“Don’t die with your song still inside you.” Wayne Dyer

The New Moon is always a new beginning, a fresh start and this month it is in colorful Leo, the sign of the performer, artist, the lion and the king. Leo is more than simply an artist or an entertainer; “It is not really about creating something other people can applaud. More profoundly, it seems to describe the development of unique individual essence and its quest for its source,” Liz Greene writes in The Astrology of Fate. At the very heart of Leo is the search for the Self and journey of actualizing it. “Can you become yourself in a way that adds a blessed roar to life? Can you make a leap and land on the feet of our soul?” –Michael Mead

Generous Jupiter, king of the gods, has moved into Leo where it will remain for an entire year. In regal Leo this noble planet is extremely generous; it expands and empowers anything it touches. Jupiter is closely conjunct the Sun and Moon, firing up our enthusiasm and confidence, encouraging us to say “yes” to life. Jupiter has a reputation for being lucky but it’s not all dumb luck and Lotto; Jupiter (the ancient ruler of Pisces) has to do with faith, trust and devotion. How much faith do you have yourself to take a big risk and go for something you really, really want? If there is something you want to do, be or have, set it in motion this week. This dramatic New Moon gives us permission to follow our heart, our passion, our whimsy.

The Uranus/Pluto square is still strong. Now Venus in Cancer joins these two game-changers; the goddess of love is opposite Pluto in Capricorn (exact July 27) and square to Uranus in Aries (exact July 31) urging us not be afraid to speak (sing or write) our truth, reminding us that our greatest gifts lie near our deepest wounds. Mars has entered Scorpio and challenges the New Moon and Jupiter; put your energy into fighting for something and not against it. There is a healing grand water trine (exact on August 1) between Venus in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio, and Chiron in Pisces helping us to access our innermost feelings and intuition.

Ruled by the mighty Sun, Leo invites us to shine. What creative dreams have you buried? What makes you happy, what brings you joy? This is the perfect time to dust off those tap shoes, get out the water colors or the screenplay you never finished. Give yourself a day (or two or three) of creative play and pleasure. Flood your imagination with fresh incentive and beauty. “Let yourself be silently drawn to those things you truly love.” –Rumi

For me, Brene Brown’s book Daring Greatly is the perfect metaphor for Leo and this New Moon. She writes, “Perfect and bulletproof are seductive, but they don’t exist in the human experience. We must walk into the arena, whatever it may be – a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation – with courage and willingness to the engage. Rather than sitting on the sidelines and hurling judgment and advice, we must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen. This is vulnerability. This is daring greatly.”

I am reminded of Parsifal and the myth of the Holy Grail. Parsifal could not find the castle again until he had achieved the necessary compassion and maturity. Isn’t that the hero’s journey, the eternal search for the Self and the process of individuation that we are all seeking?

With everything going on in the world right now this beautiful Leo New Moon with Jupiter is a blessing and a benediction; like a summer rain on the parched earth, it brings relief, inspiration and renewed faith. Celebrate the New Moon and yourself by doing something courageous, creative, and wholehearted. “It is my experience both as an artist and as a teacher that when we move out on faith into the act of creation, the universe is able to advance.” – Julia Cameron (The Artist’s Way)

“I say live, live
Because of the sun,
The dream,
The excitable gift.” -Anne Sexton