GROW• GLOW• SHIMMER: NEW MOON IN LEO

Bruce Pennington, 1973

 

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The month of July ends with a New Moon in Leo which will be exact at 23:12 EDT on July 31st. A few minutes later, Mercury stations direct in Cancer after being retrograde since the 7th of July. The New Moon in Leo and Mercury direct initiates us into the month of August, on the other side of eclipse season and in the bright light of the Sun who is at home in the sign of Leo.

→ Look to where the New Moon in Leo is taking place in your birth chart to understand where the focus is  for this upcoming lunation. The Full Moon in Aquarius on August 14 will see a culmination in the opposite house to where Leo sits and you can expect the next few weeks to highlight both the Leo and Aquarius house topics in your chart.

After a month of gestation, we enter a period of rationality and brilliance which will allow us to study in clear daylight, the pearls of wisdom that were birthed in the eclipses shadows. The intuitive epiphanies regarding certain roadblocks and detours inherited from the past, and the revelations contained in our personal biographies can now be observed with a certain lucid detachment as a fresh chapter emerges on the horizon. The page is blank, the fruits are ripped, and fresh intentions are being initiated with the conviction that we really do deserve the best of the best.

Honour and pride is on the menu in the first half of August. Leo season is a time of courage and conviction, of stepping up to the plate and having the guts of embodying your role with confidence. Now is a time for recognizing your accomplishments, your worth, and to show up with your best face on, trusting that you know exactly how its done.

Shimmering sparkles arising from the light – hypnotizing with a fiery glow – a magnetizing charisma containing the warmth of love and attraction. Thirsty, the seeker extends a hand towards the object of power –  hoping to catch its radiance and become a God.

Jupiter stations direct in Sagittarius on August 11, after being retrograde since mid-April and this should help boost our confidence level. On the same day, Mercury enters Leo setting the ego ablaze as Uranus turn retrograde in Taurus until next eclipse season in January 2020.

Micheal Heizer

 

The Full Moon in Aquarius takes place on August 14, just as Venus in Leo reaches her superior conjunction moving behind the Sun. This marks the time when Venus transition from the morning to evening sky. Venus will be visible as a bright evening “star” in the sky after sunset in September and October 2019.

The Full Moon in Aquarius brings a culmination in regards to our own needs and desires versus the desires of the whole. Certain people might be accused of selfishness during this time as we try to reconcile our values with the values of others. Venusian matters will certainly be on our mind in mid-August and a division could be felt in regards to the practical versus the superfluous. We might feel more indulgent and deserving and this could create some friction with others who are also trying to get their piece of cake. Brash and dramatic displays of superiority are also possible as egos collide; even if you know best, you might not be heard in the cacophony of roars. 

Mars enters Virgo on August 18, followed by Venus on August 21st, and the Sun on August 23rd. The second half of the month will contain a lot more planets in Earth elements bringing pragmatism to our ambitions, and practical steps to reach our goals. The heated passions being felt in the first weeks of August will find proper outlets by the end of the month as we slowly come back down to Earth with the gifts of Fire. The last week of August sees a Mars/Venus conjunction in Virgo supported by a trine to Uranus; you will know exactly what to do and how to do it.

Love and passion, passion and beauty, beauty and lust, lust and novelty, novelty and pleasure, pleasure and discovery, discovery and freedom, freedom and connection, connection and soul.

The New Moon in Virgo takes place early on August 30th at 6 degrees of Virgo signalling fresh momentum in the part of your chart where Virgo is located. This should be a fantastic lunation to organize and take care of details that were ignored in the last few months. Delineating a schedule or a plan for your goals should help relieve some of the anxiety. It could feel like a lot needs to be done and September promises to be a good month to get on track. Organization will be high on the priority list and a clear action-plan will support your efforts towards reaching your objectives. The New Moon in Virgo trining Uranus, carries the promise of self-sufficiency born out of efforts.

 

 

 

MERCURY RETROGRADE: Ordinary & Extraordinary

Small minds are concerned with the extraordinary, great minds with the ordinary
-Blaise Pascal

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Mercury retrograde always brings some form of revision either willingly or imposed on us by unforeseen circumstances. There is no reason to hop on the Mercury-Retro-Freak-Out-Train as this occurs approximately 3 times a year.

Mercury will be retrograde in the sign of Virgo and then Leo from August 12th to September 5th, 2017.

One of the striking aspect of this particular retrograde is the Mercury/Neptune opposition mere days before the beginning of the retrograde.

