Sign Ruler: Sun - Decan Rulers: Saturn and SunKeywords: Strength of self, Craft your mask, Persona shaping
Tarot Correspondence: 5 of Wands
The guiding question for this New Moon
“How do I consciously shape what I share with the world, so my outward light remains true to my inner fire?”
We are invited to step boldly into the light as we approach the Leo New Moon on 24 July 2025 at 7.11 pm UT and explore this question- are you true to your inner fire?
Join me to explore the astrological threads of this new moon, through the symbology of Leo and New Moons, Moon Families, the story telling of the first decan of Leo as well as its corresponding tarot card, 5 of Wands. I include some ritual, coaching and reflection suggestions to work and co-create with this Moon.
Leo- The Lion’s Fixed Fire
Leo is ruled by the Sun and belongs to the fixed modality of the fire element. The Sun often signifies Solar figures such as leaders, kings, father figures, the central point of authority. Individually, it can signify our soul's purpose, vitality, will, identity and visibility. It is symbolised by the Lion, said to be the King of the Jungle, but also do look at how female lions act for greater insight on Leo.
As a fire sign, Leo is warm, creative and driven to express and sustain the spark initated in Aries fire, this is where fire knows its essence. Its masculine or yang nature makes this expression outward, active and visible, rather than internal. Being fixed, Leo doesn’t just flash brightly and fade. It holds the flame steady, sustaining creative vision with loyalty and determination. Under Leo skies, we’re reminded that to shine brightly also means to take responsibility for what our light reveals.
I am reminded of the Wizard of Oz and the Lion who wants courage, and finally finds it within. This is a placement that speaks of creative sovereignty, sustained attention, and outward expression. Fire burns for meaning and inspiration, and Leo as the fixed fire sign teaches us to hold that flame, tending it with care and confidence. Leo invites you to lead with your heart and dare to be seen.
Leo is the last sign of the height of summer months before we reach mutable Virgo, where the light is more visibly fading. In Leo, our thoughts may begin to turn to what legacy we will leave when the Wheel of the Year turns yet again. What growth have you seen since Aries season? What will you continue to build on, and what might it be time to let go of now, in order to make room? What burns within you and how are you sharing that with the world?
Those with planets or angles in Leo may experience a steady unfolding of their story. The Sun moves predictably along the ecliptic, through the twelve signs in a year, with no retrogrades to account for. This is why we relate to the steady, reliable and usually accountable nature of those ruled by the Sun. The shadow side may be a self-centredness, or potential for unchecked ego, but their light shines equally on all. If you are not welcoming the light and warmth, you could be left out in the shadows, unseen or unacknowledged.
Leo Moon Family: Seeding a New Story of Visibility
New moons always mark beginnings, a time to set intentions and become aware of what is ready to grow. Dietrich Pessin’s Moon family method as outlined in Lunar Shadows III shows how these beginnings stretch over time, unfolding with turning points at the key lunations.
The idea is that each New Moon initiates a series of interconnected phases, creating a predictive pattern. This gives us a longer 27-month narrative that unfolds every 9 months as the moon returns to the same part of the sky to form turning points or pivots in the story.
A New Moon is the beginning of a cycle, a seed moment full of potential, where we set intention and orient toward new growth. It is the invisible phase, asking us to tune into subtler inner promptings and begin again, often without external clarity.
This Leo New Moon at 02° Leo initiates a Moon Family that will unfold over 27 months:
* New Moon (Seed): 24 July 2025 – 02° Leo
* First Quarter (Action): 24 April 2026 – 03° Leo
* Full Moon (Climax): 22 January 2027 – 02° Leo
* Last Quarter (Integration): 22 October 2027 – 29° Cancer
This cycle begins with a question of how and where we share our light. Are we true to our inner fire? How do we consciously shape what we share with the world? Those with planets or angles in early Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius and Taurus may feel the shift more intensely, especially if themes of visibility, identity and authenticity have been stirring.
This series starts in Leo but interestingly, its last phase is at 29° Cancer, suggesting that our outer expressions may ultimately lead back to our inner truth and emotional roots. The cycle begins in the visibility of Leo and ends with a Cancerian reflection. Might there be a memory you are masking that this cycle offers to integrate?
