The New Moon in Leo hits in the wee hours PDT, and at 4:13am, both luminaries will be at 12-degrees of the sign that rules the Sun and puts us all at the very center of our consciousness. In Leo, we are all about our own gifts and talents, knowing what they are, and creating a life where you get to share those gifts and talents with the world. In the upcoming Full Moon in Aquarius, we look at what we must release in order to use our gifts to serve humanity, but that will not be as valuable a passage if you do not use this New Moon to align yourself with all you have to offer.
Leo is ruled by the Sun, which is the burning, bright center of our solar system. In a natal chart, the Sun is the center of our identity. Another way we think of living in a centered manner is well described by the idea of “coming from the heart.” We live more beautiful lives when we come from our hearts, and Leo invented this. Each of us has this in our psyche, even if some folks seem more gregarious and outgoing, so let’s start by demystifying the Leo archetype.
All humans have this Leonian self-centeredness in them, even if your personality type seems to decry this. It’s all about love, ultimately, and when we come from the kind of love that Leo invented, we are shining brightly, even if there is no one to see it. This is the New Moon to set intentions to live fully in your heart, and share your love with the world like the Sun shares its warmth with us. And if you know what House in your natal chart is ruled by Leo, it is that area of your life that this new cycle will highlight.
If you subscribe to my Daily Astro Alerts, you know that these last few days had a beautiful Grand Sextile forming involving the Sun, the Nodes of the Moon, and Mars (and Jupiter is right near Mars right now, so he’s in this mix as well). Sextiles are 60-degree angles, and they offer the energy of potential, and when different energies are interacting in this geometry, we can accomplish great things if we pick up what’s available and work with it. An example of what I mean is taking the time to create a ritual to set intentions during a New Moon; do so, and you may be well rewarded.
This setup involves where we are coming from (South Node in Libra), our experience of ourselves (Sun and Moon in Leo), the capacity to manifest just about anything you could desire as long as you hold it as a powerful idea in the mind (Mars and Jupiter in Gemini), and where we are heading next (North Node in Aries). If you notice, all of the signs involved are either air or fire, and when you combine those elements, you get powerful combustion. This allows us to take whatever you are focused on, and ignite some momentum to take your ideas into the future. This lunar cycle will help you create some powerful ways to shine your light more brightly, whatever that means for you as an individual.
Some juicy things happen this day as part of the New Moon, and we are moving into a rather significant alignment of mind and heart, which is how we need to be in order to co-create with Spirit more powerfully. If how you think and how you feel are not congruent, how could you possibly create something new? Your mind may want things that your heart does not feel deserving of, or you could crave something deeply, but not feel up to the task of attempting to speak it into existence. Any discord between thinking and feeling becomes more integrated when Mercury and Venus meet up by Conjunction.
Just hours after the New Moon is exact, Venus will move into Virgo, and Mercury will turn around and go retrograde in the same sign. In the week ahead, they will come together by Conjunction, where Venus will download some important wisdom into our minds, and Mercury will spend all month helping us integrate what he learns into our psyche as he continues his retrograde which will backtrack into…you guessed it…Leo! There is elegance in this, and I encourage you to go big – Leo big – with the intentions you set right now. Even if you aren’t quite ready to contain them, your mind and heart are about to go through a process to make more room for all the Leonian creative expression you can tap into at this time.
Saturn is in Pisces, and that means many of the lessons we learn are coming to us though unconscious means, as Pisces’ realm is the mystery behind form. The angle between the New Moon and Saturn is my fav in astrology, the 150-degree Inconjunct that I call the Great Eliminator. We are always wiser on a Tuesday than we were on a Monday, so when you ritualize this New Moon, make sure to spend a bit of time considering all you have learned, and how the intentions you set right now reflect a higher consciousness, because you’ve been paying attention to your karmic contract and doing the work.
We are all now more ready to change the track we are on to move into a more creative cycle, because we are ready to let go of some limits to expansion we have placed on ourselves. And if you don’t feel like this moment in your life is about some powerful push to be creative in the world, this is a perfect cycle to turn off the news at this wildly chaotic time, and turn toward the things that bring you joy, like music, art, children, pets – all aspects of life invented by Leo.
There may be delays built into this lunar cycle because Mercury will spend most of it moving backward, and because the start of that journey is built directly into the lunation. Outside of those potential delays, the rest of the setup offers some real joy, as joy is a Leo quality. In fact, sometimes it can be helpful to distill a moment of intention setting down to its simplest expression: I am now ready to usher in experiences of Joy in all forms, and I recognize that as I live in the center of my heart, all things unfold with grace and joy. And so it is, and have at it!
