“Attention Seekers…Elsa, how does this show up in someone’s chart?
I’m asking because I’ve been running into a lot of this lately, both online and in real life. It frustrates and annoys me, even though I’m a Leo, the sign that’s supposedly forever seeking it…well, not this one.
I got a lot of unwanted attention as a kid, and since then, I’ve spent a good part of my life avoiding it. Now, I don’t like completely obliterating myself…I simply value my unique talents. I don’t like drawing attention to them or myself.
Why do people feel the need to do the opposite? Do people feel that rejected or overlooked that they need to make obnoxious asses out of themselves?
I don’t get it!”
Woah! I read this and thought, now this is how to get your question answered on the Elsa blog! Make it so one-sided, P’s Libra goes off and has no choice but to address it! I am going to answer your question but first I want to point something out That is, you are just a tad judgmental and I want to pay attention to that! ::smiles:: Here is what an attention seeker might say to you:
“What is it with these people who think they write the rules and standards for the people around them, huh? I’m a Capricorn but you don’t see me doing that. Why can’t they live and let live the way I do…?
I would also add that one person’s “attention-seeking jackass” is another person’s entertainment and glee but as to your question, astrologically, yes. Leo typically likes to be seen as do people with a lot of planets in the 5th house. However there are many other signatures for example people (like me) with planets on the midheaven are meant to be seen.
But what I really think is that alllll people are attention seeking because everyone has a Sun and that thing is going to want to shine.
Take a Scorpio. They want attention! They want you to know that they can screw your lights out and if you doubt this just get in bed with one. Gemini wants attention, otherwise they’d be quiet! Even the quiet signs want attention… they just get it by being the person in the room not drawing attention to themselves… Libra wants to be known as a peacemaker…. damn it! Etc. you get the idea.
I like your question but I think it has waaaay more to do with you than the people like my grandfather who stand on their head in grocery stores. One caveat:
Someone with Jupiter overload really can be obnoxious however this is also an opportunity to be entertained. For example to me they’d be just another character in my movie…. the movie centered around myself and if your movie is not centered around yourself then who the hell is it centered around?
The easy answer here is this: If you don’t like attention seekers, look away. But if you do, I have no idea what you’re going to do for entertainment because these things are intertwined.
Your thoughts on attention seeking are..?
26 Responses to “The Astrology Of Attention Seekers”
Some of them can be really irritating. Like I just want to do my own thing and here they are, dancing around in my face being all, “Look at me, I’m an attention whore!” and they won’t leave me alone so I can read my book. I always think of this picture: http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Image:Attentionwhore.jpg. They’re never satisfied somehow.
I am not sure if I am an attention whore or not. With the Uranus rising (and two Leo planets and Leo midheaven) I am going to get noticed no matter what I do unless I take pains to be vewwy vewwy quiet and hide in a corner. I probably dress like one, but I don’t go around in people’s faces begging them to look and pout if nobody comments on my outfit. I guess to me that’s the crucial difference 
Astrology-wise, anyone with planets on the AC/DC axis probably has this going on, I think. Plus the Leos. Maybe the other fixed signs too? I suspect the original letter writer must have a lot of Virgo, though.
There is one book series I read where the narrator has a very prominent partner (he’s handsome, charming, nobility, great at his job, rumored to be a tiger in the sack, even the guys love him, yadda yadda) and she is very smug about how modest she is and how she just wants to blend in and do her job without fuss, and she scorns him for all the attention. And yet it’s funny when it’s pointed out on occasion that she does go for attention, at the very least in her hobby, because she’s fairly prominent in that world and stands out there.
for me, it’s not the attention seeking per se, but the manner in which said attention is sought.
when there is creating drama that leaks onto others, that is an issue for me. i highly value my peacefulness. i’ve had (notice the past tense) a few people in my life who created drama, real or imaginary, for no other apparent reason than to be in the middle of the show.
but the life of the party types? they can be a lot of fun, and hey, y’kno, i take my turn as well. maybe the difference for me is about getting attention at someone else’s expense.