You can see, then, that the story falls between the degrees of 0°to 03°of Leo, but also that the family returns to include any unreleased or unacknowledged business at the last (and most difficult) degree of Cancer, bringing our fluctuating emotions, memories and needs into the story. So any planets, within 28 to 29°of the Cardinal (Cancer, Capricorn, Aries and Libra) or Water signs (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces), and 0 to 05°of the Fixed Signs (Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius and Taurus) and the fire signs, Leo, Sagittarius and Aries can work with the best outcomes from this Moon Family. You can see from this long list of signs that its almost easier to say that only Gemini and Virgo are not directly impacted by this moon family.
Working with this Moon
This lunation is about crafting your mask with purpose, and having the courage to show up, not as a perfect, polite version, but as a present and authentic one. You may wish to plan for:-
* 2 weeks, reflect on how you’re stepping into leadership, creativity, or visibility. Watch what emerges by the Aquarius Full Moon on August 9th.
* 6 months, review your progress at the Leo Full Moon in February 2026, where the seed bears fruit.
* 27 months, you’ll complete this cycle at the Last Quarter Moon in Cancer, bringing your spotlight journey back into emotional integration.
You may wish to make a note of the dates, or plan a project or goal that relates to Leo themes to unfold, with the dates as key check-ins for review and adaption. Also, if the Sun is your Lord of the year you may feel the impact of this New Moon and Moon Family more than the others.
Do you know what house Leo is in for your Natal (Birth) chart? This will tell you more about what themes might arise. You can book a reading with me, an astrologer or astro coach to explore this further.
I have YouTube videos you can watch to learn how to cast a chart and identify the houses so you can identify what themes to expect. My Astro Coaching workbook will help you work and co create with the lunations.
You can purchase it here or download it for free when you upgrade your subscription to paid and financially support my work (it’s low cost, the lowest level that Substack allows, I know things are tight so I’ve thrown in an Astrology Readings discount too!), join our live monthly zoom Q&A meetings and ask Horary questions by donation.
Because this new moon is at an early degree, 02, the story ends just behind where it started, blending Leo’s need for recognition with Cancer’s instinct to protect and nurture. Those with placements in early Leo or Aquarius, or with strong Sun or Saturn influence, may feel this arc most deeply.
Leo I – The Decan of Persona and Performance
Leo I is ruled by the Sun (also the sign ruler) and Saturn (as decan ruler), both day sect planets that teach us to shape light with discipline. Yet, they are very different in nature. The Sun wants to shine outward, to illuminate and to lead. Saturn disciplines, defines and sometimes restricts that brilliance so it can take meaningful form.
The Sun shines as sovereign self-expression and has a doubling up and concentration of its essence here. Saturn, who is in detriment in Leo, offers a structural framework and reinforces the fixed nature with commitment to projects of longer duration. The decan teaches us that visibility and responsibility go hand in hand.
Astrologer Austin Coppock names this decan The Spotlight, and speaks of the mask we must wear in the spotlight and the dual role of public presentation and inner authority, showing how our outer image both reveals and conceals.
He says that “many fear the beams, as they should. Yet the practices of those who live their lives there are most instructive. Knowing that it is not the entirety of their being that is on display, those who work under the spotlight craft their appearances, using make-up and costume - tools of the masquerade”
He advises that we must be careful to craft this public persona authentically lest we become trapped behind a mask that doesn’t suit our inner nature.
Kira Ryberg calls this decan “Confidence,” a term that re-centers Leo I’s fire not in arrogance, but in cultivated self-belief. She reminds us that true confidence comes from practice, presence, and persistence, not performance alone. This decan asks you to take yourself seriously enough to show up as you are becoming, not just who you’ve been.
The Sun offers you your time in the spotlight, Saturn, as the greater malefic brings seriousness and a steadying dose of fear, a reminder of the vulnerability of being really seen. Kira Ryberg says that together these planets bring “an aching to be acknowledged for your utter uniqueness and distressing anxiety that someone might see you exactly as you are. It is therefore a place of immense vulnerability and a healthy dose of fear.”
The Wild Way Oracle card from Nicola Allan for Leo I is named Into the Spotlight, with the keywords: Strength of self, Craft your mask, Persona shaping.
