINCARNATION     KEY 8, STRENGTH, among other things, is assigned to LEO. The LION symbolism is an excellent clue. LEO personalities are known for their HONESTY, INTEGRITY and STRENGTH of CHARACTER, in accordance with a powerful personality. The evolved LEO tends to be compassionate and passionate, warm hearted and courageous, with extraordinary backbone, bravery, and fearlessness in the face of battle, any kind of battle. But we all have LEO somewhere in our chart. For that reason, we all partake of the strong and noble characteristics of this dashing, dazzling zodiacal sign ruled by the SUN and born to rule, somehow, somewhere. True dramatic romantics for sure, often found upon the stage or silver screen!  LEO rules the HEART.  Everyone has HEART.  Everyone has a backbone and a spinal column ruled by LEO, the place where the SERPENT POWER of the KUNDALINI rises up and down in sometimes gentle-streaming electrical charges, and other times rushes  like a consuming cosmic fire of purification as the Path to Enlightenment widely opens.  We all evolve and grow whether we like it or consciously chose to or not. That's part of the COSMIC PLAN.  LEO rules the house of CHILDREN.  The Holy Scriptures refer to mortals on this Earth as the CHILDREN of GOD.  Certainly one day all souls shall grow into their full spiritual potential, but the process usually takes lifetimes. There are those who say the way we live on after this life is through our children in our genetic heritage.  This is clear in most families when it comes to resemblance and character traits.  As I grow older, I look in the mirror and see my mother.  Yet, in many ways, I am very different from my mother.  I see aspects of myself in my children, and yet, they are quite special apart from me, distinct and unique.  I would not have it any other way.  Perhaps this is why serious abnormalities show up with cloning?  Even identical twins are distinct and different.  My daughter-in-law is an identical twin. In the beginning, I had a trouble telling her apart from her sister when they were together.  Now that I’ve known them for several years, I’ve discovered major differences in temperament and personality that help me tell them apart.  They’re Gemini twins to boot, the sign of the twins, but their pursuits in life are different and only one is married to my son. Each soul, twin or whatever, has his or her own karma and lessons to learn on an individual basis. The SUN, Key 19, which rules LEO, is the Source of LIFE and LIGHT at the center of our Solar System.  The passage of the SUN through the Constellations during a Solar Year determines your Sun Sign on the day of your birth. The SUN is strong in LEO, creating EGO and a dominant personality. The metaphysical belief is that the soul journeys many times upon the Earth, which is why REINCARNATION is indicated by Key, 8, STRENGTH.  Developing a strong sense of self and a distinct individuality is important in terms of evolution, along with the cultivation of special talents and skills to be of use on the planet.  Without a sense of self or special capacity, the individual is of little value in the administration of matters of the Cosmos.  Leadership ability is inherent in LEO, the need to govern and control, but this is only possible at a higher level when a soul has finally reached a point in its evolution where skills are fully developed. The LION may be compassionate or cruel, depending upon the current role in which the soul is cast upon the stage of life. In the Hindu tradition, life is considered to be a play with humanity the actors playing out their roles. Some are cast as saints, some as sinners, others as heroes or villains, some are benefactors and others beastly despots, roaring and snarling to maintain territory.  It's all a part of the play and process of growth, since life is an eternal process.  We cannot die except to our outworn, imperfect personalities─our many-colored coat of some lifetime.  Yet, often, evolving souls forget.  When a soul returns for another go-around on the stage of life—most pass through the veil of forgetfulness. The only ones who remember are usually Enlightened, especially the Self-Realized Masters who have returned to teach and train the rest.  And even they do not always remember their mission at the outset.   Gautama the Buddha was born a prince. He had to leave the comforts of his Hindu palace to dwell among suffering humanity, and meditate under a Bodhi Tree to become a Bodhisattva—One who resists entering Nirvana (or Heaven) after reaching Enlightenment in order to bring others to the Way of Liberation from the Wheel of Rebirth and suffering.  