I like attention and I’ll kinda whore for it. My north node is in the fifth though, and my midheaven is conjunct an outer planet (There’s wiggle room on my birth time but from one end to the other of the times something is always cnj up there) sooooo . . Yeah. I’ve made a scene or two in my time. But I keep an eye on my audience, and if they’re not enjoying it I cut it. Nuthin’ worse than an unappreciative audience, except an unappreciative audience ten minutes later.
^^^
What Goddess said.
Attention gives me the creeps sometimes, personally; I don’t know why. Maybe it is my MC/South Node/Sun conj & I was a real bad attention whore last lifetime haha? I was a performer when I was in my teens and 20′s though & it didn’t bother me then….
that image made me laugh.
I really like your response, Elsa. Really, really, really. It especially love the Gemini aspect: I know a few Pisces who are ENRAGED by Geminis, and I’m all: “Hey, then who’s the court jester, eh?”
I have 5th House Sun opposed Uranus. If I want to be seen, I’m seen. And when I want to bolt, I do. Nothing better than people who let their freak fly, in my opinion. Then again, if you annoy me I’m just going to walk away anyway…
And it all reminds me of this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfpkeNRthmc
I especially love this:
“Your mama told you to be discreet and keep your freak to yourself”
I have been known to feed attention seekers (aka feeding the lions at the zoo) to entertain myself and them both, so…
Question asker here…*doesn’t raise hand* 
Jennifer, you got it! I have three planets in Virgo, Saturn in the 1st, and Capricorn on the MC.
I also have Sun/Mars in Leo, both in the 5th, plus Mercury in Virgo.
Jupiter is right on the ASC/DSC axis (29 Aries/Libra).
That’s probably why I get noticed more than I want.
I should have clarified that the “dramarama” types are the ones that get on my nerves, like Goddess said, NOT the “life of the party” types. The latter type is usually friendly and fun, and I’ve been friends with many of them. It’s the former type that I was complaining about in my original post.
Then again, Saturn is right on top of my Mercury right now, making my words come out much more harshly than they ever have. Lesson to learn: stop being overly critical and judgemental.
Clarifying (Virgo!): Mercury in Virgo is also in the 5th house, with the two Leo planets.
kashmiri! Are you in that video? Are you the sweetie pie who licked the side of her arm pit and then hopped? oh man what fun! It’s bedtime in Europa, good night Kashmiri-Bob, Good night Mary-Elsa, good night y’all.
I sometimes want attention for being smart, but then I’m uncomfortable when I get it. So I mostly don’t try to attract attention, even by being the quiet one who isn’t trying.
Fortunately I have no problems staying entertained even when I do look away.
I still can’t wrap my mind around the concept of a Leo that doesn’t happily admit to seeking attention.
“Nuthin’ worse than an unappreciative audience, except an unappreciative audience ten minutes later.”
Ha ha ha! Thanks for the laugh Foxxy! This made me think of another post where you described some of your tastes in clothes and how much I enjoyed hearing about it.
Lis, it sounds like you’ve been sucked dry but certain types, and I do empathize with that. My natal Saturn is in Leo (8th House, trine Mars) and there was a point in my life when I couldn’t even check for lint on my coat without cringing that other people could see me do it. I definitely did NOT like attention.
But yeah…one big old Saturn Return extravaganza changed that..somewhat. I cried last week when my artwork was part of a public exhibition. So maybe I more than other people like attention whores: I feel like I can learn (Saturn) something from their energy (8th House) and so take all nuance as part of my ongoing education in being ‘public.’ Esp. important to me as an emerging artist.
I hope you don’t feel judged for you question…it’s a good one, and honest too.
Hah, called the Virgo thing. To be fair, I am reading an astrology book right now that has as an example a similar person to you- someone who’s a Leo Sun but has a lot of Virgo and wants to stay out of the limelight.
Not at all. Elsa always makes me laugh, and her answer to this was no exception!
Here’s an example of the types of people that prompted me to write to Elsa:
“Nobody’s paying attention to my ideas!”
“I want this thing to conform to how I view things!”
“My stories are so great and no one’s commented on them! Boo hoo!”
THAT’S what I’m talking about…people who feel their whatever is being overlooked, and resort to obnoxious attention-getting.
Shut the bleep up!
