Editor’s note: Astrology isn’t a religion. We’re not sure it’s a science, either. It’s magic, maybe. But, as with feng shui, say, things affect things. So as long as we don’t go blaming our problems on the stars, as long as we assume responsibility for our own actions…well, hell, a little auspicious coincidence and applicable wisdom can’t hurt. And so, with that grain of salt…enjoy!

Author’s note: I’m no expert. So here’s a bit about my process.

I read into what is going on in astrologically—such as Mars moving into Leo, and the sign that the moon is in. I then look at the actual planetary alignments and, using my knowledge about those matters and current events, I combine that with my own practices. I don’t find a lot of this on the internet from another source. My sources are used as background information to help formulate my ideas, but it is not where the bulk of my ideas come from as they are my own.

Editor’s (general) note:

On Friday, August 14^th the lover’s new moon will be in Leo—and we will be driven to pursue the desires of our hearts.

Many follow the phases of the full moon, yet it is in fact the new moon that offers new beginnings.

During this time, we secretly whisper our dreams to the stars in hopes that in a few weeks’ time our wishes will come to fruition.

This specific new moon is about love—romantic, heart-stopping soulmate love.

We’ve been asked to do a lot of self work this year. It hasn’t been a year of easy-peasy decision making—but, if we have been in the trenches, all that work is about to pay off.

During the past year, we’ve been overwhelmed with both life and love and found ourselves confused about what the next step should be.

During July, we were guided to go within. The full moons of truth this month provided bookends to support us in contemplating both life and love. We may have seemingly taken steps backwards. But trust it is all part of the grand plan.

We needed the solitude of July to process everything that has happened so we could ultimately decide where we wanted to go.

Now, August is here—and with it the chance to invite the new beginnings of love into our lives.

The first six months of 2015 were about breaking apart what was no longer serving us—including those relationships we had outgrown.

The next five will be about building lasting relationships with soul mates or twin flames.

The Blood Moon on April 4th launched us into a year that is all these unique romantic relationships. Even if it seems we wanted to hide under a stone at one point, the universe just simply wasn’t having any of it this time.

This time, we had to face all of our sh*t—finally—so that we could be in the place to welcome what is waiting for us into our lives with open arms and hearts.

While Venus is still in retrograde until September 6^th, Mercury has left his place in Leo that he has been in since this phase began. We all know Mercury hampers with communications, and that was no exception while he was camped out with Venus. The first three weeks of this retrograde were difficult because it was hard to express what was going through our heads and our hearts, even if we wanted to.

Directly after the Lion’s Gate 888 Portal peaked (remember there are no coincidences?) on August 8^th, Mars stepped into Leo where Mercury has just left—and that changes everything.

Mars is the planet of power and passion—and he just happens to be Venus’s planetary soul mate. This special meeting of these two planets is sparking some serious soulmate love vibes for all of us.

Love truly is in the air.

We will be able to greet our soulmate into our lives with greater ease because Mars will be quieting our fears and encouraging us to pursue what we desire most.

Jupiter is also spending time in Leo this week encouraging all of us to be as romantically bold as we can muster. Jupiter has come onto the scene to help us to not be shy about our feelings or affection, it is a reminder that, in order to get what we want from life, we have to be willing to act in ways we never have before.

We can’t expect that great love if we aren’t willing to risk everything to go after it. Love isn’t rational, nor does it follow a series of predetermined check points for us to abide by. We’ve been battling our inner critic these past few months, but now we are finally comfortable with what actually is, which will allow us to welcome what will be in our hearts.

During the few days prior to the new moon, we will feel bolder and more confident about our feelings and decisions in terms of love and relationships. We will know exactly what it is we want to manifest in our lives—and the fears that may have held us back at one point will be nothing more than pebbles we kick out of the way as we travel the path to our destiny.

This next week will have us thinking about our soul mate or twin flame, and how best to begin a type of relationship that we’ve never had before. Many of us know who our soul mate is, and if we don’t then we have a pretty good idea of who we are looking for.

More often than not, soul mates and twin flames come in and out of each other’s lives for an extended period of time—almost like a check-up to see if they are ready to join in this lifetime. Sometimes, the souls know that the timing isn’t right, and so they part ways—at least for the time being.

Sometimes, it’s necessary for them to separate for a long time because they know that so much needs to be learned before they are able to be together.

And sometimes, it all comes together: the right place and the right time.

This next week and the weeks following until the emotionally deep super moon in Pisces on August 29^th (more on that to come soon), we will be in the threshold of divine timing. While some relationships may not officially begin until after Venus turns stationary again on September 6^th, it doesn’t mean that there won’t be new beginnings.

This entire year has been about us learning more about ourselves and what we need and want from life to feel authentically happy and satisfied; it’s been about the journey through our soul in order to be in the place to welcome that soul mate or twin flame into our lives.

Now is the point of 2015 when the tides change—no longer are we running from love, or indecisive about what we are feeling. While there may not be a sudden overnight change, the atmosphere is set for all of us to finally be able to welcome our soul mate into our lives.

While being ready is only an illusion of our fears—we won’t have anything holding us back any longer, and will finally be in a place to move forward into the future that is waiting for us.

It’s about being able to spend the following weeks after the new moon looking at life through new eyes—eyes that are clear and focused about what path we want to travel and who we want to travel by our side.

It’s about us finally accepting that there will always be just a little bit of unexplained magic in love and knowing that sometimes the universe really does conspire to bring two people together.

We just have to believe in it.

“Important encounters are planned by the souls long before the bodies see each other.” ~ Paulo Coelho

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Sources:

http://www.moontracks.com/lunar_ingress.html

http://www.astrology.com/article/zodiac-signs-leo-sun-sign.html

http://www.eastrolog.com/monthly-horoscopes/

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Author: Kate Rose

Editor: Caroline Beaton, Renee Picard, Waylon Lewis.

Image: Freeparking at Flickr  < link.