New Moon in Leo

The Leo New Moon on 4 August 2024 will arrive with radiant aplomb, kindling inspirational spirit and boosting efforts requiring confident assertion and taking command. The annual New Moon in Leo always possesses unique potency in its regenerative quality of reanimation due to the Moon being received by the Sun in its fiery home of Leo, yet this year it has a triumphantly strident quality due to its harmonious synergy with Mars and Jupiter in Gemini. The Leo Moon is separating from a scorching sextile with Mars and applying toward a supportive sextile with Jupiter, linking the championship mettle of the Jupiter and Mars combination into the charismatic confidence of the Leo New Moon.

Adding graceful style and social connectivity to the lunation is the glowing presence of Venus in the final degree of Leo, as the Leo Moon will apply to a conjunction with the star of Aphrodite after moving away from the uplifting spirt of Jupiter. Venus has an intensified presence having recently returned to visibility as an Evening Star, and will be forming a conjunction with the royal star Regulus as the first crescent light of the Moon also forms a conjunction with Venus and Regulus. Regulus is the heart of the Lion, a star of great eminence that can embolden leadership and achievement with an inspiring quality of courageous grace that sparks hope in the darkest hour. With the Leo New Moon applying to buoying aspects with both Jupiter and Venus, while also applying toward a catalytic square aspect with Uranus in Taurus that will support breaking new ground with creative experimentation, there is an optimistic and hopeful quality to the lunation that will support envisioning long-term goals aligned with your core values.

Yet at the same time there is mischief afoot in the Leo New Moon, as Mercury in Virgo will be stationing retrograde a day after the lunation. When Mercury shifts into its retrograde phase, the star of Hermes makes its home in the liminal, in threshold experiences of leaving one state to enter another. Mercury retrograde delivers transitions and twists in storyline, teaching pivotal lessons from unexpected circumstances, and this will be even more the case than usual in the lunar cycle ahead due to extreme tension rippling through the mutable signs. It’s always important to bring extra mindfulness to daily tasks when Mercury is stationing, and so it’s timing with the inspirational force of the Leo New Moon means it will be important to stay grounded in the details of daily tasks when embarking upon any new directions aligned with the fiery force of the lunation. It also means that instead of the Leo New Moon unleashing a rapid rush of development, we will need to sustain a more plodding pace that can support thorough analysis and review of circumstances to make sure the foundations and underlying systems of our endeavors are solid. The stationing of Mercury will bring awareness of any habits we need to break that have gotten in the way of achieving goals, or routines that need to be altered.

Moreover, a few hours before Mercury stations retrograde, Venus will exit from the radiant fire of Leo to enter Virgo where she will fall under the influence of stationing Mercury. Venus entering her fall in Virgo is not ideal for Venus in terms of garnering the applause of exalted attention, but it can be helpful in getting more fully into the dirty work of daily life that needs to get done as well as in processing details and analyzing circumstances. While Venus in Virgo moves through a conjunction with Mercury retrograde on August 7, be open to critical feedback that is constructive and draw from your critical thinking skills to diagnose any issues that need to be reviewed, reformed, or repaired. The lunar cycle initiated by the Leo New Moon has massively important astrological configurations that mark an important turning point of not only the year, but the entire decade of the 2020s. While the Leo New Moon can support a renewal of longterm vision more deeply aligned with your true desires, the influence of Venus and Mercury retrograde in Virgo will encourage flexibility in mutating and adapting to the extraordinary changes and chaotic collective events that will be occurring.

It’s particularly fascinating that this will be the first New Moon in Leo since the entrance of Pluto into Aquarius in 2023. Although Pluto is not closely engaged in an opposition with the lunation, the presence of Pluto in the opposite sign from the Leo New Moon is one of many indications that the changes set in motion in alignment with the Leo New Moon can have long range impact. While the decentering impact of Pluto in Aquarius has already caused major shifts in global power dynamics in the short time that Pluto has been in the sign of the Water Bearer, Pluto will be returning to Capricorn at the end of the forthcoming lunar cycle on September 1 to deliver its final lessons in the sign of the Sea Goat. As a result, the Leo New Moon will bring awareness to the key issues in our relationship with the larger waves of change that have been set into motion by Pluto in Aquarius that need our attention. This can be empowering when noticing the dynamic edge of new skills and creative directions that feel exciting, but we will need to be flexible and patient due to the volatile astrological aspects that will be forming in the lunar cycle ahead. With Mercury retrograde at the same time, it will be necessary to allow yourself to shape shift within the surrounding tumult, focusing on the internal compass of your sense of destiny and purpose to guide the way you need to shed what must be let go and embrace the changes that need to be made.

