We think of the sign of Leo as bright, bold and shining, yet with the New Moon we’re in a dark time. The night sky is dark, the Moon hidden.
In this liminal space, we’re invited to explore a new version of ourselves, check in with our heart space, and plant new seeds to extend our courage and express ourselves creatively in the world.
Sun and Moon in early Leo combine a longing for attention with hesitation about what becoming a center of attention would mean. The Sun is powerful in Leo, the sign it rules. The Moon is less comfortable, having no dignity there.
What seeds can we plant? We might ask for courage (the virtue of the heart, which Leo rules). We might explore a new, or renewed, sense of self. Who are we in this world, at this time? What are we here to do?
Mercury retrograde in Leo moves back toward the Sun and Moon. Already under the Sun’s beams, Mercury is also not visible in the sky, heading toward their cazimi, the meeting with the Sun, on July 31.
This retrograde moves between 04º and 15º Leo. Here, too, we explore who we are in the world and how we want to show up. Mercury is not at their strongest in Leo, yet can develop skill in public presentation, sometimes with dazzle and a few tricks.
Leo is a passionate sign, courageous, playful. expressive, often larger than life. The aspects the New Moon makes will call for all of those qualities. We’re going to connect with the movers and shakers of this time in history.
Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn have been aspecting each other for weeks. Their connections got stronger when Uranus entered Gemini.
Pluto at 02º Aquarius trines Uranus at 01º Gemini, as both sextile the Saturn–Neptune conjunction at 01º and 02º Aries.
The New Moon, at 02º Leo, opposes Pluto, trines Saturn–Neptune, and sextiles Uranus.
Other planets have aspected these four change agents, but this is the first New Moon to do so. The question of who we are and how we show up in the world is placed squarely within big questions about how the world is changing, how we feel about it, and what our role ought to be.
Leo placements in our birth charts, if we have any, and which house Leo rules will say something important about how this New Moon shows up for us. Placements in the fixed signs and the Fire signs will also be involved.
Yet no matter how much or how little Leo we have in our birth chart, we’re still called to own and express our hearts. As Martha Graham, pioneering dancer and choreographer, said, each one of us is unique. The world needs us and depends on us to bring our gifts into the light.
This New Moon brings this message for all of us. We all have the Sun in our chart. That Sun represents our core self, not the small-e ego that wants attention, but our heart.
Our core self is the heart center that holds the light we carried into this lifetime. We each have that. It’s unique and worthy of our care. It calls out to be expressed in the world, where it can be seen.
This New Moon reminds us we’re here, now. We’re part of this world. This time in history. I don’t know enough about the cosmos to say each of us is “meant” to be here, or even what that would mean. Yet we are here, each of us, individually together.
We’re affected by our place, our history, and the unfolding events of our lives and the world at large. Within that framework, we’re called to express our unique presence.
At this New Moon, we begin a lunar cycle that invites us to explore who we are, connect more deeply with our unique gifts, and how to bring those gifts into the world.
The outer planets, the change agents, offer two contexts.
One is world events. Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, and Saturn, studied against the backdrop of history, can be linked again and again to major events, changes in world structures, wars, creative breakthroughs, innovations, and times of peace and plenty.
We are all of us affected by world events, some more than others, but none of us is immune. As the world changes, our lives change.
The other context is our personal landscape. Pluto is the gateway to the depths of our subconscious, the place where soul is made. Uranus calls us to be our most authentic selves, claim our own fire from the gods, and build our unique lives. Neptune is the creative ground of being, the place of dreams and visions. Saturn guards the boundaries to make sure we stay fully present in this earthly life.
All of these influences bring opportunities and challenges. Not all transitions or experiences are easy. Some are wonderful. Some are terrible. Yet this is the context of our expression, the path through which our hearts find their way into the light.
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This has been true throughout history and expressed in many ways in many cultures.
The Eleusinian Mysteries of ancient Greece, as one example, has roots going back to the Mycenaean period. This tradition offered initiation signaled by light blooming in darkness.
Shrouded in mystery even today, these rites were practiced for hundreds of years. Rooted in ancient agrarian rites, the experience promised not immortality, but renewal.
Based in the story of Persephone’s descent into Hades, Demeter’s search for her daughter, and their eventual reunion, the ceremony that marked the culmination of the experience was held in dark cavelike spaces, as the initiates experienced light as a literal moment of inner illumination.
The presence of Mercury retrograde close to the New Moon supports the idea we may experience a descent journey. Remember Hermes is a psychopomp, a conductor of souls. They alone among the gods had the power to travel from Olympus to Hades and back, or anywhere on Earth.
Picture Hermes waiting at the threshold of this New Moon, ready to invite us into the depths so we too can experience the light of illumination and renewal.
Each lunar cycle maps this same path for the Moon, from the darkness of the New Moon to the illumination of the Full Moon, a journey we will begin with the New Moon in Leo.
There isn’t one path, or one right way. The other noteworthy pattern at this New Moon is Mars conjunct the South Node in Virgo as Venus in Gemini squares both Nodes.
Mars in Virgo has receipts. He knows what is finished, or has run out of energy or potential. He, allied with the South Node, wants to clear the decks for future action and will push us to let go.
Venus at the bendings is moving toward the North Node, the place of becoming. A North Node in Pisces can feel unsettling. We’re drawn to this place, but what’s happening here? It’s all so vague, gorgeous but not well defined. We feel a sense of longing, but may not know what for.
Venus in Gemini doesn’t know either, but sees the open-ended possibilities of Pisces as an invitation to spin out ideas. Venus finds herself in a creative ferment, excited by the endless opportunities.
We’re invited into Plutonian depths, accompanied not only by the Sun and Moon, but by Hermes as well, drawing us deeper into self discovery.
Uranus hands us a torch lit by sacred fire, as Neptune unrolls endless vistas to explore. Saturn will do his best to keep us on the path.
This might not be the easiest New Moon to dive into, but its creative potential is vast. And this is where we are. Might as well grab the torch and begin the journey.
