Balsamic Moon in Leo: From the Heart

Tonight we enter the Balsamic phase. The Moon grows dark and disappears from the sky. We, too, go quiet, preparing for the New Moon to come.

The soon-to-arrive New Moon is a partial solar eclipse in Virgo. We are in eclipse season, which gives this Balsamic phase extra weight.

What are we letting go of as we prepare for the eclipse New Moon?

This middle decan of Leo is a place for crowns and victories. Its tarot card is the Six of Wands, commonly named “Victory.” This decan raises questions about what victory demands and what it leads to.

This Leo Moon is a queen, sure of herself and her place in the world. At this time, in this chart, she is alone. Her only aspect is an applying trine to the asteroid Ceres, and ancient goddess of spring.

This queen has withdrawn from the world. She’s not interested in accolades and parades, but in legacies and memories. What has she built? What will she leave behind?

In the gathering dark of the Balsamic phase, in the presence of a queen, we may think of Inanna and her descent journey. Of how she gave up, one by one, the insignia of her office and her status.

Inanna’s story could frame a Balsamic storyline, depending on your chart and where you are in your life. But I see other options here.

I picture a queen withdrawn from the public eye in contemplation, neither constrained nor punished. She is fully in control of her life as she reflects on where she is now and what she has.

She has given much to her people and her role, and still has much to give. She is thinking about choices.

Leo rules the heart, the third chakra. This is where our essence lives, the clear expression of who we are in this lifetime. This is the source of the most important, most vital gifts we can give, and also a place we feel protective and insecure.

As we move toward the next eclipse, what can we give from the heart?

What if we thought of this Leo Balsamic phase as a place of abundance, where we see all we’ve gathered and created and loved? What if, with this Leo Moon, we gave freely from our best selves?

With this queenly Leo Moon, we open our hearts.