Start Planning Your Summer "Personal Renaissance" Now: Everything You Need to Know About This Summer's Leo Astrology, Especially Lilith in Leo!

It's high time we talked about Leo in your life in 2023.  This summer is going to be HOT, and I'm going to tell you why in this post.

You've got a "personal renaissance" coming this summer - read this now to make sure it doesn't fly by without you getting a chance to harness this amazing energy in your life.

If you're thinking, "wait, isn't summer retrograde season, the time when we tend to have a bunch of planets going backwards and everything slows down for review?,"  you're right.  

But this summer is going to be different.  We're done with those nasty square from Saturn to outer planets for quite a while, especially the most recent square to Uranus in Taurus that lasted from February 2021 til October 2022.  (That one was that feeling of wanting to break through and break free but being frustratingly held back from forces outside your control.)

Now we are full speed ahead with the innovation to how we experience material security in life and creature comforts via our relationship to our values, self-value, and resources - Uranus in Taurus - the transit began in 2018 and ends in 2025 - just thinking about what's transpired over those dates should give you an idea of the  bigger picture of how that's unfolded, both collectively and for you personally.

Now, as we head into Pluto stationing retrograde May 1st, the same day as the Mercury retrograde in Taurus "aha moment" and the May 5th south node Scorpio full moon eclipse, it's time to take stock of where we've been and where our heart's truly desire to go, and do the deep shadow work to release anything and everything we're still carrying deep within that might stand in our way moving forward.

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Eclipses always bring big and lasting change in our lives, helping us completely close out some chapters, ways of being, relationships, and identities, while ushering us into new ones, and the beauty of it is, the more consciously we can work with this, the more we get a say in what we leave behind and what we step into.

We had a major Scorpio eclipse back in May 2022, then another early October. 

What broke open for you last year in May; what opened/healed in October? 

What transformation took place in between?

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Think on this:  Leo is the fixed fire sign that squares up to both Scorpio and Taurus, and opposes Aquarius.

Scorpio (fixed water) is where the south node of past, karma, and release, and this full moon eclipse is landing.

Taurus (fixed earth) is where Uranus is transiting helping us innovate values and our relationship to security through material possessions and resources and how we enjoy every day life through the five senses, and is where the north node of future and desire remains until July, pulling us towards it.

Aquarius is the fourth fixed sign - fixed air - ruled traditionally by Saturn and in modern astrology, by Uranus. 

We're done with the difficulties of Saturn in Aquarius (it's now in Pisces, making a supportive aspect to Uranus instead of a challenging one), and the south node leaves Scorpio in July. 

This summer's activity in Leo is here to help us uplevel.  We've done the work of the Saturn-Uranus square, we've prepped the foundation.  Now it's time to establish the next level of what we are innovating with Uranus in Taurus before the north node of appetite, increase, future, and destiny lands in Aries in July.  (Note the activity in Leo continues into October, and we're working the big theme of releasing the past to transform into our future all the way into December as Pluto stays in square to the nodes before landing back in Aquarius for good in January, along with the sun.  It's like a bridge, and the big stuff is coming June, July, & August!)

Understanding the Energy of Leo.  If you are rolling your eyes imagining a bossy, demanding, self-absorbed diva when thinking of Leo, read this.   We all have every sign energy within and without, and there's a higher expression and a lower expression.  Some of us have a Leo that comes easily and shines, some of us have lessons here, and some of us are just kind of neutral - it's just not a thing.

Leo is fixed fire.  It's creative and enthusiastic like its fellow fire signs Aries and Sagittarius, but can also be stubborn, like the other fixed signs of Taurus, Scorpio, and Aquarius.

Leo is ruled by the sun, our source and inner light, and it is associated with the heart, inner child, and creative self-expression.  

Leo brings the ability to stand up, stand out, and be in the limelight - and for good reason.  If we are working higher Leo, we are the artist or performer, the vessel through which divine inspiration flows.  If we don't have the self-confidence and ego to stand up and shine for others to see, no one is able to receive the divine inspiration that want to flow through that vessel.

