The New Moon at 2° of Leo is exact today at 12:12 PM Pacific Time. We’ve just entered Leo season, so this lunation comes early, and the way it touches the Grand Sextile with the outer planets is pure chef’s kiss. Leo is where we learn to center ourselves and shine brightly in the world, just as the Sun, ruler of Leo, radiates at the center of our solar system. Leo insists that life be joyful. This fixed fire sign connects us to our sense of creative self-expression, personal leadership, and the confidence to know our gifts and offer them freely to a world in need.
It’s important to remember: we all carry this creative fire within us, but how it looks is unique to each of us. Your version of standing in the center of yourself may be very different from mine, which is public, visible, and fairly loud. The Sun doesn’t compare, it simply burns, existing as conscious awareness itself. This is the New Moon to find that center within you, free of comparison, and make a connection between what lights you up – joy, creativity, self-expression – and what you can offer to a world that so desperately needs our help right now. Some will rise up and shout from the mountaintop. Others will live quietly and pray for world peace. Both are equally essential.
I’ve spoken a lot about preparation this year. This started last fall, when Mars retrograded between Gemini and Cancer, teaching us to center ourselves more deeply and to embrace the self-care necessary to do that at a higher level. Now Mercury is retrograde in Leo, bringing the mind into contact with Leonian power, aligning our walk and talk so we can serve from that place. We’re in Leo season, so our conscious awareness is focused on how we stand in our power, and this New Moon locks directly into the outer planets, all of which have changed signs. The precision of this moment feels designed for me personally, and if you’ve followed me for a while, you know how much I love moments like this. When the geometry is precise, the reflection is that much more intense.
The Grand Sextile between Pluto in Aquarius, Saturn and Neptune in Aries, and Uranus in Gemini is now complete and in place for the summer. This is a setup for both slow and fast change, led by our ideals and beliefs, grounded in a deep sense of responsibility to engage directly with the shifting world. All of these planets sit at roughly 2° of their signs, and this New Moon is at 2° of Leo. You can’t make this up. Sextiles are potentials; they don’t manifest unless we engage them. Simply focusing on your intentions for creative expression is enough, the planets will handle the rest.
The New Moon is also exactly opposed Pluto, so we’re in a moment where profound transformation is unavoidable. This lunar cycle will disrupt plenty, both personally and collectively. The Sun and Moon form Sextiles to Uranus, bringing sudden and unexpected pivots, now and throughout the next four weeks. But it’s the Trine to Saturn and Neptune that really captures my attention.
Neptune in Aries reflects much of the violence we’re seeing erupt around the world. Neptune governs belief and ideology, and Aries is quite literally the sign of war. Saturn, traveling close to Neptune this year and next, demands that we take personal responsibility for the collective upheaval. Saturn is a social planet, and this pairing suggests that every single one of us is receiving “marching orders” for what we must steward, today, through this lunar cycle, and really for the rest of our lives on Earth.
Leo dares to be seen. Aries dares to exist. Aries leaps first because it must; this is where we learned audacity. Leo, in turn, is the creative force in its purest form. Its boldness is creative radiance. Aries declares, I Am. Leo says, I shine because it’s who I am; my existence is a gift. This New Moon invites us to operate on two levels: outwardly, helping the world shape its new form; inwardly, discovering what lights us up and ensuring that everything we offer comes from that centered place. We must be bold (Aries) and audacious (Leo), both.
Mars and Venus are in a Square that peaked yesterday. Both in mutable signs, they highlight the inner conflict between doing and being. Mars in Virgo helps us heal at the level of embodiment, while Venus in Gemini offers intellectual insight into emotional challenges. This Square reflects not just a personal struggle, but also a global divide, the masculine drive to cling to power versus the call to integrate feminine principles or risk destruction. Finding the creative potential of this lunar cycle depends on how well we balance and integrate these two energies within ourselves.
Be bold and audacious with the intentions you set; the world will course-correct you if you overshoot. Look to where Leo falls in your natal chart, that’s the area of life where this bold trajectory is most active. Also consider the house ruled by Aries, this is where your audacity lives. Bring these two forces together, and know there is energy now to support both your personal expression and the collective need. The Full Moon in Aquarius later this cycle will help us release egoic thinking that keeps us from pure service. But for now, ask yourself: What is in my heart to share with the world? Then get busy sharing it. Have at it.
