Full Moon in Leo: Embracing Vulnerability and Soul Direction
The Full Moon in Leo is on February 16th 2022. You will feel this moon most especially if your Sun, Moon or Ascendant falls in the sign of Leo or Aquarius (especially if you’re at a later degree); the other two signs that will feel this moon most sharply are Taurus and Scorpio. However, even if you don’t have any planets in those signs, you could still feel this moon! There are many factors as to why certain moons hit us the way they do. If you’re feeling this lunation, see it as a blessing. It means there is healing energy trying to get to you.
There’s two parts to this full moon. There’s Leo and there’s the North and South node. First, I’ll talk about Leo.
Leo is a sign that needs to be seen. Leos have a way of making themselves the center of attention. Perhaps you’ve seen this in your Leo friends? They have the reputation for being dramatic, self-centered and attention seeking. However, that’s not all that Leo is about. Leo is ruled by the Sun and thus is associated with the King/Queen archetype. There is a natural regality to this sign. We all have all the zodiac signs within us. Each sign is like a piece of our core makeup; some signs are just more emphasized in us than others. Point being, we ALL have a Leo inside us that needs to be seen.
Leo’s need to-be-seenness comes from the place within that understands the importance of putting ourselves out there and singing our soul’s song to an audience that matters. Because it’s one thing to sing the song of your soul alone in your bedroom and quite another to sing it in front of a thousand people, especially if you genuinely care what those people think of you. For Leo, the audience matters. For Leo, the audience is everything. Being aligned with Leo means you have the courage to be vulnerable and put yourself out there for the world to see (and judge).
A Leo full moon can bring up emotions connected to how we are allowing or disallowing ourselves to be seen. This can be a confrontational and uncomfortable sensation to encounter within ourselves. However, allowing ourselves to be seen is essential. To show the world who you are is part of why you came here. Of course, each of us feel this to varying degrees. So, you must ask yourself, how important is it for you to be seen? Is it worth the risk of rejection? Is it worth the discomfort? For some, it might not be. Though, I’d bargain there’s something to be excavated beneath that resistance.
In my opinion (and experience), it’s better to put your whole, honest self out there (an act of true vulnerability) and be rejected than to not put yourself out there at all. Yes, rejection hurts. In the long run, though, it hurts more to never try and thus wonder how things might have turned out. In my opinion, it’s always better to know, because with that information we can then do something different. If we’re stuck wondering, we trap ourselves.
Even a full-blooded Leo with every air of being confident, still must face the raw vulnerability of putting him or herself out on the stage of life. Leo doesn’t have a magical power that makes him or her impervious to criticisms, rather, a Leo knows that the act of courage itself is where the real magic is. Whether you are rejected or embraced, it’s the single act of displaying your honest heart to the world or to another that is the real medicine of Leo.
On top of these general Leo full moon energies, we are also working with the nodes. This activates two things: our soul direction and the habits, beliefs and behaviors that prevent us from getting there.
The lunar themes manifest on the macro and microcosmic level, i.e. the collective and the individual. As a collective, humans (and our world/culture) are being pushed towards a higher expression- a more expanded, evolved expression. We are in the thick of this process as we move deeper into the Age of Aquarius. What this means for us as a world and for you as an individual, is that “the Universe” isn’t going to let you get away with what you used to do. In other words, we/you cannot continue to think, live, behave and exist in the same way you’ve done in the past. Change is being forced upon us with a cosmic sledgehammer and the consequences for not evolving and changing are getting steeper. The stakes are being raised.
Let’s bring this nodal conversation back to you. What are the energies of your north and south node? Each of us has a natal north and south node. These positions are always in opposite signs. The signs of your north and south node can provide a great deal of information for you. Here’s what these placements tell us. (Personal plug: if you don’t know your north/south node you can book a follow-up astrology session with me and we can deep dive together. Book your session here.)
Your south node is your past. It’s the behavioral trap you fall into (and not the good one). Whatever sign your south node is in shows you the emotional, energetic, mental and behavioral patterns you get stuck it. In short, your south node is your comfort zone (again, not the good one). As anyone who has striven to accomplish anything in life knows, success and growth come almost exclusively from getting out of your comfort zone. Which brings me to the north node.
Your north node is your future. You could also see it as your destiny. It’s where you need to go to grow the most. If your south node is your comfort zone, your north node is your discomfort zone. Many people I’ve read birth charts for, know this instinctively. There is a soul level calling towards your north node. Deep down, you know what you need to do. It’s doing it that’s hard. And sometimes it’s easier to ignore it and pretend everything is fine the way it is. After all, it’s easier to stay in what’s familiar. But over time, it will eat away at your spirit. You can’t ignore the cravings of your soul without consequences. The zodiac sign of your north node will give you clues into the energy you need to embrace for your deepest growth and soul evolution.
Because this Leo full moon is squaring the nodes, it could bring up those deep-rooted mental, emotional and energetic patterns that keep you locked in the past. If you keep doing what you’ve been doing, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. This moon could be uncomfortable, as it will reveal these unhealthy patterns very clearly. However, it also offers an incredibly rare opportunity for us to shed some of this energetic baggage.
How to harness this full moon energy? Meditate.
Be still and feel as deeply into yourself as you can. Get beyond the noise of your mind and feel. Be open to seeing the energy and narratives that keep you locked in old patterns (and prevent you from moving forward). Feel into those tender corners of yourself. Sit for as long as you can. Hours if possible. And just observe your breath, body and energy. Don’t try to think your way through this. You can’t. Healing is happening on a deeper level than your mind. As you relax and open, messages and insights will come in. Trust it.
You cannot use your conscious mind to override these subconscious programs. You must learn to get beyond your mind to access these deeper patterns in your body and energy. Be receptive to what you discover. It’s not always comfortable. In fact, it can be frightening and devastating to see the beliefs you hold about yourself. The truth is confronting and often hard to swallow. (*See my post, “Truth as a Spiritual Force” for more on that). We need to meet these uncomfortable truths to heal. This brings me back to the courage of Leo. Only when we have the courage to face our truth (yes, the ugly ones) can we fully embrace the entirety of our being, and only then can we shine the light of our soul in true Leo fashion, radiant in self-love.