Make a Bold Start: New Moon in Leo

We are in the dog days of summer! It’s been super humid and cloudy here in Tennessee. So much so, that it hasn’t been easy to observe the planets and stars very much (with the naked eye, mind you!). But, soon we will be heading into autumn and the temperatures will cool down (well, in Tennessee that could be as late as October!). In the meantime, it’s still summer, even though the kids are back in school. Be sure to continue to enjoy those sunny days, soaking up the healing rays of the Sun.

Of course, don’t forget to spend some time with La Luna as she begins to wax again after our upcoming New Moon on August 23. While the moon is not visible at that time (it’s also known as a Dark Moon), just a couple of days later you will begin to notice a sliver of silver moonlight begin to appear in the Western sky as the sun sets.

Once the moon is full on August 31, she will begin to wane. It will be easier to see the moon in the early morning hours when she is waning. We spend so much time indoors in our modern culture, and sometimes astrology can seem abstract. We forget to spend time outside gazing at the celestial magnificence right above our heads that somehow mysteriously affects our lives down here below on planet Earth.

I invite you to do a little stargazing. Take some time to relax and ponder the beauty, vastness, and magic of this universe.

New Moon in Leo + Virgo Season Begins!

We will welcome the New Moon at  23 degrees of bold, creative Fire sign Leo on August 16, 2023, at 5:38 a.m. ET.

If you write New Moon intentions, perhaps you might want to focus on Leo themes such as how you’re showing up in the world, creativity and self-expression, children, and play. For example, are you making enough time for play in your life?

Mercury Retrograde (+More!!!)

Witty, chatty, prankster Mercury goes retrograde at about 4:00 p.m. on August 23 and will be direct again on September 15. A lot of kerfuffle is sometimes made over retrogrades, but, really, it’s not the end of the world.

That said, you may find yourself dealing with an unusual amount of “little things” going wrong, like miscommunications, weird problems with your electronic devices or email, irritations with travel plans, and other annoyances. My advice is to check and double-check communications and contracts.

It’s not generally an ideal time to buy a vehicle, travel, or sign contracts, simply because you may find yourself dealing with unexpected delays or aggravations, or “do-overs.”

On the other hand, sometimes these things ultimately work out in your favor even if they seem annoying at the time. In fact, if you have Mercury retrograde in your birth chart, the retrograde period may actually go quite well for you!

Now, on the brighter side, a Mercury retrograde period can be a great time for revisiting something—whether that’s a project or a relationship. Similar to Venus retrograde, sometimes you may have a blast from the past reappear.

This can be a great time to make revisions to a project, to edit that manuscript, to reconsider plans. In other words, make good use of the “RE” in retrograde! This is especially true because we will have six planets retrograde by early September: Venus, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, and Uranus. However, Venus will then go direct right about the time that Jupiter goes retrograde on September 4, like two ships passing in the night.

All of this retrograde energy may find you feeling a little stuck, like you’re spinning your wheels, or just that you’re in a holding pattern. Rather than let that energy feel frustrating, lean into it and allow yourself to pause, reflect, reconsider, and maybe even re-envision.

Virgo Season Begins

Finally, also on August 23 at 5:05 a.m. ET the Sun enters the sign of Virgo—happy birthday to you, Virgo babies! Virgo is ruled by Mercury, which will go retrograde later in the day on August 23. Mars will still be in the sign of Virgo through September 26. So, we will have some amped-up Virgo energy!

You may find yourself wanting to focus on details, do some extra cleaning and sorting, revisit your diet and exercise plan—these are all examples of how the Virgo energy could manifest, regardless of whether or not your Sun is in Virgo.

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