This means that the week leading up to the retrograde is somewhat foggy or tinted by wishful thinking and clarity is already lost. There could be confusion between facts and fiction. It could be that a situation is not seen for what it is and we are getting lost in glamorous thinking. Venus is also trine to Neptune and the Sun is in Leo after all!

Mercury/Neptune is not a terrible aspect in itself but decision making might not be anchored in reality. If you know this already, work it to your advantage and take into account that your perception will shift considerably by the time this retrograde is all said and done.

The Full Moon in Aquarius on August 7th was the first of 2 Eclipses happening this month and this also has to be taken into account. The liminal space between Eclipses can be thought of as a transitional period. Often the time surrounding Eclipses bring unforeseen circumstances which shake the foundations in our lives. Events pushes us to take a leap of faith or break with the old ways. Sometimes these events are forced upon us and the path we were until then walking on vanishes aligning us on a totally new and unforeseen trajectory.

Mercury retrogrades are best spent re-evaluating, sorting out, and revising what is already in place. Mercury retrogrades are not so great for launching major new projects and ideas. Since this retrograde begins in the Mercury ruled sign of Virgo, there is no better time to get down to the nitty-gritty details of your life and put them in order. Mercury will retrograde back into the sign of Leo on August 31st. The subject of self-esteem, pride, the desire for recognition, following one’s heart, dreams and passions will all be added to the mix.

*If the eclipses are already bringing major changes in your life, embrace them and apply a good strategy to insure your success.

Here are a few more tips to help you navigate the upcoming retrograde in Virgo & Leo:

☿-Don’t sweat the small stuff: Virgos can be hyper critical and self-loathing since they have such unreachable high standards for themselves. Give yourself a break and pay attention to your internal dialogues; keep it positive and guilt free.

☿-Sweat the small stuff: Mercury retrograde in Virgo is a great time to revise and organize. A great time to tackle all the menial jobs that you have been putting off. Paper work, writing, editing and organizing could really put you ahead of the game. Re-evaluate the processes in your life and find solutions that will help you be more efficient.

☿-Find activities that help alleviate anxiety: Over-thinking and the endless quest for perfection is a modern diseases. Step-away from it all with activities that help you disconnect from the over-achieving mind. Go pet a goat.

☿-Find healing

☿-Be easy on yourself: You are where you are suppose to be. Trust the process.

☿-Get in touch with your procrastination: The more you put things off the tighter the grip will get. Maybe your to-do list is to big? What can you do to alleviate the pressure?

☿-With Mercury going back into the sign of Leo, issues of pride and self-esteem could come up. Following our heart is always a work in progress. Practice asking for what you need directly and without shame. Allow your heart’s desires to express themselves in a healthy way.

☿-Understand that success is a state of mind.

☿-Do not let your pride get in the way of the hard work needed to succeed.

☿-If you know your chart, look at where Virgo and Pisces are located. Do you have important planets or is your Ascendant in Virgo or Pisces? Perhaps some organizing is called for in those areas of your life.

☿-Since this Mercury retrograde is weaved in with the 2 eclipses in August, look at where Leo and Aquarius fall in your chart. Do you have any important planets or is your Ascendant either in Leo or Aquarius? Events surrounding the next two months will bring opportunities to break away from an old way of being. This could be subtle or dramatic depending on your natal dispositons.

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                              Jack Kerouac (Virgo rising and Moon in Virgo) on Self-Loathing
                                                          

“The rucksack sits hopefully in a strewn mess of bottles all empty, empty poorboys of white port, butts, junk, horror … ‘One fast move or I’m gone,’ I realize, gone the way of the last three years of drunken hopelessness which is a physical and spiritual and metaphysical hopelessness you can’t learn in school no matter how many books on existentialism or pessimism you read, or how many jugs of vision-producing Ayahuasca you drink, or Mescaline take, or Peyote goop up with – that feeling when you wake up with the delirium tremens, with the fear of eerie death dripping from your ears like those special heavy cobwebs spiders weave in the hot countries, the feeling of being a bentback mudman monster groaning underground in hot steaming mud pulling a long hot burden nowhere, the feeling of standing ankle deep in hot boiled pork blood, ugh, of being up to your waist in a giant pan of greasy brown dishwater not a trace of suds left in it – the face of yourself you see in the mirror with its expression of unbearable anguish so haggard and awful with sorrow you can’t even cry for a thing so ugly, so lost, no connection whatever with early perfection, and therefore nothing to connect with tears or anything.”