The Master Jesus, known as the Christ, was born in a manger among lowly animals, and over the years, he was taught the mysteries by wise men in Egypt, India, and Tibet before he could enter upon his spiritual mission of liberating others from the outmoded, stringent laws of Judaism of his time.  Buddha was to Hinduism what Jesus was to Judaism, a liberator, or deliverer, from the lower levels of consciousness.  Each of them balked at the outmoded caste systems.  Each of them taught the middle path, which Jesus called "the straight and narrow way."  Each Master taught the masses to “do unto others as you would have them do unto you," as a fact of universal law and the teaching of the ancient prophets.  Each avatar spoke of Universal Law and the consequences involved with breaking such laws, about sowing and reaping, for that in truth is the way of the Universe.  I'm not personally convinced that either of these Sons of God, Avatars, Saints, Masters, Buddhas, whatever you want to call them, were inclined to start a religion based upon their experiences and awareness.  The major religions that exist today, which include their names and teachings, were started by their faithful and devoted disciples. The precepts and principles included in the teachings of these Masters can lead one to Enlightenment, Liberation, Self-Realization, Christ Consciousness, Heart rulership as a Master of Compassion, an aspect represented by Key 19, THE SUN, ruler of Key 8, STRENGTH.  One need only pick a Path and follow its disciplines to eventually unite with the true SUN at the Center. There are seven major SPIRITUAL CENTERS or CHAKRAS in the human body closely connected with the human endocrine system.  The SUN CENTER or HEART CHAKRA is in the midst or center of the body, especially when seated cross-legged in the eastern posture.  The word chakra means wheel or vortex.  The spiritual centers exist within the ETHERIC BODY, not the physical body.  The Thymus located in the middle of the chest is closely associated with the HEART.  The three lower centers are activated in most of humanity.  The base chakra is governed by SATURN and has to do with basic survival instincts, self-preservation.  The second chakra, MARS, has to do with reproduction, procreation and the sense of fight or flight.  The third, JUPITER, the Solar Plexus, involves power issues, plus the establishment of clan, family or nation, the need to nurture and protect.  Good corporate executives and leaders always have strongly developed Jupiter Centers.  It is the fourth chakra, the HEART, that is in the greatest need of development in  most of humanity, which is highly developed in all spiritual Masters.  Interestingly, it can be through romantic or familial personal love that a soul is able to eventually express Divine Impersonal Love.  If you cannot love an individual, a creature, a flower, or even a sunset, how will you ever be able to love humanity on an unconditional basis?  Not every soul is capable of loving.  Not every soul can attune to the HEART CHAKRA.  The ability to love is a sign that a soul is evolving toward the HEART and will one day become a Master of Compassion, Heart Master.  This is the indwelling Christ, the Greek or Roman Christos, the Hindu Krishna, the Bodhisattva, the savior, the liberator from the Wheel of Rebirth and Suffering.  “All we need is love─love is all we really need.”  That is the absolute truth!  Love is the greatest gift.  Love is what you are.  LOVE is what you need to express, unconditionally, to yourself and everyone else.  Love is the greatest gift of all.  “Sow a thought and reap an action, sow an action and reap a habit, sow a habit and reap character, sow character and reap Destiny,” thus spoke Thackeray, a wise man. It is your ultimate Destiny to become Enlightened, all wise and all knowing.  You can put it off for as long as you want.  It’s your choice.  You can run around yelling, “Look at me…I’m the greatest,” but that doesn’t mean you know that in your heart for a fact.  Self-Realized Masters do not display signs of ego unless it’s necessary to make a point to a struggling, ignorant disciple. Self-Realized Masters are beyond karma.  Now, that should get your attention!  Each and every time you come to Earth you have the opportunity to STRENGTHEN your CHARACTER by your thoughts, actions, choices, even by your mistakes.  Everything you do and experience is for your ultimate edification.  The Lord of the Universe will not coerce you into reaching Self-Realization.  Enlightenment is something you must choose and you're making choices every day through the basic substance of your character. Who you are.  Who are you?  Do you like you?  What you are?  