This month’s special guest Alejo Lopez joins Vanessa Montgomery to chat about all things Leo, classic Leos Coco Chanel and Patty Jenkins, PLUS the new and full Moon, Jupiter Retrograde, Mars in Gemini, and this month’s main cosmic movements so you can plan your month ahead in alignment with the energies unfolding.
Our featured non-profit this month is the National Organization for Women (NOW). As the grassroots arm of the womens movement, the national organization for women is dedicated to its multi issue and multi strategy approach to womens rights, and is the largest organization of feminist grassroots activists in the United States.
Consider joining us this month to donate to their good work in the world at Now.org.
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Time stamps for the topics covered in this podcast:
0:00-0:19 – Introduction & Special Message from Tony Howard
1:50-15:37 – Welcome and Characteristics of Leo
15:38-18:01 – Things to do in Leo Season
18:02-30:51 – Classic Leos
30:52-43:35 – Full & New Moons in Leo Season
43:36-59:58 – Key Signatures of Leo Season
59:59-1:02:00 – Leo Season Mantra
1:02:00— What’s on your coffee table with Vanessa and Alejo
1:02:01-1:08:11 — What’s next?
Transcript for The Cosmic Eye – Leo Season Episode
Tony Howard: This is the Astrology University podcast, helping you find inspiration, insight and connection through the study of astrology. And I’m your host, Tony Howard.
Hey friends, Tony Howard here. And I wanted to jump in really quick before we start the Leo season podcast to let you know that bundle registration is now open for our four year program. If you have been interested in diving deeper into your astrological studies, maybe you just want to learn how to read your own chart or maybe you’re even thinking about what it might be like to become a professional astrologer, then our four year program is designed just for you. Head over to astrologyuniversity.com/program to learn more. Our bundle registration is just open once a year during the summertime between July and August. It’s open right now and bundle registration will close on August 30, 2022 this year. The bundle registration gives you a bit of a discount where you get nine courses for the price of eight in exchange for signing up for all nine at once. If you have any questions about this at all, head over to astrologyuniversity.com/program where you can find just about anything you need to know or you can email our help team [email protected] and they can help you out with any questions that you have. I look forward to seeing some of you join the program this year with a new group of students who are all working through the program at the same time. And if you join us, you’ll meet new friends and engage in this amazing community that we’ve built here at Astrology University. So I hope to see some of you there and now, enjoy the Leo season podcast!
Vanessa Montgomery: Hey and welcome back to the Astrology University podcast! This season on the Cosmic Eye monthly forecast, we’re talking about Leo! All things Leo. I’m your host Vanessa Montgomery from Astro All-Starz, and today our special guest co-host is Alejo López. He’s an astrologer and psychologist and you can find him @liminalcosmos on IG only. And so let’s dive right into the burning ring of fire that is Leo. It’s an interpersonal fixed fire sign. It’s very contained and warming, that beautiful fixed quality, of course, ruled by the Sun. And in the northern hemisphere, you know, it’s just so aligned to the external experience with that beautiful height of summer, it’s so warm, you know, the happiness that it brings out when you’re in the sunshine and actually warm. Everything’s so abundant here in the southern hemisphere. Well, I’m quite north, so it’s still quite lovely. But yeah, we do get the opposite and it’s feeling a bit Aquarian for some people, the cool. The motto is “I express” and it rules, of course, the heart and solar plexus. Some would like to say the hair and I like to say the microphone and the spotlight. It’s certainly the entertainer, the show person, the star and the VIP. And you’ve got a few things written down, Alejo, for Leo as well. How do you characterize the Leo type?
