Two full moons occur this August, and the first—the Preparatory Supermoon—illuminates the skies from the Leo-Aquarius axis today, August 1 2023, at 2:32 pm EDT. Even when supermoons seem to have less happening on their transiting charts, they intensify the energies due to the close proximity of the moon. Add on that today is observed as Lughnasadh and Imbolc in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres respectively and there’s a good bit of energy going on with this full moon.
While the last full moon gave the sense of taking a breather from the energies bombarding most of the full moons this year, this supermoon resonates with getting prepared even while the energies actively start happening around each of us.
The Leo-Aquarius axis highlights our connections between the head and heart, creativity and collaboration, individuality and community, self-sovereignty and social development. It is what we want to create as an individual and how we share those creations with our groups, tribes, communities and the collective society.
I associate this axis with the Musketeers' motto—”All for One and One for All”—each individual has talents and skills as well as the space to work on and be themselves, but when individuals come together, they become a force to be reckoned with.
The Sun in Leo brings our consciousness and a conscious emphasis on our individuality and our hearts—what the self wants, finds fun, desires and is passionate about. The Leo Sun shines a light on this part of the axis and our lives to seek out and empower what makes us stand out and unique individuals.
Vulkan and the Black Moon Lilith conjunct the Leo Sun.
Astronomers before the 20th century theorized a planet lay hidden between Mercury and Sun—Vulkan. Astrologers through mythology, observation, and peer discourse applied meaning to Vulkan as was done with each discovery of the outer planets, dwarf planets, astrological centaurs like Chiron, asteroids, and other celestial energies.
Whether Vulkan actually exists beyond theory as a physical body orbiting the sun, holds every little influence over the astrology any more. Vulkan has meaning in a chart, especially esoteric astrology and acts like a celestial egregore. An egregore is an esoteric concept of a non-physical entity formed through the thoughts, theories, and stories told about the entity by the collective.
Vulkan represents crafting, creating, developing, and forging and in Leo this energy gets applied towards the self and self expression. Leo Vulkan conjunct the Sun supports forging our own paths, creating new life goals and dreams, and crafting our lives to walk those paths and acquire those dreams. Vulkan also works to hammer out any flaws in existing goals and the kinks in our armor to stay strong against the pressures of society.
Black Moon Lilith is a mathematical point in the sky—the osculating apogee of the moon’s orbit. The Black Moon represents our hidden powers and empowering our true selves. In Leo conjunct the Sun, Black Moon Lilith supports becoming aware of our hidden powers and preparing to use them to express ourselves as well as to stand up for ourselves and our truth.
The Moon in Aquarius approaches our emotions, feelings, and securities—or insecurities—with logic and reason. If something doesn’t make sense, the Aquarius Moon wants to freeze it out and leave it behind.
Chariklo—the largest confirmed centaur in astrology and the wife of Chiron in mythology—conjuncts and supports the Aquarius Moon. Chariklo, a healer in her own right, represents grace, spirit medicines, energy work, healing discrepancies, and boundaries—social and personal. Chariklo bridges the gaps between our emotions and our logic and helps set healthy boundaries on a personal level. On a social level, she asks us to use grace and recognize both our own boundaries as well as the boundaries set by others. Even these seemingly small actions can help to heal the rifts and trenches torn through our communities and society.
Venus Retrograde
While not aspecting either the Sun or the Moon, Venus retrograding through Leo still causes a ripple effect on the energies of the Preparatory Supermoon.
Venus planetary energies involve what we value and what we find pleasing—aesthetically leisurely, financially, romantically, platonically, etc. When she moves retrograde, going from her morning star position to the evening star, time and space becomes available for us to reevaluate, redesign, and refine what we value, what we find pleasing, and how we interact and engage with the people, places, and things that do or do not resonate with them.
