New Moon Solar ECLIPSE in Leo

New Moon Solar ECLIPSE in Leo
SYDNEY: August 22, 4.30am
NEW YORK: August 21, 2.30pm
LONDON: August 21, 7.30pm
This special and powerful eclipse brings the chance for you to reach for greatness in a key area of your life.
My focus on exploring this eclipse is more about the personal, rather than the political. Every day I work with individuals, just like you, who want to make the most of this gift of life.
Because this eclipse is a NEW MOON eclipse and is tightly conjunct the NORTH NODE in LEO it is a powerful eclipse for new beginnings, fresh starts and breaking away from the past. It's a time when new things can come into being; as that's the power and promise of the North Node.
Add in MARS in LEO, also conjunct the eclipse, and the feeling of fiery energy, motivation and drive is coming through at maximum levels.
The area being activated is from 20 - 28 LEO. To figure out how this eclipse might affect you, find the house in your chart that holds this part of the Zodiac.
Not sure?
Here's a quick guide based on your sign.
HINT: If you know your rising sign, use the house triggered by the eclipse for your RISING not your SUN sign.
It's more personal this way. Don't know how the signs and houses connect in your chart? You need this report.
The Eclipse and Your Sign
Aries: 5^th house - children, fun, pleasure, romance, happiness, relaxation
Taurus: 4^th house - home, family, living situation, history, childhood, upbringing
Gemini: 3^rd house - siblings, communication, contracts, documents, study, research, travel
Cancer: 2^nd house - income, cash flow, money, finances, savings, spending habits
Leo: 1^st house - self, identity, personality, appearance, attitudes, personal habits and self-care rituals
Virgo: 12^th house - retreat, time alone, rest, working in private, spiritual growth
Libra: 11^th house - luck, friends, groups, networks, organisations, community, social connections (in person/online)
Scorpio: 10^th house - career, fame, reputation, success, professional direction, leadership
Sagittarius: 9^th house - adventure, travel, search for meaning and purpose, new experiences, study and teaching
Capricorn: 8^th house - investments, taxes, partner or family money, inheritances, debt, retirement savings
Aquarius: 7^th house - relationships at work and in your personal life, other people, significant partnerships
Pisces: 6^th house - health, work, pets, daily rituals, service, necessary tasks
For more on the topics of each house, check out this article.
The Nodes in Leo and Aquarius: All Together Now
In a deep conversation with Mr Scorpio this morning, I was reminded of the importance of working with the house OPPOSITE the one being triggered by this eclipse.
An eclipse is a special type of new or full moon that aligns with the karmic nodal axis. This means that at any given eclipse, the Moon will be conjunct either the north or south node within 18 degrees.
Since the Nodes always form an opposition, the Node not being activated by the eclipse will be in the sign and house opposite where the eclipse is taking place.
This pulls in the polarity or opposing sign of Aquarius, and the themes or demons associated with the house of Aquarius in your chart, which will be opposite the house of Leo.
Mr Scorpio has Scorpio rising, which places Leo on the 10^th and Aquarius on the 4^th. He has been 'kicking goals'* at work (a 10^th house topic) lately but we were talking about his childhood (4^th house territory), and the ways in which he has come to see his upbringing in a new light in the past few weeks. This reminded me of the importance of looking at the houses triggered by an eclipse as pair.
Given that the South Node is currently moving through Aquarius, this is an area of life - according to the house Aquarius is in your chart - where release, letting go and conscious closure is required. As you do that around topics of your Aquarius house, you'll be in a better position to strive for success in your Leo house, which is the highlighted life area for each of us during this eclipse.
If you're this sign/the eclipse is in this house/the opposite house, where the South Node is, will be
Aries - 5^th House/11^th house
Taurus - 4^th house/10^th house
Gemini - 3^rd house/9^th house
Cancer - 2^nd house/8^th house
Leo - 1^st house/7^th house
Virgo - 12^th house/6^th house
Libra - 11^th house/5^th house
Scorpio - 10^th house/4^th house
Sagittarius - 9^th house/3^rd house
Capricorn - 8^th house/2^nd house
Aquarius - 7^th house/1^st house
Pisces - 6^th house/12^th house
I go into the houses in more detail in this foundations of astrology online class.
