The Next Full Moon in Leo will rise on January 28th, 2021

Times are changing.

It’s not just a concept anymore, it’s a crisis.

Leo as an archetype finds itself at the center of the battle. In amongst the h-e-a-v-y Capricornian energy of late – the lion roars

But why Leo, why now?

Because Leo is the King. And the position of the metaphorical King is what’s under discussion…

“…humans so far have generally deified and aligned with the “king” of the jungle or forest – lions, tigers, bears. And yet so many of these creatures, for all their isolated ferocity and alpha power, are going extinct. While a major cause of that extinction is our human impact, there is something to be said for adaption, the adaption of small, collaborative species”.

– Writes Adrienne Maree Brown in Emergent Strategy.

It’s an idea we’ve been pondering in our house for some time now:

The “King of the Jungle paradigm”…

How it’s dying.

And, what’s emerging in its place.

The “small, collaborative species” like the ants, fungi, bacteria, squirrels, mice and bamboo of the natural world – those who inhabit the forest floor, invisible in plain sight.

Us.

The people.

We don’t have to shout the loudest to make a difference. Gone are the days of being the strongest, the toughest and the bravest (well maybe not that). Isn’t it time we worked together, interweaving our lives, our stories and our efforts? THIS is how we’ll pull through – not by trusting the voice from on high, the system, or the institutions of hierarchy.

There’s another way.

A collaborative way.

So what does a drizzly January Leo Full Moon have to do with this alternative?

Leo is probably the least affected of all the Zodiac signs, by lunar energy.

Ruled by the Sun (our Solar King), Leo has its eyes on the prize… and the Moon just isn’t the center of his world. BUT… when Luna sails sweetly into his fiery embrace, opposing the Aquarius Sun as she does now, it’s no bad thing. This melding of hot, masculine, creative fire and (in its highest form) heart energy, with the receptive, femininity of the Moon is actually a potent mix. Especially now.

In its lower, and most misunderstood form, Leo is associated with the ego. With craving attention, needing recognition and above all, performing for an audience. (Remind you of any (ex-) world leaders, perchance?)

Yet the higher energy of Leo is a gateway: A gateway into the heart.

Slaying the Lion is about walking through this gateway. About leaving behind the pride, the ego, and the drama. And instead, opening up to a heart-centered way of living.

Just in time for the Leo Full Moon, here are 5 ways how to Slay the Lion:

1. Actually BE in your Heart

Maybe you’ve heard or read about “heart-centered living”? It’s kind of a buzz-word (or three) for New Agers, but do you really know how to do it?

I learned a technique many years ago, on a workshop in Glastonbury taught by an apprentice of Drunvalo Melchizedek. It’s a section of a much longer meditative practice (and by no means exclusive to the work Drunvalo teaches). Maybe you do something like this already? If not, let me tell you what to do…

• Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths to settle.
• Try to locate your conscious awareness. Trust yourself on this. It could be anywhere in your body, or just outside it somewhere, but for most people, it’s up there in your brain.
  (If you find it somewhere else, pull it into your brain).
• Now, feel what it’s like to inhabit the space. Sense the hardness of your skull. How it encloses your brain.
  Is it a colour?
  Does this place have a sound?
  Again, trust yourself.
• Now, gently pull your conscious awareness down from your brain, through your head, into your throat, and continue down until it reaches your heart. Stop there.
• Feel what it’s like to inhabit this space. Sense the softness of your heart. How it’s muscular, fleshy, bloody…
  Is it a colour?
  Does this place have a sound?
  Again, trust yourself.
• Now open your eyes, but keep your consciousness here in your heart. Maybe you’ll feel it physically, or energetically. Maybe you won’t… trust your experience.
• Move on with your day…. and throughout, try to pull yourself back here. THIS is living in the heart.

2. Drop Judgement

Right, wrong, too much, too little, too anything…

Judgment isn’t just about believing yourself to be superior (see the next point).

It’s giving a label to anything, based solely on your perspective.

Instead, this Leo Full Moon will illuminate unity. With the Sun in collectively-focused Aquarius, opposing la Luna in Leo, the axis is activated.

You get to choose your point of perspective.

3. Let go of Elite Mentality

Leading on…You are no better than anybody else. I’m no better than you, you’re no better than me. We do our work, we co-habit on this Earth and it’s difficult and miraculous in equal measure for us all.

This Full Moon eradicates this idea that you need to do/be/earn a certain amount to be winning.

We’re all winning. And probably losing quite a bit too. But that’s not important… it’s all a mask.
In its least progressed expression, Leo takes the spotlight. In its higher expression it shines, lighting up everybody around it.

So we shine.

Not for the glory, but because we can’t afford not to anymore.

4. Stop “Should-ing” on Yourself

Every time you do something because you think you should, you’re whipping yourself quickly up and away from your heart. ‘Should’ belongs in the mind. Should is rational. It’s based on some need that’s different from the ones YOU have, right here, right now.

This isn’t to say the Full Moon needs us to all race around being rule-breaking hedonists!

Just start to question your ‘shoulds’.

Sometimes they aren’t even based on anything except an outmoded program running through your mind that serves nobody anymore. Least of all you.

5. Collaborate

Yes, you probably can do it yourself.

But do you need to?

OR could sharing the experience ignite something new?

Both Aquarius and Leo are archetypes of independence. Two ends of the same starlit axis, they pioneer in ways that are unique, implying rarity.

Yet it’s this rarity, this magic that only YOU possess, that creates the change when connected with magic belonging to somebody else. But you’d never know that unless you tried.

Collaboration is generous, giving, more than the sum of its parts.

It’s risky and yet its transformational. Its what our world needs right now.

Shift the spotlight this Full Moon.

Focus on the other ones, and love them.

Go softly.

Go bravely.

Kat