Blue Moon, Full Snow Moon, & Lunar Eclipse in Leo

Bee Hive Splitting                           Catherine Al-Meten Meyers

The photograph that accompanies this article is one I took when a hive of bees split off from their Queen and formed a new hive, selecting a new Queen. It was an amazing experience to witness, and when I was selecting the photo for the Full Moon in Leo, I thought this was perfect. Because it represents the birth, life, destruction, death, rebirth cycles of life, it seem particularly fitting for this Full Moon in Leo Lunar Eclipse. 

January ends with a second full moon, called a Blue Moon. The Blue Moon, also called the Snow Moon is a fiery Full Moon in 11 degrees of Leo. This Full Moon coincides with a Lunar Eclipse. In the early evening on January 31, the Blue Moon Rises. In the middle of the night, the Lunar eclipse takes place, so this means January ends and February begins with some pretty powerful lunar and planetary energy. Be prepared, and take some time to allow yourself to notice how this lunar transit affects the important areas and issues of your life. 

Lunar eclipse in2nd decan of Leo, provides for gracious gifts of goodness, hosting a party that takes into account the needs of all those  present, and at the same time cuts to the chase with anything or anyone who threatens to put a damper on the other guests enjoyment. Leo the Lion tending to our emotional courage, may lay it on thick with trying to organize and plan just the perfect setting to forge strong alliances. In true Leo fashion, this may border on overdoing, excessive compliments, flattery, or coy disregard for others’ true needs/feelings. 

The Lunar Eclipse in the 2nd decan of Leo makes for the fearless, overwhelming need to reason and debate just to get your point across or to command the center stage. In the second decan of Leo, this can be dramatic to the point of overdone when the lion roars and makes enemies in the process. This Full Moon in Leo is conjunct Ceres, the Feminine Teacher (equivalent to Saturn the Teacher). This makes for  strong maternal energy being exerted in an effort to share the wisdom gleaned from experience and age. The impact of Ceres’ energy on our emotional stability and expression, depends to a large extent on our having come to terms with our own issues regarding our mothers, ourselves as mothers, and the nurturing, creative birthing process that this Full Moon engages us in.

Though this matriarchal energy, her use of pragmatism and practicality, the Full Moon gets the results that may feel like a strict or commanding mother figure (internal and external) pointing us in the right direction. Though the  instructions, observations, or commands may seem harsh, in the end they do help us cut through some of the unrealistic, delusional expectations and/or the unhealed versions of ‘who we are’, to open the door to a new way of perceiving, understanding, and being. The Moon will also pass through the gates of the North Node on this Full Moon, meaning we begin a new cycle that we have, once again, the opportunity to lay down the baggage of the past so we can move forward. 

Understanding too, that with each lesson we learn, about anything in life, simply gives us another experience to use the tools and gifts we already possess for meeting the same issues again later at a deeper, more profound level. Rather than ridding ourselves of our past, we embrace and heal into a knowledge of ourselves, warts and all, that allow us to be authentic and ever vigilant for how we need to keep on growing, developing, learning, and discovering the depths of our capabilities for being our best selves. Best does not mean, however, that we never meet with adversity, or that we won’t meet similar obstacles in the future. It simply means we deepen our understanding of how all that we experience tempers us like fine gold in the fire, and hones us like  a knife being sharpened on a stone, to the acute focus and intensity that we carry within ourselves. 

The Leo Moon conjunct Ceres bring together the feminine energy that is needed for healing. Herbalists, ecologists, caregivers, hostesses, and healers who are attuned to the medicinal healing powers needed for individual and collective healing, can now enhance their knowledge and develop greater skills as they tend to their gardens of healing remedies as they treat their patients and clients, and as they take time for ceremony and healing rituals and practices to improve health of  all levels. It is worth noting that in the energy of a powerful Full Moon in Leo, a Blue Moon, and a lunar eclipse, it is prudent to use caution in whatever you take into your body. Use only the purist foods, medicinal herbs, and be meticulous in your healthcare practices right now. 

We are approaching the turn of the lunar New Year (Chinese New Year of the Dog beginning Feb. 16-March 4), so our tendency may be to feel a strong sense of exhaustion and/or a sense of impending change. Or both.  Full Moon bring the manifestations of what has come before. The Leo Full Moon is one that sines its light dramatically on celebrating and expressing innermost joy or rage, depending on what has been building up. Leo is all about expression and communication of passions and pleasures. 

The Lunar Eclipse in the Full Moon of Leo forms an opposition with Venus in Capricorn. Both the Moon and Venus speak to our hearts and souls of our feminine roles, the feminine archetypes, and our identities as the feminine expression of the Divine. The lunar energy and its rulership of our emotional being, reminds us to nurture, care for, protect, and guard ourselves from anything that would harm or cause us imbalance. Anything that might uproot or knock us off center. It is Luna’s role to guard the temple of the feminine within. Venus, on the other hands, invites us to explore the passions, artistic, sensual, and romantic ways of expression—all of which toys with our sense of adventure as well as our limitations, boundaries, and vulnerabilities. The pull between the Moon (emotional expression) and Venus (expression of emotions) will most likely be in play. Befriend rather than set yourself up for a duel between the two. Embrace both as part of the whole of who you are.

