Celebrate This Win Before Things Change - Full Moon in Leo

This Full Moon will illuminate the present, but it also does much more. It is offering a glimpse of what is coming next. What is revealed now is not only about recognition or visibility, but could be about the larger story you are being prepared to step into. For the Fixed signs, (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius) this is a foreshadowing of major endings and beginnings that will shake up the slow-moving parts of life.

Burning questionWhat role are you being asked to stand in now, knowing the stage itself is about to change?

How I can help youThis is a threshold lunation. If you sense that your visibility, leadership, or sense of purpose is entering a longer chapter, I can help you understand how this Full Moon foreshadows the eclipse cycle ahead and how it is beginning to work through your chart.

Overview, Let’s look at…

* Journal prompts and ritual

* What a Full Moon reveals

* The nature of Leo and fixed fire, Solar Figures

* Why does this lunation carry a foreshadowing quality

* The Leo Moon Family and who it affects

* Leo II symbolism through decan, tarot, and oracle

* Key aspects and longer-term transits

* How to integrate what is emerging now

Journal prompts and ritual

Journal prompts

* Where am I being called into greater visibility, even if it currently feels uncomfortable?

* What aspect of my identity feels ready to be tested or reshaped?

* What am I proud of, regardless of any external recognition?

* What does leadership mean to me as I move into the next few years?

* What am I already sensing about the chapter ahead?

* Where do I seek external recognition? Could I still be happy without it?

Ritual ideas

* Light a candle and reflect on one role you currently occupy. Ask whether it feels like preparation for something bigger or completion of an older story.

* Write a short intention about how you wish to be seen over the next two years, then set it aside rather than acting on it immediately.

* Place a hand on your heart and take slow breaths, anchoring courage in the body.

What a Full Moon is

Full Moons bring our earthly concerns to a form of culmination or visibility. They reveal what has been growing since the New Moon and ask for recognition, response, or release. This is a peak in the lunation cycle where awareness ripens, and something reaches a state of completion or clarity.

In lived experience, Full Moons may often feel emotionally heightened. They illuminate dynamics we can no longer ignore or postpone. In Leo, that illumination shines in the realm of visibility, authenticity, self-expression and appreciation.

We see the Moon shining brightly in the sky from our perspective on earth, as it is opposite the Sun, and is able to fully reflect the Sun’s light. Nothing is hidden, or in shadow, and this symbolises the illumination of our earthly concerns.

This particular Full Moon also acts as a beacon or signal flare. For some, it foreshadows themes that may become far more pronounced in the months and years ahead.

Leo is fixed, masculine fire

Leo is a fixed fire sign with a masculine quality, but what does that tell us? Leo is ruled by the Sun and brings warmth with loyalty, continuity, and the sustained expression of creative life force. It rules the heart, courage, and the willingness to lead or take up space with integrity.

The Fire element brings vitality, creativity, and meaning. In Leo, fire burns bright with courage, generosity, loyalty, pride and a need to live authentically. Emotions under a Leo Moon want to be felt and expressed.

Masculine or yang signs are outward-moving and expressed externally through actions out in the world. Leo seeks response and engagement with others. Feelings can tend to externalise, seeking reflection and feedback through relationships, audiences, or community, whether positive or negative. Recognition offers feedback, showing where the Leo person's authenticity and identity is affirmed or challenged.

Fixed signs sustain what already exists, rather than initiate events or actions. Leo brings continuity, holding steady to what it loves and values. This gives loyalty and endurance, but can also create resistance to change. At a Full Moon, commitments and identities may feel entrenched and tested, especially if they are ready to evolve.

Together, fixed, masculine fire is asking for wholehearted honesty. Where devotion remains true, the fire burns strong and is strengthened. Where it no longer fits, it begins to burn uncomfortably, maybe sparking and singeing, highlighting the need for recalibration.

With the Moon in Leo, our emotions are focused around the themes of pride, confidence, and the need to feel recognised, whether for good or ill. The Moon’s ruler, the Sun, is in Aquarius, its place of detriment. The way that personal identity has engaged with collective systems, ideals, and futures is illuminated. We may have to find workarounds or manage in an unfamiliar way. Think about why and for whom you are seen, who is appreciating what you are doing, and what that visibility and success mean to you.

Leo: Solar Figures

Ruled by the Sun, Leo embodies qualities of leadership, authenticity and heart-centred self-expression. It is also the place of Saturn’s exile, indicating a challenging yet potentially rewarding environment for disciplined effort and perseverance.

