The Leo New Moon commences its new lunation cycle on August 4, 2024, exactly at 13:13 S.A. Time, and is located at 12º 34’ of Leo. This New Moon brings us all a fresh breath of creativity, subtle boosts of empowerment, and contemplative energy for the coming month. The Fixed Fire of Leo tends to bring out our daring streaks, along with an invitation for us all to shine, each in our own radiance and authentic expression. Just hours after the New Moon is exact, Mercury stations retrograde in Virgo, bringing its usual symptoms of tech glitches and communication challenges, as well as an invitation to consider the many nuances of our inner landscapes and to eventually clear the clutter. Jupiter is making a nice sextile to the Sun and Moon in the New Moon chart, offering a subtle yet very helpful support of optimism and wind in our sails.

However, Jupiter is also closing in on its square with Saturn which perfects later in the month, which is one of the most important aspects of the year, bringing an air of tension as our moral aspirations are tested in real-world ways.

Each LeoNew Moon has a special quality to it because the ruler of Leo is the Sun, and the Sun is always conjunct with the Moon in the New Moon; the luminaries together in the Sun’s domain make for a special opportunity to integrate and embody our life force with our emotions and feelings. I like to think of the highest expression of Leo energy as not only a proud and bold sense of leadership but also the strong desire to emanate the true radiance of authenticity – even if it does ruffle a few feathers along the way! To be willing to stand solidly in our truth (Fixed), as well as to be in the dance of creation as that truth evolves (Fire energy), is emblematic of embodying our inner Leo nature which we all have going in some way or form. This New Moon invites us into that creative dance and asks us to dare to be courageous and bold in our expression.

The third of four Mercury retrogrades of 2024 begins in Virgo on the very same day as the New Moon, August 4th, and backtracks into Leo mid-month stationing direct at 21° on August 28th. This Mercury Retrograde may have you rethinking with fastidious detail some area of your life, with an invitation to majorly dig into the clutter – both physically and symbolically, to clarify, shed, and free up life-force energy. Mercury moves back across the Virgo-Leo cusp into Leo on August 14th. As Mercury moves backwards, the energy turns more toward a renegotiation of where creative energy is channelled, and the light of our awareness shines inward as we peer deeply into our psychological landscape and state of being.

What’s exciting about this New Moon, in a gentle sort of way, is the exact sextile aspect the Sun and Moon are receiving from the Mars/Jupiter midpoint at 12° of Gemini. Sextiles offer supportive energy, though it often requires some searching on our part to receive the resources they provide. In this case, you might look for gifts of flexibility in your thought patterns, and the motivation to change – thus leaning into looking for and activating new avenues in mind and matter, rewiring neural pathways. As we make adjustments to the patterns of our thinking and behavior this can feel like a tricky business. This New Moon is a beautiful time to tune in and see what we can remake of ourselves in this retrograde timing, sluffing outdated biases that are ready to be laid to rest in favour of more aligned beliefs and behaviours. 

What is also true, is that in adopting a new mindset, you may come up against the stubborn spots that resist change, along with the tangled energy of fear and doubt that cement them in place. This is reflected in the mounting energy of the Jupiter-Saturn square that is forming through the August month and becomes exactly coincident with the very powerful upcoming Full Moon of August 19th. You may wish to consider this New Moon as your soft launch into the harder realities that culminate in two weeks when the rubber meets the road. The Saturn-Jupiter forming square could be said to place us in the cauldron of confronting where we have a solid mental understanding of a cherished ideal and have yet to masterfully put that ideal into practice. This aspect has many dimensions and ramifications for us both individually and as a society, as archaic attitudes clash with natural and inevitable evolution. This is an uncomfortable passage and one that prompts a maturation process, one in which we are asking to bridge and weave the limitations of practicality together with the wild imagination of infinite possibility. Indeed, if we can embrace it, that energetic tension may yet engender immense and profound creativity. 

Lastly, this New Moon configuration contains a nearly exact Yod to Venus at 29º Leo, which is receiving inconjunct aspects from Pluto at 0º Aquarius and Neptune at 29º Pisces. These cusp degrees (29 and 0) are highly sensitive zodiacal points, and their activation signals culmination and major turning points. This could look something like a major re-examination of core values, challenges in relationship patterns, and outer events that stimulate our process of anchoring more deeply into self-love. This signature carries with it the recognition that while we are all very much works-in-progress, we are all deserving of love and kindness exactly as we are.

May we each soak up the goodness that is available in this New Moon timing and continue forging resilience and fortitude as we navigate the stormy weather of our times. The months-long ending of 2024 has many more twists and turns in store, as we roll with the inevitable unfolding of our all too human personal and collective evolution. We here at Healing Light are wishing you, one and all, the radiant blessings and courageous creativity of our evolving universe during this shining LeoNew Moon!