Alejo López: Well, I also think of the idea of summer, I like to eat, and the fun of summer, the idea of going out and being with other people, even if you’re in the southern hemisphere. I mean, Leo still has those traits, right? So I like that idea. I also like relating signs to mythological stories. And for Leo, I really think of King Arthur, and the idea of something within that’s noble, that wants to shine and wants to be expressed in the outside. And that if you find a way, you know, I like how this how these mythical stories sometimes help us understand who we are and navigate through life. And I think the King Arthur stories about that, you know, he’s like, he looks like a simple ordinary man. But instead, actually boy, right? An ordinary boy, but instead he is a king. And when he steps into that role, he gives life back to his land, right? So I like to think about that with Leo, Leo is that moment in which we can find our inner spark, and find what makes us special, what makes us unique, and kind of be honored by embracing it and saying, “Yes, I’m this person. I’m a special I’m this unique person, and I can shine from there and I can share the warmth to everyone else.” And I think that’s something, I mean, I think Leo has this kind of generous, naive quality sometimes, which is like, you know, it’s a sign, it’s kind of a sign of truth. It’s a sign that, you know, I remember The Lion King, when they’re, they’re watching the father’s telling Simba what his kingdom is going to be like, like, he says, everything that touches the light is going to be your kingdom. This is the idea of Leo, light. There’s truth. There’s, there’s power in that. And I love that quality, that’s generous, naive, warmth, that Leo usually spreads out. The other thing I always think about when I’m thinking about Leo is the poem by Walt Whitman, that starts with “I celebrate”, and I think to myself, it’s like, “This is Leo.” Like, I celebrate myself, I think this is special. And we all, we’re all given the chance, even if you don’t have any planets in Leo, I think we’re all given the chance to try to experience that, at a certain period in the year when it’s the Sun in Leo, or maybe when there are some other planets in Leo that’s making aspects to any planet in your chart, you’re given this chance to experience that you can celebrate yourself, right?
Vanessa: Absolutely, and it’s so beautiful to tap into, isn’t it? That’s and you’ve written down (because I’ve Alejo’s notes as well), “that spark of the divine.” I love that. It’s so true, that inner spark, but it’s a yang sign. So it’s about expressing that into the world. And I love listening to different signs and the words they use and how they understand the world. I’ve been chatting to a Leo friend lately, and if there was someone she was looking up to that she respects, one of the words she used was noble, which you used as well, that nobility, with the value, it’s the values that are Leonine and also loves that, you know, knight in shining armor, that regal, noble knight that is on a journey of the Self, but also it’s for the Other, like that idea of leadership is leading for the people, not just like self-aggrandizing, but the highest, you know, role of being that leader and shining is really to spread the light, like you said, I love that, every part of that land that it touches, and it makes me think of that consciousness, you know, ruled by the Sun, being consciousness, whatever your consciousness touches, and you can bring into consciousness is your reality and your lands that you get to rule. You know, you live in a small, dark place and use— It’s a small life, you know?
Alejo: Yeah, yes. And I also like this idea that it’s a light that you can shine, also to touch other people. Like I was thinking when you were saying that I know we were going to talk about Leo characters later. But I was thinking when you were saying that, you know, Carl Jung, he was a Sun in Leo, seventh house. And Liz Greene says he came up with this idea of individuation, like the process of life is to become an individual to become yourself. And she says, like, only a Leo could come up with this concept. And if you read about I mean, if you read him, the individuation is not, it’s not a self-centered process. It’s a process of self-acceptance, but in order, it’s through meeting other people, through the Other, that you discover who you are. So it’s really it has this kind of view, it’s kind of spreading light outside when you become who you are, that will touch other people’s lives. And we’re all going to be kind of reinvigorated somehow.
Vanessa: Yes— great point and great example. Of course, that is hilarious. A Leo, teaching us how to individuate. Perfect. And that’s, you know, that idea of, we all have strengths. It’s just like, make sure your strengths are well placed so that they support you. And he certainly did.
Alejo: Yeah, for sure. And also, when you were saying about the idea of something noble, the nobility in the sense of something noble within, he also was like, “be proud of who you are.” I mean, even, you know, he said something like, “instead of being a good man, I rather be a complete man,” like a whole complete, like to be completely myself. And I like to say also it’s something about the Leo, I think, it’s just like, be proud of who you are. And we all have nice parts and dark, dark areas of ourselves. But it’s also I think, it’s also good to kind of embrace that and to say, well, this is who I am, I’m making the best of what I have, you know, I love myself even if there are some parts of myself that I’m working on improving. Yeah, I also love that part of myself. I think it’s, it’s amazing.
Vanessa: Yes, yeah, I agree too, I agree. I think of like, as someone with lots of fire, but no planets in Leo— neither of us have any planets in Leo— I do have south node, so I have like grand, grand illusions perhaps. But what I love is that ability to express the Self. Like, I’m very Sagittarius and very like up in my head and out in the world. And I’m just like, you know, I’m the last person that would ever write an autobiography (although I don’t mind talking about myself.) It’s different, like I’m interested in furthering, like making my mind go further. And then it makes me appreciate and realize that quality of hang on a minute, you’ve still got to operate from where you are and share of yourself, they really share on yourselves. I feel like they go all in as well. They don’t just put a toe in the fold. They just like dive straight in. And that’s something I really appreciate about that Leo vibe. Loves the crowd, loves admiration, I find they’ve got a really raw kind of animal nature, like the physicality and again, that’s part of like throwing the whole Self in also, like, so acting obviously.
