New Moon in Leo: The Heart of a Lion

This Sunday, August 8, we have a New Moon in the fixed fire sign of Leo the Lion. This quality of time is a portal to higher consciousness known as the Lion’s Gate. This portal occurs every year on August 8^th; it’s super-charged this year due to the fact that it falls exactly on a New Moon. Seeds planted in your life, your heart, your relationships, and your community are extra-potent, and will bear fruit over the next six months to a year, so pay attention.

The energy of Leo has a charge in this life: stand up, stand tall – be courageous. Sometimes, Leo has to roar loudly and fiercely; most of the time, the Lion is content to proudly traverse his Serengeti and take care of his personal pride-community, and the lioness hunts and kills only that which is needed.

Wherever Leo is in our chart we will see where this new powerful fire can come in and ignite our lives. Leo rules the physical heart as well as the back. Pay attention to this part of the body in these days. Breathwork can help the heart center and back body to open up and receive more love and light. Alongside stretching and strengthening practices, it can help keep you healthy.

With so much fear and polarization spreading across the globe it can be hard or downright scary to speak up and out for our personal truth, for what is good and right and true for us as individuals. This is sovereignty – focusing on what we personally need and being willing to stand tall for it, alongside others, with love and respect.

Personal courage is needed these days. With Saturn in rebellious Aquarius opposing this New Moon, we are going to be challenged to hold strong in the face of opposition. Fear may arise, but that’s OK. Leo has courage, remember? Every single one of us has lionheartedness in our astrological charts somewhere.

Remember, courage is fear that has said its prayers. Fear and faith stand side by side. You may be quivering in your body-mind, but your feet will carry you forward and your voice will speak up even if it’s shaking.

Strength - VIII - Major Arcana of the Tarot

Trusting Your Heart: Discernment and Disinformation

In the media and social circles lately, there is much discussion of disinformation. Many alternative health practitioners and doctors are being censored, cancelled for recommending treatments and methods of staying healthy during the current pandemic. Individuals opting for natural immunity methods are being pressured and criticized for their choices. Information regarding access to affordable treatments or medications that may be helpful is disallowed on mainstream platforms. Why?

People are feeling confused, or even numb. Who can I trust? When is a fact a fact? What is going to keep me stay healthy or recover if I get ill? Can I trust my doctor or HMO? Can I trust the government? Why are videos and articles being taken down off of YouTube, Twitter, Facebook on the regular?

These are great questions. But the ultimate question here is, Can I trust myself?

Can you trust your gut? How practiced are you in listening to your own body, your intuition, your dreamtime guidance? Are you aware of your hunches when things ring true? How about when they feel “off” or “Not for me, thanks,” or even “I need more information” or “I need to wait for now”? Have you learned how to listen to your inner voice and trust it, 100%? This is what many of us have been working toward for decades. And it’s a great time to start practicing now if you’re new to other ways of knowing, aka “direct knowing.”

Think of how many times science and facts change over one’s lifetime. Eggs are bad for you. Fats are bad for you. Oh, wait, eggs and fat are good now? Asbestos is a great solution for insulation. Lead paint is the best for houses. Oh, wait, that’s now a hard no? I see, I see… everything changes. Facts are fluid. Information can be presented in a zillion ways. Reality is simply the agreed-upon collective narrative that we are aware of in any given moment. No one ever has the entire picture.

And yet, there is one way to know… And that is, trust the heart. Trust the gut. Trust your intuition. Learn to listen. Have courage. What is good and true and right for you cannot be falsified. It cannot be taken away. Stay present – one must be present to win the prize of direct knowing.

Keep your consciousness connected to the Divine, in Present Time. Because you are not separate from All That Is, whenever you act upon that which is good and true for you, your action’s outcome is going to be good and true for the other when it arises from a conscious and aware space. How could it not be?

There is no need to worry that you will make a mistake. From the perspective of the Infinite, there is no such thing. Rest your consciousness in the Self, as the Self, and know it is all unfolding perfectly.

And at this time of the Lion’s Gate, the portal of Truth and Courage and Strength, feel the natural resonance and strength and love and joy that comes from sovereign confidence. Your positive energy is a force of nature that will carry you, your loved ones, and your global community forth.

Stand tall. With love.

Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary non-dual spiritual teacher, author and guide. A modern mystic with over thirty years of experience, Erin Reese offers incisive, practical intuitive readings to her clients worldwide. She is a counselor, guide and mentor to those seeking an alternative to traditional psychotherapy or business coaching. Erin also offers non-dual meetings and retreats on embodied liberation and freedom from suffering. Visit erinreese.com for more information.  

