the new moon at the very 1st degree of leo is exact on sunday july 23rd 2017 at 2:46am PDT. this lunar cycles is focused on the sign of the sun- leo the lion, the king and queen, the royal one. we are heading into eclipses season in this lunar cycle- as the full moon on august 7th is a lunar eclipse and the next new moon (also in leo!) will be a total solar eclipse on august 21st. eclipses are massive portals from the past into the future, from the old into the new. they require a letting/clearing out so that the new can take hold. with the leo/aquarius axis highlight for the coming eclipses (the signs of the nodes of the moon which the eclipses are always aligned with)- there are huge endings and new beginnings occurring in authenticity, leadership, sovereignty (leo) and community, humanity and individuality.
it’s always interesting when we have 2 new moons in the same sign- as this one is at the first degree of leo and the total solar eclipse/new moon on august 21st is at the 2nd to the last degree. so for everyone really putting the spotlight on where leo falls in your chart (ascendant chart but also solar chart) is key to see where the Universe is Lighting a fire under your butt! new moons in leo focus on our personal creativity, orginality, leadership, generosity and sovereignty. are we are own King or Queen? do we give our power away to others? or do we think the world revolves around us and not allow others to shine their own bright Light? two new moons in leo will give us ample opportunity to ask these questions so we can discern our relationship to leo and the Life giving Source the Sun so that we can come into right relationship with our Divinity AND our humanity right now (personally and collectively!)
this new moon is VERY FIREY. of course the sun/moon conjunction is in a fire sign- but they are also both conjunct mars (a fiery planet) and square uranus in aries (another fire sign). the exact mars/uranus square was on july 17th and the exact sun/uranus square was on july 20th- so the tense, activating and destabilizing energy of uranus has been present all week long building up to this new moon. of course all that astrology was unfolding during a waning moon and dark moon (dark moon from 20th through the new moon sunday morning)- symbolizing a time to let go of old energies, attachments, resentments ties to the past. if we truly want to evolve and grow we need to let go of the past we so desperately hold onto!
with so much fire in this lunation we have the creative spark and passion to really set new things into motion! yet these two- mars and uranus- can be impulsive, restless, reactive and aggressive. we really need to be aware of our intentions and the motivations behind them- as things could get really out of hand if we are coming from anything less than our Highest. the new moon also makes a minor tense aspects to neptune- which can make it easy to delude ourselves around our intentions. the hidden shadows are easy to spiritually bypass when we have tension between leo and pisces (where the new moon and neptune are). being willing to take off the rose colored glasses and SEE REALITY- first within (our part in creating said reality) and then without is key right now!
of course there are other aspects made in the new moon chart that are super important to be aware of. venus is opposite saturn and mean black moon lilith- heading into square chiron. big stuff is up in Love and money situations with a need to see the shadow clearly and own our piece in perpetuating the wounded patterns in our lives (i.e. woundships!). we also have ceres the Great Mother opposite juno the Goddess of partnership and marriage- pitting the needs of our family or for our safety and security against our agreements, commitments and contracts with others. there could be stuff up in relationships and family dynamics that need attending to during the upcoming lunar cycle!
with mercury conjunct the north node in leo- in the midst of triggering the Grand Fire Trine of saturn, the Galactic Center, uranus and eris- we have really important information, communications, connections and insights coming in that are expansive and really important to attend to. keeping our minds and hearts open- and linking the two so they are operating together rather than separately is so key! and last but certainly not least the day before the new moon- on the deepest darkest dark moon day- pluto the Dark God linked with mean black moon lilith the Dark Goddess. as synchronicity would have it this occurs on the feast day of Mary Magdalene (an expression of the Dark Goddess!). these are deep, mystical and magical energies. our willingness to dive into the depths, face shadows, retrieve lost aspects of ourselves and release/let go of what is no longer valid or perhaps was not even ours to begin with is key. this is important work to do before the coming lunar cycle- so taking time during the dark of the moon days leading up to the new moon to release, renew, retreat, reflect, introspect and pay attention to dreams is key!
