Tomorrow morning near dawn, we reach the New Moon in Leo. Leo is a bright sign, fixed Fire ruled by the Sun. Yet at a New Moon, we are in darkness.
That darkness includes Venus, who has passed her conjunction with the Sun but remains hidden under the beams.
She will reemerge in a few days, appearing on the western horizon at sunset [This is backwards! Venus returns as the morning star]. Right now, though, she remains in the darkness along with the Sun and Moon.
Leo, the sign of passion and of play, creates for us a fruitful darkness, not a sterile place but one alive with potential, possibility, and innovation.
Yet at the moment of the New Moon, we may not be able to see (literally) what those possibilities are.
Let’s look at some context.
Pluto at the end of Capricorn continues to square the Nodes of the Moon in Aries and Libra. Pluto’s last months in Capricorn keep us aware of what is not working in our world: Breakdowns in social and political systems, failures to acknowledge our impacts on climate patterns and ecosystems, and the resurgence of hate-based belief systems feel threatening and dangerous, as they indeed are.
This Plutonian backdrop keeps us aware that the stakes of our current decisions are high.
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Another outer planet key to this New Moon is Uranus, who aspects all five of the personal planets. Uranus squares the Sun, Moon, and Venus while trining Mars and Mercury.
Uranus in Taurus squaring Sun, Moon, and Venus in Leo holds out for radical redefinitions of the personal ego, personal creative expression, what it means to be appreciated and to appreciate, and what it mean to play.
While some spiritual and psychological traditions suggest we need to get rid of the personal ego, I am pretty sure this isn’t possible, since it’s where we live from. Uranus wants our egos to be authentic, creative, and strong rather than excised.
The goal is not a world filled with sociopaths or narcissists but rather societies that respect, celebrate, and appreciate our unique gifts and create structures in which a wide variety of egos can thrive.
Some suggest our species ought to be called homo ludens, the one who plays, rather than homo sapiens, the one who knows. It is through play, that is, an unbounded exploration of the world without a specific end in mind, that we learn, grow, and create. Uranus would love to see more of this.
Venus in Leo brings in the relational aspects. How can we be radically authentic with each other? In families? In other groups? In societies? Which values best support the creation of such a world? Freedom, of course, always important to Uranus, but in what contexts and within what limits?
Uranus in Taurus asks these questions in terms of what works on the ground. Taurus is not interested in theories. Taurus asks, what fosters creative authenticity in human societies today (not ideally in some distant future). How do we grow authentic societies? How do we sustain them over time?
Uranus in Taurus is not the instant revolutionary we knew in Aries. This Uranus is more like a blacksmith in a forge, smelting, hammering, shaping metals into new kinds of tools.
The trines from Uranus to Mars and Mercury in Virgo point to the time and the care needed to make the world anew.
Mars’ trine to Uranus is so close, it becomes exact about an hour after the New Moon. This is a careful, detail-oriented Mars, wanting to get each step right to be able to reach the best possible outcome.
Mercury’s relationship with Uranus right now is interesting. It looks like Mercury, too, will reach an exact trine with Uranus very soon. But that won’t be happening. Mercury will station retrograde at 21º51’ Virgo on August 23, before reaching Uranus. These two will not meet until October.
Mercury is already in their shadow period for this retrograde, having entered it on August 3. This is already a time for us to be reviewing plans, checking details, exploring our own Virgoan nature. It’s a time to be aware that plans can go awry and stuff can go missing. Plan accordingly.
So, at this New Moon, we are actively engaged in thinking about an authentic future for ourselves and our world. We feel, deeply, the ways our current societies are not healthy. We’re drawn to the creative possibilities for a more authentic future. And we feel some anxiety about how to get there.
Uranus is especially powerful right now, for Uranus is also stationing. Officially, Uranus turns retrograde on August 28, but this planet of radical selfhood is already at the degree where that station will occur.
Remember, the outer planets do tend to retrograde quite a bit. So, rather than being concerned about whether Pluto, Neptune, or Uranus are direct or retrograde in motion, we pay close attention to these times of stationing. Uranus will sit right here for weeks, making their impact felt.
If we’re sitting in the dark, how do we connect with the Leo and Venusian energies of creativity, passion, and play?
One way is to check how this New Moon connects to your birth chart. Where is Leo in your chart? Where does the New Moon at 23º17’ Leo fall by house?
Do you have planets or points at or close to 23º Leo? What about the other fixed signs? What about the other Fire signs?
Another important consideration for this New Moon is how we’re affected by the ongoing Venus retrograde in Leo. This is a months-long process, in which Venus moves into Leo, turns to retrace her steps, and then turns direct once again. She will move through most of Leo. Specifically, the degrees between 12º and 28º will be touched three times.
Sounds like magic, doesn’t it? And it can be, if we work (or, in the spirit of Leo, play) with what comes up for us.
With Venus retrograde, we may revisit old relationships or old relationship patterns. Creative projects may rekindle, or we might reconnect with mentors or teachers from the past. Venus also links to finances, so reviews might be happening there as well. We may find ourselves reexamining core values, or even who we believe ourselves to be.
With Venus in Leo, these questions will focus on finding the balance between honoring our own creative drives and supporting others in our relationships.
There is no one right answer. In fact, even the questions will vary depending on our birth charts, our life experiences, and where we are right now in the flow of our lives.
Jupiter is also at play during this New Moon. The personal planets, Sun and Moon, Mercury, Venus, and Mars, have already passed their exact aspects to Jupiter, but Venus will return. She will square Jupiter again on August 22 and September 17. Mercury will trine Jupiter again on September 4 and once more on September 25.
Jupiter, the Great Benefic, offers support on our journeys. Look for good luck and good ideas on these dates.
The darkness of this New Moon can be challenging. The Venus retrograde cycle has been linked to the myth of Inanna, the queen and goddess of ancient Sumer who chose to visit her sister in then underworld, faced death, and returned to life with a new sense of herself and her powers.
In fact, we ought to say that the other way around. It’s very likely that Inanna’s descent story is itself an archetypal expression of the disappearance and reappearance of Venus, one of the brightest lights in the night sky.
Now, with Venus, we are in the underworld. We are losing the trappings of our outer lives, the signs of who we thought we were, the insignias of status and power. With Inanna, we are stripped down to our skins, which leaves us with a very Uranian question: Who are we, really, truly, in our essence, ourselves alone?
Yet, as I said earlier, this is not an empty, lifeless place to be. There are beings here, relations, forces, and help is on its way. This is a place of challenge, of being reforged.
To be reborn with Venus as she reappears in the night sky, we want to let go of all those things that we think define us, that we believe are essential to who we are, but truly are not.
In today’s world, we might ask, who am I without my Instagram account. Who am I without my credit rating? Without my corner office? My camera? My house? My cat?
Thinking about this is scary. We don’t want to imagine being that alone. It’s a hard thing for us. We’re a very social species. But this is the question Uranus asks. And there are reasons behind it. We can move through our lives with greater assurance, clarity, and impact when we know who we are at our core.
This is the key question of this Leo New Moon. It is one that can only be asked in darkness.