We see the Pine Marten stepping cautiously up onto a platform within a clearing in the woods under the beams of the Sun with a message of deliberate visibility. The Pine Marten teaches that the light can be both empowering and exposing. Crafting your persona isn’t vanity, it’s alchemy.
The Pine Marten steps out under the glare of attention, but thoughtfully decides what part of itself to reveal. The spotlight can be harsh, so it’s not about showing everything raw and unfiltered, but consciously shaping your public face so it reflects what matters most. Authenticity here isn’t full exposure, it’s choosing what truly represents your soul.
Tarot: 5 of Wands
In the tarot, Leo I is linked to the 5 of Wands, known as the Lord of Strife. The card shows a scene of five figures grappling with wands, suggesting chaos or conflict at first glance. But when we look closer, it might be rehearsal, or a creative challenge, there is no sign of battle or aggression. This card speaks of testing your skills, sparring with peers, and playful competition that forges strength.
It asks can you stay centred and focused on your own truth amid the noise? Can you channel friction into focused growth?
There is a healthy friction from different ideas and styles competing to see what shines brightest. When we brainstorm, we wait to see what emerges the strongest or most fitting and allow that process to happen naturally. It reminds us that creative tension, rivalry and even inner conflict can fuel growth, helping us discover what part of us can stand out and endure.
The Lord of Strife also reminds us that behind the most polished performances and carefully crafted personas lie hours of planning and endless rehearsals. These receive little light, applause or praise, but are essential for the process. Reflect on what is seen and unseen in your own work? Are you happy with the balance and the final performance?
T. Susan Chang Dreaming the Decans - Flaring Passion
T Susan Chang’s verse in Dreaming the Decans captures the emotional voltage of Leo I, the fiery urge to step into the light and shine, to test yourself against others, and to rise, by choice, work and effort.
In the spotlight, passions flare.Lions pace and rivals glare.All those who strive must feel the heat.The prize for which we all compete…Bank your fires, guard the spark.Contain that which wants to combust,But let whatever burn which must,I am the master of my soul —I forge a diamond out of coal.
This is the essence of Leo I, holding steady in the fire, shaping that pressure into brilliance.
The Astrological Conversation
The astrological sky deepens the nuance and offers further threads to weave.
This Leo New Moon at 2°08’ arrives with Sun and Moon exactly conjoined, as always in a New Moon. The Moon at this time is invisible in the sky, in the Heart of the Sun.
The new moon is in an exact applying opposition to Pluto in Aquarius. This aspect is challenging, casting a long shadow over Leo’s childlike joy. Oppositions are of the nature of Saturn, it is time for Leo to mature. This aspect can bring intensity, power struggles, and opportunities for empowerment. You may feel a pressure to evolve, to release an old version of ourselves so a new one might rise.
You might also find it exposes unconscious fears about visibility, and brings a tension between your authentic creative fire and external systems, audiences or collectives that might judge, review or reshape it. Pluto, as Lord of the Underworld, brings an otherworldly quality, shows us layers of our subconscious, strips away false pride but ultimately aims to empower us.
This tension highlights the Leo-Aquarius axis of personal creativity versus collective belonging. Who are you when the world is watching? What are you willing to stand for, even if it makes you visible?
Retrograde Mercury is co-present in Leo, blending its message with the New Moon. You can see from the graphic below that although Mercury doesn’t exactly return to the new moon degree, it will retrograde back toward it, reaching 04 Leo, suggesting we will revisit, revise and refine how we speak, write, communicate or perform what this new moon inspires and initiates for us. Mercury will be completing this Leo journey of reflection and review, staying in Leo until September.
Graphic Mercury Retrograde in Leo, honeycomb.co and theastrologypodcast.com
You might expect to take a few steps back, experience delays or setbacks for any of your New Moon plans that include Mercurial elements, such as learning, communicating and tech, particularly for creative people, performers, teachers or anyone stepping up into greater visibility. These will resolve, and you will have a more complete basis for your plans going forward.
The Moon and Sun trine Decan Ruler Saturn, now retrograde at 1° Aries, achingly close to Neptune at 02° Aries. This trine stabilises the fiery Leo urge with Aries' directed willpower. Saturn’s retrograde motion and (uncompleted or refranated) conjunction with Neptune suggests this stability is internal, visionary, and under revision and review.
