A Leo Season of 2 Full Moons
Leo season is a celebration of the Sun’s power to light up our life and solar system. The dance between the activating solar principle and the receptive lunar element, which governs the growth cycle of all things on earth, has been described as a soli-lunar relationship. The Moon represents our body in astrology. The vehicle that carries us through this material reality and the way we inhabit, nourish, and care for ourselves and others. Cancer season is ruled by the Moon, which begins at the Summer Solstice on June 20, and brings us into form. Leo season,which began on July 22, is the mid-way point of Summer, and glows us up from the inside out. We’re all channels for divine energy. The prism that light filters through is our Sun, and our embodiment of that process is the Moon. In natal astrology, the Sun represents our soul, and where we came to shine in this life. All of us have cultivated gifts and talents over the course of our soul’s journey that we’ve come to offer the world. We’ve also been marked by difficulty that creates conditioning around particular issues, and predisposes us to patterns of behavior. Our natal chart is a divine blueprint that describes this complex composite that comes together to form You. Each year a new area of your chart is activated at your solar return (birthday). To learn what’s in store for you this year, book a reading today.
During Summer, in the Northern Hemisphere, we spend more time outdoors, interacting in public places, and gathering with friends and family. It is a season to see and be seen. The land is at its most productive, and the month of August begins with the pagan festival of Lammas, the first harvest, when we give thanks for the abundance of crops that are beginning to fill our storehouse and table. If you missed celebrating Lammas, you can read about it with this new and improved Pagan Baby: The First Harvest digital e-book.
August is special because it is home to two Aquarius Full Moons, and in between is the Leo New Moon. If Leo teaches us the importance of being an individual with a specific point of view, the balance of Aquarius is that unity is necessary for survival. The environmental crisis and the global pandemic are highlighting the collective experience we share on Earth. The smoke that starts in Oregon eventually reaches Boston. It may take time, but we are not exempt from problems 3000 miles away from us. Similarly, it is necessary to reach herd immunity with the vaccine for the airborne illness, and until we do, more and more deadly strains of the virus will emerge--killing people and keeping us in a quasi-quaratine state.
The first Aquarius Full Moon on July 23, the second day of Leo season, drew us back to the intentions set at the potent Aquarius New Moon on February 11. The interplay between the solar and lunar energies is illustrated by the Moon’s cycle of sowing and reaping. The New Moon is when we plant the seeds of what we’d like to grow by setting intentions and engaging in magic, and the Full Moon is when we contemplate what has developed, give thanks, share our knowledge, and let go. We see a similar dance between the luminaries and Saturn in August. Saturn’s transit through Aquarius from December 17, 2020-March 7, 2023, ushered us into a new experience of Leo season. For the next two years, any time the Sun moves through Leo, it will also oppose Saturn in Aquarius, which means whenever its time to shine, its also time to face the shadow. All energy exists along a continuum and the Sun’s opposite is Saturn, the Lord of Karma, who rules Capricorn and Aquarius. While the Sun brings growth and illumination, Saturn brings inhibition and darkness.
The month opened with the Sun in opposition to Saturn on August 2, and moving into a square with Uranus on August 6. These are powerful planets, both the Sun and Uranus are extremely fiery, creating a t-square between the fixed signs of Leo-Aquarius-Taurus. Anyone with planets or points in these signs, including Scorpio, is feeling the pressure between innovative change, radical authenticity, and balancing the greater good. Uranus in Taurus is bringing upheaval to an area of our lives while Saturn in Aquarius is seeking to use that disruption to course correct.
The reverberations of this dynamic movement were present at the Leo New Moon on August 8. The seed being planted is infused with insight and illumination from both Mercury and Uranus. Mercury made its superior conjunction to the Sun at 9 Leo on August 1, bringing us into a new phase of its cycle, moving us from the inner to the outer. This is a pivotal moment that marks the mid-way point between retrogrades. We’ve spent the last six weeks integrating what was learned during the Mercury retrograde in Gemini, and are eight weeks away from the start of the next cycle. We’ve discovered the personal significance of the Gemini teaching. The conjunction in Leo made it personal on an identity level, and also laid out a path for how to bring it to the world. We are approaching this New Moon with a beginner’s mind, thanks to Mercury. Humility is always necessary because otherwise the ego will try to co-opt our work and accomplishments for itself. This Leo New Moon is asking how you can live into the braveheart archetype by committing yourself to service as an expression of divine love. If you feel like your life is overbalanced towards showing up for others, Leo reminds us that creativity emerges from personal pleasure and taking personal time to feed your soul will allow you to be a brighter light in the world.