Mercury will station retrograde on August 4 or 5 depending upon your time zone, embarking upon a twenty-four day journey of backtracking from 4°06’ Virgo to 21°25’ Leo when it stations direct on 28 August 2024. As Mercury retraces the zodiacal terrain from four degrees of Virgo to twenty-one degrees of Leo, he will excavate material that we need to deepen our engagement with, returning our perception to issues we need to release, rework, or reintegrate. Yet the retrograde of Mercury is not limited to review and redo, as the star of Hermes will deepen development in areas of focus as well as reseed vital ideas and inspiration to enliven work in ways that can have far ranging effects. After passing through a phase of putrefaction and purification, we will experience renewal on the other side once Mercury has returned to visibility and direct motion in the morning sky. Mercury first crossed 21°25’ Leo on 16 July and will not move beyond 4°06’ Virgo until 11 September, creating almost two months of mercurial focus in this range of your natal chart. Mercury will backtrack from Virgo to Leo during the waxing half of the forthcoming lunar cycle on 14 August, eventually returning to Virgo once moving direct again on 8 September.

The upcoming Mercury retrograde period will be unusually important due to how it is connected with the larger astrological cycles involving Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Venus that will be unfolding. Indeed, Mercury retrograde will have a strong influence over the potent mutable t-square that will be forming around the time of the upcoming Full Moon in Aquarius between Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus due to Mars and Jupiter occupying the airy home of Mercury and Venus residing in the earthy home and exaltation of Mercury. Since Mercury will form its clarifying, purifying, and regenerating conjunction with the Sun on 18 August, the day before the upcoming Full Moon in Aquarius, it means that Mercury will be in position to help clarify our experiences and find solutions at the same time that the Aquarius Full Moon will bring matters to a head. While the mutable t-square between Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus will correlate with major plot twists and new movements in storylines, the penetrating intensity of Mercury retrograde will draw us into an internal process that can bring about the internal shifts necessary to more fully take advantage of the new opportunities for growth that emerge. In other cases, the cunningness of Mercury retrograde can help in adapting to whatever unexpected developments disrupt plans.

The main reason that the waxing phases of the Moon between the Leo New Moon on 4 August and the Aquarius Full Moon on 19 August will be so eventful is due to the combination of the more collective Jupiter and Saturn cycle intersecting with the more personal Venus and Mars cycle. The first quarter square aspect between Saturn and Jupiter on 19 August is the first major critical turning point in their cycle since their great conjunction in Aquarius at the end of 2020. The conjunction between Jupiter and Saturn in Aquarius heralded our collective entrance into an age of air during which Jupiter and Saturn will only form conjunctions in tropical air signs until 2159. While we are still adjusting to the rapid pace and dispersal of formerly solid structures brought by the new age of air, the first square aspect between Jupiter and Saturn marks a critical turning point that needs our full attention and engagement. Due to Mars forming a conjunction with Jupiter on August 14, Mars forming a square with Saturn on August 15, and Venus in Virgo moving through hard aspects with Jupiter, Saturn and Mars from August 18 through 22, there is a convergence between the changes in our personal relationships and development with the much larger societal changes occurring. The building tension of the hard aspects between Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, and Venus evoke the gravitas of living through a crucial period of historical change and coming to terms with the ways in which you need to make personal change in correspondence.

The enormity of change underway reinforces the significance of the Leo New Moon possessing an inspirational quality of assertion. It will be more important than ever to commit to the values, ideals, purpose, and life that truly matters to you, and to take command and leadership in the areas of life you can impact. The return of Mercury retrograde to Leo on 14 August will reinvigorate whatever bold intentions are set with the Leo New Moon, as Mercury retrograde will apply to a catalyzing square aspect with Uranus in Taurus while also applying to its reanimating conjunction with the Leo Sun on 18 August. Though the square between Mercury retrograde and Uranus could bring another round of massive technological disruptions as happened when they previously formed a square aspect on 21 July, the jolt between Uranus and Mercury retrograde can also provide exactly what is needed to make a significant breakthrough or break free from previous restrictions.

Fortunately, at the same time that Mercury retrograde will be forming a square aspect with Uranus and a conjunction with the Sun, Mercury retrograde will also form a conjunction with Vesta in Leo on 18 August. The presence of Vesta with Mercury retrograde and the Sun in Leo will increase the potential for using the solar conjunction of Mercury retrograde to find your center and the heart of whatever matters you are focused upon. Vesta tends the sacred fire of the hearth at the center of our home and community, and so her presence with Mercury retrograde and the Sun will amplify our capacity to find our own center and connect with the cohering power of our own heart at the same time that Mercury is also being purified and renewed in the heart of the Sun. The influence of Vesta will also increase the importance of making sacred space for contemplation and reflection, further increasing the likelihood that in spite of whatever collective chaos is circulating through the world, we can flexibly shift with the changes and step more fully into the actualization of our character.

