How are you feeling, friends? Worn out? Overwhelmed? Frustrated? Dog-fucking-tired?
Me too.
This summer of retrogrades and eclipses has taken the wind out of all of us.
Pause. Take a deep breath. It’s going to get easier soon.
And when it does, all that we’ve learned from the obstacles and challenges of the last three months will come to light. Things will start to make sense again. The raw data we’ve collected during the retrogrades will synthesize into the kind of hard-earned, deep wisdom that can clarify paths, explode borders, shift the trajectory of a life.
Retrogrades always point the spotlight within, catalyzing deep and sometimes heavy internal work. It’s necessary work, but it’s exhausting and it’s confusing. With 7 bodies in Rx (um yes you read that right: Mercury, Mars, Chiron, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto), it’s enough to get us lost in our own insides. It’s enough to start us doubting ourselves, our passions, our abilities, our paths.
So thank Goddexx that in the pre-dawn hours tonight (technically Saturday, ~2:46am PDT), the moon will become new in Leo, bringing with it a blessed chance to be wholly and simply ourselves. Without apology. Without shame. Without pressure. Without masks. This solar eclipse in Leo is here to remind us of who the fuck we are.
Leo is confidence, majesty, theatricality. It’s the magnanimous glowing heart. It’s creative self-expression. It’s the king of the fucking jungle. In Tarot, Leo rules the Strength card, illuminating the zodiac sign’s qualities of self-assured perseverance, courageous compassion, and self-control through love rather than force. What more perfect archetype to have at this time when we’re at our breaking points, when our confidence is worn thin, when quitting is starting to look real, real good?
In the RWS image, the calm figure places their hands on the lion’s snout and peers inside. They don’t flinch. They don’t force. They face the beast with a fortitude of heart and spirit. They look past the sharp teeth and hot breath and say, “yeah, everything’s a goddamn mess, but I love you anyway.” And the lion doesn’t bite. Instead, he licks.
With this new moon solar eclipse tonight, let’s set some intentions. Let’s set the intention to love the fuck out of ourselves. Let’s set the intention to be brave in the face of self-doubt and compassionate in the face of self-criticism. Let’s set the intention honor our truths even when they’re ugly or scary or disappointing. Let’s set the intention to remind ourselves that “ugly” and “scary” and “disappointing” are subjective value judgments, not facts. Let’s set the intention to be proud of all the fucking work we’ve done whether it’s resulted in success or not. Let’s set the intention to listen to ourselves better, to stop comparing ourselves to others, to be more gentle with our bodies, to treat ourselves like the beautiful fucking miracles of life that we are.
This is the final eclipse of the summer, rounding out this white-water rafting adventure of cosmic cataracts. In another week, Mercury will end its retrograde, with Mars following at the end of the month. The water is about to get smoother, friends. All that internal revision, all that learning and shifting and refining, all that effort to be better—this eclipse in Leo is here to burn away the bullshit and refine the gorgeous nugget of our emerging selves in the fire.
So, who are you? You don’t have to answer with words. Instead, do a dance, hum a melody, free-draw some art. (Leo is about creative self-expression, after all.) Lay on the ground and feel the answer thrumming in your body. Close your eyes and sense it expanding through your chest. Place your hand over your sternum or over your belly or wherever feels right, and feel your essence rise to meet it. Don’t analyze it or scrutinize it or question it. Let it be.
This is you.
Remember who you are.
NEW MOON SOLAR ECLIPSE IN LEO TAROT SPREAD
For remembering who the fuck you are. For claiming it with self-love. For owning it with pride and compassion.
THE LION: Who you think you are.
THE MANE: What to be proud of.
THE PURR: What part of you needs more self-love.
THE MAW: An aspect of self that you’re afraid of.
THE TONGUE: How to integrate that part of self with compassion.
THE LEMNISCATE: Who the fuck you really are.
THE ROAR: How to honor yourself and your truth.