Committing to Creative Rapture: The Full Moon in Leo (February 16, 2022)

This coming week brings us a Full Moon in Leo to remember, not only for its own potency but also for the collective energy of the cosmos.

This Full Moon in Leo, on February 16, is all about self-expression — expressing our Divine Truths. Self-expression can manifest in so many different ways. We can create art, music, romance, pleasure, poetry, love… The possibilities are infinite.

True self-expression requires commitment. When we express ourselves or create halfheartedly, the outcome is never what we desire. On the other hand, when we devote ourselves to our creative truth, it can bring a beautiful lightness and liberty to our souls. We almost have to lose ourselves in the rapture of creation in order to create our “Truth.”

 Self-expression through creativity can also be a beautiful means to express our emotions, no matter the medium — paint, words, color, music, technological inventions, making love, dance… they can all help us express our emotions and our feelings in a cathartic way, especially if we’ve been holding them in.

In my writings last week I briefly talked about the difference between digging in our heels and standing our ground, and using the energy of Mercury, the Sun, and Pallas Athena to do so. With this Full Moon, it feels like every aspect in the sky is supporting this energy of standing our ground, particularly as it pertains to our self-expression.

Before I get into the astrology details, let me share a funny story with you about digging in my heels versus standing my ground. I promise to bring it around to the astrology!

It’s very hot here in Mexico, and so my beloved and I spent the day yesterday at the beach, where the warm Pacific was so inviting. And yet, we quickly discovered that the beach here has an extreme undertow. In some ways it feels like a tug-of-war for my body, where the expansive ocean pulls me one way and the shore pulls me the other.

Sweating on the beach with my honey

As we sat enjoying our fruit smoothies before going in the water, we watched many people get smashed by waves and then get caught in the undertow. As we went in, we told each other that wouldn’t be us.

 Ha ha! Water is always the boss, and the ocean is no different. We quickly had to figure out how to swim without getting pummeled by big waves and then being pulled into the undertow.

What we learned after a few near misses (and direct hits) was that we couldn’t dig our heels into the sand to hold ourselves steady against the undertow. We also couldn’t hold on to each other to keep each other up. I had to stand my own ground, using the muscles of my legs and torso. He had to stand his ground. Otherwise, we both got pulled under.

In the undertow, with the water rushing past our ankles, we could hold hands, but we each had to balance the current on our own two feet. And we had to be just the right distance from the shore so that we were beyond the crashing of the waves to knock us under. We had to go a little “deeper” into the water, then we joyfully surrendered and rode the waves instead of being knocked down by them! Sometimes this meant treading water because our feet couldn’t touch the sand, but we knew the ground was beneath us. We trusted. We felt like kids, gleefully delighting in the refreshment of the water and waves. 

In this way, the waves went through us like we were Aikido apprentices instead of knocking us down and dragging us under. Once you get tumbled through the ocean like a spin through the washing machine or dryer, you don’t want to do it again!

 You may also be finding yourself going along with the current and surrendering, AND also finding the balance within your own strength and sovereignty to stay in your happy zone of swimming and play, rather that getting pulled way out into the ocean.

And dang, there is such an ocean of unrest, sadness, constriction, and shadow in the world. Spend five minutes reading through headlines, and vwoop! Down into the ocean we go. Thus we are being continually challenged to stay “above” it and not get sucked under.

This is where astrology can provide us with the tools and clues for how to proceed, no matter how daunting the journey — and lately, its seemingly daily initiations — may seem. And truly, this Full Moon in Leo is GLORIOUS for its color and creative energy.

The gorgeous, glorious Full Moon in Leo chart

The Full Moon in Leo occurs on February 16, at 10:56a CST/8:56a PST, with the Moon at 27º59’ Leo, and the Sun at 27º59’ Aquarius.

Right off the bat, you can see the fixed grand cross (look for the big red square) between the North Node in Taurus, the Moon in Leo, the South Node in Scorpio, and the Sun in Aquarius. Fixed=stubborn, digging in our heels. It can feel like a karmic log jam. It says, if you start to address your karmic wound of self-expression — and we ALL carry this cosmic wound — everything starts flowing. The longer you’ve been holding yourself back, the more water will start to flow, so you may get wet!

On the other hand, if you don’t take any action because you are stuck in a half-hearted desire or can’t commit to your action, which then lowers your frequency, the pressure to express yourself will continue to pile up, and you may not have a say when the dam finally bursts, which it WILL do.  So much better to make a choice about the action you want to take! Don’t just buy the colored pencils and paper… this Moon is practically begging you to draw (or dance or sing or even have a really LOUD orgasm!!).

Likewise, this Full Moon brings us one of the first yods we’ve seen in weeks, if not months, with Pluto in Capricorn/Mercury in Aquarius sextile Pallas Athena, now in Aries (see my previous blog for more about Pallas in Aries), all quincunx the Full Moon. (Look for the two green lines pointing to the Moon.) This yod teaches us a lesson I mean gives us the impetus to express ourselves and our creativity even when it feels like a challenge to authority, whether that authorities may be our parents, our spouse, our religion, our kids, or the government. Of course, we can be strategic about this, especially when at risk of being censored on social media or YouTube (or even forums like Spotify now). Be innovative in your language, but have the wisdom and courage to express your truth.

The Moon’s trine to Eris in Aries tells us to take steps to courageously engage our inner fire. It’s so much easier to express ourselves when we are full of passion and more importantly, love!

My absolute favorite aspect of this Full Moon is the almost conjunction of Mars and Venus, which will have exacted at 16º53’ Capricorn at 8:28a CST/6:28a PST, 2.5 hours before the Full Moon. And they are just over 2 degrees away from the priestess and goddess, Vesta. What does that all mean?

Mars and Venus, holding hands for the Full Moon

In my writings on the New Moon in Aquarius I used the story of Hansel and Gretel (Mars and Venus, respectively) traveling through the woods not with the witch, but with the fairy godmother (Vesta). The love between Mars and Venus is “innocent” and sweet, childlike even. Perhaps not quite the innocence of brother and sister love, but no one has an ulterior motive. There is no desire on anyone’s part to manipulate to get what they want — which is love, unity, companionship. Their love is pure and uncorrupted by shadow forces. Mars is innocently masculine, Venus innocently feminine.

Innocence does not beget powerlessness. On the contrary, innocence gets us out of our heads and into our hearts! Innocence is about letting go and PLAYING.

What if you brought this divine innocence and the unity of masculine and feminine to your creativity and self-expression? How would that change your expressions, the colors you use, the melodies you sing, the stories you write, even the tone of your voice when you speak? What if, in those moments you were creating, you made your creativity the center of your universe? What if you trusted your own quirky uniqueness as it fits into the whole and let yourself explore your true essence? What if you laughed more, especially when you didn’t get your way, or when something didn’t turn out the way you wanted it to?  

I truly believe that the Divine wants us to live in pure joy, in the delight of laughter, creativity, love, and vitality. This joy holds many of the keys to living in the New Earth. Commit to letting yourself play and create your heart’s desire with this Full Moon in Leo. Anything you create from the love of your heart is by its divine nature in service to the whole and to the future we are creating together.

Stand in your creative sovereignty, and let the waves of the collective move through you instead of knocking you down. YOU are a divine, creative being, and the more you are able to express yourself, the more we can create together.

I love you!