Yes, we can get in our own way and have an ego- or self-centered message more than being a divine channel, but in reality, whether we are working the energy consciously or unconsciously, maybe we aren't powerful enough to block any divine message that wants to flow through us.  We all have the choice as souls as whether we fulfill our contracts in the positive or the negative way.  The key to the higher expression is being true to your heart and shining from that place of truth rather than need for outside validation. 

Any sort of creative self-expression, whether its a formal art or simply the way you dress, hold yourself, speak, or move through the day, has the potential to inspire and transform another, and that's the whole thing with Leo.

It begins with you coming from your heart, and remembering your uniqueness, who you are and what lights you up.  How do you shine?  What did you love as a child?  What delights your inner child even today?

Leo is proud, yet playful.  There's a generosity, a magnanimity, and an innocence about it, yet at the same time a commanding presence.  

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What area of life will this summer's action be coming through for you personally? 

Check out the graphic below to find out what astrological house, or area of life, Leo rules for you based on your rising sign.  (Keep reading - next I'm going to break down the energies at play in Leo over the coming months.)

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First Mars activates Leo late May, then Venus joins the mix in early June.  But Lilith has been in the sign of audacious sign of creative self-expression since January.

You've probably already heard me talk about Venus in Leo this year from an extended stay including retrograde from early June into October.

But Mars beats her there, landing in Leo May 20th (as the dust settles from the spring eclipse portal and in the wake of Mercury stationing direct and Jupiter, gift-bringer, landing in Taurus for a full year).  

Mars landing in Leo for two months really activates the Leo energy and the area of life ruled by Leo for us, but we've had another key player in the sign heating things up since January - Lilith.  (Note that Sun and Mercury will join the mix for Leo season - late July til late August, and Venus stations retrograde June 22nd.)

Let's talk about Lilith in Leo.

Mars activates, Venus brings blessings and healing, and Lilith does what exactly?

Lilith in astrology (and in mythology) can get confusing.  There's Lilith the asteroid, and then there's Black Moon Lilith, the lunar apogee.  This is a calculated point, not an actual object. 

The apogee is the calculated point of the moon's orbit that is farthest from the earth.  It's a "shadow point," much like the north and south nodes that represent appetite, destiny, increase, and the direction of soul growth, and letting go, decrease, karma, and fate, respectively.  

Black Moon Lilith has a 9 year orbit and spends 9 months in each sign.

So what does it mean to you?

Well, just like everything else, there's one in your natal chart that's part of your energetic blueprint, and then there's the current transit. 

Transit Lilith landed in Leo in January and will vacate the sign along with Venus in October.  Given all of the other activity in Leo this year and it's relationship to Uranus/north node in Taurus and south node in Scorpio, and Pluto arriving at zero degrees Aquarius in March, Black Moon Lilith in Leo is worth discussing and understanding.

Most of us know Lilith as a character in the Bible - Adam's first wife that walked out, refusing to submit, to be replaced by Eve.  (Whether she walked out or was kicked out is a detail that is still up for debate.)

No matter.  Our mission is to understand the energy of this archetype so we can understand this energy in our lives, and Lilith goes back way farther than the Bible.  

She shows up in the Sumerian myth of Inanna's Descent - she had nested in the huluppu tree Inanna had planted and tended to with the intention of creating a great throne for herself.  When Inanna could not get Lilith to leave the tree, her future throne, she had her brother help her chase her off so the throne could be cut from the tree's wood.

Inanna's Descent is the myth of Venus' retrograde - the great queen's descent to the underworld to face her shadow and be reborn to new consciousness, ruler of both worlds, of shadow and light, and Lilith is intrinsically woven into this epic tale of human experience as a representative of the shadow, the feminine that goes her own way, the one who was shamed, rejected, and outcast. 

