New Moon in Leo

Katy Perry, your silly song expresses the feeling of this new moon better than I can.

It's tomorrow, the 23rd July, at about 10:45 am GMT and it looks pretty fabulous to me. A major energy-shift after the work-life conflicts and heavy emotional baggage of Cancer lunar cycle.

Leo is about romance, childlike enthusiasm, creative self-expression, ego, bling! It's fun, shiny and a bit over the top. A new moon in Leo is a great time to do something dramatic with your hair, redefine your self-image in some way, or start a new creative project. It's also a great time for starting a new romance, making babies, launching a big idea.

For this new moon, the sun and moon will be conjunct at 0 degrees Leo, which is pretty dramatic in itself. But they're also tightly conjunct Mars in Leo, which adds some self-assertive firepower!

Plus the sun, moon and Mars square rebel planet Uranus in Aries, giving this new moon an abrupt, explosive element – it's a kind of breaking point. What comes to mind is someone who's felt undervalued or slighted for a long time, finally getting the courage to break out and assert their own will and desires.

As this is a square, there is the possibility of a destructive outcome to this, so please exercise a bit of caution. Keep your outrage in check. With Mars square Uranus, there is also the danger of sudden accidents, so please be aware of that too, especially when driving or operating machinery.

Leo is heart-centred and concerned with romance, and there are some difficult things going on in regard to that right now. Love and money planet Venus is in Gemini, where she is a bit of a flitterer, hard to pin down. Venus in Gemini is about multiple choices and a desire for communication, stimulation and variety, especially in close relationships.

But Venus is currently opposing retrograde Saturn in Sagittarius, which acts like a big concrete barrier to those desires. It puts me in mind of a butterfly caught in a net. Saturn in Sagittarius is about walking your talk and laying solid foundations for the future. What this says to me is, there are actually not multiple options here. There's a right path and a wrong one, and the flitterer will be brought down to earth.

This Venus-Saturn opposition is difficult, speaking of blockages, delays and deprivations in love and money matters. It is exact the day after the new moon, so I think there are hard choices to be made here – this is a crossroads really.

We also have a square between Jupiter in Libra and Pluto in Capricorn in play. This aspect is exact on the 4th August, and it speaks of deep-seated power struggles, especially in relationships.

So all in all, the month ahead is not so easy on relationships – there are definitely some kinks to be worked out.

The big question here is, what do you really want? What makes you feel truly alive, not merely surviving? What would it mean to live from your heart? Who and what do you love?

And the way through is about expressing what's in your heart: your love, your conviction, your desire, your creativity, your individuality. Everything in the sky right now points to Leo. We have Mercury in Leo conjunct the north node, meaning the way forward is all about creative, dramatic self-expression. This is not the time for hiding under a rock.

So launch your big ideas with a bit of flair and showmanship. Speak your truths with confidence and pride. If you've been feeling low and under-appreciated, this is the right time to assert your sparkly fabulousness. You're not a doormat or a drudge, you're a one-of-a-kind event. There will never be another you.

This new moon is important, as it sets the stage for eclipse season, a time of accelerated change and intensity. We will be dealing with these Leo themes for the next two months.

In two weeks we'll have a partial lunar eclipse in Aquarius, a culmination of the issues opened up under the new moon. And then on the 21st August, we'll have the main event: another new moon in Leo, this one a solar eclipse (also known as the Great American Eclipse, as it will be visible from a band across the US.)

So clearly, these days the sky is hammering home these Leo themes of creativity, pride, romance and joy. Look at where your life is lacking in these qualities, where you feel like an unloved, unappreciated drudge – and use those feelings as a marker for what needs to change. It's time to be a bit selfish and focus your energy on what really makes you happy.

See here

Full Moon in Capricorn

Hokusai dragon

This is tomorrow morning: Sunday the 9th July, around 5 am GMT.

It's a tough one - brutal, actually. There is bound to be conflict with this, and it could get violent. See the picture above: dragons, volcanoes. Something's about to spew fire, so please be careful.

The moon in Capricorn signifies a guarded, fearful, security-seeking emotional tone – quite cold and authoritarian really. And this full moon will also be conjunct Pluto, which adds an undertone of deep compulsion and hellish intensity.

Basically this denotes an obsessive, emotionally driven need for power, control and security. And on the other side, we have the sun and Mars in Cancer, which is about fired-up emotions, defensiveness and rage – especially concerning family stuff and primal needs.

Also we also have Jupiter in Libra aspecting the sun, moon, Mars and Pluto in a cardinal t-square. Jupiter can be protective and beneficial, but he also inflates everything he touches. Needless to say, we don't need any inflation of the emotionally-driven ugliness.

Mars opposite Pluto is not a nice aspect, and we have it here. It has to do with killer aggression, fights to the death, extreme competitiveness, brutality. As this is an opposition, the vibe is likely to play out interpersonally. As this is a full moon, we are dealing with high drama, culminations and endings.

People get killed under a sky like this. Don't be ashamed to back down from a fight – it isn't worth it. With Jupiter in Libra, blessed are the peacemakers and those who can see the opposite point of view. And with Neptune beneficially aspecting the full moon, compassion, forgiveness and acceptance will be helpful.

This is the culmination of Cancer lunar phase, which began with the emotionally-charged new moon in Cancer two weeks ago. Look to the issues you were dealing with at that time, as they are likely to intensify now. This full moon is a flashpoint, and the point is resolution and justice. It can either be an eruption of atavistic brutality and a fight to the death, or a catharsis that shifts a compulsive, ossified situation.

Because Pluto is involved, there is an imperative for deep transformation, and you would do well to obey this imperative. There's really no resisting it – resistance is useless with Pluto. Pay attention to what makes you feel most uncomfortable, and get to the root of it. Look at your addictions and compulsions – what are you using them to avoid? You are not going to be able to avoid it so easily, this full moon. Your most fucked-up shit will be all lit-up – and as we are dealing with a cardinal t-square, change is required.

On the plus side, this is a great opportunity for healing. Things fester when they're hidden away; they can only heal if they're exposed to light and air. If the fierceness of this full moon takes the form of ripping some putrid psychological band-aid off a festering wound, it could be a very good thing.

If it all feels overly uncomfortable and violent, please keep in mind that in two weeks' time, the cardinal t-square will have broken up and we'll have a new moon in Leo, and it looks a lot less harsh and a lot more fun. So hang in there! Deal with the discomfort, make the required changes, and have faith that things will feel less shitty soon.