!! OMG Stars: New Moon in Leo, August 2020 !!

OMG Stars is an astrology column written by queer astrologer Amelia Ehrhardt (@soft_aspects). Every two weeks, on the new and full moons, Amelia interprets the upcoming astrology with a focus on how to navigate current events (astrological and global).

New Moon in Leo, 22:37 August 18, EST

I always find the end of summer, when Leo season transitions into Virgo, to be a difficult time. I start to crave some regularity again after a few months of hanging out. My teen feelings about wanting to go back to school come up. This year, after six months of this confusing March-into-Summer-Break energy, my desire for schedule and something reliable is especially noticeable.

With that said, I don’t think reliability is in the cards at the moment. There is a very strong square between both Mars and Saturn, and Mars and Pluto; squares are struggles but they’re also an opportunity for resolve. I’ve been thinking so much lately about how conflict can be caring, and that by engaging in disagreement we have the opportunity to move forwards.

Avoiding conflict does little to help a tense situation. And with Mars in Aries, conflict cannot be avoided. Saturn square Mars can bring ego conflicts, bitterness, and a tendency to suppress anger – but with Mars in explosive Aries, it’s hard to see how that suppressed anger will not wind up everywhere. Pluto squaring Mars, on the other hand, is a more overtly dangerous transit: we see more of that toxic ego energy under Pluto-Mars squares, and a sense that everyone is on their own personal power trip.

With this new moon in Leo, sign of our self-expression and output, I think this is a moment to renew our commitment to ourselves while being aware of how our self-care impacts those around us. While Mars is being squared by Saturn and Pluto it’s also in a flowing trine to the sun and moon, so our expression, will, and vulnerability are receiving some support. I suspect the hardest thing to do right now is to listen. But with this combative astrology, it’s extra important to try to do so. If we’re going to get out of this astrology and into the more positive transits of later 2021, we need to do it with honesty and perspective.

I was side-swept by some New Moon Feelings this time around, and as a result, these horoscopes are coming out a little later than the lunation. Use them to work with this lunation moving forwards in the context of this garbage fire astrological moment.

Find your full sun and rising sign horoscope after the jump!

Horoscopes are written using whole house calculations and are meant as inspiration and affirmation of what you already know. They are written for both sun and rising signs, but specific information is calculated for the rising signs. You can access your birth chart at www.astro.com or many other apps and websites using your birth date, time, and location. You can also read the horoscope for your moon sign for extra emotional information.

Aries and Aries Rising
The fact that Aries comes first both Zodiacally and alphabetically is never lost on me. The Aries journey is about putting your own feelings, needs experiences first. For Aries rising readers, having Mars – your ruling planet – in your first house is a whole lot. The better parts of this year have been about asking all of us to consider other people a little more: I would never go so far as to say Aries folks can’t do this, because that is untrue: it’s more that for the archetype of Aries, personal experience is the lens through which everything else is viewed. Mars in your sign is fuel to the fire.

All the Cardinal signs – Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn  – have been hard hit by this year’s astrology. If you have placements between 20 and 28 degrees of Aries the Pluto/Saturn square to Mars has been particularly stressful for you. For all Aries people, you’re in an astrological moment where the protective side of yourself has its back up.

For Aries rising people, this new moon was in your 5th house of pleasure, creativity, and falling in love. Use this moon to begin creative projects that will help you express your sense of self, but be wary that your creative output is not at odds with what this moment of torrential change and patience is demanding of everyone.

Taurus and Taurus Rising
This lunation is also marked by a sextile to Venus (Taurus’ ruling planet) from Uranus, which is currently in Taurus, so although this year has been anything but comfortable, I hope that my Taurus readers are experiencing a moment of comfort. Although there is ugly astrology right now, this brief week of positivity between Uranus and Cancer is something that I hope we can take advantage of, and I hope that my Taurus readers – you who are so skilled at finding comfort – can show us all the way.

Seeking peace during instability is your skill. This year has been terrible. I don’t need to use astrology to describe that. So I hope that Taurus folks are able to be an example of how to sit into a terrible moment and think, you know, the view from here is alright. Taurus readers had the new moon in your 4th house of home and family.

This is a good moment to start, or re-start, any cycles in relationship to your own home or home and family of origin. On the mundane side, clean a room, clear a closet, or buy a new plant; in the big picture, commit to repairing old wounds. No small project, that, so it might be easier to start by just mopping your home.

Gemini and Gemini Rising
With Gemini’s ruling planet in Cancer, Gemini readers might find yourselves particuarly emotional right now. Everyone around you is communicating from deep sensitivity and you might not know what to do with it: Gemini is about facts, multiplicity, curiosity, whereas emotional communication is not usually something that we consider to be reliable information. With Mercury in Cancer, I’ve been thinking a lot of a memoir by postmodern choreographer Yvonne Rainer called “Feelings are Facts”.

For all Gemini readers, consider that the feelings of people around you are just that: more facts, more information for you to receive and process. Trust them. Take them in as true, take them in with inscrutability but do not doubt them.

