Mercury Rx in Leo

deck: leonora carrington

Mercury RX → Leo

as we enter a conversation about a planet of conversation entering a sign and an aspect ruled by the sun, it only seems appropriate that the conversation should be lead by art. 

art: jillian adel

mercury, the planet of communication, pathways, the mind and intellect, learning and strategizing, retrogrades back into the sign of leo on august 14th. then, on august 18th, it will make a conjunction with the sun, called a cazimi. in tarot terms, we have mercury retrograde corresponding to the planetary card of the magician reversed within leo, the zodiacal card of strength. then the magician reversed with the sun within the card of strength (which is ruled by the sun). if you are guessing that it is a communication / expression special, i don't think you're off-base, but communication with who and of what and how?

the day mercury retrogrades back into leo is 8.14.2024, which reduces down to 21, and then again to 3. the gematria of 21 reveals a connection to the hebrew word "eheyey," which is the divine god name corresponding to the first sphere on the tree of life, keter (the crown). the magician card is the 1, and we see a correspondence to sphere 1. the gematria also reveals correspondence to the words "innocence" and "purity," which in my opinion, is very much an attribute of the number 1. when you are new, you are unmarred. you are pure.

with the 3, we see a correspondence to sphere 3 on the tree, binah (understanding). this sphere is ruled by saturn, the planet of limitation, restriction, rules, administration, time and karma. as a 3, and the last sphere before you travel to the other side of the veil, it is also a sphere and planetary energy of birth, creation, and manifestation.

so we see connections to the 1, the magician and keter. and we see connections to the 3, to binah, and, to birth, creation, the empress and venus. and if we look at what path on the tree the magician rules, path 12, what do we find? well, firstly, 12 is 21 reversed. but also it is the path that connects sphere 1 to sphere 3, keter to binah. and while there is no default directionality on the tree, let's assume that the magician upright channels keter down to binah. so as we are looking at the magician reversed, we are looking at information traveling up from binah to keter. understanding to the crown. saturn to spirit. creation through limitation to inspiration.

it's almost as if there as been a marring of our innocence, experience brought to our pure state, likely through limitation, boundary, rules or restriction that has born new ideas, beliefs or information pathways that are all in the effort of connecting us in a more aligned way. there is an inspiration, data coming to us through our most etheric bodies, our intuition, our subtle senses that needed new language to be created in order for us to bring that divine gift down into the manifested realms. words that needed to be found through the pressure of oppression. this is very much calling back to my new moon in leo post from a few weeks ago which offered an exercise to build out language through expression and find new vocabularies with ourselves. but, as virgo is the sign of getting to the root of issues through intellect and logic, i wonder if this data may have appeared for us between july 25th and today, when mercury was in virgo. and now we are bringing this information from the changes we experienced in our material world in that time to bring back into the heart space and express.

the images you see here have a sense of mercury's antennae tuned into saturn's perceived blockage or limit that it sets in order to send that information back up to spirit, all within the archetype of fixed fire, all for the purpose of a more sustainable initiative once this energy is released and trickles down the tree. the first sigil is just this. the second sigil is this energy in conjunction with the sun for the cazimi.

Mercury RX Cazimi in Leo

art: jillian adel

the day of the cazimi is 8.18.2024, which adds to 34, reducing to 7. the gematria of 34 reveals, well, the word "reveal." and, as the sun is the great illuminator, it comes as no surprise that some particularly potent revelations may come up around this time. and, as sphere 7 on the tree is netzach (victory) with the planetary ruler of venus, we see yet another connection to the empress, art, beauty, creation and expression.

these sigils can be used for scrying or meditation. or i would encourage you to explore these concepts and archetypes for yourself. when you sit and start toying with numbers, symbols and other imagery, they can lead you to connections about the ideas that you may not have found otherwise. please share and tag if you do!

