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The 2023 Leo New Moon reaches its maximum phase at 2:38a PDT on Wednesday 16th August 2023 at 23°17’. Though New Moons often represent new beginnings, this 2023 Leo New Moon is symbolic of choosing a fork in the road of a journey you’ve already been on. You’re not starting from nothing. If anything, you’re embarking on the next chapter of your story already in progress.
This powerful New Moon occurs on a 22 Universal Day of community building, networking, and collaboration within a 6 Universal Month of nurturing, healing, yet practical action within a 7 Universal Year of analysis, introspection, and patience. The most important element of this New Moon phase may very well be the need to take purposeful and plan-progressing action while waiting patiently for the harvest.
Speaking of harvest, it’s remarkable how much of a Virgo vibe this 2023 Leo New Moon brings to the table. That’s because Leo’s fixed fire energy needs Virgo’s mutable earth pragmatism in order to be realized in its expression. You won’t be seen and acknowledged without action, and you must take action for yourself before others will take action (or be in a position to take action) for you. With Mercury Retrograde, Mars, and Pallas Athena all currently in Virgo, our minds and actions are recognizing how our everyday practices and routines may be contributing to our inability and/or frustrations in expressing and sharing our unique individual selves.
After all, our authentic selves are a constant presence in our lives, whether or not we choose to express them. How we choose to express or hide them is what can be changed. This is what this 2023 Leo New Moon is all about – finding the courage to not only express yourself, but to break the conditioning and patterns which prevent you from shining your light into the world in your unique and individual way.
The more we recognize our individual and collective patterns, the more we may be inclined to change them. And of course, the best way we can tell our actions are productive is to have those changes produce tangible and/or experiential results. Without results or progress to let us know the changes are taking root, the less likely we are to continue practicing our changed behaviors until they become our “new normal.”
To that point, many of us are either beginning to realize or are fully realizing just how much some of our everyday conditions and/or practices may be holding us back. In some cases, these conditions may be strongly influenced by our one-on-one relationships and partnerships of any and all kinds. As we find the courage to step into our fullest self-expression, we may also experience energy shifts in our relationships that may at first seem unexpected, but as they progress, we may eventually come to admit that we saw the potential for these shifts all along. Under the influence of the 2023 Leo New Moon and Venus Retrorgade energies, the potential is now being realized.
Though it may not feel like for some of us at this moment, all of the changes happening now are, truly and ultimately, for the better. Some of these changes will be major, and even the ones that occur on a collective level will be very personal experiences as they will affect each of us differently depending on our individual world view. How we see ourselves in our communities, in our workplaces or professional circles, in our social and personal relationships, and in our everyday lives will also change as result. For some of us, these changes will be affirmations of the steps we’ve recently taken. For others, these changes will be undeniable pushes to take the steps we’ve been procrastinating or avoiding in sharing our unique self-expressions with the world.
That’s because the doors that you open and walk through during this 2023 Leo New Moon are not just about shining your light – they’re about working with and through your unique expression of light on a daily basis. Now your expression – and the work and service you perform through it – get to become part of your new normal…
…which brings us back to our relationships with and to everyone and everything around us. You’ll become very aware of the impact your light has on the balance (or imbalance) of energy in your relationships and your environments. You may discover that as you walk through new doors and into new experiences, you may be trying too hard to hold onto to too much from your past. This 2023 Leo New Moon is a definitive call to stop trying to hold on, and that it may even be time to finally let go of what is no longer in alignment with the version of you that is now emerging as you begin allowing your light to shine and be seen. With Black Moon Lilith’s influence, the Leo Sun will bring the areas of your lifer that should be released into the spotlight for closer examination, or rather, profound realization.
I use the dreaded word ‘should’ because some of us will still refuse to let go of our past. Despite everything available to us to move forward, some of us may still insist on holding ourselves back. This 2023 Leo New Moon will be a moment of truth for many of us. How serious are we about expressing ourselves when we won’t take the path open and paved in front of us? How serious are we about being seen and acknowledged if we say ‘no’ when everything we’ve asked for finally comes to us?
