Leo New Moon, Aug 2, 2016 at 1:44 pm PDT
Leo is the lion, king of the beasts, who claims his power with his mighty presence. When the lion is present, everyone sits up and takes notice. This New Moon with the Sun and Moon at 10 degrees of Leo asks us to stand in our power, let our true natures be seen and lead from the heart. The Leo tarot card is called “Strength” which relates to our inner strength and truth. It takes courage and strength to be empowered; we call those who are “Lion-Hearted.”
In these turbulent and dangerous times, we are being called upon to be lion-hearted. Not only to have the courage to walk through the fires of change but to keep our hearts open in the process. Fear is very strong in our world right now. Many people are talking about how afraid they are and seem to want everyone else to be as afraid as they are. Fear is coming out of the airwaves in almost every form of media as well.
It is important to understand we are in the midst of a shift in consciousness and are meeting our shadow, personally and collectively. We have built economic, political and religious structures that we are doing our best to prop up but they are falling apart. As they do fear is released because these structures are based on fear. We are living in uncertain times; everything is changing because it must. Let the fear come up as the old patterns and beliefs that once provided safety are dissolving. When we are able to keep our hearts open, stay calm and feel the fear, the heart can transmute it into love. To have a shift in consciousness, the fear must be released to be transmuted into love.
I was recently told during a healing session that if I experienced a difficult emotion or feeling such as fear, to lean into it and breathe into wherever I was feeling it. The emotion must be fully felt for it to pass through and be released. I have frequently tried to avoid feeling difficult emotions, that is my pattern. But I knew this advice to be true and so when it came, I leaned into it and breathed into my heart. It was painful but only for a short while. It did pass through and as it did, I was then filled with tremendous love and joy. It takes courage to face our own darkness and transmute it into love.
This New Moon in Leo is in a beneficent trine to Saturn in Sagittarius. One meaning of this is to have the courage and strength to align with our own integrity and what we know to be true in our hearts. We are being asked to make some very important decisions at this time, it is so important that we do not let fear make them for us. Don’t let the stories our minds create keep circulating that fear. We must find the courage to follow our own conscience at this very critical time. Courage does not mean a lack of fear; it means being afraid but doing it anyway. Also not everyone has the same inner truth, it is important to not assume that there is only one truth.
Neptune is in a challenging pattern with the New Moon in Leo and Saturn and exerts a lot of influence. One aspect of Neptune is what ancient pagans called ‘glamour,” meaning enchantment. When we are enchanted we see what we want to see, not what is really there. Just as an example, elections and particularly party conventions are always illusory in nature. Be careful to look beneath the surface for the truth of each candidate and party, all is not as it seems. The veil of enchantment or illusion will be lifted over areas in lives and our world where we have chosen to believe what is not true due to fear, especially related to our comfort and safety. It takes courage to look reality in the eye and stay focused in the heart. But that is what we are being summoned to do.
The focus of this New Moon in Leo is the heart, how to stay strongly centered in our hearts and transmute fear into love, to become lion-hearted. Love comes in many ways as it is a state of being, not an emotion, so love can be tough. There are ways to have discussions about difficult topics and still be loving. Setting good boundaries, saying no and standing up for ourselves and others are all the ways of loving. As Grandmother Aggie says, “The most difficult journey you will ever make is that sixteen inches from your head to your heart.” We are on that journey now.
It is a challenging but also an exciting and creative time to be alive. So many possibilities are emerging to plant the seeds of our dreams and visions of the future. The old paradigms that have limited our expression are breaking down and in the chaos the new is being birthed. Beyond the confines of security unknown possibilities beckon. It will take courage in these scary times but as we align with our hearts and inner truth our real power becomes manifest. The power of love can change the world and it is the only thing that really can.
“We must shock this nation with the power of love. We must shock this nation with the power of mercy. We must shock this nation and fight for justice for all. We can’t give up on the heart of our democracy. Not now, not ever!” Rev. William Barber at the Democratic National Convention 2016
Sibyl Star
Art work by Cathy McClelland- “Strength”
