a	LEO NEW MOON August 18-19, 2001 7:56 p.m. PST 10:56 EST Sun and Moon joined at 26.12 Leo Sabian Symbol:  In the east, light slowly increases, wiping out the stars.
What does listening to the zodiac do for us at each moon cycle?  It attunes us to the yet living quality of this ancient rhythm.  It sharpens our senses to new ways to bring ourselves forth.  It puts us on the alert -- as an animal living in the wild -- to something new in the air...

Leo New Moon 'Scope:
by Dana Gerhardt

The temperature has been in the hundreds.  I walk through the surrounding pear orchards in the cool of the evening, observing how the rich bounty of pears comes gradually to harvest.  I’m told the pears won’t be ready to eat for a few more weeks.  But yesterday, in the searing heat, many of the trees dropped their entire load to the ground. 

A city girl, I haven’t lived here long enough to know if the tumbled pears are salvageable or a loss.  But staring at the grounded pears and the fruit-bare branches above, I was reminded of the recent Saturn/Pluto opposition…  and how in the pressure of forces larger than ourselves, things don’t always work out as planned.  Perhaps something you had hoped to ripen likewise fell to the ground… Yet here you are, reading another new moon scope, and like the orchard trees, still living and leafy.  It’s time to honor what’s left.  And perhaps ready yourself for one of life’s many second chances. 

Last month a friend told me she was scared hearing astrologers warn about Saturn and Pluto.  Now that we’ve experienced the first of this aspect’s three passes, note both what happened and what didn’t.  Perhaps things went smoothly and you get to learn you don’t have to take all astrology warnings to heart.  Or maybe something difficult did happen.  But did it come straight out of the karma of your own life, suggesting significant new learning, new directions?  What was released in the pressure of events?

Particularly at this new moon, it’s appropriate to do a little backward sleuthing.  In this month’s new moon chart, the tightest sun-moon aspects are separating ones.  This suggests that whatever is going to unfold this cycle has already begun.  With the separating opposition from Uranus, it's possible you were recently surprised, struck by genius, thrown suddenly into a profound or creative alienation.  What was it – an intuition – that came at you like lightening?  And with the separating trines from Mars and Chiron, you may have had a nice opportunity to see your own special genius in action. 

Figure out the most important realizations from the last two weeks and you have your personal seed for this Leo New Moon.  As a fixed sign, Leo brings the energy to stabilize.  Whatever vision or wisp of inspiration came, you can make something lasting of it now.  Leo is also playful, romantic, self-adoring.  This is a good moontime for laughing, loving, playing and creating.  Most of all, try putting your whole heart into whatever you do.