Strength + Jupiter x Mars Conjunction

the last point i want to make about this set of sky weather is kind of a wild one to me. as both of these events are happening in the zodiacal sign of leo, and so looking to the tarot card of strength, we see that the strength card is path 19 on the tree. this path connects the spheres of gevurah (severity), ruled by mars, to chesed (mercy), ruled by jupiter. it just so happens that on the same day that mercury rx moves back into leo, jupiter and mars will make a conjunction in the sign of gemini, ruled by...you guessed it...mercury!!

as the strength card speaks to a flow between and balancing of the higher and lower selves, as mars represents our basic primal, sometimes reactive nature, as jupiter represents expansion and higher learning, in a sign ruled by a planet that will be experiencing all we have previously discussed, i am deeply interested see the ways in which we will all be balancing our gut urges with our higher knowing as we process all that is mentioned above. and, if this isn't enough, these two planets will be loosely squaring both saturn AND venus around this time (they make exact squares individually, not exactly together, but VERY close) on the pisces / virgo axis. the limitation of our dreams meets the birth of new systems that get to the root of our issues. it couldn't be more alchemical.

i am always a fan of consistent journaling as i always say:
i didn't learn about astrology.
i lived astrology and took great notes.
but, in the name of mercury, this is a particularly good time to do so for the purpose of later reflection.

LVX.

New Moon in Leo

deck: leonora carrington

situations where the moon is ruled by the sun or visa versa always get me extra excited, but as a natal leo moon, there is no way i'm not biased. with this placement in my 8th house, the house of scorpio and the underworld, i get extra buzzed about a sun-ruled moon in a state of complete blackness. there is nothing more exhilirating to me than figuring out what it means to shine a light of raw self expression completely inwardly and intuitively. it's like the ultimate eroticism, the ultimate rebellion. i think this becomes clearer in a language beyond words in my leo season moodboard.

here, we work with the high priestess for team moon and strength for team leo, with it's head coach, the sun. the 2 and the 8. as mention in my venus in virgo post, the new moon happens on a date that adds down to 2, corresponding to the second sphere on the tree of life, chokmah or wisdom. drawing us directly back to the 2 of the high priestess and her reputation of carrying infinite wisdom in silence. she also represents duality with the pillars of severity and mercy on either side of her, a duality we also see represented in the strength card in the form of our higher and lower selves.

together, these cards and this moon moment speak to conversations we have with ourselves. they ask us to be honest and keep a line of communication open with ourselves, or otherwise risk what needs to be expressed finding its way outward in ways and means we may not be thrilled about or proud of. i find that many confine expression to words, verbal means. if we don't have language for it, even with ourselves, if we can't rationalize or logic our way through the situation, we invalidate it. but language is manmade, and we are so much more than flesh and bone and systems of glyphs and vibrations to go with those glyphs and systems of reasoning. we are spirit, energetic forces with accompanying vibrations called emotions that do just that, set us in motion. 

it's important that we take time to assess, honor, explore and expand the vocabulary with ourselves, verbally and beyond. so below, i offer a meditative exercise that i hope will assist in just that.

art: jillian adel

‘LIGHT IN THE DARK’ MEDITATIVE EXERCISE

this is part meditation, part creative exercise. and really, it’s a magical working. so let’s prepare accordingly.

sit in a quiet place where you will not be disturbed in a comfortable seat. have a journal and writing utensil handy, and look ahead to step 2 to consider how you might want to engage with it so you may have any items you need ready for you there.

step 1: somatic scan

enter a meditative state however you enjoy doing so. you may close your eyes or lower them halfway. you may take a few deep breaths or breathwork of your choice. whatever you need to calm your body and clear your mind. once you feel ready, start scanning your body slowly. you may start from your head and work your way to your feet, or the other way around, but make sure you go slowly and check in with each body part. as you go, notice if there are any parts of your body that feel like they have something they want to express. don't put any pressure on yourself to know what it is, or second guess it. simply follow how your body feels with your intuition and notice. pick a body part where this is true, and that will be your focus for this work. you may repeat this process for multiple body parts if you like, but only do one at a time.

