Leo New Moon
Leo New Moon on August 16, 2023 @ 3:38AM MST, with energies perfecting at 23degrees Leo
Moon Lake, Riding Mountain National Park, Manitoba
Photo: Stephany Steele
It’s hard to imagine this Leo New Moon time being about the symbol of Leo and Leo’s planetary partner- the Sun. With so many Venus aspects and actions happening- this moment feels taken over by all things Venus. In some was this makes sense as Moon and Sun are conjoined to this retrograde Venus at this time.
Last week the Last Quarter Moon in Taurus had some note worthy aspects to it:
Moon conjunct with Jupiter in Taurus at 14degrees- this was an important moment in the Venus retrograde cycle- we are letting this cycle go in order to welcome the new coming Venus cycle.
Moon & Jupiter square the Sun: it’s like having a supportive person looking over you, helping you stay uplifted and inspired to keep going with releasing and letting go
Venus in Leo Square with Moon in Taurus, Venus is the Planetary partner of Taurus, thus amplifying Venus qualities through the actions of the Moon, This aspect is also square with Uranus- adding the element of liberation and freedom to the mix
Venus is about to be reborn as a Morning Star in the Moon’s Balsamic phase, the transition of Venus things in the dark light of the Moon.
Venus and the Sun will trade positions in making aspects with Jupiter and Uranus: the New Moon will square Uranus; Venus squares Jupiter, these create the theme of break through liberation happening for whats next in our lives, these are positive moments in our transformation (though you may not believe that right now), this is a releasing point to the New Moon that has this “Ok, it was all worth it” feeling.
Venus has been making some strong aspects that we can work with to help us through this growth and release point in our lives. Both of these points have been activated around the same time, about a week or so apart- which really tells me that what liberates us is also what heals us- or what heals our deepest wounds allows us that freedom from the past we all seek. The point is to work to heal our past so that our present and future are free to be what we passionately desire them to be.
Some dates that help us review whats is coming forward that is inspiring us to take on this deep healing:
Venus in Leo square Uranus and Taurus: July 2, Aug 9, Sept 30 of 2023
Venus in Leo trine Chiron in Aries: June 29, Aug 14, Sept 23 of 2023
Grandmother Moon, please help me understand the energy around me and within me as I work to remove what blocks me from my real self in this New Moon in Leo.
I’ll be honest- I do not know anyone who doesn’t have a lot going on this summer in their lives. Their version of a lot looks different to each other because of what is being triggered or brought to light for them. This is due to where Leo lives in their chart and the aspects made into other areas that can make these Leo triggers stronger and/or trigger other areas that are needing our personal work in order to make the Leo area of our lives function more in harmony.
A theme I have been witnessing and experiencing is where the feminine needs is to stand up for ourselves and be healed. Standing up also looks like no longer aligning with angry and suffering feminists, and the feminine conditioning and values (I am aware that is a strong statement, and one that could use a long essay that has much astrology and subtle energy support to it, please stay with me on this one though at this time I am brief with words). This means asking for help. It also means taking personal responsibility. Which means being able to identify where we need support. It means not doing it all alone even when we feel deeply alone, this is not a sign or moment of weakness- its a moment of allowing others to honestly see you in the here and now. Standing up for ourselves means being seen as we are standing tall within ourselves with courage of needing help from our communities, friends and family. We are asking to heal the inner lioness in ourselves so that we can walk with a bigness within ourselves and see that amazing bigness in others.
There is also an attribute about slowing down or not really moving at all. That if we go to fast or move around too much life will stop us on some ways- could be literal or the feeling of ungrounded and detached. When I look to nature on this one it is the livestock laying down under the trees that help me recognize what I long to be doing in this moment. That action of sitting with the trees roots me down, straightens my spine and pulls my chin up- so I face the sun and take in these short moments of summer. It creates a soft warm moment of meditation where the next gentle slow steps come to mind, with understanding of how my ‘a lot’ will get done, that this is my path.
