1:13 am  AHST  08/4/2024
   4:13 am    PDT  08/4/2024
   7:13 am    EDT  08/4/2024
   11:13 am   GMT  08/4/2024

This New Moon is in Leo, which is the sign of creative self-expression. This is a time when the light of summer shines in its radiant best aspect, since the Sun is the ruler of Leo. Leo energy asks us to perform and be at our very shiniest, our best. But its energy is not only about showing off, (though it’s always tempting for Leos to have people’s attention), but also Leo energy brings lightness to others, relieves us of tension and encourages us to sing, dance, play, act, perform and otherwise get creative. We may be feeling more hopeful about the future this month with this influence.

New Moons are new beginnings, and this one excels in that energy. But the quality of that energy is a bit more interior than usual. Mercury has been slowing down and will go retrograde just a few hours after the New Moon. If you’re a sensitive Gemini or Virgo, you’ve perhaps been feeling that slowdown in mental energy which Mercury rules, since it’s your ruling planet. Nevertheless, for all of us, this signals a time for a more introspective exploration of our creative energy, as Mercury retrograde pulls us in to our selves, asking us to spend more time in quiet, away from media and distractions of all sorts, and to celebrate our deep, natural connection to the Earth.

Our newly birthed evening star, Venus, is a particularly strong player in this chart, since she is at a right angle (a “square”) to the unpredictable Uranus, bringing what could be an influence of excitement, and a desire to break out of the doldrums, which might also lead to hasty behavior in search of gratification. Venus is also in an almost perfect alignment with Neptune and Pluto, in what is called a Yod. Yods speak to a sense of destiny occurring. They are shaped like a divining rod, a delicate sensing device to search for energetic sustenance, if we apply ourselves to the task.

Venus at the last degree of Leo is at the sensitive tip of this Yod, and is asking us to look deeply at our Feminine energy, and find there a deep respect for its innate ability to bring us in alignment with our creativity, our life force, and hence bring a sense of balance to our daily lives. Venus is also conjoined with Mercury in Virgo at a station (standstill before it goes retro). When a planet is at a station, especially at a New Moon, we pay attention, as this is a moment of importance. Mercury in Virgo is asking us to express our creativity and use our life force to be of service to others.

With the influence of the two most outer planets of Neptune (the higher octave of Venus) in Pisces, and Pluto in Aquarius, this signals that we are at a major turning point in our evolution, one that is beginning to value the Feminine in all people, as a path forward from the very messy place that humanity is on the edge of right now. Each of us has the capacity to contribute to bringing this shift in awareness into prominence in the most mundane and the profound aspects of our lives. It’s a daily practice of guarding our sensitivity and valuing the insight it brings.

Later this month we are approaching a kind of testing energy, as Jupiter, the planet of expansion, growth and optimism, and Saturn, the planet of limits, discipline and conservatism, face off in a square (90˚) aspect exactly on the upcoming Full Moon, the 19th. These two giants of our solar system form a square every 8-9 years, creating a challenge of balancing our need to move forward and create, versus the need to hold back and conserve our resources, and to re-evaluate where we’ve come from. With Western society’s penchant for always valuing and measuring our “growth” and progress, we may see challenges in global economies after this month. Their square also happens again in December.

Mars is approaching a once-in-two-years conjunction with Jupiter on the 14^th, and that chart is a doozy, forming a Grand Cross of planets with Saturn, the Moon and Venus. That’s a lot of tension in the air. Here is where our lofty ideals (Jupiter/Mars in Gemini) are tested in their capacity to honor and serve the Feminine (Venus in Virgo) and attend to the needs of The People (the Moon).

All this is happening during Mercury’s retrograde, which will go direct on the 29^th. It feels to me this is a month of energies that are asking us to mature our beliefs and expectations, and to find within that honing process, what ideas and beliefs we can release from the past and how to realistically turn toward the enormous task ahead of us to save our planet, and make it livable and even productive for all beings. The Sun and Moon in Leo are asking us to dare to make the impossible, possible.