Gemini rising people had this new moon in your third house of communication, meaning it’s a strong moment to reconsider your communicative strategies. Be sure that you are communicating in a way that works for you, and also for the people you care about. With the Capricorn planets in your 8th house forming a square to this new moon, you might feel averse to holding other people’s pain right now. It’s hard to consider that other people are hurting, but making space for it in your own communication style is the first step towards reconciliation.

Cancer and Cancer Rising
While Cancer people have likely had it with this year’s angry astrology, the current transit of Venus through your sign might feel like everyone else is as sensitive as you are for at least this moment. Cancer rising people have Venus transiting over your Ascendant and through your first house, so perhaps right now you feel h-o-t. Document it.

The astrology of 2020 has been a lot for anyone with placement in the Cardinal signs – Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn  – and the current square between Saturn/Pluto and Mars is likely hitting you hard, particularly if your Cancer placements are between 20 and 28 degrees. That being said, Cancer is getting a supportive sextile beam of energy from Uranus in Taurus right now, so you might find yourself feeling a little rebellious.

Cancer rising people had the new moon in your second house of resources: use this moment to figure out how to organize the resources that you need to feel safe. Creating a budget or making a meal plan is a great start, but so is taking stock of your energy levels and making a list of the people you can contact when you need to talk.

Leo and Leo Rising
Recently I had a client who lives in the Southern Hemisphere and it was really cool to think about what Leo season means when it’s winter. Everything I feel about Leo season has to do with the summer! With blooms, with patios, with outdoor hangs. So I started thinking about what it means to be Leonine in cold weather: it means generosity, it means collective care, it means entertaining each other because we can’t go outside. Those things, too, are Leo in nature (and I must remind myself that in the Northern hemisphere, expansive and adventurous Sagittarius season is right before the winter solstice).

This Leo new moon energy is something that I hope can be a sense of renewal for all my Leo readers. An opportunity to consider other ways of thinking about your sign’s qualities. As the moon, sun, and Mercury all sit closely in your sign, think about how you can best use your generous nature to show kindness to the people around you. Leo rising readers have this new moon in your first house of identity.

Renew your commitment to yourself. Renew your cycles of identity; abandon pieces of your identity that don’t serve you anymore, thank them, fold them up, and set them free; get new clothes; buy a new hat; get a new profile picture. Identity is fleeting! So is the summer! Express yourself in whatever way feels good, Leo.

Virgo and Virgo Rising
I’ve had a number of Virgo rising clients lately (what strange algorithm led to this I don’t know), so I’ve been thinking a lot about what it’s like to have Virgo on such a forward-facing part of the natal chart as the rising sign. For all my Virgo readers, know I always have empathy for your plight. It’s hard to be the person who’s always doing the thing that no one else remembers to do. I feel that all Virgo people are pulling extra duty this year as the outer planets nearly all move through earth signs but leave Virgo empty – up to you to do the heavy work as usual! How can you find peace with constantly doing work that fundamentally goes without recognition?

This Leo season learn to be your own audience, Virgo. Virgo rising readers have this lunation in your 12th house, bringing you closer to your most private side. Spend time alone to show yourself some appreciation for the things that you’re always doing for other people. Write down your dreams, think of your ancestors, connect to whatever spirituality means for you, and promise yourself that you’ll pay attention to the things that come up for you in solitude. And from the rest of us in the Zodiac: thank you for remembering to take the garbage out.

Libra and Libra Rising
Libra has been an interesting point in the last month of transiting astrology, as the only unoccupied cardinal sign. Your compatriots – Aries, Cancer, and Capricorn – have all been heavy hit, which on the one hand has meant that Libra people have the potential to feel that stress as the other planets square and oppose your placements (especially if your Virgo placements are between 20 and 28 degrees).

On the other hand, it’s meant that Libra has been a release point, and a spot of support to remind us how to not spiral out in our own self-involved neuroses. Libra is about finding balance with another, and this year’s astrology has been anything but balanced. If any part of the Zodiac is about listening, I’d say it’s Libra.

While our collective consciousness  hits a wall of neurosis around individuality, think of ways that listening to another person has helped you understand yourself and the world better. Libra rising readers have this new moon in your 11th house of community. If there’s a new group you want to be a part of – join it. Reconsider how group dynamics serve you and inspire you, and commit yourself to the best parts of them.

Scorpio and Scorpio Rising
Earlier this evening, a friendly man on the street asked me for change. He said he needed $1.90 or “more if I have it”. I had $2 and gave it to him, and after I did he said, “I wasn’t talking about money when I said I’d take more from you”. I was so, so angry, I glared at him and probably gave him my best Scorpio death stare (inherited from my Mother). He stopped, looked at me, and said “That was completely uncalled for. I should not have said it. I’m sorry.”

While he can’t fix what his having said that to me did to our interaction and to my night, I am at least heartened that he realized that was doing a gross man thing and that he wanted to do better. It was also a small pittance to get to say to him – yes, that was completely uncalled for and it ruined an otherwise nice interaction. I walked away thinking about how Scorpio that moment was. Scorpio is as much the death-glare that put some very wise fear in his ass as it is the moment he decided to apologize.