Alejo: Yes, yes. It’s also about this kind of playful nature that they have. They have these kind of, it’s like, in some ways—and now I’m leaving temporarily with the Leo, actually—in some ways, in the way he speaks, sometimes, the way he reacts, you see a child, like you see a grown up child just seeing life as a game, you know, let’s just have you know, this kind of naïveté or I don’t know, yeah—playful. And that’s why I think they can take the stage and they can show because in the end, it’s all a game. It’s like a play. It’s wonderful.
Vanessa: Yeah, very playful. I think, I mean—again, we’re getting to our classic signs later, but Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, he’s very Leo. He can have a joke, he can be serious, it’s like the ego doesn’t get in the way, they will be all the different characters. It’s that coming from a playful place, which is a good tip, and a good hack for people that do need to step out of their ego to broaden their Self or get into something, it’s like, look at it as a game. Look at it as being playful. And the opposite side of that is something I always suggest and do myself, which is look at it as an experiment, which I think is very Aquarius. So that axis is really a place to, in some ways, try different things, surprisingly, or not surprisingly.
Alejo: Yeah, I think so. And I think actually, it is one of the perhaps shadow sides of Leo that sometimes they get stuck in this image that they built for themselves. Because they see that in resumes, they see that people admire them for that image. So, sometimes they get, you know, it’s a Fixed sign. So sometimes they fix the idea of who they are, and they lose this playfulness. And that’s I think, when it becomes more arrogant and more self-centered, like they lose the flow. I mean, I think yeah, I think that’s the, the dark, perhaps, expression of Leo, when we get so hooked up with this idea of, “Oh, I want people to admire me,” and I know what I did last worked. So I’m gonna keep doing this, instead of changing and evolving. They get stuck in one identity.
Vanessa: Yeah, I think so too. And that’s, you know, our pitfalls of Leo and Leo season segments, for sure, that that fixedness can show up. Like, people always associate it with Taurus, but I think they miss it on the Leo and Aquarius. So what is fixed fire, though? There’s the positive, that warmth. And there’s a challenge. Yeah, I like that, not losing that sense of the child and the play and the ego, “Me Me Me” when things are too centered on the Self. With Leo, the need for drama, and creating a scene, like that drama that you’ve got to get through to get anywhere can be a problem. So I guess it’s like, “Okay, what do you really need right now? What are you trying to call in with the drama?” And maybe place that where it’s useful, like, I always think people with Leo children or children that have that need for attention, refine their talent, send them to somewhere where they can work on their talent, so they can get attention for it in a really positive way, and they’re giving something to their audience to attract their audience. And that’s a real positive thing. If they don’t have that, they’ll just, you know, any attention is good attention.
Alejo: Yeah. I mean, I think Leo, if you’re a Leo or if you have a lot of planets in Leo, probably you have a lot of things to say and you need to express a lot of things in order to feel alive. So if you don’t find the channel in which to do it, yeah, probably you start dramatizing everything. And it could be a very creative sign instead. Yeah, so I think it’s fine. Like, I’ve noticed people, I don’t know, this is something I’ve noticed, but it’s, of course, it’s always my own experience. So I don’t know if other people have the same experiences. But people who have Mercury in Leo, when they have to tell a story, they can’t tell you the story, they have to perform it. It’s a performance. Instead of just telling or saying this person came in and this and that, they start acting out, they start acting what happened. I think it is a Leo thing, like they need to, they cannot just tell you something rationally, they need to live it again through their bodies. And I don’t know, I think it’s beautiful.
Vanessa: And I guess I would like to tell a story. I’ll say the last pitfall, delusions of grandeur, which I totally relate to. So let’s move into things to do in Leo season. I’m gonna start with saying classic Leo Madonna’s line from her song, “Don’t repress yourself, express yourself!”
Alejo: Yeah, that’s a good one. Yeah, for sure. Express yourself. I like the idea of self-praise. I think it’s a moment where you can be a little bit more like, see what things you like about yourself and do that exercise. Like, look at yourself in the morning in the mirror. Look at yourself and say, “Oh, I’m beautiful. Look how wonderful I am.” Like, this is the time where you can work on that. What things do you like about yourself? What things make you fantastic? I kind of try to remind myself about that.