In Inanna's myth, we see her showing up as something that stands between Inanna and her throne.  She calls in her brother to rid "the pest" for her and carve her great throne from the tree, but as we all know, other people cannot truly do our shadow work for us.   As the myth unfolds, we find Inanna with all of her high worldly status not truly in our power, and becoming conscious of her sister, Erishkrigal, who rules the Underworld - her shadow self, and going to meet her face to face.  The shadow initially kills her, but the god of wisdom Enki brings her back to life, reborn to new consciousness.  Then and only then, in her true power, can she integrate the shadow and become ruler of both worlds - light and shadow, above and below.

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Black Moon Lilith represents the wild feminine, the part of us that won't be tamed, and won't be quiet.  Until we integrate this part of ourselves into consciousness through self-acceptance, we will struggle with feeling ashamed of it - and this shows up as feeling shame and discomfort, maybe outright offense, when we see other people owning and expressing this energy we've deemed unacceptable in ourselves.

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3 points to Working With the Big Leo Energy This Summer & Your Personal Renaissance.

1.  Black Moon Lilith is the lunar apogee - the point of the moon's orbit that is the farthest the moon can get from the earth without breaking free of its orbit and spinning off into space.  With BML in Leo January through October, whatever passes through Leo during that time will also be at this "breaking free" point.  So that means Mars, self-assertion and desire, 5/20 through 7/10, Venus, self-value and attraction, 6/5 through 10/8, sun, source and light of consciousness, 7/23 through 8/22, and Mercury, the mind, thinking, and communication, 7/11 through 7/28.

2.  The moon is giving us monthly updates on this energy every time it transits Leo, and until June, it opposes Pluto at 0° Aquarius every time it enters the sign.  The moon is our daily feels, and the sign is transiting on any given day tells us how we will feel best about ourselves and life.  In Leo, it's about honoring the inner child, following our hearts, and unapologetic creative self-expression.  We want to be seen, heard, and appreciated for who we are.  Pluto wants transformation.  It wants us in right relationship to our personal power.  And it brings this transformation about by stripping exposing deep subconscious truths and forcing us to release the old - to die to the old consciousness to be reborn to the new.  Every time until June the moon lands in Leo, our emotional security may feel "out there," as deep stuff comes up in our lives triggering us, fueling this major process of release and regeneration that is on all year really as Pluto squares the nodes of future and past March through December.  

Here are the dates through September the moon is in Leo: (MDT). (Mark these dates on your calendar and tune into what's coming up to get a sense of the theme you're going to be working on as your "personal renaissance" over this summer!)

• 1/7 20:39 to 1/10 09:15 
• 2/4 02:48 o 2/6 15:14 
• 3/3 09:15 to 3/5 21:38
• ***3/23 Pluto arrives at 0° Aquarius
• 3/30 16:31 to 4/2 04:57 - opp. Pluto at 0° Aquarius
• 4/27 00:29 to 4/29 12:59 - opp. Pluto at 0° Aquarius
• ***5/1 Pluto stations RX (reenters Capricorn 6/11)
• ***5/5 Full Moon Eclipse in Scorpio
• ***5/20 Mars enters Leo until 7/10
• 5/24 08:34 to 5/26 21:04 - opp. Pluto now RX at 0° Aquarius
• ***6/5 Venus enters Leo until 10/8
• ***6/11 Pluto reenters Capricorn until January 21st
• 6/20 16:04 to 6/23 04:34
• ***6/22 Venus stations RX in Leo until 9/3
• 7/17 22:39 to 7/20 11:12
• ***Sun enters Leo 7/22 until 8/23
• 8/14 04:36 to 8/16 17:14
• ***New Moon 23° Leo 03:38 08/16
• 09/10 10:36 til 9/12 23:17

3.  Where, and how, are you unapologetically breaking free, and what from?Black Moon Lilith is the lunar apogee - all about "breaking free."  Uranus in Taurus in square is about breaking free too - innovating a new way to material security, maybe by way of new values and new self-value.  Pluto's helping us dig up the deeply buried stuff in our subconscious that keeps sabotaging us.  The south node in Scorpio is our point of release.  But Leo is where we are really focusing over the summer - where we are taking heart, having courage, and keeping true to ourselves no matter what. 