Scorpio is the part of ourselves that sits through the shit of trying to do better. There’s no major astrology in Scorpio this year but we all need the lessons of this complex part of the Zodiac if we are to carry the lessons of 2020 forwards. There is no apology without sitting with the disgusting feeling of having done wrong. That gross feeling is Scorpio, and so is the decision to change. Scorpio rising readers have this new moon in your 10th house of public profile, so I encourage you to think about how you can plant some new seeds in whatever it is that you do for “career” – practice, passion, whatever you call it – that you can reap later.

Sagittarius and Sagittarius Rising
I’ll start with some nice information: those of you with Sagittarius placements between 22 and 29 degrees of Sagittarius are getting a beautiful boost of light from the Aries and Leo placements right now as the two other fire signs form a grand trine (three 120-degree angles) to your Sag placements. Take advantage of any nice feelings and see how they bring you a sense of power. The astrology (and the thematics) of 2020 have not been very Sagittarian in nature, but we really need the justice-motivated, expansive, and open-minded teachings of Sagittarius to teach us right now.

Sagittarius rising readers have this new moon in your ruling 9th house. The 9th house is associated with Jupiter – your ruling planet – and with Sagittarius, and is the part of our lives that we spend in Sagittarius activities. The 9th house is travel, learning, foreign languages, giving or receiving counsel – things that are so important to the Centaur ilk. Take this new moon to plan how you want to move forward into an expansive future. How you want to have learning and new experiences be a part of your life moving forwards. Focus on how to envision a future that is rewarding to you, and manifest the people that you want to be a part of it.

Capricorn and Capricorn Rising
Recently with my clients I’ve found myself talking about this year’s astrology, and the astrology of 1988-1990, a lot. These times have in common a heavy emphasis on Capricorn in a way that describes only the shadow of Capricorn. I’m tying to help my Capricorn clients understand this side of themselves in a moment when the only Capricorn representation we have looks like the Monopoly Man, or a Bond Villain. Sure, toxic billionaires and despots are a Capricorn thing: but so are the days of the week, your skeleton, and that coworker who gives everyone advance notice of important due dates.

We all crave order, and order doesn’t have to be a bad thing; it just happens that the people who get to decide what “order” looks like have terrible taste. I am calling on Capricorn readers to be at the forefront of this revisioning. If you’re a Capricorn repulsed by the toxic Capricorn energy we live in right now, help contribute to new structures that could be a way of living: at work, at home, in life.

Capricorn rising readers have this new moon in your 8th house, which is a complex part of the natal chart that has to do with transformation, with sex, with death, with other peoples’ shit. I encourage you, Capricorn rising readers, to renew here and to let go of the shit of other people that you are carrying. It’s not yours. You don’t have space.

Aquarius and Aquarius Rising
Aquarius and Leo are opposing signs, and if you’ve ever seen me for a reading you know how much I love opposite signs. We teach toddlers that opposites are either/or, diametric difference, but I love how astrology has taught me that opposites rely on each other: we only know what darkness is because we have light. Aquarius is about being the outsider on a big group and looking in lovingly: Leo is about being the center of that group’s attention. Where Aquarius cannot figure out how to fit in, Leo does it without trying; on the other hand, where Leo cannot figure out how to take an entire group’s perspective into consideration, Aquarius can’t stop.

A new moon in Leo is an opportunity for Aquarius people to lean into the part of yourselves that is about how you actually personally relate to your groups. Aquarians typically have lots of groups around them while feeling so distant. How can this new moon help you relate to communities by finally expressing yourself?

Aquarius rising readers have this new moon in your 7th house of partnership: take advantage of this new moon to figure out how to advocate for yourself in your dedicated, one-on-one relationships. This week I saw a re-circualting tweet by the brilliant Rachel Carmel, who wrote: “Don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself this week, ok? Start sentences with: I want…I need…I expect…I require.”  Sit down and do some thinking about those questions and how they pertain to your closest partnerships, Aquarius Risings.

Pisces and Pisces Rising
Pisces and Leo don’t have very much to talk about: Pisces lives through sensation, Leo lives through expression. Pisces is about everyone else’s feelings, Leo is about our own personal expression. Pisces dominant people typically have a hard time paying attention to your own feelings, but I’ve noticed that it happens in such a way that when you finally do express your own needs, it’s become an emergency. I encourage all my Pisces readers to take the extremely me-first energy of this lunation to heart and to find a way to bring it into your everyday lives.

For Pisces Rising readers, this new moon is in your 6th house of day to day lives, which is opposed Pisces’ ruling 12th house: where Pisces and the 12th house are concerned with the esoteric, with dreams, with mystery, the 6th house is about the mundane details of our day to day lives. Mars in your 2nd house is supporting your commitment to your own resources, working in tandem with this new moon. This is a great time to sow some very practical, very resourceful seeds. Use this lunation and the days coming out of it to plant these seeds in your day to day life, and see how the day to day itself is sacred for its reliability.