step 2: non-verbal exploration

now that you've chosen an area of your body that feels like it wants to speak, choose a medium to allow it to do so that is non-verbal. you may draw or scribble in a sketchbook. you may collage, digitally or physically. you may want to explore songs and make a playlist, or more abstract sounds. an interesting idea might also be to take a walk and take photos of things you find. the goal of this is to observe and sort through non-verbal media (images, sounds, etc.) without judgement or logic, and just choose things that feel how your body feels in the area you chose. You may even ask it what it wants to say before beginning, inviting it to speak through you. Pretend it's in control completely. If you are curating, make sure to bring everything in one place. If you are creating, make sure to record everything and then put it in one place so you can assess it after. Take as much time as you need with this.

step 3: verbal observation

now, bringing words back but keeping our logical minds at bay, grab your journal and your collection exploration from step 2. look through the group of images or listen to the songs or sounds you chose, and observe with words. pretend that someone else made this collection. how would you describe it? what do you see? what do you hear? you may use keywords and a list or write in sentences, but don't make meaning out of any of it. just observe through words. 

step 4: reflection

now, take a look at what you've written in step 3. bring yourself back into the room and respond to the words and sentences written. how do you feel about them? do they spark any strong feelings in any direction? are there ways that you'd never describe yourself that have appeared? are there descriptions of things you'd always to be here that you felt you never were? make any notes about anything that arises. if anything has been clarified verbally, make a note.

Step 5: Comparison / Affirmation

finally, return to your meditative state in connection with your body. you may close your eyes and take a few deep breaths again if you wish. reconnect with the part of your body that you've chosen to speak in this exercise. you may simply sit in silence and contemplate what you found. or, if you've found some clarifying or affirmative words or statements about the emotion, say them out loud now however many times or in whatever way feels good to you. 

you have now found an evolution of honesty with yourself, revealing more of yourself to yourself, through your intuitive channels and personal expression, beyond language that will increase the flow of your dual nature in the beginnings of this new cycle.

so it is.

Leo Szn Mood

I WANTED THAT HEAT SO BAD,
I COULD TASTE THE FIRE ON YOUR BREATH.

Jason Molina

it’s funny realizing that, for all the ritual i have around moon cycles, i don’t have one for the sun cycles. not a zodiacal one at least.

i don’t know what it is about moodboarding, maybe it’s my Mercury in Taurus that needs to see things tangibly, but moodboarding has become so much more of an intuitive ritual practice for me over the last 2 years, so i decided that i would moodboard for each season.

leo season seems the perfect time to start a sun ritual. here is my first installment for leo season. i feel like my leo moon in my scorpio house is really showing!

Sun in Leo

the sun is in leo, corresponding to the strength card. in this deck, their arcana numbers add to 3 corresponding to the 3rd sphere on the tree, binah / understanding, ruled by saturn.

the sun is the planetary ruler of tipharet / beauty, the 6th sphere. leo is ruled by the sun. what is the difference between the celestial body of the sun and its zodiacal expression of leo? the sun expands, expresses freely. it is the radius. leo is the infinity symbol. it is dualistic, flowing energy through polarities.

saturn has a relationship to 3 and therefore generation and creation and venus. it’s limitations of the womb allow for gestation. the sun is a generator. and related to the heart, the eternal generator of our spirit. when our heart is full, we can do anything and we are often creating.

so we begin to see a relationship between the dual nature of limitation, restriction, tension between our instincts and reactive mechanjsm and the part of ourselves that has a mind and uses it to cultivate awareness in alignment with spirit. the sun is the raw generating force whereas leo is mastering flow through tension alchemized through the center of us, the heart, our energetic sun.

we often think about the sun or spirit as coming in from above. but it comes through our center, our hearts, and radiates outward through our venusian sets of standards, what we consider beautiful in our lives, what’s desirable.

2 and 3 and 6. the sun and venus and saturn. oppositions, trines and sextiles. the line of spirit as it runs through us navigating through our standards and bouncing between lower and higher limits, alchemized through our heart. spirit spiraling outward.

happy leo season 🦁