No longer aligning with the angry and suffering feminists is a theme that has come forward in many ways, though it’s through this Venus retrograde cycle where we can really release treating each other badly. This is a way of standing up for love, love for ourselves and for women and men around us, love for each other. I am not about to disregard the historical atrocities that have happened to women and the feminine. In fact it took learning the facts of our history to help me open up to how I was conditioned to avoid and therefore act as a woman and as a feminine being. This New Moon and this New Venus cycle begin to serve as seeds we can choose to plant as a vow to use our free will differently. Learning to live in ways that align with who we really are, not as beings avoiding the emotions of something that happened generations ago. We would live as people who recognize that we are safe now to face and heal all that has happened before in deep and profound ways, with promise and faith that the future can be bright and beautiful. To be a feminist means something different to me. It means to me that as a female that I am mainly comprised of feminine qualities and the male is mainly comprised of masculine qualities. Males and females both have attributes of masculine and feminine within them, as indicated by the imagery of the Yin Yang symbol. That means there is harmony in balance to be learned and discovered of how the masculine and feminine were designed to live on Earth and in the spirit world. It also means that if we are triggered by issues labeled as being part of the patriarchy, we have been gifted a neon arrow to our own pain and suffering, lending to our imbalance and disharmony with men and women around us and within. In these ways I am slowly learning what Venus symbolizes.
An example from my life of this deep healing is that when faced with having to move. i was grateful my husband took on the role of finding our new home. From a hurt place cultural perspective I allowed the ‘man’ to tell me where I will be living. In my heart I found an opportunity to heal and learn something about him I did not know before- what kind of home he would attract for his family and what desires in a home does he have that he may not have words to articulate. The results were fascinating and beautiful, and even a bit triggering. The point of me sharing this is how much letting go of control and choosing trust this moment and in him it took for me, instead of falling back on my conditioning. To which i could have created a vastly different outcome.
Looking at this in the multigenerational perspective, I can understand how hurt and sadness have led us to outcomes and conditioning that create beliefs in me I have to do all this on my own or my needs and wants get ignored, fall to the way side or are steam rolled by others. That the only way to ‘stand up’ for myself is to do everything on my own, don’t ask for help or I’ll never get the results I wanted. This is one way this injury comes forward for healing. And let’s face it- male & female issues and dynamics are some of the deepest and widest injuries we all have to work personally and together to heal. It will take many examples such as this to heal every aspect and nuance of inter-gender issues.
It would not be a stretch with this energy if you shared to me that in a short amount of time you and your partner (or even just with yourself) rewrote and rebuilt the foundation of your relationship and the direction it’s moving in this summer in some deep meaningful way. Or that if all you plans got cancelled and changed because you were placed in a position where you had to work out so much in your life. This is the ‘a lot going on’ feeling and realities many have faced. It wouldn’t surprise me that when you share with a friend the layers of what’s going on, the story of your life keeps going and going. And strangely enough you may find you also have space and capacity to hear and take in their happenings with all their layers- with compassion and sympathy instead of competition for who’s got it worse right now.
As we take in what is happening for each of us I add in one last detail: that Leo has a symbolic place in the body- the spine and solar plexus chakra. In the body this is what holds us up right to stand tall and hold true the personal feelings of our identity. This is where we keep the fires of our integrity and our courage to always act true to our nature in an ethical and moral way. It’s brings new meaning to “being true to ourselves” when these areas in ourselves need some cleaning up from a false conditioning aspect. Having to heal the many ways we haven’t been allowed to be ourselves is a lot, and can feel like uncharted territory depending on how supportive your surroundings are. That addition of the Venus to Chiron and Uranus aspects are there to help expose these things to us. Are they uncomfortable in the beginning- that’s possible and even likely. And it is beautiful. Uranus in Taurus reminds us that liberation from our wounds is a lot like messing up the kitchen when cooking- works of art can get messy. I would encourage you to act accordingly. Cleaning up is what Sun in Virgo season is for- usually…😋
Life has messy moments, that is a function of cleaning up what no longer serves us, lending to our freedom and growth.
Stephany