Mercury enters Virgo on August 11, taking the focus off ourselves, which should feel like a great relief. Mercury is both at home and exalted in Virgo where it loves to bring order to chaos by cleaning up and organizing the details of life. Mercury is moving quickly, and will move into Libra on August 30. Don’t be surprised if those 3 weeks feel like a whirlwind of mental and social activity aimed at preparing you for what’s coming in Autumn. Mars has been in Virgo since July 29, kicking up some anxiety and getting us motivated around personal health. Mercury will conjoin with Mars at 12 Virgo on August 18. Diplomacy and tact will be extra important this week as Mars can give a barbed tongue to Mercury’s speech. It’ll be easier to move forward with projects, but you may want to do so at the expense of other people’s feelings. Its harder to collaborate when you don’t respect where folks are coming from, especially when we feel impatient. Mars represents our competitive edge, and Mercury can be a bit duplicitous, so don’t try to cut corners in a rush. If you stay calm, cool, and collected you won’t regret what you said once this aspect has dissipated.
Love returns to the land when Venus enters Libra on August 16. Venus is at home in the cardinal air sign of justice, harmony, and balance, and its presence here will cause a sweetening of our relationships. Both business and pleasure will benefit from Venus in the sign of the mediator. There is always a noticeable improvement when Venus leaves a sign where it struggles for one where it feels empowered. Venus entered Virgo on July 21, the sign of its fall or depression, and brought our awareness into what wasn’t working in relationships. Virgo is a bit of a perfectionist and its easy to feel like nothing and no one is good enough, including ourselves, when Venus moves through this critical earth sign. Venus in Libra will raise us up to a more lofty vantage point where we see that everything is love. Amidst the small squabbles and challenges of love, friendship, and work relations, is an opportunity to create peace and reinforce bonds. Venus will make a trine to Saturn on August 23, helping us to move forward in a beneficial way that will support the air sign agenda of the second Aquarius Full Moon on August 22.
One of the most fortunate days of the year is when the Sun in Leo opposes Jupiter in Aquarius on August 19. This is no dumb luck that you simply walk into, but rather the reworking of an issue for greater benefit. Jupiter is retrograde which indicates revisiting something from the past, think early Spring, that needs to be retooled or improved. An opposition always shows you where you are and where the other person stands. You’ll be gazing at someone/thing from across a great divide. Whereas previously the distance felt too great, now you can see a way to meet in the middle or build a bridge. Mercury and Mars trine Uranus on August 20-22, adding an unexpected element to the mix. Think outside the box and let yourself spontaneously choose an innovative path to make the most of these combined elements.
The Aquarius New Moon on February 11, was incredibly powerful because it was a seeding of the great conjunction between Saturn and Jupiter at 0 Aquarius on December 21, 2020, and the 1st Uranus-Saturn square on February 17, 2021. Its impact is so significant that we’re having two Full Moons this Leo season. The final degree of a sign is known as anaretic, which contains a quality of endings that can be difficult. The second Full Moon in Aquarius on August 22, in the final hours of Leo season, on the anaretic degree, has a sense of closure that feels final. What we saw blossom on at the first Aquarius Full Moon on July 23, will come to fruition in a new way. Perhaps you were asked to add an extra ingredient to your mix. This Moon’s harvest will be more complete. There is a threshing, a separation of what is useful from what is no longer needed, and a letting go at the end. I developed a tarot spread for the Aquarius New Moon that I have adapted for these Full Moons to connect with your star and get a sense of where you’re being guided over the course of 2021.
AQUARIUS FULL MOON: FOLLOW YOUR STAR TAROT SPREAD
1. Origins of situation (from the New Moon on February 11).
2. The Fullness--what was revealed at the 1st Full Moon on July 23?
3. What are you seeing clearly now in the light of the 2nd Full Moon on August 22?
4. The Star--where are you being guided?
5. What can be released? What are you letting go of as the Moon begins to wane after these big peaks.
The Sun moves into Virgo on August 22, less than 12 hours after the Full Moon.