 

 

 

 

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The author in Varanasi, India on the ghats of the Ganges

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Full Moon in Leo: Your Inner Child Needs You

Konkan Coast, South India

Today we greet the full moon in the fixed fire sign of Leo the Lion. Leo rules the fifth house of the horoscope, the home of love affairs and play, drama and romance, gambling and risks, self-expression and creativity, children, and the Inner Child.

In my recent New Year’s and January 20^th Meditation and Messages online meetings, the theme of the Inner Child featured prominently in the transmissions. It is clearly important in 2021 to stay connected to this part of self, no matter what age or condition they are appearing to us.

This lunation is unstable and potentially volatile with Venus conjunct Pluto in Capricorn, and the Sun conjunct Jupiter in Aquarius opposing the Full Moon. There is a clear conflict in the messages we are being given as a society and the messages that Nature is giving to us. The media and popular leadership are telling us to prepare for normalcy again, to start making plans to travel, to run around, to spend money, to get together with folks as quickly as possible. In short, the input we are receiving is “get busy, get back to normal.”

The pressure in our culture is to go back to where you were a year ago, to get busy, stimulated (and spend your stimulus check), make plans (lots of them).

Well…

Intuitively our bodies and inner children are confused as to what that means. The truth is, there is no return to normal, at least if you've shifted into the new paradigm. Many of us are stabilizing in a completely different reality and it is going to create a ton of stress to pretend to revert to pre-2020 activities and modes of living.

Kushinagar, India

Whether you are feeling hopeful, skeptical, or daunted by the idea of “getting back to normal” this year, there is one aspect of the lived human experience that comes along with you every day, integrated or not, and that is the Inner Child – the young part of self.

Check within and see how she is showing herself to you these days. A cheery five-year-old, a sad seven-year-old, a wailing infant, a cranky toddler, a wistful preteen, a rebellious or brokenhearted adolescent?

The Sun - XIX

The flavor of the age you are working with will not necessarily reflect your memory of yourself at said age. What is important is how the Inner Child is presenting itself to you now. You may have more than one age showing up. I often tend to my five-year-old sensitive and magical Little Erin, but my hormonal, misbehaving sixteen-year-old has been known to make an appearance.  A depressed infant pops up on occasion, as does a confused sixth grader.

An easy way to reconnect to your Inner Child is to commit to spending a half or full day only doing that which they need from you. Usually this is away from the computer, phone, adult duties. You might need to read quietly with your Little One envisioned beside you on the sofa. You might let your little one choose the book or magazine to read, or the movie to watch together. (I recently watched Taika Waititi’s The Hunt for the Wilderpeople which I highly recommend as an Inner Child playdate flick; I’m sure you will have fun picking your own!).

Like Leo and the Sun card of the Tarot, the Inner Child needs time to play, to shine, to be seen and acknowledged. And the most important person to revel in your goods is… YOU. Sure, hamming it up with others in your household or community or job is fab, especially for our extroverted aspects and the part of us that likes to put on a show – Leo’s fave. But even when we are uninterested or unable to socialize or perform, or it is not received, remember that we will benefit most by going within. We are the parent. We can celebrate and revel in our little one’s creations or fascinations – and play along.

Performing with the Inner Child, 2007

Inner children often like to draw, paint, collage, sketch or scribble – badly or goodly as it appears. You might try drawing with your non-dominant hand to let them express themself unedited. Perfection, goals, intentions, and getting it right are blocks and bugaboos, so let yourself go. What is most important is to stay present with the body and feelings, pleasant or unpleasant.

A nation of non-recovered Inner Children is a world filled with Walking Wounded. The Child is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease, whether consciously (through tending to their needs) or unconsciously (acting out). Without paying attention and listening, we have an immature, reactive, cranky, needy, upset, confused self leading the show, and we’re left wondering how it could be so.

With the tumultuous energies in the world right now, it is time to hold on to your Inner Child. Remember it is healthy to allow this part of self to be the Center of the Universe – the leonine Sun. Everything rises and sets on the energy of the Inner Child.

Erin Reese performing, 2007

Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary non-dual spiritual teacher, author and guide. A modern mystic with over thirty years of experience, Erin Reese offers incisive, practical intuitive readings to her clients worldwide. She is a counselor, guide and mentor to those seeking an alternative to traditional psychotherapy or business coaching. Erin also offers non-dual meetings and retreats on embodied liberation and freedom from suffering. Visit erinreese.com for more information.