Vanessa: Absolutely. And really, you know, I think we’re really primed to hear the negative. So put that extra effort into being conscious about, you know, when someone looks at you and they smile and their eyes light up and what they’re receiving from you, or their impression of you, even if they don’t say it or compliments that you receive, actually and dial it up a bit. Because our brain generally does not compliment. So I’ve liked that in Leo season everyone’s happy. Smile at people and catch a smile back. I love that as well. Create, dance, paint, play, get creative. Roleplay. Get in character. “What would such and such do?” Get into that character and have fun with it. Find your pride. Self esteem is so important for anything. Confidence and self esteem. Do things that build those. Tend to your inner fire. That is part of your inner fire. So important. My second book is on the Sun. It was so fun to write because I was tapping into the Sun. And I looked through a lot of things about self esteem and confidence. And you know, what amplifies your shine and your life force and what dims it. And, you know, that’s all the Sun in our chart. I think that we overlook the Sun for all these little random tangents. And they’re interesting, but at the end of the day, the Sun is pretty central in our life and what that means within each of us. So yes, find your pride. Yeah, Celebrate. Celebrate. It’s a sign of celebration of the Self. And each other. So let’s go on to always a favorite, classic signs. Let’s start with you. Who’s your classic sign for Leo?
Alejo: Okay, so I was, like we were saying before, it’s so hard to choose the famous Leo because there are so many. So I in the end, I chose Coco Chanel. Because, well she’s a Leo, she also has Venus in Leo. And Venus is actually the ruler of her Midheaven. So you can really see it in many, many places, this Leo expression. And she was, you know, she was for what we know from the biography and the letters and everything, from what we know she was quite self confident. She had this idea that she had something to create, something to give to the world. She was born into poverty, like she didn’t have anything when she was born, like she was born into extreme, extreme poverty. And she had this idea that women’s fashion could be changed. And actually, she did change women’s fashion. Like she was the one who changed women’s fashion in France. And, you know, before her people would, women would be wearing all of these dresses that made life very, very uncomfortable and what she wanted was to feel free. So she started dressing up in what, at that time, would have been a little bit eccentric. So everybody would notice her. Everybody saw her, everybody knew who she was. And instead of, you know, instead of being like, afraid of going into places where the high society was, she would be proud. Like, yeah, I’m going to show them how I dress, I’m going to see them. She used to say, “Now, people look at me like I’m weird. They’re going to be crawling under my feet asking me to help them to dress properly.” So she had this conscious that she was being very creative, which is a Leo thing. And she was very proud of being seen and being recognized as, like, a different kind of woman. And she reshaped, she really reshaped fashion. She also used this glamour around her, her warmth, and affection, if you know the story, because she came from a poor family, she had many lovers, she had different lovers. And they were all rich, so she was very clever in choosing her lovers in order to have ways to do what she wanted to do. In the end she got her own, like she created the house of Chanel, so she didn’t depend on them anymore. You know, because Leo, also something we didn’t say, Leo, it’s also about passion, right? And about love and romance. She used that. She used her warmth, and this powerful personality that everybody could see when she was going into a room to seduce men who would pay for her things. I mean, and it’s not a bad thing. I mean, if you think back at that time, you know, 1883, she was born in 1883, a woman didn’t have many choices if she wanted to work, you know. And also, that’s the other thing. The other thing about Leo, that’s proud— she wanted to work, she wanted to earn her own money. Like she used these lovers to help to get money to start her company, but it’s not like she wanted to be “Okay, just pay me so that I can do nothing.” It was “Okay, lend me money, so I can work and I can create.” She wanted to create, she had this vision of what fashion could be.
Vanessa: And she’s able to center herself. Like, that’s one thing I was really looking into with the Sun. Like, it’s about centering yourself, centering within yourself that spark within yourself. And socially and culturally, women have to center themselves around men, like that’s how it’s been set up, you know, so even now, everything’s to the default of “he” and “male” is used as a neutral, but it’s not a neutral, it’s “he” and “male.” So we have to like, we don’t center ourselves, we don’t even think about ourselves. And I think that your story is showing that she was able to do that. And she was able to think, like, center her queendom, like her Empire, from herself. And she would never have been able to achieve what she did if she couldn’t do that. And it’s, of course a Leo was able to do it. It’s a very good example for that reason, especially in the times that she was in. And I love that she like stood out, she had the confidence to be able to stand out, to shine a light on herself, to show up and she had this larger, she had this obviously a grand vision. And I’ve heard some celebrities just talk about “Yes, they are delusional.” Like there’s the grand illusion, but sometimes, you need to have that to achieve something big.
