Mercury Direct and a New Moon in Leo Bring Eclipse Season to an End With a Bang

Photos: Willow

Communication and intelligence planet Mercury is slowing for a direct station at 23 degrees Cancer on August 1 (3:58 a.m. PDT) opposite Pluto, just as we open into a Leo-infused lunar cycle with an 8-degree Leo New Moon on July 31 (8:12 p.m.) conjunct Venus. 

This astrological context indicates a quick gear change as we enter August that will close out our summer eclipse season with a bit of a bang.

Leo is one of the most fun signs in the zodiac, and we're opening into a lunar cycle strongly coloured by this fun, fixed, fire sign energy with a New Moon (Sun and Moon), Venus, Mars, and Juno in Leo. Mercury will also be back in Leo from August 11 to 28.

From a previous article: 

"Leo is flashy, bold, confident, stylin'. 

Leo has star power, even if it's just local celebrity.

  

Leo is about the tremendous power of art and music and creativity and style and fun and personality and pizzazz to join us all, beaming, at the heart.

It's the power of an old drinking song, it's the power of an old gospel song, it's the power of an old classic that everyone knows the words to.

Leo is hot, there's no doubt about it."

Get ready for some summer sizzle, amped up even further by the strong influence of love, beauty, and sensuality planet, Venus, on this lunar cycle... 

New Moon in Leo conjunct Venus - click to enlarge

The Cancer New Moon at 10 degrees on July 2 was a total solar eclipse that led us to a Capricorn Full Moon partial lunar eclipse on July 16. That Full Moon in the sign of its detriment fell closely conjunct Pluto Rx and loosely conjunct Saturn Rx in Capricorn. 

This indicated a period of deep restructuring, re-prioritizing, and re-formulating that will most likely not come to full fruition/closure until January 2020 under the exact Saturn-Pluto conjunction. 

There has been an ongoing requirement this eclipse season to wade through and address challenging emotions as we move through major structural shifts and changes. The Cancer North Node of the Moon was strongly activated by the personal planets this eclipse season, and our emotional or inner landscapes were the primary guidance mechanisms through all the construction headaches and big decisions to be made. We've been persevering through both emotional and mental confusion, indicated by the Mercury retrograde in Cancer.

Things have come apart at the seams in certain respects under these eclipses, so coloured by the energy and themes of Saturn Rx conjunct Pluto Rx, and now everything needs to be reconstructed in a better way for all involved. 

Things are moving on. We've hit some emotional points of no return, some Plutonic points. Big decisions have been made, at least internally. The external implementation of these decisions may not be fully visible until the first quarter of 2020.

There simply is not enough emotional energy to do what the hierarchical power structures are asking/coercing us to do. The steps we're being asked to take, the work we're being asked to do, the top-down decisions we're being asked to stomach, the insanity we're being asked to go along with, simply cannot be done, cannot be assimilated, without damaging ourselves emotionally and draining our emotional reserves.

This is the challenge, the gauntlet laid at our feet, with a Cancer North Node opposite Saturn and Pluto in Capricorn. Emotional and psychological health simply cannot be maintained long-term if we go along with dynamics and scenarios that we know, deep down, are not right, are not OK. We simply can't stretch ourselves far enough (even with the boosts from caffeine and sugar and booze and online shopping and Netflix and Instagram followers and Facebook Likes) to accomplish what is being asked of us in order to be considered "successful" within the current set-ups.

And so we are at a very stretched and stressed and challenging point as we move into the Mercury direct station opposite Pluto. We're aware of the high stakes, the consequences of the moves we make or don't make, of the words we say or don't say. 

With the influence of Saturn in its own sign of Capricorn, we're looking to make strong, long-term, foundational moves in our lives. We're looking for something we can count on to sustain us over the long haul. 

But with the influence of Pluto in Capricorn, we are also well aware of just how uncertain it all is, how impossible it is at this point to set our decisions or our trajectories in stone. We're aware of the gaping insecurity of being a living thing on this planet, on a planet becoming more toxic and unhinged by the day for the profit of a relative handful. The desire for stability and long-term security (Saturn in Capricorn) combined with an underlying awareness of systemic instability and insecurity (Pluto in Capricorn) can be anxiety-inducing. You bet your sweet bippy it can.

Eclipse seasons indicate the potential for backdrop changes, both in our personal lives and on the collective stage, and with the strong influence of Pluto in Capricorn during this eclipse season, these backdrop changes may be all-encompassing for some people. The ripple effects from these eclipses now carry through to December 2019/January 2020 when we come to the next eclipse period. 

Our conversations, ideas, and information flow are particularly potent now with Mercury stationing direct at 23 degrees Cancer in close opposition to Pluto Rx at 21 degrees Capricorn and in loose opposition to Saturn Rx at 15 degrees Capricorn. Some steaming-potent words, tones, and underlying messages are circulating around in the days surrounding this station. Our conversations and general frames of mind may have a serious or even detrimental tone to them. 

