Just before sunrise on Saturday morning, (5:57 am EDT, the New Moon in Leo arrives.
Such a Moon might seem easy. It’s high summer. We’re still celebrating first fruits and anticipating a rich harvest. It’s a time to wish for plenty, play, passion, and all the good things of life.
All this is true. It is indeed the time for Leo wishes:
For the space to express our creative selves, for the chance to play and experience the joy of a child, for the courage to show our deepest selves to the world, and the confidence to know we will be seen, appreciated, and celebrated.
Yet this year’s New Moon is deeply layered. There are things to know here, things to be aware of.
Rising Moon Astrology is now a PODCAST on iTunes. Please listen, subscribe, and leave a review.
First, this is an eclipse New Moon. This partial solar eclipse is very near the end of the Leo/ Aquarius eclipse cycle. In fact, this is the last eclipse this time around with the Nodes in Leo and Aquarius. The Leo Full Moon in January, 2019 will also be an eclipse, but the Nodes will already have slipped into Cancer and Capricorn.
This Leo––Aquarius eclipse season has been intense, bringing dramatic changes that will resonate long into the future with equally strong reappearances from the past we needed to make peace with and release.
On the eve of this Leo New Moon, we take a deep breath.
Tomorrow will be a partial solar eclipse, a slice from the Sun. The eclipse shadow will only be visible in some far northern regions of Europe and Asia, Greenland, and northern Canada.
Eclipses occur when the Sun and Moon align with the Nodes of the Moon. The closer the alignment, the more “total” the eclipse. Tomorrow, the Sun and Moon will be conjunct at 18 Leo while the North Node will be at 5 Leo––not super close but enough to create an eclipse.
Eclipses come in families called Saros cycles, which track the movement of the eclipse across the face of the globe. New eclipses are very partial. Eclipses in the middle of their Saros family are total. Old eclipses are also partial as they reach the opposite pole.
This is a new eclipse, part of Saros 155, a family that began in 1928. This one is sixth in a cycle that won’t end until 3190. This eclipse also occurs on the ascending North Node, happening on the Leo side of the Nodal axis.
The idea of a new eclipse happening at the North Node reinforces the idea that we’re at a place for new beginnings. Our wishes can look ahead, reflecting everything we’ve experienced and accomplished in these last months.
We might be tempted to simply turn our backs on that “everything.” It’s hardly surprising if we do. But we can’t, not yet.
We’re still in the midst of an amazing retrograde lineup. Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto are all retrograde. The past is with us still. But we’re not stuck there. Instead, we’re in a new place in relation to our past. We’ve gained new perspectives, new understandings, and a new resolve to let go of anything and everything that no longer has a place.
All of this informs our wishes and intentions at the New Moon.
Retrograde Mercury, still under the beams of the Sun, embarks on a new cycle as he waxes, ready for his morning rising when he becomes visible. In the Promethean half of his cycle, at this New Moon he is ready to plant seeds for new amazing achievements of thought, communication, and creation.
He is also very focused. On August 19, he stations direct. But during the next eight days, he will only travel three degrees, stationing at 11 Leo. This allows our Mercury-in-Leo seeds to be planted very deep indeed.
Uranus just turned retrograde, so he is barely moving at all. He squares the Nodes from Taurus, creating a T-square to the Nodes in fixed Leo and Aquarius. Although the fixed signs dislike abrupt change and will resist it, Uranus always brings the unexpected.
Meanwhile, retrograde Saturn is inconjunct the Nodes and trining Uranus from his power place in Capricorn. He is reminding us that actions have consequences. A Leo New Moon squared by Uranus could get overly dramatic, or maybe wildly exuberant. Saturn’s role is to remind us there’s serious business going on.
Mars retrograde is separating from the South Node, but still influential. He too squares Uranus, pushing for action, or perhaps for the creation of a vision for action. He finds his backward travel to be too confining. If it’s too soon to act, then at least let’s plan. Our intentions can reflect this.
Even as we make our wishes, we need to hold the awareness that they can manifest differently from the way we picture them.
This is an excellent New Moon to add “this or something better for all concerned” to all our intentions, creating space for unexpected benefits.
In the spirit of Taoism, we can also remember that apparent reversals and disappointments can lead to better outcomes down the road.
Jupiter squares the Sun and Moon from 14 Scorpio. He reminds us we are in deep waters. The intense solar quality of Leo, where we find Sun and Moon, Mercury, Pallas Athena, and the North Node, is refracted through psychic, mythic, emotional, and psychological depths.
The New Moon is also touched by Neptune and Pluto, both retrograde and both inconjunct. The inconjunct is an awkward aspect. It’s 150 degrees, caught between the sweetness of the trine and the faceoff of the opposition. Planets that are inconjunct share neither mode nor element. It’s difficult to find common ground.
We can think of these two inconjunct aspects as Tarot cards. Pluto and Neptune, as outer planets, will both be Major Arcana, signs that larger forces are at play.
Pluto is the Death card, which signals deep, utter, complete transformation more than actual physical death. We’ve been here. When upright, the card suggests we’re facing change head on, ready to engage. When reversed, the transformation may only be partial. We’re not accepting where we are. We resist.
Neptune is the Moon card, or possibly the High Priestess. She signifies occult knowledge, mystery, and guidance. Upright, we are ready to listen. Reversed, we resist and instead find ourselves confused, frightened, lost in a fog.
For these two, Pluto and Neptune, our stance will determine how we experience their demands and gifts.
Many of us have experienced these last weeks (and months, really) as a descent. We’ve been precipitated into experiences and emotions we were not expecting. Even as we worked to align with what was happening and embrace it, we were not, shall we say, thrilled.
Now, at this eclipse New Moon, we are beginning to see the light.
Difficulty remains. We’re not out of the cave yet. But if we look up, we can see a glimmer of what is now on the horizon.
Venus has just cleared the series of challenges she faced as she entered Libra. She is longing to revel in the beauty and connection she loves.
She is currently applying to trine the South Node and sextile the North Node, which brings her into the sphere of influence of this New Moon and eclipse.
What have we learned on our underworld journey? What final trials and challenges are left before we can claim the boon and step fully into the light of a new beginning?
The seeds are in our hands. They are hard-won and filled with power. They hold within the potential for new beginnings that will unfold not simply through one lunar cycle, or even one year, but many.
It’s time to choose. And plant. And trust in what will be.
I use Unsplash for most photo illustrations. All astrological charts are my own. The images in this post include the title, adapted from the photo of Antelope Canyon by Omer Salom, the photo of the SpaceX rocket launch by Bill Jelen, the minimalist plant image by Evie Shaffer, and the pomegranate by Marco Secchi.