Slaying the Dragon
In a recent private mentoring session with one of my super inspiring students, we talked about this eclipse as a time of dragon slaying.
The nodes have long been associated with the image of a dragon: the north node, Rahu or caput draconis, symbolises the head of the dragon, and the south node, Ketu or cauda draconis, symbolises the tail or end of the dragon.
During an eclipse, it's said that the Sun or Moon is consumed by this cosmic dragon. That which is light becomes dark temporarily.
In the eclipse panel I participated in back in July, I wondered what emerges into that darkness or void. I think it's helpful to take time out to reflect on what we'd like to see emerge or revealed in our lives, on the day of the eclipse itself and in the 2 weeks before and after the eclipse date.
With the Sun eclipsed or blocked for a period, there is an openness - like emptiness on a stage, that can allow someone or something to emerge that might otherwise stay in the shadows.
In the context of each of our personal lives, that something might be a neglected dream, forgotten love or long ignored need.
In the darkness, you might not be able to 'see', not with your literal eyes at least, but instead perhaps, like Rumi suggests, you are invited to 'sniff with your wisdom nose'.
During this eclipse, nose around to figure out how different possibilities feel, smell and taste. Explore your options not with your rational mind, but rather with your primal or feeling self, by 'sniffing with your wisdom nose'.
There is so much to explore with this eclipse about the themes and myths of letting your animal, wild self run free, or take the lead, like trusting a horse to find its way home, rather than trying to impose your will on where it goes.
The wild, primal essence in each of us is ready to being given a little room to roam.
Bolting like the Colt from old Regret
While thinking about this post last night, I weirdly - coincidentally? - picked up our copy of Banjo Patterson's Bush Ballads. I re-read my favourite, and arguably most well-known, 'The Man from Snowy River'.
It begins with:
'The was movement at the station, for the word had passed around, that the colt from old Regret had got away....'
I love the idea of 'movement at the station'. I think this eclipse times the need for movement in our soul. It's a powerful and total solar eclipse, which shifts things energetically.
Because the primary source of light and wisdom - the Sun - is dimmed - it's not rational brilliance that emerges, but rather those deeper layers and levels of desire and dreaming deep within.
So pay attention to what moves inside of you now. Attachments to old fears, habits and patterns is shifting and in that space, new possibilities, fresh ideas and a whole new perspective can emerge.
These first few lines also describe how 'the colt from old Regret had got away'. This speaks to me of the symbolism of an idea or dream bursting through to your conscious awareness, demanding your attention. The riders muster to chase the colt down, in the same way we must each marshal our resources - energy, focus, time - to pay attention to a wild but bright idea that promises to leads us onwards.
The poem continues for some verses, describing how the colt joins up with the wild bush horses. The riders must catch them soon, before 'they gain the shelter of those hills', or this colt - the dreams of your wild, primal - true? self - will be forever lost.
The man from Snowy River is the only one of the experienced riders who stays with the wild bush horses, by letting his pony 'have his head'.
He trusts his animal - symbolic of trusting the wild energy within us all - and it leads him to where he needs to go. It's a wild ride that if thought through shouldn't make sense or even be possible. But it is.
Primal Passions
Leo is listed as a bestial sign, and is one of just two places in the Zodiac considered feral. There is a little of the wild beast in Leo, like a Lion who trusts its instincts above all.
My hope is that this eclipse helps you sniff with your wisdom nose, to trust the wild and true desires and dreams within; to find a way around the sometimes dominant voice of your inner critic and conformist, so that you too can find a way to run free and soar to new heights; to chase the 'colt', which may be a bolt from your imagination that promises freedom, excitement and adventure.
This eclipse is in a fire sign, which has long been considered the most divine and uplifting of all the elements.
May this Leo eclipse inspire you to reach high through the dark but inviting opening to what's been hidden in the deepest nooks within.
*An Aussie saying that means 'doing really well' or 'hitting it out of the park'
How are you feeling with this strong and powerful Leo eclipse energy? Is it triggering your chart directly?