Love, love, love under a Leo Full Moon
Some Full Moons serenely waltz in with calming, gentle energy, others are like a whirlwind demanding attention and leaving us in no doubt that things are changing. This one comes in with a roar. What happens when a courageous, passionate, showy Leo full moon meets a quirky, individualistic humanitarian Aquarius Sun? Well, when it arrives just after Valentine’s Day it continues to focus our energy on love.
We’re currently enjoying a period where none of the planets are retrograde - hallelujah! Unlike the start of 2022 which arrived with not one but two of the major planets in retrograde, a New Moon and Mercury in shadow waiting to turn retrograde mid-month providing lots of cosmic energy and shake ups. So, take a much-needed deep breath in and enjoy the next few weeks. It really feels like 2022 can finally start and we can grab the opportunities that the next few weeks and months offer us.
Not only are we at Full Moon time but in a matter of days we move from innovative, freedom loving and humanitarian Aquarius season into dreamy, spiritual Pisces. Another shift beckons.
And with it comes a calling to focus collectively on our future now. Full Moons are a time of completion, coming full circle, of endings, releases and letting go. But they’re also an opportunity to forgive and forget, a chance to free ourselves of whatever might have been holding us back over the last six months or longer. This one demands the same but with a focus on relationships, love, self-love and matters of the heart.
Rising on Wednesday 16th at 16.56 this big, bright Snow Moon brings to mind where we are holding ourselves and our relationships back by being too proud. Whether it’s too proud to apologise, admit we were wrong, that other people might be right or something else it’s asking us to look at where in our life we let pride take place over heart. It’s that old adage of cutting your nose off to spite your face really.
It’s time to let go, to relax into being human, to admit our feelings and to express how we feel. Leos after all are known for wearing their heart on their sleeve but also for being courageous in speaking up. Use the Leo energy here to be courageous and bold but also the Aquarian energy of freedom to think about where you might be feeling stuck. What do you need to do, or to express, to shift that energy from trapped to free? Just think how incredible that could feel to dare to be vulnerable and share your feelings, to allow yourself to release what you might have been holding onto for months now and free yourself, to be more accepting and forgiving, more relaxed, in truth to live and let live.
You might think that Leo or Aquarius energy doesn’t have any bearing on you as neither of these are your Sun, Moon or Rising signs, sorry but you don’t get off that lightly. We all have each of the zodiac signs present in our charts. Each sign resides in one of the 12 houses so whichever house Leo is in for you is where you ideally need to be looking to see where that issue of pride might be rearing up for you. (if you want to know more about your chart drop me a request here and we’ll look at where each house is for you this year and what it means).
Mixing up that big hearted, courageous, passionate, open Leo energy with innovative, humanitarian, quirky Aquarius really asks us to look at where we can use our hearts and minds together to be of service on a collective level as well as an individual one. How can you use all the love and compassion you have in you to be of service for the greater good? Where can you make some changes, let go of self and make a difference?
It might be on a huge scale, it could be a very small scale but whatever you do, do it from the heart. Spend some time listening to a friend, connecting in with a loved one, creating an amazing new concept that will benefit humanity and /or the planet. Who knows? However, you choose to be of service, to share your wisdom it needs to be with wholehearted compassion, this is after all the moon of love. And I’m including you in that message, self-care doesn’t go out of the window because you’re caring for others. If your well feels like it’s heading towards empty, then this full moon asks you what you need to refill your energy. 2020 and 2021 demanded a lot of us and when long term cycles such as this come to an ending compassion fatigue can happen. Fill your well, then help others fill theirs.
And remember that this is a completion cycle too, whatever is ending for you means that something new is incoming. Nature hates a void, if something is completed then something new needs to fill the space. That’s one reason why in our Full Moon rituals we complete our forgiveness and releasing practice and replace what we’ve let go of with gratitude.
Planetary Aspects
I mentioned that we’re having a breather from retrogrades currently which is a chance to move forward into a new cycle, a new energy and really get 2022 started. But we do have a few astrological line-ups that are worth mentioning occurring over the next few weeks as we head towards the New Moon in Pisces early March.
When Venus and Mars get together the sparks really begin to fly, and this month sees the first of several dynamic meetups between these two. From the 12th of February to the 12th of March fiery, powerful Mars and heart-centred, flirtatious Venus dance the tango bringing us a very passionate, magnetic and driven few weeks. If you’ve struggled to voice your needs now is the time to do it, in and out of the bedroom! This is a creative, productive and powerful opportunity to step up into a leadership role, to speak aloud and express your hearts desires. A word of warning though, that Mars energy can cause some overbearing behaviour, and Venus can cause us to be a little too impulsive. Go steady but make the most of this dance.
