It’s the first full moon of the calendar year! For me personally, this one is intense AF. Even though I have been working with the moon for years now, when I come to writing up these posts I still have these moments where I’m like “ooooh that is exactly what
I’m going through, no wonder I feel so (in this instance) fierce.
You might not be feeling these energies as powerfully as I am. That’s cool, I find it helpful to share my personal experiences and feelings and I am half Leo so erm…hear me roar?!
I’ve been working on embracing myself as a whole, identifying my needs and learning to express them. This is opening up a whole bunch of things I’ve supressed over the years mostly to do with putting the needs of others before my own. I’ve been struggling with expressing them appropriately. It’s new for me and I am discovering I am angry! Angry with myself for not learning this sooner. Angry at the systemic oppression I am now having to unpick. Angry that toxic gender roles created a rift in me (not to mention everyone else) which stopped me from being my most awesome self. How does one express wants, needs and emotions when being ‘overly emotional’ is unacceptable to society? How do I embrace my fire side and my rage without burning everything in my path?
Well, this full moon is here to teach me just that. Leo energy is all about confidence, strength and power. Ruled by the Sun, it brings ignition, illumination and passion. Sometimes arrogance and pride come too but I will not be focusing on the negative traits today. Yes, we should be wary of becoming arrogant or prideful, allowing ourselves to go too far with it. But, for many of us we have been taught to be so fearful of becoming these things we dismiss all the positive growth that comes from exploring our lion/lioness selves. We dim our light so as not to frighten others. Maybe some others should be frightened, or they probably already are which is why they want us to be tame little kitties. I wrote piece on confidence vs arrogance that relates to this, you can find it here and I won’t repeat the same rant now.
The Leo full moon encourages us to stand and fight for what is important to us. For me that means exploring what it is first. I will admit there is a conflict in me; I have needs and wants I have never felt allowed to explore, let alone express, I also don’t want to be an arsehole about it.
This fiery, feisty energy is enhanced further as the Moon sits partile (in the same degree) with the expansive energies of Jupiter. Perhaps this is why it feels so unavoidable. It can’t be dimmed or muffled. Jupiter’s expansive abundant energies are hyping up the Leo ones. Jupiter also brings understanding; understanding leads to healing when we are open to it.
Full Moon’s are portals for releasing what no longer serves you and Leo is saying to me that holding myself back; making myself smaller, quieter for the sake of others will not serve me moving forwards. This means not only do I have to step it up, I also have to forgive myself for the times I didn’t. The person who fell into line and allowed herself to be tamed because she was afraid. Afraid of being ‘too much’ (I have a rant on that too actually, you can find it here), afraid that if I allowed myself to be the lioness I would frighten others away. Or (I fucking love metaphors) bite the head off a villager and find myself hunted, chased out of my territory.
In order to be the lioness I want to be; I have to heal the wounds that made me believe I was anything less than that in the first place. I’m not saying I’m going to go full predator and start tearing people to shreds. After all, lions live in family groups, they work together and can be gentle souls; I aim to embrace both and communicate both appropriately…it will take practice and I will not always get it right.
There is an awakening happening, many of us feel it. The way we were before will not serve us anymore. We are being pushed to grow (ouch), to stand up and be loud about what is right for us and what we need. Leo, with help from Jupiter, is here to give us the strength to do just that, to challenge the old way of doing things and ask why must it be this way? Does it serve me? What are my needs? How can I express them better? What do I need to let go of/forgive to embrace those things? and on the flip side; have I been too forceful? Have I shouted others down unnecessarily? Trying to strike a balance between the two is not easy. And it is still only January…fuuuuuuuck.
The full moon in January is known as the wolf moon (aka the hunger moon, the old moon and the ice moon) it indicates that we are on the increase from Yule but winter isn’t over yet. Our ancestors would have been feeling the pinch in terms of food reserves and the weather is still unpleasant but, with Imbolc around the corner we are in the stirring time, the time of awakening. What is being stirred within you I wonder? Is it, like me, a call to step into your power? Perhaps it is a call to be kinder, or to address your ego (another Leo trait). Perhaps you already embody the lion but you have been acting from a place of fear or old triggers.
To sum up: This Full moon might have you feeling all beastly, It might be pushing you to take a stand, to roar,and that is great. It is also important that we allow ourselves time to heal, to lick those wounds and to remember we are not alone. Allow yourself to be supported. Forgive yourself, and others for shying away from the challenges before. It is where you are now that matters.
As always I recommend using divination to help you identify what that may be (look on my insta for tarot spreads). You can find a basic Full Moon releasing ritual to support you here. but most importantly of all; do what is right for you; you now, in honour of who you were before, those who came before you and those who will come after. Embrace yourself Darling, all of yourself.
If you have any questions or just want to chat to other witches about their experiences, feel free to do so in the comments section below.
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Peace out witches!
Love Kate xxx
The Life,Musings and Experiences of a Modern Witch 