Who's Driving? New Moon to the Full Moon

Who's in the driver's seat?

Crescent Moon in Libra
August 10, 2013 3:20 pm EDT

First Quarter Moon in Scorpio
August 14, 2013 6:56 am EDT

Gibbous Moon in Capricorn
August 17, 2013 3:52 pm EDT

Full Moon in Aquarius
August 20, 2013 9:45 pm EDT

First item of note this morning: Mercury just moved into Leo! I'm celebrating because Cancer is not the happiest or easiest sector of the zodiac for me.

Mercury into Leo shifts thought and communication into the playful, creative, passionate and dramatic. If you already tend toward drama, maybe it's time to chill a bit. If you feel you've been caught in a mental swamp (as I have), this will let you pull one boot out of the muck.

There's still time to make those New Moon wishes. If you haven't yet, take time today to set intentions around shining your light into the world, expressing your heart courageously, and having some fun. Enjoy, embrace, celebrate: these are good things!

Celebrate your truest self. Center in your integrity. Empower your biggest goals.

Do these things not just to plant the juiciest New Moon seeds (although that's reason enough) but also to orient in the most powerful way possible for our journey to the Full Moon in Aquarius, coming in two weeks.

During these weeks, we'll likely feel strong contrasts between the personal and the impersonal––and since "impersonal" tends to be seen as negative, let me throw out some other contrasts: personal and social, personal and cultural, personal and transpersonal.

You see the pattern, right? We're very much IN the personal these days, coming from the intensity of home-and-family, where's-my-peops? Cancer into I've-gotta-be-me Leo. In these sectors of the zodiac, we focus on the question, who am I in relation to the world?

With all the personal planets clustered in that sector in recent months (Venus only just shifted into Virgo), the emphasis has been strong.

And yet the outer planets, strong messengers from the cosmos, have been forcing our attention to wider matters: politics, the environment, conflict, craziness, and the amazing beauty of all that is. With the outers almost all retrograde right now, we're pushed into trying to sort out our place, our role, our responsibilities when sometimes we'd like a little peace, please, for five minutes, ok?

We're not living in peaceful times. Just sayin'.

So what do we do? We commit to living from the heart, courageously, creatively, and passionately. This is Leo's call. Now's the time to plant those seeds.

At the Crescent Moon, we get a taste of what we're up against. The Moon in cool, diplomatic Libra gets edgy with the Leo Sun but also gets support from Mercury in Leo: Can we speak our truth and stay true to heart? It's an important question because the Moon is moving into square Pluto and oppose Uranus, stimulating (once again) the Pluto–Uranus square.

At the First Quarter Moon, we touch the depths. Sun in Leo and Moon in Scorpio means this is no light comedy we're in––there's substance here, real issues to be grappled with. Jupiter is opposite Pluto now and squaring Uranus, amping up a square that needs no amping. Facing the Shadow, looking in the mirror, having tea with our demons.

At the Gibbous Moon, the Capricorn Moon joins Pluto to activate that Pluto–Uranus square yet again. Jupiter is still opposite Pluto, so this is a really bright spotlight on an already intense pattern. It's hot under those big lights, so hold on to your dreams and stand strong.

The Full Moon in Aquarius on August 20 will be the cliff-hanger ending. The Leo Sun is joined by Mercury, Ceres, and Vesta, ready to stand their ground for heart-centered creative passion. The Aquarius Moon is joined by Neptune, bringer of insight and also confusion. The Lady or the Tiger.

This Full Moon has the power to illuminate delusion, grandiosity, inflation, and fanaticism on personal, world and cosmic stages. Or we could see, clearly, how our creative gifts fit beautifully and meaningfully into the wider world we inhabit.

Or both. Most likely, both.

Looking back to the last Full Moon in Aquarius, through the New Moon cradle we're stepping out of, to the coming Full Moon, we see a grand sweep, a fully-lit stage crammed with everything you can think of. There are no bit parts in this play. Connect, create, and speak out.

The choice is to sign up to support someone else's program,  or drive our own bus. Or, for some of us, the choice will be whether to let our fears set the agenda, or let courage and love rule.

We are all the heroes of our own stories. Your heart knows this. Let the heart drive this month.