Alejo: I mean, maybe, yes, she did. She was a bit, I mean— it was a world, back then, fashion was a world of men. So it was the men were designing clothes for women. And, like you said, she stood up, she was like, actually, no, I’m a woman, I’m going to start doing this. And she made a difference. But it’s true that her vision, you know, I don’t know if you know, there is this controversial aspect of her. Because when Paris was taken by the Nazis, it’s believed that she collaborated with them. And by what I know, probably it’s because she was like, decided to defend her vision no matter what. So there is an aspect that maybe it’s a little bit controversial, but then again, it’s always easy to judge from here, right? So I don’t know, maybe. But again, and again, this is kind of the dark aspects of Leo, right? Like, when her idea, her vision, her sense of identity gets fixed, she couldn’t give up. You know, she had to actually afterwards, when the Nazis fell, when Paris was recovered, she had to escape. If I remember correctly, she had to escape to the USA because French society hated her. I don’t remember if it was the USA, or where, but she had to escape. Yes.
Vanessa: Right. That’s interesting, because I think of Aquarius, the opposite polarity. And, you know, a dark side can be that “anything for science,” you know, and they lose their humanity. There’s that idea. So yeah, that would make sense. Of course, a polarity is going to have a shadow that is similar in their own way. So let’s move on to my classic sign is Patty Jenkins, and she’s the director of Wonder Woman, one two and the coming three, as well as Star Wars. She did Monster, which was her first one. So she has the Sun in Leo, as well as the South Node and a Mercury Moon conjunction also in Leo. So her Sun’s in the 11th with the South Node, Mercury-Moon conjunction is in the 12th. And I looked up her and Linda Carter and Gal Gadot and the original writer of the Wonder Woman comics just to see what they had in common. And one thing I noticed was she has a Sun conjunction with Linda Carter that played the original Wonder Woman in the 70s series. And Patty’s my age, so we have this cultural reference that’s similar. So I do understand where she’s coming from. And I just thought, “Oh, no wonder she was so taken by, and you know, a lot of us were, the Wonder Woman show and a female superhero.” And so she talks a lot about that, you know, looking her up, but I felt like, of course, a Leo made a character with a cape, that’s a superhero that’s in Wonder Woman. And I’d say capes is very Leo, as well. So I listened to a few interviews and she talks about going for greatness. She says, “Look at what the greatest ultimate outcome is for whatever it is you’re doing. Is it your business? Is it a holiday? Is it touring? Is it something you’re writing? And go for that, get clear on what the potential is, and really aim for that.” And so she gives the idea of her first film Monster, she said it was a low, lower budget, it was meant to go straight to video, but she didn’t make it like that. She aimed for her very, very best. She said, “You’ll never get there. You’ll never get to your vision, but it will get you closer.” So that was a massive breakout. It made a huge profit, because she made it so much better than it was meant to be. And I thought, “That is classic Leo, excellent advice.” I loved it.
Alejo: Yeah, it’s an excellent advice. It’s true. It’s this kind of confidence that Leo radiates like, yeah, and the same thing we’re talking about the nobility like if you do something put your whole heart in it.
Vanessa: Yeah, head held high. I feel like you know, Wonder Woman is super yang, spectacular. Both movies so far have got these incredible entrance. And if anyone is meant to make a great entrance, it’s going to be Leo. So these films do go into it. And, you know, I don’t know what it’s like for the boys watching it, but I know for a lot of women, we don’t get to see ourselves like that, like that kind of opening scene. Like it’s grand. It’s so positive. There’s like all these strong free women riding around on horses. Obviously, the Sagittarius in me was loving it. Like I was trying not to cry. It was just like, we don’t see this stuff. And a lot of times when films hit me like that they are made by a woman because there’s just things that the guys aren’t picking up and don’t represent women as and it was just like so meaningful. So very interesting listening to her talking about it, because I totally got it. So someone stepping in and making this thing, as a creative Leo, that she felt was missing. Love that. So I think it’s also about the hero’s journey, having a superhero leading and representing as a female director, she knew she had to be a hero director for other women in the industry, because there’s only about 20%, I think, directors in the top films, they’re just not getting the jobs. So she’s, you know, we can’t be what we can’t see. So she, as that Leo Sun, is putting it there in her work rather than— also being that herself, but also putting it on the big screen through entertainment telling a story, very Leonine.