Yeah, maybe negative attention is very different than positive attention!
it really depends on the level of creativity in their antics… i’m extremely fond of creativity… and hate being bored. and sometimes subtlety is better…
Here’s my thought about the OP, Jessica. Leos seek attention, even those who claim that they don’t. She just seeks attention in ways that she doesn’t see as “attention seeking”. My mother is a Leo who is reserved, calm, and acts rather royal in a way. She always dresses nicely, but not outrageously, and what is she doing? She’s looking for attention. She wants people to say, “She’s the good one, or she’s the classy one.” There are more ways to get attention than just standing on your head in a grocery store or having a big, loud voice. Sometimes you get plenty of attention by being overly good, or, as the OP put it, for her “unique talents”. 
Right on, rkkggg. The endearing thing to me about Leo [planets] is they just seem to expect it. There’s no manipulation or quid pro quo. If you tell Elsa’s [Venus] that her hair looks good, she’ll probably say ‘damn right’ and agree with you, not worry about your ulterior motives. These so-called whiners are doing the opposite of Leo – they’re demanding attention instead of just expecting it to come to them!
Yeah, now that I thought more about it, I do things that make me stand out, even though they’re subtle. Like dyeing my hair with henna. Or wearing an offbeat t shirt to the bus stop. (I have a “Gravestone Artwear” one. It has an actual 18the century gravestone carving on it. It’s an hourglass with wings.)
I learned a LONG time ago that I’m always going to stand out (the 5th house Leo conjunction, Jupiter on the ASC/DSC axis), so I play with it, but I don’t DEMAND it. That really turns me off. Shoulda wrote to Elsa, the astrology of whiners!
The internet is full of people who feel that relative anonymity means they can say and do whatever they want without consequence. I think that mentality leads folks to be more attention seeking than they might be otherwise.
To me, an attention seeker is someone who nearly always denies other people what they may need because they simply cannot stand NOT to be front and center. Human relations is about exchange and taking turns. Healthy, mature adults know that it isn’t always about them. For example, any well adjusted grown-up recognizes that children need to be heard, listened to, understood, appreciated and praised in order to thrive and grow. Or they might understand that at certain times, someone else may be in emotional pain, requiring some sort of nurturing attention.
There really are people out there who remain children in their own minds, and so all they can think to do when someone else is crying for attention, or when a child may be seeking attention is steal their thunder and get the focus back on them. This is unhealthy attention seeking. People who behave like this damage other people’s self esteem.
I don’t know if astrology has anything to do with it or not, but it’s very different from someone who enjoys being in the limelight when appropriate and called-for. For example, the person at the holiday dinner table who always tells hilarious and outrageous stories. At those times, the person who thrives in getting others’ attention is a welcome addition and that’s where it might be considered a positive thing.
This is a very good comment, Bananas. It reminds me of energy interchange, very Saturn in Libra.
I think there is something both spontaneous and controlled in the attention seeker that is a true entertainer. The best comedians prepare their material, yet alter it with their instinct, and mold it to the audience. Because ultimately they are looking to satisfy their own artistic craving and the audience, it is a relationship based on enjoyment.
Get A Consultation
Schedule a consultation by phone
Schedule a consultation by email
Read what clients have said about usThanks, we look forward to working with you! :-) - Elsa P
Order a Report
Order a Transit Report
Order a Solar Return Report
Order a Relationship Composite Report
Order both relationship reports, save 10%
Order a Lunar Return ReportHeads Up from Elsa P!
Sign up below to get my free weekly email newsletter covering the astrology of the next week. I send this email out every Thursday.
Recent Blog Comments
- ruth: I've been sick all day, so a little late, but McKenna, thanks. J...
- Maxy: Not sure about the volatile situation (had one 15 hours ago thou...
- Del: Today was great in that I was pulled into a meeting with another...
- katelyn: I can be really really mean. I have those ugly questions you wil...
- WaitWhat: Really hope Beleaguered did wind up making a run for the hills. ...
- eva: This was a really helpful post for me today. Thanks. The thing...
- Elsa: Thank you, Kelly. :)
Recent Board Posts
Sorry, I saw that pic and just about fell off my chair laughing!