So the upcoming New Moon perfects at 10:54 AM PDT of the 28th at 5 Leo 38 and all I want to say is, Take. It. Personally. We can’t help but focus on ourselves with a New Moon in Leo; it’s the glory of the individual, the way each of us uniquely ‘shine’, and that may mean our own light gets in our eyes, obscures the view of what’s happening, just now. Traditional agent of confusion and hidden matters, Neptune, is in his own sign and below the chart horizon (for the West coast location), and is semi-sextile Eris in Aries–the suggestion is that there are things, particularly tensions, between us and other individuals that we just can’t see–we’re too busy shining our own light–so that others ‘offended’ by our light (think ‘jealous’ or ‘judgy’ or ‘envious’ or even ‘garden-variety hater’–note Venus conjoined Black Moon Lilith in Cancer) are likely to present as caring when what they want is to deny something about who we are or how we play the game.

Both Moon and Sun have very recently conjoined Ceres at 2 Leo, prompting us all to examine our own power situation and autonomy (or lack of it), as well as bring to the fore of consciousness our relationship with Nature–whether that’s via our bodies or our environment. No matter what, we’re measuring what affects us and the impact that has–and it’s the wellspring from which our New Moon new starts spring.

Three aspects made by the New Moon warrant a look: a quincunx to Vesta, a trine to a stationary retro Jupiter, which will enter retro status within a day, and a sesquiquadrate from Juno. How we see the ‘Big Picture’ is going to change, and the change will be easy, a slipping from one viewpoint to another, without us really thinking about it. What will cause minor discomfort, however, is something about our commitments, our highest values, likely losing some of their sheen or worthiness as that Big Picture realigns or withdraws current conditions or circumstances, particularly on some action front or around some choice we’ve made. We’ll have to adjust, if we want to go forward. And then there’s the matter of empowerment: we may have to own and then use our own power much more actively than we’re used to–and some of us will reach for an arrow and find our quiver empty–the worth of the episode in this instance being: now you know, you’re not equipped as you thought you were.

There’s also a square to Hygeia, effectively drawing a T-square with the Sun-Moon/ Earth axis, implying we may have to face the unhealthiness of something–whether that’s Mother Nature in the form of Ceres, our own diet, also Ceres, or of a caretaking relationship, one where we feel responsible for someone else, or where someone else, appropriately or not, tries to exert control over you, just as Mama Ceres did with daughter Proserpina (also known as Persephone–I maintain it was as likely an elopement as a kidnapping, but that’s an argument for another day).

The Sabian for the New Moon is, ‘A Conservative, Old-Fashioned Lady Is Confronted By A “Hippie” Girl’. It’s a study in contrasts, and echoes my point about someone cloaking their critical attitude or contempt in caring, ‘for your own good’, ‘you’re doing it all wrong’ corrective sensibilities. The conservative woman thinks she’s right, and the hippie thinks she’s right (and by right I mean they think they’re seeing the world clearly and have ‘it’ all worked out), but what they’re both missing is they can only know what’s right for themselves, not for someone else. It’s about boundaries, whether those are violated only by intrusive thought-judgments or in outright, blatant ‘correction’ of another. Recognize and honor the autonomy of another, and your own right to be and choose is that much more secure, energetically speaking.