Thursday, July 28th
New Moon
in Leo 5°39’
10:56 am PST

What The Moon Needs: Messages from a New Moon
by Taylor Ursula 

Leo season is the time of year when we connect with our inherent inner light and the fullness of its scope in this world. The sunlight begins to wane and so the Sun beams ferociously, igniting our desire to indulge in the invitation nature extends us but once a year. As the summer reaches its peak and the changing winds of fall loom around the corner, we stave off our preparation duties until Virgo season—basking just a bit longer in the majestic lion’s gaze, taking in as much of the warmth as our skin can bear, plucking the ripeness of the moment and daring to take a bite.

The Sun is the freest and most beckoning in Leo, and when the Moon joins the Sun here to initiate its new cycle, the Moon also adorns herself with this pride and righteousness. It is, after all, a New Moon lunation ruled by the Sun itself. A truly regal occasion, the New Moon in Leo invites us to ask ourselves whether we have expressed our truest of essences, our most authentic selves, and our most righteous potentials. And if not, how can we do so with ease?

Leo’s most alluring power lies in celebrating the joys and the glamour of the self so that others may bask in its glow and embark on the same celebration of their own joys. A shining light showers all who stand in it. When we share our magic and appreciate the magic of others healthily, we foster radiance within ourselves and all around us. Shallow Leo energy performs for applause and refuels on validation; mature Leo energy self- charges by believing in its beauty and sharing it unselfishly to inspire others. This blessed lunation compels us to dance in its beauty and its righteousness, as well as to identify, and share, our own.

To honor this particular lunation, we must be willing to radically overhaul our attachment to the Self and the stories we’ve locked in over time that convince us of our smallness, of our invalidity, of our undeservingness. Buying into these narratives and fears diminishes our inherent inner light: If we don’t release them now, we might always believe them. There is discomfort here as we reach a sharp crossroads and are pressed to choose the step toward growth.

If the Sun believed it was small, who would we be? If the Moon believed it was crazy, what would call out to our hearts? If we believed we were nothing, what would connect us?

Several elements of this New Moon invite us to cultivate honest yet enthusiastic conversations about where we’ve been conditioned to feel helpless or powerless, and how that conditioning has hindered authenticity in how we relate to, and depend on, others. If we are to believe that beauty and safety are deserved by some and not by others, not by ourselves, not without some conflict in morals, then we are at the mercy of capitalism, at the bottom of the pyramid. If we are to believe that productivity and privilege beget access to luxury, then we have signed our souls away to the system. If we believe that luxury and beauty are manufactured and sold to the highest bidder, we are neglecting the very riches and blessings of the land, the sea, the air, and the Earth Mother that bore us.

This New Moon reminds us that we all carry a Mother wound: We see The Mother as all-encompassing and all-powerful, and yet The Mother has needs and desires too. The Mother is just as complex and as human and as hungry as we. The Mother is both idolized and demonized, put on a pedestal, and torn asunder. We ask of The Mother and we wait, inevitably unduly disappointed: a trust is broken, a role and a relationship betrayed.

So too is the Moon, just as ravenous and expectant as we. We can look back and see the Moon, the Mother, as a sovereign entity, a complex creature, with needs and disappointments.

Many of us bear witness to this deconstruction at various points in our lives. Poise comes to us when we recognize where we have been left hungry and how we learned to create the food ourselves, one steady flame at a time. Honor the Moon by showing her all that you’ve accepted. Invite your Mother wound to wail, to unload its burdens. Coax the ghosts from the shadows and invite them into the light. Be whole and be seen.

— To read Taylor Ursula's exclusive July New Moon in Leo prompts and assignments, grab a copy of the 2022 Many Moons Lunar Planner or download the July Guide.

Taylor Ursula works with astrology, hypnosis, and Tarot to approach integrating separate parts to unlock a freely moving whole. Through radical tenderness, she empowers others to establish self-generating resources for old traumas and patterns. She creates magic candles around astrological transits and is the creator of the Tarot deck PORTALS. You can find her on IG and Twitter @thatssopisces and at thatssopisces.com