We're not building from a blueprint yet, but from an evolving dream. Saturn here gives structure to inspiration, while Neptune offers imaginative depth, though beware, it can also blur clarity and boundaries, undoing Saturn’s work. This feels like a call to trust in slow growth, even when the outcome is unclear. The Aries challenge is to take that first step without knowing the final picture, but to trust in oneself and the process.
With Saturn turning inward, we might reflect on what must be revised or rebuilt to sustain your creative vision?
The New Moon forms a separating sextile to Uranus at 1° Gemini, who has newly entered into the sign of the Twins. Uranus brings insight, disruption, and innovation. Its sextile is a lighter, supporting aspect that offers sparks of inspiration and breakthroughs, especially in the realm of communication, learning, and networking.
In this mutable place of curiosity, multiplicity, and communication, Uranus brings disruption and liberation, and it quickens the pace of thought, invention, and message-sharing. This spark is filtered through Mercury, ruler of Gemini, who is retrograde in Leo at the time of the New Moon.
This changes the flavour of Uranian inspiration, we may receive sudden insights, flashes of brilliance, or surprise conversations. This time they call for reconsideration, not immediate execution. With Mercury retrograde in the same sign as the New Moon, our self-expression is under review. There’s magic in the message, but we’re being asked to revise, reflect, and refine it before stepping fully into the light.
Altogether, this New Moon is as performative as it is introspective. It is like we are rehearsing a new version of ourselves, facing shadows, drawing from vision, and daring to tell a new story, but the stage is still only being built. What we begin now may take months to fully emerge.
Coaching Questions:
* What are you ready to be seen for?
* What part of your voice or vision deserves a spotlight?
* Who or what do you compete with, or against your own resistance?
Ritual and Journalling
To work and align with this new moon, you may wish to take time to journal about your creative self-image, you may wish to consider -
* What do you want others to see?
* What feels performative, and what feels real?
* Where can you reshape what is shown?
* What your clothes and appearance say about you. Dress for the person you want to show the world, the person you are becoming.
Reflect on where healthy competition might refine your work. What parts of your persona are still a vulnerable work in progress, or are better hidden from the glare, safe behind the mask until you feel ready? You have the right to set and maintain your boundaries, getting clear on them is the first step.
You might also light a single candle as a ritual, naming aloud the parts of your creative self you wish to reveal and the part you choose to protect. You may wish to speak the mantra below from T Susan Chang or maybe write your own. Meditate while gazing softly at the flame and as you do, feel it connect with your own inner sacred fire. Allow each to nourish the other and see what message you receive.
Final Reflection
Drawing these threads together, this new moon asks: What part of yourself are you ready to bring into the light? How do you consciously shape your public mask so it reflects your true creative spark without burning out? This is about how we manage balancing boldness with responsibility, competition with collaboration, and performance with authenticity.
This New Moon asks us to forge identity from pressure, not escape it. With Pluto watching from across the sky, the call is to align personal presence with deeper purpose. Saturn’s brief supportive trine reminds you that this performance isn’t shallow, it’s built on mastery. By the first quarter moon next April, you may feel the first tests of your intention. By the full moon in January 2027, you could see your creative spark fully illuminated.
“I am the master of my soul — I forge a diamond out of coal.”
Let this be your mantra as you step into the spotlight - shine deliberately, burn brightly, and stay true.
Travel well, friends
Sonia
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Please do leave a comment below, I would love to hear your thoughts, experiences or questions.
Chapters
00:00 Embracing the Leo New Moon
04:09 The Moon Family and Intentions
08:55 Leo Decan Insights and Persona Crafting
12:44 The Five of Wands and Creative Challenges
15:05 Astrological Influences and Personal Growth
19:51 Coaching Questions and Rituals for Reflection
References:
AustinCoppock.com The Decans: Images and Applications
Dietrich Pessin Lunar Families III
KiraRyberg.com The 36 Decans
T Susan Chang Dreaming the Decans
The Wild Way Oracle deck and Guide Book by Nicola Allan, @nicola_allan on Instagram & Twitter