We often see the Solar figures such as Kings or Leaders in society, represented by Leo, as the Central focus responsible for maintaining the metaphorical Light of Summer, even as we know it is fading and must transform into something different as the seasons change and the summer loses its light.

We may see changes in the prominent solar figures in society around this time. Consider what values they represent, are they future-focused and considering the needs of the collective, meeting the Aquarian collective ideal and balancing the Leo - Aquarius axis well?

Lunar Cycles: Monthly, Biannual, and Beyond

The most familiar lunar cycle spans approximately 28 days, moving through various identifiable phases from the New Moon, waxing brighter as it grows to Full Moon and then waning back in visibility.

There is a six-month cycle between a New Moon and the corresponding Full Moon in the same sign. For this Full Moon, the Leo New Moon was in the first decan on 24th July 2025. The Full Moon marks the peak of the arc of growth and culmination.

Astrologer Dietrich Pessin’s concept of the Moon Family in “Lunar Shadows III” illustrates an even longer, approximately 27-month cycle. This creates a Moon Family, a longer storyline in our lives, lasting two and a quarter years.

Moon Family: Leo II

This Full Moon belongs to the Leo Moon Family, a longer developmental arc around visibility, leadership, and creative authority.

* New Moon: 4 August 2024 · 12° Leo

* First Quarter: 4 May 2025 · 14° Leo

* Full Moon: 1 February 2026 · 13° Leo

* Last Quarter: 1 November 2026 · 9° Leo

Moon Families describe stories that unfold over several years. This one began in August 2024 with a seed around self-expression or leadership. By May 2025, that intention met resistance, requiring effort and refinement.

Now, at the Full Moon, the story becomes visible. Recognition, exposure, or clarity arrives. What you see now prepares you for the next phase rather than closing the story.

This Moon Family is especially relevant if you have planets or angles between roughly 9–17 degrees of Leo, Aquarius, Taurus, or Scorpio, or if you have been stepping into more visible roles since mid-2024. The fire signs, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius may also feel this as well as those whose chart ruler, Lord of the Year or Solar Return Ruler is the Sun.

An Astrologer or Astro-coach can help you to identify if this applies to you. You can book a reading with me at CelestiaAstrology.com, and note on the intake form that you want to explore your moon families, or join Celestia Circle, by upgrading your membership. We meet every month to explore the Moon Families in our chart, you will have support and guidance.

Celestia Astrology is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. Join Celestia Circle by upgrading to paid here.

Who Will Feel It Most?

This new moon generally will be particularly impactful for those with strong placements in the fixed signs: Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius, and Taurus. Individuals with prominent placements in these signs, such as the sun, moon, or ascendant, may experience significant new beginnings or opportunities for growth.

Additionally, those with strong angular Suns (Sun placements in the first, fourth, seventh, or tenth houses) may also feel the influence of this new moon.

This is a general example as each chart is unique and you would need to consult an astrologer for an individual interpretation. I am happy to answer your questions in the comments or in a personal astrology reading.

Decan: Leo II The Crown of Laurels

The new moon in Leo falls within the second decan, or ten-degree segment, of the sign, which is ruled by Jupiter in both the Chaldean and Triplicity methods. Whenever there is a double rulership, there is a concentration of the planetary focus, so the benefic energy of Jupiter is very significant here bringing themes of honour, recognition, and the visible rewards of effort.

This decan is referred to as the “Crown of Laurel” by astrologer Austin Coppock, evoking the image of a victor being publicly crowned. This is not the battle itself, but the moment after, when success is acknowledged and celebrated. Austin Coppock notes that this decan brings elevation, fame, and good fortune, but also makes one highly visible. What is raised can be praised, but it can also bring scrutiny. The crown is light at first, then becomes heavy with expectation.

Kira Ryberg emphasises Visibility as the core theme. Leo II is where identity is no longer private. Your actions carry a symbolic weight, and others respond to the role that you appear to embody. This can feel affirming, but it also reduces freedom.

Leo II is the crest of the wheel, where effort meets reward, and identity is illuminated in the public eye. Recognition and success are possible, but they are accompanied by the weight of being seen. This decan asks for dignity, restraint, and inner authority, take care that recognition does not eclipse authenticity.

Jupiter expands its influence here, making outcomes bigger and more consequential. Leo II asks why you are being crowned and whether you are prepared for what naturally follows. What happens when all that applause falls quiet?

The Wild Way Oracle Deck titles this Decan Victory. The keywords are fame and glory, good fortune, and powerful luck. We are given the image of the Lynx on a rock with a frame of trees, wearing a crown of laurels.

