At this high summer Leo New Moon, we want to feel celebratory, have fun in the sun, hang out with friends, enjoy life. This is the hot girl summer New Moon.
If we look only at aspects to the New Moon, this is what we got.
Sun and Moon are conjunct Ceres, the dwarf planet who bears the Roman name for the goddess Demeter. She is a loving, generative mother fierce in protecting her family.
Both luminaries apply to a trine with Jupiter, who will station retrograde in Aries four hours after the New Moon is exact. This means Jupiter is already very still, poised for an inward journey, waiting for the Sun and Moon to turn the tide and begin a new lunar cycle.
This sounds great, right? A passionate, creative, playful New Moon in Leo supported by Ceres and Jupiter.
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The thing is, we cannot ignore the rest of the chart. The planets show us a much more complicated, contentious picture that includes unpredictability, instability, and too much heat.
If you look to the sign of Taurus, you’ll see the challenge. Over the last weeks, Uranus and Mars have been creeping closer and closer to the North Node. Soon, these three will reach exact conjunctions.
The North Node of the Moon can invite, push, or drag us into the future. But this dragon’s head isn’t especially stable. The South Node, opposite the North, is called the dragon’s tail, but this head and tail are not really connected.
In Vedic astrology, where western astrology absorbed the Nodes from, the North Node is something of a wild card, a place of chaos and mixed experiences. Some good, some not so much.
Uranus is the revolutionary. In world astrology, Uranus signals protests, rebellions, revolutions, and sudden or abrupt change.
In our birth charts, Uranus pushes us to connect with who we truly are at our core, casting off socialization from family, church, school, and society.
The radical changes Uranus can bring lead us into authentic experience, but at a price. Separating from our cultural heritage, or family traditions, or society makes space for authenticity, but creates distance from what we’ve known.
Mars is action, movement, speed–well, maybe less speed in Taurus. Mars gets edgy, wants stuff to happen, doesn’t like waiting, gets impatient, becomes irritable or angry. Mars cuts.
These three have been edging closer together for the last several weeks. Both the North Node and Uranus orient toward the future. Both create chaotic conditions on the way to something they see as new and better.
Mars is an accelerant. They sense the heat, the pressure for change, and turn all the dials up to eleven.
We’ve already been feeling this. The last few weeks have been filled with conflict on the world stage and in our lives. People are easily irritated, quick to anger. There’s a feeling of being done with the way things are, wanting something new. At times, any change seems better than what we’ve got.
Mercury, also in Leo, is the link, forming a square to Uranus. This square becomes exact less than an hour after the Jupiter station. How will Mercury in Leo respond within this square?
Positive responses include creativity, playfulness, dancing with the winds of change, and knowing when it might be important to take a stand.
Problematic responses include laying down the law, bombastic or aggressive speech, refusing to acknowledge the reality of change and insisting on standing your ground.
Leo is passionate, strong, stubborn, and self focused. We know this can lead into creative solutions or intractable fixity.
Leo is proud. That pride is a strength. This New Moon is a good time to check in with ourselves. What are we proud of?
Achievements, successes, character traits, skills, talents, people in our lives are often sources of pride. And we’re in a time of change. Have we, feeling good about what we have already, let ourselves slip into a dangerous kind of pride?
We might say, I’m a good person. I’m a success. My position is secure. I don’t owe anybody anything, and I don’t need any help. I stand where I am. This is a “fixed” position, very Leo.
Or we might not feel pride. We might look at others and believe they’ve succeeded where we have not. That we’ve not lived up to our potential, or been told this by others. We’re falling behind. That too can lead us to pull in, focus on self, instead of reaching out.
Where is Leo in your chart? Where does this New Moon fall? The house and aspects to your birth chart will suggest where questions of pride and security and how to respond to these times may come up for you.
Where is Taurus in your chart? Where is the North Node–Uranus–Mars conjunction happening? This house and aspects to your birth chart suggest where chaotic change, or aggressiveness, or instability may be unfolding for you.
I’ve mentioned that the Jupiter retrograde station and the Mercury–Uranus square will also occur today. Very much part of this New Moon and its energy. The exact conjunction between Uranus and the North Node occurs on July 31, also within the New Moon phase.
It’s tempting to ignore the bigger picture. Honestly, this is a great weekend for self care, creative expression, and the most positive celebration of what we’re proud of in ourselves and our lives.
Just don’t forget the wider context. Things are and will be unfolding in the world that have great importance for every single one of us. Many are already suffering, having lost security and stability, facing deprivation.
A Leo New Moon trine Jupiter justifiably celebrates abundance and the creative potential within every one of us. Shine your light in a way that supports the best for all of us.
Title adapted from Andrea Brataas