Where you are?  How strong and conscious are you?  Key 8, STRENGTH, also relates to the POWER OF SUGGESTION.  What kind of suggestions are you making to yourself?  What kind of reading material do you choose?  What sort of television programs do you watch?  What sort of websites do you visit?  Are your choices making you a better person, more noble?  Are you living up to your code of ethics?  It might be a good to stop and think about  that.  I’m not referring to being a goodie two shoes.  Expressing honesty and integrity is an important part of your evolution.  Making an effort to be true to yourself and others is very important.  Lies do not fool your HIGHER SELF, so a good beginning might be to ask yourself if you’re telling the truth in conversations with yourself and others?  Do you mean what you say?  Do you mean it when you tell someone you “can’t” do something—or do you mean you don’t want to do it?  This is the beginning of honesty…promising yourself to always tell the truth. That doesn’t mean, by the way, if someone asks you if you think they’re ugly or stupid, and in your opinion, they are ... that you should come right out and say it.  Evasion might be the better part of valor in some situations (check out Cancer, the Crab).  You will not reach the Chamber of the Heart through being cruel, mean, or in anyway unkind.  Compassion is the name of the higher game.  Why not play it! NEPTUNE, Key 12, THE HANGED MAN, is exalted in LEO, the planet of the HOLY SPIRIT that  fills the HEART and soul of the Realized Being.  NEPTUNE rules the Law of Sacrifice, on the highest level it is the sacrifice of the lower ego to the Higher Self. With this pattern you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  What you SACRIFICE is your doubts, fears, and frustrations, your worries and despair, your little self to the greater Self.  In the biblical sense, you  “cast your burdens on the Lord.”  This is the ultimate SURRENDER to the Spirit.  That which is graphically depicted by Jesus dying on the cross in obedience to the Will of the Father.  It is the eternal allegory of the Sacrificed God—the lower self must die to become a god—the little ego must give up the me, me, me.  I know what you're thinking…here you go through countless lifetimes to develop a strong sense of self only to have to give it up.  You have to learn “to let go and let God.”  For most of us, this is not an easy task.  For the Dalai Lama, hey, His Holiness has been the Dalai Lama fourteen times!  Every time he REINCARNATES the monks and lamas find him again.  As a small child he picks out his own things from his previous incarnation as the Dalai Lama to assume the task of being a Bodhisattva to millions once again. You see, Bodhisattvas agree to tarry upon the Earth until all sentient beings have reached Liberation.  That means every living being on this Earth.  And you think your life is complicated and demanding! NEPTUNE can be walking in a mist or fog, living in a dream world, looking at the world through rose-colored glasses.  You have to be careful not to accept the play as reality like some people do when they watch the soap operas.  From a negative perspective, NEPTUNE is the planet associated with illusion, delusion, and snare, things such as drug addiction and alcoholism, or any other escapism pursued by delusional mortals.  No one ever took his or her first hit or drink with the thought of becoming an addict.  It can be a matter of knowing yourself well enough, who you really are and how far you can go.  Knowing your limits.  It has to do with CHARACTER, as expressed by Key 8, STRENGTH, the sign in which NEPTUNE is exalted, ruled by the SUN that rules COURAGE and DARING.  As the SUN rises, it burns away the clouds and fog so that we see things more clearly.  After all, it takes real courage to give up any addiction and strengthen your character.  Most of us have tried to get a family member, friend, or even our self, to give up one addiction or another (food, drink, drugs, sex, cigarettes, you name it), but that can only happen when the soul has recognized the error of his or her ways and takes the first step.  How do we know whether or not a soul has developed a particular addiction in order to develop the spiritual muscle to rise above it?  Aha!  No cross, no crown.  No crucifixion, no resurrection!  How do you like them apples?  Without a problem to solve there can be no solution.  Without a race to run, there is no prize to be won. Without the darkness there can be no Light.  Cosmic food for thought!  Eternal riddles.  Enjoy the game of Life with the dash and drama of a true LEO!  And do have fun!  Children always do!.     What a Universe!