On August 16, 2023, a new moon occurs at 23° Leo 17’ at 5:38 am EDT. Leo is the fixed condition of self-actualization, which initiates in cardinal Aries and culminates in mutable Sagittarius. Ruled by the Sun, Leo channels solar energy that permeates us with Life Force. This intense male frequency is balanced with feminine energy from Venus transiting through her retrograde cycle and Black Moon Lilith, the secondary focal point of the Moon’s elliptical orbit, sublimating a retroactive rogue quality to this lunation.
All of the personal planets, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and the Sun and Moon, occupy the first six houses of the natural zodiac, which implies that the lunation is the beginning of a new cycle of personal development. Anchored by the fifth and sixth houses, the baseline is work on the self and growth through crisis.
The heavy outer planets, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto, are in their annual retrograde cycles deepening and intensifying personal work. Their transits through the last quadrant of the natural zodiac correlate to collective experiences that express individual authenticity, both for better and for worse. Self-organizing groups are increasingly coalescing around shared beliefs.
Pluto continues to square the lunar nodes generating necessities for fulfilling incomplete karmic responsibilities. Juno at 0° Leo instills more distaff energy as it completes a grand cross, opposing Pluto and squaring the lunar nodes. Juno was the wife of Zeus, who was of equal rank to her husband among the Olympians but denied its expression. Zeus was a prolific philanderer, causing great distress in his relationship with Hera. Hera was the Olympian queen of the gods, and the goddess of marriage, women, the sky, and the stars of heaven.1 Despite it all, she remained faithful to him, committed to their marriage.
The new moon separates from a waxing partile (exact) 1st Quarter “crisis in action” Square to Uranus retrograde in Taurus. Sun and Moon apply to a waxing facilitating 1st Quarter Trine to the Aries Lunar North Node and waxing Crescent Sextile to the Libra Lunar South Node.
There are karmic implications that this lunation directs us to renew and be unwavering in our commitment to our self-development, who we are, and who we are becoming.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be. Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
- https://www.theoi.com/Olympios/Hera.html ↩︎