In other words, the 2023 Leo New Moon is your moment to step into the spotlight of your own life.
The question for you is… is being in the spotlight of your life – is being the star of your life – really what you want? Or have you grown so accustomed to being in a supporting role for everyone else that you can’t bring yourself to take the spotlight when called?
This 2023 Leo New Moon is your time to consider what you truly want for yourself and your life, and to take action to step into it or not. The choice, truly and entirely, is up to you.
For additional information that may assist you in finding your clarity around this matter and the intentions you want to seed during this 2023 Leo New Moon, here are the astrological transits, mostly within 3° orb, which are active at the time of its maximum phase:
Leo Moon conjunct Sun conjunct Black Moon Lilith (23-24°) –
- semi-sextile Virgo Mars (22-24°) – Once you put yourself out into the world, you find yourself having to restructure your daily routine to accommodate your new outward expression.
- sextile Libra South Node (23-26°) – supports recognition of how you’ve engaged in your one-on-one relationships of all kinds in the past, and how you can bring balance to your relationships of all kinds now by sharing your unique expression of light and creativity in the world.
- square Taurus Uranus (23-24°) – As values and morals shift, it brings up questions about your individual self-expression. Are you aligned with your own values and ethics, or are you trying to align with those of others?
- trine Aries Eris conjunct North Node (23-26°) – empowered to embrace your uniqueness in the world, to recognize that your “otherness” is your unique power in and for the world.
(weak) SEQUENCE: (Leo Moon conjunct Sun conjunct Black Moon Lilith) semi-sextile Virgo Mars semi-sextile Libra South Node (22-26°) – Emotion-driven and ego-driven need to express oneself in unique and creative ways. This is self-empowerment energy that is encouraging you to take simple, mundane steps to advance yourself in the area of self-expression.
SEQUENCE: Leo Venus Retrograde semi-sextile (Virgo Pallas Athena conjunct Mercury Retrograde) semi-sextile Libra Ceres (18-19°) – Recognizing which relationships are holding back your unique self-expression leads to recognizing patterns in your own behavior in which have you repeat certain behaviors in your life again and again; recognizing these energies helps you acknowledge which relationships truly support and balance you and which discourage and distract you from sharing your brilliance with the world.
Taurus Uranus trine Virgo Mars (22-23°) – Unexpected shifts in resources and values empower people to take pragmatic actions to establish or restore functionality to their everyday life/lives; a “back to basics” approach to the unexpected and the unpredictable. When the future isn’t clear, stick with what can be done in the here-and-now.
Taurus Jupiter trine Virgo Pallas Athena (14-17°) – Growing awareness of the shift in our personal and collective values increases awareness of our patterns and routines in our everyday lives, and helps us recognize if we’ve outgrown our status quo.
(Aries White Moon Selena conjunct Chiron Retrograde) opposite Libra Ceres (17-19°) – The more we heal our individual self-identities, the more we become aware of our Higher selves and the need to bring the other aspects of our lives into balance with our Higher self-awareness.
Leo Venus Retrograde trine (Aries White Moon Selena conjunct Chiron Retrorgade) (17-19°) – This also brings awareness of the relationships and partnerships in our lives which support and encourage our Highest selves and the actions we take in alignment with them. This is a powerful time for recognizing who our True allies are, and most of all, if we are truly allied and aligned with ourselves in the company we choose to keep.
Leo Juno opposite Capricorn Pluto Retrograde (28-0°) – The more committed we are to our individual self-expression, the more we realize how much our lives – individually and collectively – must transform to make space for how we are emerging and evolving.
Pay attention to what is coming up for you in the days leading up to and shortly following the 2023 Leo New Moon’s maximum phase. The energy of this 2023 Leo New Moon will be felt from Sunday 13th August through Saturday 19th August 2023. Notice if you’re stepping into patterns of resistance and rejection, or if you’re willing to break your old patterns and step into the leading role in your life.
It’s time for your closeup… if you’re willing to step into the spotlight.
Thank you for reading and sharing Signs and Numbers. Until next post…
~ Light, Love, and Blessings,
Grace