In "Finding Our Way Through the Dark," Demetra George says, “The Asteroid Lilith describes the first stage in the mythical journey where she is suppressed, humiliated and flees in a fiery rage to the desolate wilderness. The Dark Moon Lilith depicts the pain of her exile where she plots and executes revenge. The Black Moon Lilith shows how she transmutes her distorted image back into its natural healthy expression."  

This is about recovering the part of you, your expression, that was shamed and thus deemed unacceptable and reintegrating it. 

This is about reclaiming your power by bringing back under your wing the parts of you you've disowned and locked deep in that inner dungeon. 

Remember, your body is an entire organism made up of millions of tiny single ones - cells...molecules...energy.  Just like a stand of aspen trees, what harms one harms all, because they are actually all the same organism. 

You cannot disown part of yourself or be ashamed of part of yourself without disowning the entire self.  For you to be okay, and worthy, and valuable, that part of you has to be okay too.  Period. 

This summer is your chance to transmute this distorted image of yourself, to break free of the limiting beliefs, judgments, and conditional thinking that have kept you imprisoned from your heart's desires and full self expression.  

Here's an example of how Black Moon Lilith in the natal chart works.  If you have Lilith natally in the 8th or Scorpio, you may feel extremely uncomfortable or judgmental when you are around people expressing attachment issues, possessiveness, or jealousy.  You feel shame just being in proximity of it, and maybe even like they need to be "punished" for their behavior - because at some point in your life, whether you remember it or not, you were, and now you've buried the root need to be included, wanted, and deeply connected in yourself.  It's not allowed, even though it's a primal human need. Your experience didn't separate the core need from the immature or unconscious behavior that was only trying to get that need met. 

Lilith in Leo wants attention, and again, attention and appreciation are intrinsic human needs.  But how many times have we been shamed for our attempts to get this need met?  How many of us were told "children were meant to be seen and not heard?"  How many attempts from our caregivers and authority figures to teach us appropriate social behavior over the course of growing up ended up with us carrying this shame and feelings of not valuable and not important into our adulthood?  And because we've disowned this need and deemed this part of ourselves unacceptable and locked it away in the shadow dungeon, it has no choice but to express unconsciously, distorted, and sideways, sending us into more self-loathing and shame.  

This summer is your opportunity to find that part of yourself and bring it out of the dungeon.  Love it up, bring it back into the fold, into your loving and compassionate gaze.  It was never wrong or bad.  It just needs your full acceptance, and then loving guidance.  

Venus will be swooping in to Leo June through October and retrograde 6/22 to 9/3 supporting us in making that same journey to our own shadowlands as the great Sumerian queen Inanna to face our shadow and be reborn to new consciousness, whole unto ourselves, ruler of both shadow and light - helping us access a new level of self-value.  

Until then, we are doing the prep work for the "personal renaissance" coming this summer.  If you want to dive deeper, start with finding the area of life that Leo rules in your chart, because that's where all the action will be.  For deeper understanding, then check what areas of life Taurus, Scorpio, and Aquarius rule for you as these are all playing in, with Pluto moving into Aquarius squaring the nodes, the north node of future along with Uranus bringing innovation to values/material security in Taurus, and the south node of karma and past signaling where we need to release in Scorpio.

If you're interested in a personal astrology reading, just click here to book.

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Hi, I'm Kasey, and I am on a mission to help women reclaim their SOVEREIGNTY - reclaim the thrones of their hearts through radical self-value so they can  step into their inner authority, creative power, & start creating lives flowing with love & abundance in every way.

If this sounds like something you would like support and guidance with, let's chat.

Just click the button below to email me and we'll set up a time to chat via Zoom to wrap some clarity around what your needs are and find some solutions!

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The present is turning into the future with every moment, every breath - let's get you out of the old patterns and loops, back on your throne and creating your best life. 
~Kasey