What to expect with August’s Leo New Moon and Mercury Retrograde?
When: 4th of August at 11:13pm (NZ), 9:13pm (AEST), 8:43pm (ACST), 7:13pm (AWST/CST), 4:43pm (IST), 3:13pm (GST), 1:13pm (CEST), 12:13pm (BST), 7:13am (EDT), 5:13am (MDT) + 4:13am (PDT)
Theses: Retreating within, Holy Spirit, Creativity, Karma as a Blessing and the move from Victim to Victor
A MOON CYCLE TO 'CLEAN UP' THE EGO
This New Moon marks the start of a lunar cycle that will take you through to the 1-2nd of February 2026 (where there will be a Full Moon at 13' Leo). As such this is a New Moon asking for big things like inner transformation and for you to not feel like you have to rush this but rather slow down so that you can really see how you show up. What's really fascinating about this Moon is that the energy is calling you within. Normally Leo is extraverted and focused on sharing it's light with others. However this New Moon is wanting you to see your own light, to get to know it....so that you can clean up the thoughts + energy that block it. This is a Lunar Cycle that can see you gradually stepping away from what is inauthentic, and superficial. You can find this is something that you (as the ego) struggles with at first, before you start to find your footing.
MERCURY WILL STATION RETROGRADE 6 HOURS AFTER
Heads up, before we dive into the New Moon. Mercury will station retrograde around 6 hours after it until the 28th-29th of August. (FYI. if you want some extra support around this energy, check out this Moon's Ritual + Reading which includes a personal written reading for Mercury Rx. Details here). Mercury is a time of revisiting, and relearning old lessons that the mind has held onto. As this planet moves backwards it brings up these lessons in a new form or in a way that can help you learn what they were initially trying to show you.
As such people from the past, repeated cycles of energy etc can appear. The good news is that Mercury is quick, so there is the opportunity to move through this energy at pace. The best way to work with this time (as Mercury will be in Virgo and then Leo) is slow down, don't avoid what is in front of you, and get really aware of the 'old' story that you are still projecting onto others (which is really yourself). Now onto the Moon…
YOU CAN'T FAKE PROGRESS
The beauty of this New Moon is that it is calling for honesty and submission to divine will. Leo rules both the soul and the ego (which is like the covering to this light). The ego is also what we could call our karma. When we identify with our body/mind we live in the world of karma (+ things generally hurt), but when we drop our preferences (and even use our karma for our own growth) we can start to find a little more freedom...and realise that our true essence lives beyond this world. That all said, this is a New Moon where you can't fake spiritual progress or any progress for that matter. As such the coming 18 months can bring to light the places where you are creating a new ‘false’ identity for yourself. This is the kind of identity that is based on the changes you think you are creating...but really you might find you're just re-creating a new identity to own - which isn't really progress. As such this is a New Moon to be honest with yourself, and get comfortable with the idea that you're not in control. It is the divine's will that moves everything in this world (including you). As such any real ‘progress’ is in the hands of this greater force.
FROM SELF WILL TO DIVINE WILL
Leo is a sign that deals with personal power. When it is unhealed (which you can find around this New Moon) it manifests as self-will, and calls you into the world of duality + preferences. You can find yourself hung up on goals, productivity, thinking about the future, and constantly trying to assert yourself (aka your will). This is a New Moon where there is the opportunity to start to consider that there is a bigger plan for you. Something that was created at a higher level of consciousness than this 'self-will'. This is a plan that requires you to surrender and devote yourself to something bigger than the small 'you'. Realising that the preferences you hold for how you need the world to be are a result of your 'karma'. This is a New Moon asking for you to surrender some of this individuality to the larger divinity within (which you could think of as the Divine Will). Allowing the soul to lead, and realising that anything your ego might deem as failure could actually just be part of a much bigger divine plan (that spans beyond this life).
WHERE DO YOU NEED TO STOP ATTACKING YOURSELF OR OTHERS
This New Moon will be aligned with the fixed star Alpha Cancri (the claw of the crab). This is a star that is drawing your attention to the places where you attack when you (aka the ego) feels threatened. As such you can find that this New Moon brings into your awareness the places you play victim, where you might be blaming others and not taking responsibility for yourself (that doesn't mean taking on someone else's stuff but really owning how you show up). This is a New Moon calling for you to meet your own fallibility as well as how that manifests in others. Coming to see that we are all doing the best that we can (even if there is a part of us that deems this not to be true, in order to remain in that victim mindset). So be really aware of when you find jealousy, possessiveness, guilt or other emotions popping up in reaction to others. Slow down, and see if you can meet this with compassion, understanding and empathy.
THE CALL IS TO HAVE THE DISCIPLINE TO GO WITHIN
The New Moon (12'34 Leo) will be aligned with the asteroid Vesta, who is the eternal flame. She is bringing forth a big theme for this New Moon which is discipline. Vesta is the flame within that is your own illuminated self. You could equate her with the soul, infinite intelligence or holy spirit. She is an energy that needs to be tended to like a fire. This requires discipline like sitting down to meditate each day, to practice Japa or self-enquiry etc in order to allow her presence to grow greater. As she grows brighter (metaphorically speaking) we come into greater contact with our divine nature...and burn through some of the karma that surrounds + distorts this fire. This has the potential to be a New Moon where you start calling in greater discipline into your life to help you honour your soul. That could mean changes to your daily practice, creating an altar, spending time in retreat to start a new habit or finding your means of connecting to the divine (which will always be something that takes you inward - keeping attention focused on god/goddess).
DO IT LIKE IT'S A DANCE
This New Moon falls in Ashlesha Nakshatra in the Vedic Tradition. This is the place where we embrace our karma, realising that it is because of 'karma' we have an incarnation and we get to be in human form. In the words of Ram Dass: 'You can do it like it's a weight on your shoulders or like it is a dance'. Given the deep spiritual energy sitting with this New Moon, it is calling for you to fully embrace life as Leela (the divine play or dance). There is a choice in this New Moon - you can wallow in what happens, and lament that you have 'such bad karma'...or you can realise that what the universe hands to you is there for you own liberation and to help you grow stronger (in connection to your soul). The only way out is through...sometimes the greatest poisons in our lives, are actually the portal to the greatest healing.