Leo Total Lunar Eclipse:
Orienting to joy

by Juliana McCarthy

Carsten Egevang

Carsten Egevang

January 20, 2019 — A Leo Super Blood Moon Total Lunar Eclipse arrives on Sunday at 9:11pm Pacific Time, bringing powerful feelings of culmination, release, and rebirth. Life could feel particularly edgy as we wrap up an acute two-week period of accelerated change and karmic ripening. We might create gentle space for ourselves now to integrate and process before leaping ahead.

A Supermoon is a Full Moon that falls particularly close to earth, while a Lunar Eclipse is an intensified Full Moon. Energies are high, and we could find ourselves at a breaking point. Uranus in Aries is squaring the Leo Lunar Eclipse, so unexpected events could occur that feel especially dramatic, changing the courses of our lives. It’s important now to call on our patience, returning to stillness before making radical decisions. We can also trust that whatever happens is in alignment with our soul’s evolution.

While we may feel overwhelmed by intensity or uncertainty now, the key is to reconnect with our deepest needs, feelings, and desires. What people, places, and activities most expand our hearts?

This is the last Leo eclipse in a cycle that began in February 2017, so we can think back to that time and consider what we started then that we’re now completing. We could feel a sense of resolution as we graduate from a two-year cycle of growth and release.

How will we move forward offering our talents, creativity, and self-expression to the world in meaningful ways?

At the same time, we might consider what’s been holding us back that is now ready for release. The planets are now giving us a big push to abandon old habits, conditioning, and contracts that no longer serve us so we can create new ones, better aligned with our joy. It may not feel easy, clear, or stable—Uranus is squaring the Nodes, as well as the Sun and Moon. But the planets are ensuring that we quickly rectify our footing, doing away with unnecessary heaviness, duties, pressures, and depression as we reorient our lives and world.

If we feel shaky, we can remember to look to the Moon at 0 degrees Leo to find our way forward—now adjacent to the North Node in Cancer. It’s time to turn to our innermost self for answers. What will lead us to the most personal fulfillment in the long run?

Fear, shame, insecurities, and guilt could feel amplified since they’re ready for release. So much is changing and falling away. Rather than crumbling into self-doubt, we can see this as an opportunity to reprioritize—to let go of our emphasis on achievement, supposed-to’s, and conditioning, focusing more on family, friends, and personal contentment.

On this Leo Lunar Eclipse, may we find the courage to listen to our hearts and our deepest feelings, allowing them to guide our way forward. May we release external pressure, focusing instead on our internal joy and fulfillment.  

My book, The Stars Within You: A Modern Guide to Astrology, is now available for purchase.