Leo New Moon, Monday, July 24, 2006, 12:31am EST

Radiant Self Love
Leo New Moon, Monday, July 24, 2006, 12:31am EST

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.
Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We were born to manifest the glory of God within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
Marianne Williamson

Summary, Cancer/Capricorn moon cycle to Leo New Moon
The 5th house and Leo represent integrating, ruling and directing the personality. Leo the lion uses his fiery will to rule his own domain. Ruled by the Sun, he represents the active expression of the integrated personality. Leo is concerned with himself and his gifts and wants recognition for them; with childlike fascination and awe at his power, he looks outward and says, 'look at me! Isn't it amazing what I can create?' It is this childlike approach to power that gives the 5th house and Leo their reputation for playfulness. It is the sign of playing with our creativity and so is linked to our sexuality, romance and the birth of children or artistic projects.

The paradigm of power in our culture is "power over", a reflection of the immature relationship to Creator we learned as children when we projected God/Goddess onto our parents. We may have internalized the belief that we are small and need to downplay our gifts in the light of their power and continue to do so in our present relationships. Or conversely, we may have gotten stuck in the need for recognition, driven by the desire to be acknowledged for our gifts. Mature expression of Leo energy is Radiant Self Love; deeply appreciating that you are a unique reflection of the Divine with unique gifts to offer the world. As the world turns upside down with destructive power struggles, we must ask ourselves if projecting the Creator outside ourselves serves us, our relationships and the world. If we continue to persist that the power to create exists outside of ourselves, we minimize the potential gifting of our unique selves to the world. Last months Cancer to Capricorn Moon Cycle gave us a taste of our power. It revealed that our power is hiding out in old emotional complexes and it's up to us to reclaim it. It's hiding out in "I Can't or I Have to" and can be mined with "I Will or I Will Not". It's waiting within for the creator to allow it to be expressed and YOU are the creator.

At this New Moon in Leo, each of us is asked to look inward at our relationship to the specific gifts of our personalities. Do you experience awe and fascination at your singular expression or judge it as peculiar if it strays too much from the "norm"? Do you feel the full expression of your Self threatens or wounds the other? Does the desire to be special blind you to the gifts of others and prevent you from sharing equally? Are you connected to the raw power of your sexuality, playfully flirting with life, and ecstatically birthing your individual gifts to the world? With the Sun, Moon and Saturn in Leo, the first half of this moon cycle offers an opportunity to explore how we experience these themes internally and to ground them in Radiant Self Love. With the full moon in Aquarius, this moon cycle asks us to bring conscious expression of self love to love of the other and community; in other words, at the full moon we will have an appreciation of how to offer our unique gifts in service.

There are as many possibilities for expression at this New Moon ritual as there are people in the world! Explore your own theme playfully, with fascination. Plant the seeds of your own unique mature expression. Open your heart to your Self with Radiant Self Love!

Peace, Love and Blessings, Helen