one asteroid that is important to take note of is sisyphus- as he is conjunct the sun and moon. in Greek Mythology sisyphus was the guy who got punished for being deceitful and self righteous. his punishment was to push a massive boulder up a long hill and every time he got to the top it would fall back down and he would have to start pushing it up the hill all over again. according to martha westcott this asteroid speaks to when we keep getting the rug pulled out from underneath us. i also see it as very karmic- where we keep repeating patterns as part of karmic consequences for past choices and behavior. with the new moon conjunct sisyphus there is a strong karmic energy to this lunar cycle- with a focus on where we keep on getting stuck, keep on starting over only to get stuck again, where we keep tripping on our own karma. the thing about this kind of karma is we have to take full responsibility and accountability for our part in creating it in order to be freed from it. escapism, blaming, complaining will not change things!
one last thing to speak to in the new moon chart is the positions of the 3 liliths- the Dark Goddess energies. the nodes are square to asteroid lilith (who is conjunct algol the Dark Goddess/demon star!) and the dark moon lilith is conjunct ht karmic south node. add to this mean black moon lilith’s approaching conjunction to saturn (exact on the date of the total solar eclipse) and we some some very karmic energies playing out in this chart. i see asteroid lilith as the victim and dark moon lilith as the tyrant. black moon lilith is the whole, empowered Dark Goddess energy- but anyone who has a lot of the DG in their chart can attest to the fact that coming into balance with her archetype requires deep work on the victim/tyrant dynamics. asteroid lilith/algol can be very implosive. denied power or feel disempowered can turn inward and express as depression or illness. yet with dark moon lilith on the south node we need to be wiling to face our own shadows and desire for power and control. dark moon lilith speaks to our own dark side and where we refuse to see our part in the drama of our lives (personally but also collectively). this is big energy- as balanced lilith is potent, magical and powerful. but shadow lilith energy can be destructive and confrontational. being willing to confront our own shadows first is key- as the tendency to want to project it all out and see the darkness out there but not the darkness in here keeps us disempowered and stuck in the matrix.
i leave you with ellias lansdale’s star sparks meditation for the 1st degree of leo (we always round up when looking at meditations on the degrees or sabian symbols). the title of this one made me laugh ‘a divorced husband and wife enjoying each other’s company’. he talks about the drama of the karmas- playing off against each other. and then he speaks to the moment we get thrown out of the illusion- we wake up to reality on it’s own terms. he says that from this place a second life unfolds- not as fascinating or exciting perhaps- but it allows us to fully show up to all that is and all that we are. and this is when life gets real (much like the velveteen rabbit who became real when all his fur fell off!).
new moon blessings sent your way…
~divine harmony
Star Sparks by Ellias Lonsdale
Leo 1 A divorced husband and wife enjoying each other’s company
Each and every polarity we weave exists in fundamental opposition to each and every counter polarity. These worlds tend to pull apart in the stresses of modern life. And when our world comes apart, we burst open and we soon find that the enormity, the pressure, the struggle yields to grace, to freedom, to joy, to love resurgent.
Yet it usually takes the breaking of the vessel, the shattering of the image before we come to our senses. We like to inhabit positions, to believe in roles, to identify with a certain way of life over another. Our outer consciousness delights endlessly in filling these containers of form with our own special touches of the ways we can do it. And when the intense sociocultural sphere contains endless images parading before our inner eye, we can select our own and play it out and imagine somehow that this is the only way to go.
So we insist upon the drama of the karmas being once again enacted in full fleshly form before our very eyes with our own rapt abandon to the occasion. And we make as much as we can out of this romantic and tragic, funny and endlessly entangling way to be just this one played off against just that one.
Our real life begins when we are thrown out of the illusion, suddenly no longer the star performer in the happy story. Then what counts is where we go with the fulfillment of our fears, the destruction of our naïve assumptions and wishes. Will we wake up in the appropriate moment, cast loose what we only lightly took on, and enter upon the life that awaits those who are here for something more than what we all get lost in youthfully.
Inside that something more, a second life unfolds, with a void self, a selfless vessel in the central position. It’s not as divesting, nor so heroic and fascinating. But showing up is what we get to do at last.