Happy New Moon in Leo! This New Moon at approximately 23 degrees of Leo becomes exact at 5:38 AM New York time (9:38 GMT) today, on Wednesday, August 16, 2023.
Leo is a fixed fire sign that is represented by a lion: an animal that exemplifies pride, beauty and power. Fixed signs in the Zodiac come in the middle of a season and bring the energies of stability, endurance and stubbornness. Fire signs come with high energy, vigor, passion and outgoingness.
Leo is ruled by the sun, which is that big ball of fire that all planets in our solar system rely on for light and sustenance. Leo rules over the 5th House, the House of Pleasure. The themes of the 5th House include joy, fun, play, pleasure, creativity, and children.
We have a stellium in Leo on this New Moon, with the sun, the moon, and the Retrograde Venus. During Leo season, the sun is at home in its own sign, so people are feeling comfortable in their own skin. Leo signifies the ego, charisma, and being seen in 'all our light' (being fully illuminated by the sun). Leo is also associated with abundance and 'all things golden'--as the sun appears gold in the sky.
It's a time to be optimistic and to dream big. The sign of Leo supports the manifestation of our biggest dreams. During Leo season, it's the time to let go of any fear of being seen in all your glory! Let go of any fears on how you are perceived. Be the unique you and bring out the most positive aspects of your personality!
With the sun and moon squaring Uranus, we are feeling eccentric, demonstrative, and even bombastic. It’s the best time of the year to really show off our most authentic personality. It’s a great time to partake in any fun or spontaneous activities. It’s a wonderful time to get back to childhood in any way that we can--like the 6 of Cups in the tarot.
What activities did you really enjoy when you were young? It can be something simple like walking on the beach and looking for sea glass; playing in a lake; or making a watercolor painting. This is the best time of the year to bring out the Inner Child (more on that later in this article).
People’s egos are a bit out of control at this time as well due to the Uranus square--so it is advisable to stay away from angry people and be aware of your surroundings when walking in seedy areas.
FEELING ROMANTIC
With the sun, moon, and Venus all conjunct in expressive, fun, and romantic Leo, this is the most romantic time of the year! If you are coupled, make sure you take advantage of this time and go on some fun dates. With Uranus’s square, you and your partner will likely really enjoy dates that are especially spontaneous or adventurous.
With Venus in Leo squaring Jupiter, we want to express ourselves extravagantly. Lots of singles will be meeting new partners during this time. The key is to be outgoing and to express yourself authentically!
With Venus being Retrograde, it may feel like you have turned back the clock in your relationship, and that things are once again exciting and pleasurable. On the flip side though, it’s possible that problems from the past could re-emerge to be worked through once again.
Many people will also be reconnecting with ex-lovers; in fact, this New Moon could serve to re-start some relationships that were put on hiatus. It’s a ‘second-chance’ type energy.
Remember to be discerning, though. Ask yourself whether your desire to reconnect with (or even try again with) a past lover is an impulse stemming from pain, or whether it is a soul-guided initiative?
SPENDING EXTRAVAGANTLY & GREED
With Jupiter in Taurus squaring Venus in Leo, we are going to want to spend money liberally. If you can afford it, buy whatever is in your heart’s desire! But if you are on a budget, be mindful of that budget, as the tendency now will be to overspend (and possibly set yourself up for financial trouble later).
Also, many unscrupulous characters will be acting out of greed during this time, as this is also a greedy energy. Be discerning and avoid getting scammed.
GETTING THINGS DONE/GOOD FORTUNE IN BUSINESS/PHYSICAL HEALTH
Mercury and Mars, conjunct in Virgo, form a supportive trine to lucky Jupiter in earthy Taurus. With this Earth Trine, the energy is really good right now to get things done in the real, 3D world. It’s a great time to cross some things off on your to-do list! Also, with all of the Virgo energy, it’s a great time to make new to-do lists! (I love making lists…)
It’s also an auspicious time for business matters. It’s a good time to negotiate contracts, have business meetings, and plan future events.
Virgo rules over physical health, as does Mars—so with Mars in Virgo trining Jupiter, it is an advantageous time to improve your physical health. Try new supplements or homeopathy; commit to a new diet; or begin a new exercise routine!
EMERGENCE OF YOUR HEALING GIFTS
The sun and moon trine Chiron (known as the Wounded Healer in astrology), creating a supportive energy for our healing gifts to emerge. If you’re someone that doubts your abilities—or compares yourself to others—know that you are gifted, it’s just that everyone’s gifts express themselves in different ways (and those gifts emerge at different periods in one’s life). Eventually everyone on this planet will be telepathic and psychic, I do believe.
Be patient with yourself, and know that you are on the right path. If you have had any sort of gifts emerge, you are ahead of most of the world!
With Neptune sextiling the Retrograde Pluto, the doorways to the Spirit World are very open around this time. Mediumship, astral travel, premonitions, guided meditations, and more will likely be extra-powerful at this time.