Leo 2 Decan

The New Moon is in the second decan of Leo associated with the Six of Wands card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. An image of triumphant victory, we see the strident champion being honored by an adoring crowd as well as a wreath of laurel.  As laurel is of the nature of the Sun just like the gold medals pursued by competitors in the Olympic games, there is potential within the second face of Leo for not only expression of radiant power but also reception of honors for it. Fittingly, Jupiter rules the second face of Leo, revealing the potency found within this decan for achievements that bring acclaim. T. Susan Chang in 36 Secrets wrote that the Six of Wands often correlates with becoming celebrated in public, yet its good fortune is not based upon the moral quality of the recipient. Indeed, the image of blind Fortuna spinning her great wheel is resonant with this decan, as Chang wrote that “the Wheel of Fortune is fundamentally amoral.” Moreover, since acclaim and fortune will not necessarily last whether earned or unearned, the second face of Leo emphasizes the need to align with the constantly changing nature of life and fortune with its ceaseless upswings and downswings.

Some of the traditional images for the second decan of Leo emphasize the amoral quality of fortune found within this face. In Henrich Cornelius Agrippa’s Three Books of Occult Philosophy, the second face of Leo has “the image of a man with his hands raised, with a crown on his head. [He has] the form of an angry and threatening man. In his right hand he has drawn a sword, and in his left a round shield. [This image] has the significations over hidden quarrels, unknown victories, of vile men, and over occasions of lawsuits and battles.” In Demetra George’s translation of The Sacred Book of Hermes to Asclepius, the image for the second face of Leo is a “Naked man, sceptre in right hand, whip in left, crescent moon upon head.” Ibn Ezra as well as the Picatrix also fashioned images of a man crowned with myrtle holding a bow and arrow, with Ibn Ezra adding “he is fierce in anger like a lion, and he is wrapped in a cloak that looks like a lion.” The Yavanajataka gave the image of “a bold woman with loosened hair. She is on a mountain peak, proud in taking away the wealth of others . . .”

Austin Coppock in his book 36 Faces ascribed the image of “A Crown of Laurels” to this face, proclaiming it “holds within it the magical power of authenticity- here defined as a harmonious connection between the external sphere in which one acts and the spirit fire within each individual.”  Coppock wrote that the pride and glory of victory in the Six of Wands image also reflects its shadow of hubris, declaring that “great works do not guarantee any greatness of character.” Coppock further noted that the second face of Leo can guide us toward realizing what elements of our public persona are out of alignment with our inner integrity, or instead how we need to embody more humility within experiences of recent praise or glory. Coppock made the point that “recognition of one’s virtues does not dispel the reality of one’s vices,” since many images of the decan in traditional text show it is “the temptations of selfishness and cruelty which stain the triumphal nature of this decan.” Coppock declared that the promise and power of victory is so strong in this decan we must guard against becoming blinded by the solar light of success.

Most importantly, Coppock’s emphasis on the “magical power of authenticity” in the second decan of Leo, and the importance of making one’s persona suitable for transmitting the radiance and power of our guiding spirit, points to the role Mercury retrograde can play in making necessary adjustments and reforms so we align more fully with the destiny of what we are here to do. In some cases this process will involve reweaving parts of ourselves that had become fragmented and disconnected. Along these lines it is fascinating that the Hellenistic text the 36 Airs linked the great Egyptian goddess Isis with the second decan of Leo. Isis became syncretized as the goddess containing all goddesses in the Hellenistic era, and just as she weaves many traditions together in her history, so does she weave a web of love through times of trauma to bring about an eventual retrieval and integration of wholeness. Isis in connection with the second face of Leo emphasizes the necessity of courageously and resiliently persisting on inner journeys to reanimate whatever aspects of your essential self have become fragmented. May the darkness of the Leo New Moon provide fertile ground for renewing your commitment to creative work and expression that inspires and uplifts others, due to it being centered in your own radical roots.

In a new development, I’ve recently begun making videos for my astrology Youtube channel, including this one on the New Moon taking place in the second decan of Leo:

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References

Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius. (2021). Three Occult Books of Philosophy. Translated by Eric Purdue. Inner Traditions.

Chang, T. Susan. (2021). 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. Anima Mundi Press.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.

George, Demetra. (2021). Egyptian Decans: Star Gods of Time. Astrology University.