Following on from the start of that little tango we have another equally interesting meet of the big planets. On the 17th lucky Jupiter meets up with chaos loving Uranus, and with Pisces season starting on the 18th there’s a big chance you’ll see some sudden spiritual awakenings, lightbulb moments and finally a time when things begin to make sense and some clarity occurs. Historically when these two get together we’ve seen breakthroughs in medicine, science and technology so it’s an important but interesting time. Because it happens in Pisces season it’s also about consciousness and a growth in awareness of things that affect the collective consciousness or social awareness. Trust your intuition now more than ever. Listen to your inner voice, be aware of any doors that might be opening for you but keep an eye on the bigger picture, watch what’s happening on the collective stage too.
And then, although really this only affects the USA on the 22/2/22 (all the 2’s however you write it) is Americas Pluto return. This is where Pluto returns to where it was when the United States were formed in, I believe, 1776 (happy to be corrected on this by my US readers). Interesting times ahead if you are in, or from the States. Pluto is the planet of the underworld, transformative, secretive, revealing what has been hidden, and when you have a Pluto return for a country you can see sudden shifts in power, or changes to the status quo that’s been in place for years. Facades are dropped, the truth is revealed, and shifts happen. Personally, I have no idea at this time what or how that one’s going to manifest but that’s astrology for you.
And that’s it really for now on planetary aspects. Let’s move onto one of my other favourite subjects’ crystals and which ones to use for your Full Moon grid or moon water.
Leo Full Moon Crystals
I always choose my crystals to work with the energies of the current Full Moon, so the following are the ones I’ve chosen to work specifically with this Leo moon for courage, compassion, and releasing what’s ready to go. Whilst these suit me they might not be relevant for you so always choose the crystals that your intuition and higher self guide you to, they’ll be perfect for whatever moon rituals and releasing you are doing.
Rose Quartz is perfect for anything to do with compassion, love, forgiveness, self-care, kindness, gentleness and caring.
Garnet is actually more powerful than rose quartz as a heart stone and is a transformational stone that instils gratitude and helps us be in service to others. It’s a stone for emotional balance, is protective and helps us to let go of old out-dated habits and boosts self-confidence.
Sunstone, gorgeous sparkly sunstone always feels so cheerful and happy to me. Perfect for Leo energy and for helping to find our direction and purpose in life, it’s also great for boosting our personal power, and simply feeling more positive and bolder.
Citrine, another old favourite. Genuine citrine is usually quite a pale colour rather than a really strong orange yellow. Another gorgeous positive, energising stone. An abundant stone ideally placed in your wealth corner according to feng shui. This stone helps us to manifest our dreams, to be generous in sharing any good fortune with others as well as bringing joy.
Peridot, I’ll be honest here, for many years now I’ve naturally had a stone that has chosen to work with me through the year, last year it was this stunning citrus lime coloured stone that gifted itself to me. Peridot can be the most intense citrus lime in colour and is known as a heart healer. It’s a fun stone helping us release pride, balancing the mind and the emotions and increasing compassion. It’s the stone of compassion.
Black Tourmaline again a protective and grounding stone, maybe not as physically appealing as some of the others but a great stone for transforming the negative to positive and helping to reduce fear and anxiety boosting not only our physical energies but also our self-confidence and personal power (great for Leo energy or faking it till you make it!).
Rainbow Moonstone I always include a moonstone and this month it’s a rainbow moonstone for connecting with Goddess energy and facilitates spiritual growth and development. It’s not actually a moonstone at all, it’s a form of labradorite so its properties are slightly different to actual moonstone, but it is very much a stone of the moon.
Tigers Eye, again a gorgeous Leo stone, especially the golden tigers eye is another good one for confidence building, for calming and steadying your energy fields and for releasing fear and instilling the courage to step forward. It’s also a creative and, like citrine, another stone of abundance.
Use your crystals to make Lunar Water, in crystal grids or simply to meditate with. Not forgetting that a Full Moon is the best time to charge your crystals so that you can work with them fully. Pop them in your garden or on a windowsill after you’ve cleansed them and let them drink their fill of Moon Goddess energy.
Have fun with your Full Moon rituals, use the time to fully engage in your personal and spiritual growth and be open to what the Universe sends to fill that void. You might just be pleasantly surprised.