Happy Leo New Moon! Happy Mars in Scorpio! New moons are new beginnings and this one will be all about creativity, vitality, the arts, drama, children, happiness, abundance, and the bounty of life. That sounds great, right?? The new moon will be exact on July 26, 2014 at 6:42 pm EDT, 3 degrees Leo.

Like the morning sun cresting on the horizon, we start this lunar cycle on new ground and it feels good. Mars, recently arrived in Scorpio after an excruciatingly long stay in Libra, feels like a breath of fresh air. And, in many ways, we may feel like 2014 is finally starting with this new moon. It’s what, practically August by now?

Revitalized, the new moon will spur us to take action, especially after being pent up over the last eight months. Have you been holding back on starting something? Have you been waiting for the right moment to get things going? The new moon will release a flood gate of stagnant energy, so don’t be surprised if life starts to move along at a bit of a clip. It’s time to get moving! It’s time to get motivated! The new moon conjunct Jupiter in Leo will encourage us to think big and strike out in bold ways.

There is such a deep theme of renewed faith in this new moon, so much so that it makes me feel a little misty eyed when I tap into the energy. It’s like an oasis after months of crawling through the desert. The new moon comes just days after the annual conjunction of the Sun and Jupiter. For me, I’ve felt this pairing of planets as a flowering of abundance, so much so that I feel as though I need to pinch myself. As a Scorpio who weathered under months of isolation and lethargy while Mars was in Libra, there has been an unprecedented bounty of new people in my life as well as reconnection with the old. I hope that you all are experiencing the same because it’s beautiful.

Even as I write this, there is a young child crawling around my feet. She is the baby of old friends of mine and in many ways she’s the perfect avatar of the Leo New Moon — she’s dressed in yellow, joyfully flipping through her books without a care in the world, and surrounded by a bounty of toys. She is a reminder to all of us to nurture our inner child over the coming weeks as well as make time for play and celebration.

There are a couple of other things to keep in mind when we look at the new moon chart beyond Jupiter and Mars. First, Venus in Cancer is about to make an opposition to Pluto in Capricorn. Whenever you have planets in hard aspect to Pluto (by hard I mean square, opposition, or even conjunction), there is a deep, deep evolutionary process going on. Venus is attraction, value, money, and relationships. So with Venus in Cancer, this shift is taking place in the emotional body, touching on themes of safety and security. For me, I’m feeling this as a slight thread of anxiety. As if all this good stuff is happening, but we’re afraid to trust it. Can it be real? (Venus is still making a trine [120 degrees; harmonious] to Neptune. Maybe there is goodness and miracles in this world after all.) If we have any baggage around relationships, power, control, safety, and security, Venus and Pluto will help bring it up for release and healing.

Second, Mercury in Cancer is squaring (90 degrees; stressful) the lunar nodes. When a planet squares the lunar nodes, we come to a karmic cross roads with the planet. Mercury in Cancer is about how we talk about how we feel. Maybe in the past we’ve kept things in or have had a hard time expressing how we feel? Let it all out. Honor your truth and individuality.

So, enjoy the abundance of the new moon. Drink deep from the oasis. After eight months of Mars in Libra plus retrogrades and cardinal grand crosses, we’ve earned it.

Enjoyed this post? I also do private, one-on-one consultations via Skype and phone, which allow us to delve into your chart and reveal where this new moon will manifest. Go to my consultations page to book your session. Check out my testimonials and FAQ to learn more about what I do.