  

A few resources and books:

• adultchildren.org
  
• Recovery of Your Inner Child, Linda Capacchione (1991) 
• Sacred Contracts: Awakening Your Divine Potential, Caroline Myss (2001)
• Homecoming: Reclaiming and Championing Your Inner Child, John Bradshaw (1990)

Fire in the Heart 🔥 New Moon in Leo

If you’ve been reading my articles, or had a session or attended a group with me over the past few months, you’ll note that I’ve often mentioned the incredible amount of HEAT on the planet right now. Mars’ long journey through the cardinal fire sign of Aries, due to a retrograde, lasts seven months, until the beginning of January 2021. Right now, this is being exacerbated due to a square to the prevailing ominousness of the Jupiter-Pluto-Saturn stellium in Capricorn that is raising hell with all structures, public health, political institutions, and control issues. Need I say more?

I’ve been talking about the heat, the fire, the kundalini shakti being raised all summer. I’ve suggested to my students and clients to stay ultra-aware of their energy field. To manage their internal energy systems with the keenest consciousness. To take responsibility for their own volatility, and tend carefully to what is needed internally and externally. I’ve discussed sex, food, cooling, electricity, anger, and family relations. I’ve advised exquisitely detailed listening to the body, mind, spirit. This is the way of responding and balance. 

As always, and obviously now, we must listen to the finest points of what our souls are asking. We will always know exactly what to do, and when to do it, so long as we are in the present moment. If you are fretting about the future, or dwelling in the past, you are already long-gone, and you will not be able to make any decision with clarity and confidence. This is why I teach Freedom in the Eternal Now and Unshakeable Presence.

Your life is always here, here, here. Nowhere else. (If you need assistance to see through the illusion of future-tripping, or past-melancholy, consider coming to an Awakening Group spiritual talk on Thursday morning, 9am PT. Email me directly for details.) It is vital that you drop into the moment, and embodied presence, if you want to be at peace through this great Transformation.

Things are heating up and will continue to do so over the next several months. Where is the reprieve? It is in your own heart. The opportunity hidden in disastrous planetary, political, and viral upheaval is to bring you back to what is already here, inside of the Self. It is from this place that you are able to make the move you need to make, to take the action that is being provoked, poked, and pushed by Mars’ fire at the moment.

Allyson Grey, Jewel Net of Indra, 1988

At this week’s New Moon in Leo (Tuesday, August 18, 19:42 PT) the Sun and Moon are trining volcanic Mars, and there is a grand opportunity to make a superpowered leap into your next life circumstance. It is vital that you listen. There is always a window to jump through, a hole in the net, a portal. What is it that your fiery courageous heart is telling you? Now is the time to have 100% trust in the Self, and be carried into the next chapter. We cannot sit back and wallow, eating up only what we are being fed from the fear-based collective, no. Go beyond, to that place in your self that is ready to risk it all, to make a move even when it doesn’t make “sense.” Your very heart knows what I’m talking about. Pack light, and make the leap.

I love you,

Erin

The real world is beyond the mind's ken; we see it through the net of our desires, divided into pleasure and pain, right and wrong, inner and outer. To see the universe as it is, you must step beyond the net. It is not hard to do so, for the net is full of holes.

~ Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, I Am That

Erin Reese, M.S. is a contemporary spiritual teacher, author and guide. A modern mystic with over thirty years of experience, Erin Reese offers incisive, practical intuitive readings to her clients worldwide. She is a counselor, guide and mentor to those seeking an alternative to traditional psychotherapy or business coaching. Erin also offers non-dual meetings and retreats on embodied liberation and freedom from suffering.

New Moon in Leo: Using Your Big Voice

Coming down off the eclipses earlier this month (read about them here), so many folks are scratching their heads, after major surprises have flown in the window early July.

Did you experience a tectonic shift? I sure did - and more than one. Surprises were being dealt from the cosmos like a high-stakes poker game. The whole time, I kept saying to myself, thank Goddess I know astrology. And, I know that none of this is personal. I know that this is cosmically necessary, because it is what is happening. I know this is Right. On. Time. And, most importantly, I know that none of this is in my control…

Now that we’ve moved out of the Cancer/Capricorn eclipses, we’ve shifted into Leo Season extraordinaire. Everyone wants to be heard, to be seen, to be acknowledged for their natural shine. This is healthy, even if it seems unfamiliar or out of character. We are tapping into our innate kingliness or queenliness. Royalty. It’s time to use our Big Voice.