In the same sign as the Sun—Leo—Venus retrograde energy focuses on what we value and find pleasing in relation to self expression and creativity. If there is something in our lives that no longer resonates with our values, the energy of the Aquarius Moon applies logic to rethink and, if necessary, remove those discordances in our lives.
Squaring Jupiter
Jupiter has been transiting Taurus since May. The Leo Sun, Aquarius Moon, and Taurus Jupiter form a fixed modality T-Square—the opposition as the arm of the letter “T’ while a line from the center of that arm points towards Jupiter.
This T-square exacerbates the excessive and expansive energies of Jupiter.
The Sun-Jupiter square intensifies the concentration on the self and can lead to exaggerated behaviors, tantrums, emotional reactions and responses. There might even be a correlation with excessive heat—weather wise but also passion like anger, ambition, and attraction to name a few.
The Square between the Moon and Jupiter can cause taking the logical approach to security and emotions too far. Emotions need to be a part of reason and logic just as much as intellect in order to be sustainable and applicable.
The Harmonies in the Air
Trines and sextiles are the harmonious aspects in astrology. Trines are in the same element—Earth, Air, Fire, or Water—and sextiles are in the same charge—projective or receptive.
This Preparatory Supermoon, Ceres, Makimaki, Vesta and Sedna all sextile the Sun in Leo and trine the Moon in Aquarius, making an Air Triangle—a triforce of sorts. Ceres and Makimaki transit Libra while Vesta and Sedna transit Gemini.
Applying logic, communicating our values, or expressing our individuality is very rarely done in a vacuum without coming off as egotistical or narcissistic. Ceres transiting Libra nurtures the Aquarius Moon and Leo Sun through compromise, conversation, and cooperation. If one person shares their thoughts, opinions, ideas, etc , so too can others, and communicating to find similarities, compromising on a middle ground between differences, and cooperating to improve the community is a talent of Libra Ceres.
Makimaki also transits Libra and provides harmony and balance with the environment and the animals and plants we share our ecosystems with. Just as Ceres nurtures conversations and compromise interpersonally, Makimaki seeks to engage in cooperation and compromise between mankind—individually and collectively—and the natural world to support each other and grow together.
Vesta representing our sacred spark and devotion transits through Gemini. Gemini Vesta expresses the sacred self through learning and laughing. Anything that has to do with expressing ourselves, our values, and our rationale can easily become a serious topic. Gemini Vesta supports the Leo Sun and Aquarius Moon through sparking learning new information and laughing at the joy of the moment and not taking ourselves too seriously.
Sedna represents the emotional depths and transcendental serenity. Her lessons involve feeling the tumultuous emotions and pain even of the end of a dream or way of being and the process towards transcending for and towards inner peace. In Gemini, Sedna highlights how we’ve outgrown the ways we communicate, learn, commute, and utilize technology and asks us to transcend these past ways into the future. This supports the Sun and Moon as we work to balance the individual with the whole.
The Lunar Sabbat
This Preparatory Supermoon happens to fall on one of the dates to observe the Leo Sabbat. This Sabbat, often celebrated on August 1st, the Full Moon, the New Moon—August 16th—or the day between the June Solstice and the September Equinox—August 7th—honors giving thanks for making it through one half of the year and preparing for the next.
In the Southern Hemisphere this sabbat is Imbolc or Candlemas. During Imbolc, thanks is given for surviving and thriving during the dark half of the year while preparing for the coming light half by designing gardens, gathering seeds to sow, and inventorying the remaining resources.
Lughnasadh or Lammas is the sabbat honored in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the first harvest where grains are brought in from the fields, and the first loaves of bread baked with these grains are blessed. Feasts, parties, and a thanksgiving occur while making preparations for the coming dark half of the year when the natural bounty of the earth is harder to find or gather.
The Preparatory Supermoon is the time to make preparations for the next half of the year, whether you are going into the light half or the dark half. Refine what you know and let go of what won’t serve you in the future and life you are manifesting.
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