2010 Leo New Moon

by Stephanie Azaria

August 9-10, 2010
11:09 AM EDT / 8:09 PM PDT / 3:09 AM GMT
17 Leo 24

The Leo New Moon amplifies the light that is shining brightly within each of us. It throws more logs on the fires of our personal flames, upping our passion for life on our terms, cheering on our inner children and boosting our fortitude and ability to soldier on with our missions. The upsurge couldn’t come at a better time, what with the changes erupting in every aspect of life these days. Our outer circumstances may be fraught with volatility, but our inner world is not. It is growing in warmth and confidence, and this New Moon is stoking both.

The New Moon doesn’t lessen the changes that are still so ongoing. They’re with us for a while still. They are also themselves a factor in the New Moon, because it is making edgy, edge contacts to every point in the cardinal cross that is precipitating the relentless, sometimes brutal restructuring we are all witnessing and experiencing. Understandably, we’re not entirely comfortable with this process, and the aspects to this New Moon underscore that. At times it feels like we’re living in a war zone, at times like a demolition site, at times like a construction site, at times like the middle and then aftermath of an earthquake. The metaphoric ground is shifting and cracking open beneath our feet, and the only reliable, solid means we have of navigating the changing landscape is the sureness of our own step.

A two-way dynamic is at play here. The more we give expression to our true selves, as this summer’s aspects have pushed us to do, the more situations, relationships, agreements and attitudes crack apart that are not in harmony with us. Each crack, change and shift then sends us deeper and more firmly into ourselves, which then makes it possible for us to move confidently and even happily through ever-changing landscapes.

“Happily” is a big component. Leo energy burns with life force, with passion, playfulness and joy at simply being. The creative drive of this sign is not that of the tortured, suffering artiste but the exhilaration and thrill that come from inspiration igniting and pushing itself into expression. That is the impulse that can take us through the current volatility. That is the impulse that can respond to a crack in the existing order of things by dreaming up and producing a work of art, a new product, a personal commentary or even a game or excuse for a good time. That is the impulse that is within each of us, no matter and despite what may happen in the external world.

So this New Moon crackles with personal potential. It is not merely a reminder that life is for living, but also an invitation for each of us to live our own life. Too, it kindles something that was warmed up but did not quite ignite from mid-October of last year to April of this year. This New Moon takes place almost on top of the degree where Mars retrograded during his uncharacteristic eight-month journey through the sign of Leo. An impulse, a project, an idea, a spark was begun in the fall, taken so far and then left while Mars reworked the turf leading up to it. Mars, Venus and Mercury have already moved across that point and brought that impulse (or whatever it was) into our personal agenda, values and relationships, and mind and communications. Now that point is being activated by the New Moon, which takes this impulse into the totality of our beings as it reboots our expression of ourselves. Something we tried but couldn’t quite get off the ground in the Leo area of our charts is now getting voice.

If you’d like to put that concept into action, here are is a playlist for this New Moon: “Whistle A Happy Tune,” from The King and I; “Smile,” originally from Charlie Chaplin’s film Modern Times (sung by his daughter Geraldine and granddaughter Oona here; “Sing,” by The Carpenters. Feel free to expand. Sing out!

Here is Lynda Hill’s interpretation of the Sabian Symbol for the New Moon at 18 Leo, reprinted with her kind permission from her book The Sabian Symbols As An Oracle, the Special Edition:
A CHEMIST CONDUCTS AN EXPERIMENT FOR HIS STUDENTS

Commentary: A ‘Chemist’ is shown ‘Conducting an Experiment For His Students’. Chemistry is the manipulation of the elements of nature to create better or more valuable things. It is through our consciousness that we manipulate our environment. It is through these efforts and the “accidents” that can happen that we come closer to an understanding of creation and perhaps an experience of God. The ‘Chemist’ requires both the right ingredients and equipment. His ‘Students’ need to pay attention to what he does. Still, mistakes and miscalculations can occur. On a day-to-day basis, we use tools such as our mind to create awareness. By teaching people what we know, we change our understanding of the nature of our environment. It is likely that the ‘Chemist’ has conducted this particular ‘Experiment’ many times; still each time it can inspire amazement and awe.

Oracle: The ‘Chemist’ can be someone who is interested in trying something new. Even with all the appropriate credentials and experience, there may be a feeling of being unsure of the actual outcome. However, ‘The Chemist’ may also be someone who is not prepared to take any risks and is performing the exact same mix of ingredients, again and again. The creative ‘Chemist’ knows that a mix of new ingredients can lead to new creations, solutions, observations and discoveries. You may find yourself discovering new things in an authoritative or observant position. The message for you in either situation, whether you are the ‘Chemist’ or a ‘Student’, is to pay attention to the smaller as well as the larger details. Be prepared to take a few calculated risks with this situation, it may lead to new and satisfying solutions. Something unexpected and exciting may happen!

Keywords: Alchemy. Stepping out of the usual rules and taking a risk. Taking on new and untried procedures. Syllabus and education. Wisdom being passed on. Putting things “to the test”. Throwing out what doesn’t stand up. Ingredients. Bunsen burners. Test tubes. Microscopes. Seeking rational answers. Science and chemistry. Leading by example. The thrill of discovery.

The Caution: Always going “by the rules of the book” leading to inertia and suppression of creative ideas. Being afraid to take a chance because the situation may get out of control. Refusing to reveal one’s formula, lest it be copied. Narrow viewpoints. Skepticism. Being a stickler for conservative science. Not trusting other’s abilities.

Observation is a passive science, experimentation an active science. Claude Bernard

Hell, there are no rules here-we’re trying to accomplish something. Thomas Alva Edison

Everybody’s a mad scientist, and life is their lab. We’re all trying to experiment to find a way to live, to solve problems, to fend off madness and chaos.
David Cronenberg

A theory can be proved by experiment; but no path leads from experiment to the birth of a theory.
Albert Einstein

I have nothing new to teach the world. Truth and Nonviolence are as old as the hills. All I have done is to try experiments in both on as vast a scale as I could. Mahatma Gandhi

I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.
Thomas Alva Edison

The true scientist never loses the faculty of amusement. It is the essence of his being.
J. Robert Oppenheimer

The fatal futility of fact.
Henry James

*The excerpts from Lynda Hill’s book The Sabian Symbols As An Oracle, the Special Edition, © Lynda Hill 2002, have been reprinted by permission of the author.