Pluto is still closely squaring the North Node in Aries, giving us a strong energetic push to be stepping fully into our highest paths as healers, intuitives, and spiritual leaders. It’s so important now to really believe in yourself. The world needs your gifts so much!
Now is a great time to take a course or join a group that will assist you in the development and mastery of your psychic and healing gifts! Right now, I have a special 30% off offer if you sign up as an early bird for my 2023-24 Comprehensive Tarot Reading Course! All the info and registration is here (deadline to get the Early Bird rate is Saturday): https://www.youareadivinehuman.org/events.
BRINGING OUT YOUR HIGHEST PERSONALITY & YOUR AUTHENTIC VOICE
The ego is not inherently bad. The ego is much more complex than that. The truth is, the ego (actually a better term for this is the ego-personality) is the vehicle that is necessary for the experience of being almost any type of physically incarnate being.
Your soul chooses a particular predetermined personality in each lifetime that will allow the soul to experience life from a particular individuated (unique) perspective. In total, you likely have hundreds (or thousands) of unique individuated perspectives that your soul experiences in human form on earth—in different timelines, time periods, and geographic locations; and in different types of bodies, with different ethnic backgrounds, families/upbringings, cultures, economic climates, and geographic climates, etc.--to form a complete 'wheel of experience' (to simplify, think of it as your soul experiencing the unique perspectives of all 12 signs of the Zodiac wheel, over and over again, so that it can experience the totality of the Zodiac wheel while here on Earth).
I believe that the day and time that you are born is predetermined by your soul, meaning that your astrology is also predetermined. Your natal chart pretty well determines your personality.
So your soul wants to experience life through your unique perspective. Your unique ego-personality is not a barrier to Ascension; rather, it is the vehicle through which you are meant to experience the Ascension.
This New Moon chart really exemplifies the importance of individuality due to Venus also being in Leo, and the sun and moon squaring eccentric and unique Uranus.
Changing up your look and wardrobe would be a really great way to align with the energies of this New Moon for the same reasons! During a Venus Retrograde, it is a great time to vet and clean out our possessions; with it occurring in Leo, the focus is on anything aesthetic (e.g clothes, fashion, makeup, hair style, luxury items, etc.)
As you go through your Ascension process, your personality will inevitably shift and evolve. Some of the Shadow aspects of your personality that show up in your birth chart—the negative, immature, and unhealthy tendencies and aspects of ego—will dissolve away and you will embody more and more of the most positive, healthy and Spiritually Mature aspects of your particular ego-personality.
In fact, as one Ascends, what is really happening is that the aspects of the personality that come directly from the soul are starting to shine through. Yes, it's true. The soul has a unique personality too!
And it's likely that if the soul has a personality, so does the oversoul and the monad. I believe it's likely that all individuated aspects of the All-That-Is have a unique personality. Perhaps it's a logical given, considering all individuated aspects of the All-That-Is have a unique perspective due to having a unique experience of existence.
So we shouldn’t be ashamed of our egos! We only should strive to transmute any of the negative, unhealthy, immature aspects of ego. I actually created an entire webinar called Dissolving the Ego that contains 12 energetic activations to assist in transmuting the negative aspects of ego. You can check out a preview of this webinar and purchase the recording here.
One of the best ways to bring out that Highest Personality is topurify. As empaths, we tend to sponge up 'stuff' from others, and if we don't know how to set boundaries with others and shield or cleanse ourselves spiritually, we won't be able to experience our Highest Personalities coming to life. You can't be fully YOU if you're expressing all sorts of 'crap' from others!
To experience more purity, it is important to spend occasional time in sacred solitude, and plenty of time in nature. Man is a social creature, yes, and that truth is illuminated during Leo season; however along the spiritual journey the importance of alone time cannot be understated.
It is also crucial to practice spiritual hygiene: take cleansing baths, use palo santo or sage, and use visualization and sound frequencies to keep yourself clear. Remove negative cords with people in your life. Also, exercise daily--it moves stuck energy out of your energy field.
Around this New Moon and over the course of the next 28 days is the time to highlight the most positive and charismatic aspects of your ego-personality. I feel like as a Leo Rising I need to be an ambassador for this point. Don't be afraid to let yourself loose, to let yourself shine! You deserve it!
I feel I have a pretty good sense of humor. Without my sense of humor, I think my life would be pretty boring and depressing, and I wouldn't be able to meet so many cool people. So I consider my sense of humor one of those 'soul' aspects of my personality.
Here are some questions of self-inquiry (and to journal on, if you’d like) to help you figure out which aspects of the ego-personality might be from the soul-self and which aspects you still might need to transmute:
Which aspects of my personality am I most proud of?
Which aspects of my personality serve others best?
Which aspects of my personality feel most associated with Love?