The Wild Way Leo II Lynx story tells us that the Lynx has “made it to the top, the crowd is cheering, revel in success, take time to celebrate your achievements and enjoy the applause. Taking care not to become boastful or too proud ensures your victory will continue to uplift those around you. The applause eventually dies down, the wheel of fortune turns, and enjoy your moment.”

Victory in this decan is earned, not assumed. It is a moment to pause and acknowledge effort without becoming defined by it. The Wild Way reminds us that success is meaningful when it aligns with inner truth, it will also move on as the wheel turns yet again.

Tarot Correspondence: The Six of Wands

In the Tarot, the second decan of Leo corresponds to the Six of Wands, also known as the “Lord of Victory.” This card shows a figure mounted on a richly decorated white horse, the figure wears a crown of laurels and carries a wand that is also decorated with a laurel wreath, the crowd raise their wands in acknowledgement.

The card depicts triumph, public recognition, and success after struggle. This Full Moon can also potentially herald a time of achievement, good fortune and a peak on the wheel of fortune.

The Six of Wands marks a moment when effort is noticed. Yet it also asks what sustains confidence once the cheering fades. Under this Full Moon, notice whether success feels steady or precarious.

T. Susan Chang

In Dreaming the Decans, T. Susan Chang writes about Leo II:

The heart of Strength is victory –What was, what is, and what shall be.The crowning object of my quest!To ride the wheel to its crest.

These lines remind us that victory is part of a turning wheel. What rises now prepares the way for what comes next.

Aspects and key transits

The Leo Moon opposes a strong Aquarian stellium of the Sun, Pluto, Mars, Venus, and Mercury. Personal identity and emotion are placed opposite collective forces and future-oriented ideals. You may feel both seen and challenged at the same time.

Mercury in Aquarius is beginning to emerge from combustion, bringing insight back, though clarity is still settling and is hard to reach until Mercury is visible in the sky. Conversations and decisions can now have longer-term implications, even if they feel tentative.

The Moon squares Uranus in Taurus by whole sign and is applying by degree, meaning they are engaged in a tense conversation that could be asking for some action to be taken. Disruptions or insights around values, money, security, or the body may push you to redefine what stability and success mean.

This lunation also carries foreshadowing. The next New Moon in Aquarius will be a solar eclipse, and from August 2026, the lunar nodes begin to move from the Pisces–Virgo axis into Aquarius–Leo. This initiates a multi-year eclipse story focused on identity, leadership, community, and belonging, running through to 2028.

This is also the first lunation since Neptune entered Aries and began engaging Pluto by sextile. A new collective narrative is forming around courage, vision, and spiritual motivation that reaches into the deepest recesses and shadows of our collective ideals and fears. This Full Moon forms a whole sign trine to Neptune with an opposition to Pluto, asking how you find the balance to allow your personal light to participate in that emerging story without being consumed by it.

What is illuminated at this Full Moon offers an early glimpse, or foreshadowing of the themes that will be activated more dramatically as eclipses begin to fall across Leo and Aquarius. It might be wise to pay attention to what is revealed now.

Integration

What to do with this Full Moon:

* Treat external recognition as information, whether positive, negative or neutral, it doesn’t define you

* Notice which roles feel like preparation for a larger chapter in your life

* Strengthen your inner authority before outer demands increase

* Begin loosening identities that cannot evolve with you

This is a Full Moon of preparation as much as it is a culmination.

And Finally…

If this Leo Full Moon or the emerging Leo–Aquarius eclipse axis is activating your chart, you may be standing at the beginning of a significant multi-year shift.

Look at the area of your life that the Whole Sign Leo occupies in your own chart as well as the House that the Sun occupies for you. This full moon invites us to celebrate our achievements, connect with our heart’s desires, pursue our passions, and enjoy our time in the spotlight with confidence.

If you would like support understanding how this longer story is unfolding for you, through a reading, ongoing Moon Family work in the Celestia Circle, or deeper coaching, I would be glad to help you work with what is coming mindfully and consciously.

Chapters

00:00 Illuminating the Present and Future

01:17 Navigating the Full Moon’s Energy

02:47 The Nature of Leo and Fixed Fire

05:18 Themes of Recognition and Leadership

07:16 The Leo Moon Family and Its Significance

09:23 The Impact of the New Moon in Leo

11:55 Victory and Recognition in Leo

13:06 Balancing Personal and Collective Identity

14:37 Integration and Future Themes

16:08 Borealis.mp4 Thank you, please remember to like, comment and subscribe, it really helps!

Travel well friends

Sonia

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