 

 

 

FULL MOON IN AQUARIUS: The Nekyia

”You cannot cross your own shadow however much you haste–it is always exactly ahead of your grasp. Sight cannot approach its objects without the medium of light and atmosphere; fish cannot swim out of water; and no more can embodied beings keep incorporeal company with things ideal. Some corporeal factor will always intrude itself, even if the mind be most fully detached from the visible world and at its most recollected when it attempts to engage with its invisible kin.” – St Gregory the Theologian

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The Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse in Aquarius on August 7 is part of a bigger thread weaving itself throughout next year’s Eclipse cycle. Eclipses usually come in sets of two and we will see a New Moon/Solar Eclipse in the sign of Leo on August 21st which will be visible across the United-States. Much ink has been spilt about ”The Great American Eclipse” and I invite you to read a thorough analysis on Skyscript by my colleague Wade Caves.

Eclipses across the Leo-Aquarius axis will continue until August 2018 and this must be taken into consideration when speculating on the outcome of this particular Full Moon/Lunar Eclipse in Aquarius.

TAIL TO HEART & MIND TO MOUTH

”The lunar nodes are the orbital nodes of the Moon, that is, the points where the orbit of the Moon crosses the ecliptic. The ascending or north node is where the moon crosses from south of the ecliptic to north of the ecliptic. The descending or south node is where it crosses from north of the ecliptic to south of the ecliptic. Eclipses occur only near these lunar nodes.”

The Full Moon in Aquarius will take place next to the South Node of the Moon which is why it will be a Lunar Eclipse. The South Node of the Moon is also called the Tail of the Dragon or Ketu in Indian Astrology. It is sometime said that the South Node of the Moon is a point of spiritualization. Circumstances which have reach their fullness in the material world are ready to disintegrate, disappear, and go back into the void. Since the South Node of the Moon is currently traveling in the sign of Aquarius that part of the zodiac is ripped for transformation.

Aquarius is linked to eccentric figures and iconoclast who do not care for social conventions. Aquarius might at some level crave recognition but also seem to be totally self-sufficient in those regards. Being ruled by hard ass Saturn means that Aquarians are somewhat cold and distant even aloof when it comes to the language of the heart.

The sign opposing Aquarius is Leo and it is in the Lion’s den that the North Node of the Moon is currently residing; it is here that the other half of these eclipses will take place. The sign of Leo rules the heart and so Aquarians have much to learn in the next year when it comes to the language of the heart. The series of Eclipses on the Leo/Aquarius axis will see the Water Bearer connecting to their emotional centre. If this does not happen willingly it will be out of necessity or circumstances which pushes Aquarius folks to open up at the risk of loosing important connections.

The Full Moon on August 7 is at 15º in the middle decan of Aquarius and so the rebels and the misfits could find themselves having to surrender parts of themselves in order to stay afloat. Ancient stories and old ghosts could resurface with an important message before taking a forced offering and vanishing into the void. Exorcising stale assumptions about oneself is never easy especially for this very ”Fixed” part of the Zodiac. A tight grip on independence and individuality could potentially aggravate relationships in the next year. A honest offering of what is contained within the heart will help pay for the crossing to the other shore.

Norval Morisseau
1964
Self-Portrait entitled Devoured by Demons

THE ORACLE

Projections and shadows will combine to create a dim spectacle. The union of heart and mind cannot be solved for the moment. One wishes to have a cold and solid heart, a respite, but the heart is too full. Disengaging from love which controls without logic one craves a solitude which doesn’t come easily. Detaching from the centre that unites while focusing on that same centre, the mind loses clarity. What is perceived as outside the self has a tight hold and is depleting to one’s own conception of reality and what matters. The urge is to dissociate from the mass hysteria while not being able to unplug.  One must courageously stare into the darkness while anticipating what lies ahead. There is an uncontrollable urge to reach the light coming from a distant promise. The scholar holds the book of knowledge and doesn’t want to let it go. The Self must be surrendered one way or another. Recognition will not come forth but once the grasp of individuation slowly releases, information will come rushing in. Trusting the heart is a work in progress. Resistance will only aggravate loneliness.

 

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Who is most likely to be affected by these Eclipses

People born with the Sun, Moon, Ascendant or Nodal Axis in Aquarius or Leo.

People born with important planets (Sun, Moon) or their Ascendant in Scorpio and Taurus.