Whatever complexities, polarities, or conflicts you may feel, are reminders of the wholeness of life experience, and how we feel about this, signals the areas where we need to work on learning how to use conflict as a tool rather than a weapon against ourselves or others, or both. 

The Moon in Leo eclipse is forming a quincunx aspect with Jupiter in Pisces. This creates foggy atmosphere, where the veils are thickening, the mists are lowering on our view of the future, and the waters are being muddied to a certain degree, around us. Discerning what is real from what is illusion or distortion can be difficult under this aspect. Jupiter the ruler of expansion, good fortune, benevolence, and abundance, highlights the mysterious, illusionary, hidden depths, those areas where we do not and cannot know outcomes or possibilities. The dark waters reveal periodic glimpses, sparks of light, and hints of something submerged within a memory, in a dream, or just out of sight of clear vision. It’s an odd type of influence, but one that can provide us with an opportunity to see and better understand that though there may be limitless possibilities and an endless Universe, we have a journey before us that follows the paths that are meant for this journey’s enlightenment. 

We can move no faster, no slower than is just right for us and the journey we are on.. Spend some time during this Full Moon celebration, honoring the ineffability to the Divine, and the hidden nature of the Journey to Light. Absorb the strong spiritual energy and the psychic and intuitive hits you get during this time, and be content for now to simply notice the specific signs, images, messages, visions, and ideas you discover in the course of your daily walk. Instead of trying to remember the whole story of a dream (which you may have forgotten), remember the one symbol or feeling from the dream. That is the small bread crumb that is there for you to follow. For example, I could only recall seeing  a Greek urn in  a recent dream. Until I tried to describe aloud to someone, then I remembered a little bit more of the dream. Today when I was reading a book, I opened a page and found a photo of a woman holding the urn I saw in my dream. What it means, is the raw material which now I can use to weave a story to fit into some aspect of my own life and journey. Practice using what you find that seems random and disconnected, and see what kind of tale you can tell. We find meaning through such a search. 

As I write this column, it is Holocaust Remembrance Day, and as usual, I think of Victor Frankl, and his work including Man’s Search for Meaning. A concentration camp survivor, Frankl wrote Man’s Search for Meaning to help himself recover from his suffering and losses. He also developed a theory and practice of psychotherapy, called logo therapy. The basic tenets are key elements in the healing process. The healing of any life trauma requires that we find a way to understand its purpose in our lives and the meaning it has on how we live in the future. His ideas provide a good framework for dealing with the ambiguity, confusion, and perplexities of life. Frankl wrote that:

1. Our primary motivation is our will to find meaning in life;
2. Meaning can be found in any circumstances when we give ourselves over to something greater than our self, whether that is a cause or another person [or the Divine];
3. We always have the freedom to find meaning, even in the face of unchangeable suffering.

Just a little food for thought at a time when we are all suffering through individual and collective struggles that we must find ways to cope with and find meaning through. 

As with anything related to Leo, this Full Blue Snow Moon and Lunar Eclipse is likely to be one of dramatic outbursts, purging, and volcanic eruptions. What has been repressed must be expressed, and if we do not find healthy ways of doing this as we go along, the eruptions tend to be more explosive than we might like when they happen because we are not accustomed to expressing and saying what we really feel. Express yourself, and find ways to help channel and tame some of your most powerful emotions. Tame in the sense that you create meaning from what may feel strange, uncomfortable, or unhealed in you. 

At this Full Moon we get an idea of how something we planted last summer is being birthed at this time. Depending on how stressful the last six or seven months have been, we will see how the fruits of our labor are becoming manifest. We may see that there was not enough to root deeply, and so the plans fell through. Or we may see that what was planted took hold, and grew its roots deeply into the earth to develop a strong root system to withstand the storms. Pay attention at this time of how you handle change and stress related to that change. Are you your own worst enemy, fighting and resisting, or do you allow yourself to work your way through all the feelings. 

Release what needs to go more quickly or with greater intention and understanding, Notice where you hang on for dear life to a sinking ship. Pay attention to how you blame yourself or others for the natural progression and choices you or others have made. Consider how you make choices, and then follow through with what you say your want. Allow yourself to fully see and fully appreciate who you are and how you discern and direct your life. Take stock of the raw materials that form you and your being. And celebrate that knowledge as you take on your power and authority over creating and living your full journey.

The Lunar eclipse has a strong influence for the next three months. We cannot purge what we do not see. In our homes and offices, cars and yards, we find we have accumulated a mass of things, experiences, relationships, and ideas. This is a good time to review old beliefs, ideas, expectations, decisions, patterns of behavior, and concerns to see what you need to do to remove the blocks to your progress and development. This is an emotional time, and if you can sit with and allow those emotions to flow out of you and move over you as a wave of water cleansing and healing you on all levels, that will help you use this lunar energy. Whether you express your emotions in tears, laughter, dance, or purging, allow yourself to look at what comes to the surface. Before we can let go of whatever comes up, it helps to know what it is. Avoid getting caught in the blame and shame trap. Practice acceptance and non-judgment of yourself. It’s a handy tool for healing. 

Make the most of the healing nature of the Blue Full Moon in Leo, and let yourself celebrate the joy of life. Howl at the Moon or dance in the light. Welcome the infusion of Divine Light and Love—the greatest healing power there is.