Because so much on the playing field has shifted in the past few weeks, we are having to speak our truth and make major decisions involving other people. Leo is a relational sign, ruling the fifth house of love affairs, children, playtime, karma, and – to some extent – an extension of the fourth house of family (small kingdoms/queendoms).

Leo can be hugely loyal when the heart is engaged. We want to express our Love fully, and have it returned and recognized. When we trust and shine our heart-light brightly in relationship, in our personal or professional lives or the greater world stage, and we don’t have it returned, we get glum, feel unseen and ignored.

After the pouting is over, we can use the more evolved energy of Leo season to speak up for ourselves and, in a gentle, non-bullying fashion, explain our perspective and request the needed changes. Feeling the fire of anger or upset is not a bad thing. It’s arising for a reason: the energy needs to come up and out, consciously. Perhaps, take a few days to ride the wave before making a brusque action. You may find that you get the same results, but even better. The change can be made with grace and respect of self and other. (Caveat: if the action or declaration arises instantly, without waiting, that is just fine. No mistakes. Trust yourself.)

As of tomorrow’s New Moon on July 31/August 1, the Sun, Moon, Venus and Mars will all be in the sign of the Lion. This fiery pride of planets will be joined by Mercury in Leo as of August 11. Wherever Leo falls in your chart, this is the realm where you will be called to express your power, leadership and true self, from the heart.

 For example, having this stellium of planets transiting your third house, you will be called to literally speak, teach, or write your truth, interacting with your community in a new, vibrant way – even showy. If Leo falls in your fifth house of fun, put on your party shoes. Maybe you’re dating up a storm on OK Cupid, Bumble, or Tinder. You might be performing, literally, for others, or involved with kids who are self-expressing 24/7.

Leo Season inspires us to use our Big Voice. To feel our power fully, and creatively express it with Love. If you notice others are creatively tooting their own horns, don’t be put off too quickly – that’s healthy pride, self-love and self-respect they’re modeling! Be inspired, and let your own lion’s mane of hair down a little, too. All the world’s a stage, and we are players. You have a part to play, too. We need you, your role is vital and large, even if it’s a one-liner – it’s critical. Show us your stuff!

 

Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, teacher, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.

Eclipsed: Out of the Blue!

Happy full moon, everyone!

This has been a wild supermoon eclipse, filled with ups and downs and all-arounds. I’ve learned over the years of tracking eclipse energy that it’s best to ride the waves, to expect the unexpected, and to enjoy this tumultuous time - just as I would an Oscar-worthy adventure film.

While it can seem a rocky road during eclipse season, it can also herald in wonderful new opportunities and groundbreaking flashes of insight. Uranus, planet of unpredictability and surprise awakenings, squares this Full Moon, adding more jolt and genius to the mix. Yesterday, my partner and I enjoyed an impromptu brainstorming session over breakfast in which we came up with some wild, instant solutions to complex life quandaries – et voila! – just like that! We just had to keep our brains loose, and think bigger. Completely out of the box.

This is the energy in the air. Totally unforeseen answers and miracles and insights and opening doors and opportunities – oh my! Don’t be scared of the total unpredictability and quick changes. The cosmos is making it possible for you to step into your next, exciting life chapter. I’ve always seen eclipses as “the hand of God.” Imagine your life and all of the players and parts as a giant chessboard. The hand of the Divine comes along out of nowhere, and like a quick move, picks up a Knight, Bishop, Queen and… suddenly, you’re on the other side of the board, gobsmacked, wondering how you got all the way over there in a split second! But happier for it!

Beneficent Venus and Jupiter are dancing closely, conjunct at this full moon in horsing-around Sagittarius. These two grandiose planets innately love each other – Aphrodite and Zeus – and they can cook up some mighty exciting, ginormous and inflated plans. But fear not! These concoctions can actually work! They’re super-powered!

Trust in Big Ideas, that come out of seeming Nowhere, right now. Take a deep breath and – whoosh! – you’re squealing with glee like a kid on a bobsled landing in a heap of fresh powder. What are you waiting for?

Taj Hotel, Mumbai, India

Need an intuitive consultation or spiritual counseling session to help you make sense of these times? Contact me here. I look forward to reading for you!

 

Erin Reese is an author, spiritual guide, astrologer, and modern psychic reader based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She works with clients all over the world. For readings and spiritual counseling by Skype, phone or email, contact her directly. She can be reached at erin@erinreese.com.