Leo’s heart light offers us a break from the intensity of the past two eclipses and Mercury retrograde, which ends almost simultaneously (within a few minutes) with the new moon.
July 31 – August 1 – Leo New Moon
8:11 PM PDT at 9 degrees (3:11 GMT)
When the Sun is in Leo, our heart-light brightens our lives. This is the first of three Super New Moons in a row. When the Moon is nearest to the Earth, its impact on our psyches is amplified.
The Leo archetype is about what we create with what we have. And what we have is ourselves and our special talents and gifts. At the Leo new moon, we reflect on what we have created so far in our lives and look at what we wish to create and experience next.
Our natal Venus defines what we love and what makes us feel nurtured and satisfied.
Our natal Mars directs how we choose to use our energy to create in the world.
With the Sun, Moon, Venus, and Mars all shining in Leo, our heart calls out for us to assess the degree to which we feel that we are authentically living our lives. Are we doing what we love? Do we love what we are doing? Do we feel happy to be alive?
The Intense Cancer and Capricorn Eclipses
The Cancer – Capricorn themes of the Lunar and Solar eclipses obliged us to look at and do our best to heal family wounds. When we are not bound by sabotaging past patterns, we can reshape our priorities and intentions. These themes are not going to go away. They are among the defining issues between now and the first few months of 2020 when the Pluto and Saturn in Capricorn conjunction (January 12) pressurizes us to address and release patterns of victimhood, martyrdom, and co-dependence. We have to become our own authority, which can happen only when we learn to listen to and trust our hearts.
Focus on What Makes Your Heart Sing
The Leo new moon, Mercury turning direct, and a grand trine in the fire signs, offers us a respite and the space to do what makes our heart sing. For a moment we can focus on what we want to create.
We may think we know what we want. But our heart knows! The more we listen to and follow the inner guidance offered by our hearts, the easier life flows and the happier we are.
New creations and directions require motivation, commitment, and endurance. We need to be both alert and relaxed to stay present, monitor, and guide what we wish to manifest in the world. The potential lures us forward. But the end product needs the light of our heart behind it to give it birth. We have to inject love at every phase of our creative projects for them to succeed.
Your Heart is Your Sun Center
The Sun rules Leo. The Sun is the star at the center of our solar system, around which the other planets orbit. The Leo archetype models its message around the Sun. Fire sign Leo directs us to make our heart our center and let it direct and feed everything in our life. Like the Sun, we are the main actor and director of our life.
Leo represents the quest to discover and express our unique spark of divine love. We discover the “Holy Grail” — our true Self and our unique gifts. When we find and live from our essence and truth in our heart, we radiate love everywhere and into everything that we say and do.
Living in the frequency of love, requires (1) being able to connect with and living from our heart, and (2) expressing and creating from who we know we are, not what others want or need us to be. Lion-hearted Leo teaches us to shine (not hide) our light. What we do should amplify our radiance. It is our journey to do what we do with love, to share love, and for the sake of love.
Create More Love
Our Sun sign, Venus, planets in Leo and in the fifth house — all play a role in defining how our soul directs us to create more love in the world. The Leo archetype is about becoming conscious of how we express our creative power. The ego-centered unawakened Leo seeks attention and tries to be better than others.
The awakened Leo is at peace with itself because it has found the courage to follow its heart without compromise, competition, or conflict. Content and centered in its heart, it is able to devote its life to offering love to the world.
Venus conjuncts this new moon, emphasizing the importance of feeding and following our heart.
Venus also trines Chiron in Aries and Jupiter in Sagittarius, forming a grand trine in the fire signs, heightening our optimism and will to take initiatives to support ourselves and what we wish to create.
Venus interacts with other planets during the month of August, enticing us to create, play, and connect with others from the heart.
July 31 – Mercury Turns Direct
8:58 PDT (3:38 GMT) at 24º Cancer
July 31 Mercury turns direct, less than an hour after the Leo new moon. Mercury’s retrograde passage began on July 7 at 4º Leo and will again reaches 4º Leo on August 14.