Which aspects of my personality do I feel come from my soul?
Do I have a tendency to hide these most positive aspects of my personality?
Am I afraid to be seen? Why might I have this fear? Could it come from childhood? Teenage years? Past lives?
Could I allow myself to shine more?
Which aspects of my personality are toxic, manipulative, codependent, or martyrish?
What do I know deep down that I need to do better in order to transmute these negative patterns into healthier ones?
How would my soul act in this body of mine? How would my soul speak?
Leo is also associated with the Inner Child. Let's discuss.
HONORING THE INNER CHILD
Leo is the most childlike sign of the Zodiac, bringing with it an air of freedom, play and unabashedness. As the ruler of the 5th House, it rules over children. The Inner Child is an aspect that we all carry within, though unfortunately most of us forget it is there as we journey from childhood, to our teen years, and into various stages of adulthood.
As adults, we can become so disconnected with how it feels to be a child. Sometimes I get nostalgic recalling how amazing and adventurous everything was when I was a kid. How my friends and I would spend from after school until sundown playing sports and games in my backyard, taking breaks to drink my mother's delicious fruit punch. My yard was the biggest in the neighborhood, so all the kids would congregate there. In the wintertime we would build elaborate snow forts and go sledding often, taking full advantage of the overabundance of snow in Western New York.
Most adults in today's Western world have become disconnected from their Inner Children. Society is structured in a way that most people don't have time to connect with their Inner Child, as they are too busy just trying to earn enough money to survive. And many of those who do make more than enough to survive end up finding themselves lost in illusions/addictions like gambling, alcohol, drugs, pornography, or sexual obsession.
In fact, one of the reasons that so many teens and adults find themselves so enamored with those things is that it gives them an outlet to play. (Note: I'm not saying there's anything inherently wrong with gambling; alcohol; substances that are classified as drugs; pornography; or sex; it's all about how they are used—is it a healthy experience of play/pleasure or is it addiction/obsession/escapism?)
But we can find ways to play in more innocent ways. We can dance. We can sing. We can make silly faces. We can make jokes. We can throw snowballs at one another.
Doing an Inner Child meditation would be a great idea around this New Moon. I like to take myself in my mind to a beautiful forest scene and really sink into this setting. I then imagine my Inner Child approaching from a distance, and I ask him what is it he needs from me that I haven't been giving him?
I embrace him, I hug him, and I make sure he feels like I am there for him and I am listening to him.
If you've never done an Inner Child meditation before, you may find that your Inner Child shows up at the age that you feel like you experienced the most trauma and abuse. This is because whatever basic physical or emotional needs that weren't met by your caretakers at that age are what you then spend the rest of your lifetime healing.
The things that people say or do that trigger you most directly relate to those unmet needs of your Inner Child. As an awakening being, you now have the opportunity to heal your Inner Child and experience the liberation of being a fully integrated sovereign adult consciousness. To do this, we first must get to know the voice of the Inner Child and identify what needs he or she has.
When the Inner Child's needs haven't been met and then are continuously ignored during adulthood, the Inner Child must find a way to get the conscious attention of you.
So, the Inner Child will put on a scary mask, so to speak, and become the Shadow. The Shadow Self can trigger you to act out in the darkest of ways, or even to attract people to treat you in nasty ways. The Shadow Self may sabotage your dreams and make it difficult for you to move forward.
The good news is that by listening to the voice of the Inner Child, the Inner Child feels seen, heard, and acknowledged--and thus doesn't need to morph into the Shadow to get your attention. When we consciously make the choice to honor those needs that the Inner Child has let us know he or she has, we can make rapid leaps forward in our spiritual development.
Here are some questions to ask yourself (and ideally journal on) to help you get into deeper communion with your Inner Child:
- If I had to guess, what would my Inner Child say about my life as it is now? Would (s)he be happy about it?
- If I had to guess, what would my Inner Child say about my current living environment? Would (s)he be happy about it?
- If I had to guess, what would my Inner Child say about my current job/career? Would (s)he be happy about it?
- If I had to guess, what kind of things have I been neglecting to give my Inner Child that (s)he needs?
- Which activities or creative endeavors from my childhood have I neglected lately?
- Have I been taking life too seriously?
- Do I let myself fall into the trap of the seriousness of those around me?
- In what ways am I still mean or nasty to myself? How can I stop being mean or nasty to myself?
- Am I OK with failing? How could I learn to be OK and forgive myself when I fail or mess up?
- Do I forgive myself instantly, or do I tend to hold things against myself?
- How could I practice instant self-forgiveness?
- Do I tend to let others' negative emotions take me over? How could I avoid this pitfall?
- Am I OK looking silly or stupid to others? Does what others think of me actually really matter?
- Am I truly honoring my deepest desires?
Wishing you a fun, enjoyable and auspicious New Moon in Leo!
With Love,
Matthew John
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