It's easy to think the worst under this Mercury direct station in always-with-the-feels Cancer, but be aware that there's some Plutonic paranoia nipping at us now. Things are not as bad as they may seem. Some anxious thoughts are swirling around, stuck in our minds under the nearly-stopped motion of Mercury, but this starts to shift after the direct station on August 1.

We are also bursting into a glamourous, glorious, gorgeous Leo New Moon on July 31 that is tightly conjunct Venus in Leo and square stationing Uranus in Taurus. Pow! At the same time, sexy bastard Mars forms a conjunction with soul mate Goddess Juno in Leo (exact August 2 at 20 degrees), which stokes creative, romantic, and carnal fires, producing a heat that can be felt throughout the Leo lunar cycle.

The fiery Leo New Moon conjunct Venus and square Uranus indicates the potential for new-era creative collaborations to develop, including the idea of "love relationship as creative collaboration." We're taking on love relationships (and relationships of all kinds) as ongoing, organically-unfolding creative collaborations. Relationships as living works of art. The art of being with someone. The art of being there for someone. The art of receiving love and togetherness from another person or people.

After a period of emotional intensity, challenge, and limitation indicated by the Saturnine-Plutonic eclipse season, we're ready to burst forth with new passions, new creativity, new heartfelt expression - in whatever directions these may take.

With this Venusian Leo New Moon falling in close square aspect to stationing Uranus in Taurus, there is a break in protocol coming, a creative surge that moves us beyond previous parameters. Our hearts are simply too full to be contained and constrained by the old frameworks. The Venus-Uranus square (exact August 2) indicates changes coming in relationships, money matters, and artistic/creative avenues. In the fixed signs, these changes may be a little unnerving or difficult to integrate at first, but the Uranian effect promises that they will ultimately be refreshing, and they will advance things in necessary ways.

Relationships may come together or "go public" during this Leonine lunar cycle in surprising or exciting ways. 

Passions are running high, including creative or artistic passions, but this also indicates the potential for some "diva moments" or personality clashes that must be navigated. 

Catalytic creative collaborations could get off the ground this lunar month. Deeply heartfelt connections can be achieved via surprising avenues. 

There is also an unsettled element that continues into this lunar cycle, an unpredictable creative flow. The creative energy is powerful, strong, saturated...but it has a mind of its own in many respects. Adaptation in the moment will be required as we work with creative directives from the universe. This isn't so much, "What do you want to create?" as it is, "What needs to be created through you?"

The unpredictable, hard-angled Uranian edge is particularly potent now with Uranus stationing retrograde at 6 degrees Taurus on August 11, the same day Jupiter goes direct at 14 degrees Sagittarius and Mercury direct re-enters Leo. 

The Sun and Venus, travelling in conjunction in Leo, will form trine aspects to stationing Jupiter in Sagittarius on August 7 and 8, indicating strong inspiration and a jovial tone as we broaden our creative, stylistic, and relationship horizons - perhaps all at the same time.

Venus will catch up to the Sun, forming an exterior conjunction at 20 degrees Leo on August 13. This sets off the degree of the Mars-Juno conjunction that was experienced on August 2.

Remember those "creative, romantic, and carnal fires?" 

*stoke, stoke, stoke*

The Sun-Venus exterior conjunction on August 13 is a major check-in point following the last Venus retrograde (10 degrees Scorpio to 25 degrees Libra) in October/November 2018. Events or loose ends from the fall of 2018 may be picked up again as the Sun and Venus conjoin in Leo. 

We've come through an emotionally and psychologically challenging eclipse season and are just about to burst into bloom in new ways. Beautiful new energy, inspiration, and creative flow are about to permeate our lives. Just remember, though - it all has an edge!

Respect interpersonal frictions, and provide the right amount of space for yourself and others. We can all be fabulous, as long as we aren't overpowering others or stepping on their fabulousity as we do our own thing. 

This is a time to shine in the world as exactly who you are. Personal style is in the spotlight, and it never goes out of style to be yourself in this world. There are far too many people trying to be carbon copies of each other, striving to be special by (counter-productively) looking, sounding, and living just like everyone else.

The Uranian edge to this Leo New Moon indicates that a stronger display of individuality and personality is on the docket. So show off some mad style, both in the way you look and dress but also just in the way you live your life. 

Leo season is a time to honour life as an ongoing work of art. The gorgeous difficulty of it and the glorious beauty of it co-exist, weave together, and form something utterly unique for each living thing on this planet. Simultaneously, that "utter uniqueness" takes its place within the collective context, contributing its richness, its offerings, and its gifts to this world. 

Things are not easy. No, they never have been. But this life is so beautiful, oh-so-beautiful, even at its most brutal points. Hold that beauty in your heart this Leo season, hold it and cherish it and draw on it for strength, and you really can't go wrong...