Mercury retrograde periods give us a change to perceive and reflect in non-habitual ways that help us release old patterns. While retrograde in Leo and Cancer, Mercury encouraged us to reflect on what we need to heal or change to more honestly express ourselves from the truth of our heart.
The archetypal energies of a planet are intensified when it stations direct or retrograde.
August 11 – Jupiter Turns Direct
at 14 degrees Sagittarius
Jupiter, associated with expansion, truth, optimism, and faith, turned retrograde April 10 at 24º Sagittarius. Jupiter turns direct August 11 at 14º, and reaches 24º Sagittarius again on November 5.
Jupiter retrograde gave us time to examine, and hopefully let go of, some beliefs and misperceptions that were preventing us from moving forward. What seemed impossible before may now be doable.
August 11 – Uranus Goes Retrograde
at 6º 36′ Taurus
Uranus takes its yearly turn retrograde August 11, moving backwards until January 10, 2020, when it stations direct at 2º38′ Taurus. Its full retrograde cycle completes April 17, 2020, when it once again reaches 6º36′ Taurus.
While retrograde, Uranus asks us to look at how we have fallen prey to habitual patterns and blindly accepted the status quo. We are given the space to look at and decide what works for us, independent of others’ views and opinions.
Jupiter magnifies, and Uranus awakens. Their close change of direction can precipitate revelations, leaps forward, and inspiring ideas.
Small but Pivotal Shifts
A number of planetary interactions (quincunxes 150º) in the first part of August may require and support us in making small but pivotal shifts that enhance our creative endeavors. These shifts can include (1) getting clear about our motivations, (2) making sure we are coming from love, not fear or anger, (3) being realistic about resources and respectful boundaries, and (4) not confusing imagination and illusion.
We need to know that we were born at this time on planet Earth to take advantage of the amazing opportunities for spiritual growth and awakening. We are here to participate in the evolution of human experiment to align with the frequency of love, and to release the frequency of fear that has controlled humanity for way too long. Every compassionate smile, every act of kindness, forgiveness, and encouraging gesture counts and moves us collectively from the darkness of duality into the light of unity. There are so many ways to love — love of life, self, others, the planet, nature. Every act of love aligns us with the cosmic flow and sets us free.
Heart Shield Meditation
I love this meditation. It can make you feel very supported and protected by your own heart. You feel safe to open your heart to yourself.
Sit in Easy Pose with a straight spine. Place right hand in active Gyan Mudra (index finger curled under the thumb, the other fingers straight and joined), wrist resting on the right knee. Left arm is bent and relaxed, left hand about 6″ from heart center with palm facing the body, thumb and fingers straight, tense, and joined. Concentrate on the hand as a shield to the heart. For the magnetic field to correspond, the “antennae” must be tense.
Inhale deeply and exhale completely. Repeat twice more. Then inhale and begin chanting the mantra with the melody below.
SAT NAARAYAN WHA-HAY GUROO Sat Narayan: True Sustainer
HAREE NAARAYAN SAT NAAM Wahe Guru: Indescribable Wisdom
SAT NAARAYAN WHA-HAY GUROO Hari Narayan: Creative Sustenance
HAREE NAARAYAN SAT NAAM Sat Nam: True Identity
Continue for 3, 5, or 7 minutes, but don’t overdo it. If you are around other people, you may just whisper it.
COMMENTS by Yogi Bhajan: When you feel very tired and feel nothing is coming out, this is a tool. But don’t overdo it! I have given you something which is very sacred and very secret. Over-drinking nectar can sometimes give a bad belly. So just do it three to seven minutes in absolute calmness. As you concentrate on the shield of the hand, you will feel the heat of powerful energy going through the hand to the heart center. (Concentrating on the head is incorrect.)
References
Austin, Stephanie, Leo New Moon 2019, http://www.EcoAstrology.com, July 30, 2019.
Collis, Diana McMahon, Leo New Moon — July 31-August 1, The Mountain Astrologer, June/July 2019, p. 91.
Meditation from Transitions to a Heart-Centered World by Guru Rattana, Ph.D., p. 147.
Also available as an eBook.