Alejo: Yeah, and making something creative out of it.
Vanessa: Yeah. And she says “It’s not easy to be a hero, you do it because of what you believe, not because of what other people deserve.” So again, like, keeping that inner spark and nobility, you just have to do your very best. She talks about new kinds of heroics need to be celebrated, or we’re not going to get there. So looking at what is a hero, there’s many different ways to be heroic. And she also says, which I thought was interesting, about, of course, working in an industry where she does have to be a tour de force to get through as a female director. She says, “If I deal with someone that has a gender problem, that’s their problem. They can keep it on their side of the fence, I’m still going to try to win you over and get you to do what I want you to do regardless.” And that was accepting the Inspire Greatness award. So she says, also, “Just go for greatness.” You know, if you can take anything from you know, her Leo wise words, it’s just, “Go for greatness.” And she says, she sees it all the time that people don’t because they’re afraid to, but you’ve got nothing to lose. So just go for the greatness.
Alejo: I think it’s interesting we both chose— we didn’t agree beforehand— we both chose two Leo women who made a stand in a men’s world. Like Coco Chanel, she made her whole journey in this world dominated by mens’ fashion back then. And like you were saying they were dominating the image that women should have. Now here with your choices, kind of the same thing. It’s a woman that’s also reshaping the image that we hav—not reshaping actually, allowing, you know, giving freedom to express. Yeah, both had a similar perspective in that sense, like they wanted to free women to be able to express themselves.
Vanessa: Yeah. And they’re very centered in their vision. And yeah, yeah, interesting with the clothes much more freeing and liberating. That’s a good point. So the monthly moons, we’ve got a new moon July 28. Eastern Standard. At 5 Leo. It is at 1:55pm EST. In Australia, that’s the next day, July 29 at 3:53am New Moon. It’s only big aspect is trine Jupiter at 8 degrees, which looks pretty good to me. There’s also a grand fixed square at the time which the moon—the Full Moon— will align with. But the New Moon isn’t actually an aspect of that, thankfully. So you’ve written a little bit about this talking about midpoints and Sabian symbols.
Alejo: Yeah, that’s the new moon. Yeah, because I was thinking about— I was looking at this New Moon chart and I was like, “Okay, the only aspect is the trine to Jupiter, which yes, looks great.” Exactly. Like trine to Jupiter, both in fire signs. Looks amazing.
Vanessa: That’s pretty “Go big or go home”, isn’t it? You know, setting that intention on the New Moon for go for greatness?
Alejo: Yes, completely go for greatness. Trust yourself. Yeah, believe in what you believe. Trust your instincts, you have something to share with the world and expand it, show it everywhere. Because it’s like, yeah, it’s like super powerful. It’s very nice. I was thinking what else can we find? That’s why I got into the midpoint. So the New Moon is the midpoint between Mars and Pluto. So if we mix Mars and Pluto, we have this energy, like this intense drive to achieve whatever you want to achieve, probably. And maybe there’s this—yeah, maybe it’s the opportunity to kind of with Pluto to dissect why you have these drives? Where is your energy coming from? Where’s your willpower coming from? And all of that. So if the New Moon is standing there, well, first I think it might be like a very emotional moment. Like it’s going to be like emotions might be felt quite intense. Because also, you know, the New Moon is always a bit subjective. There’s, it’s hard to take a distance because the two lights are together. And then I’m thinking okay, maybe this is the chance to go deep into yourself and find your drives, find this Mars that can give you the stability to put forward your creativity, you know, the Mars and Pluto they are in a trine. So they are both in the earth, in an earth sign because it’s Taurus and Capricorn. So it’s this idea of stability and grounding and being able to keep up with, right? So I feel like this New Moon is that it’s asking us to trust ourselves and to express what we have. And then maybe to kind of okay, go deep into yourself and see what are the real grounded resources that you have in order to push your projects forward? So your vision forward? Because it’s earth, right, so it’s grounding.
Vanessa: I like that. And you’ve got, yeah, will and ambition. I totally think willpower. Yes. And the great ambition, of course, because that Jupiter is in there.
Alejo: Yes, yes, exactly. Yeah.
Vanessa: It’s very quite powerful when you look at the midpoint. And then you’ve mentioned the Sabian symbol as well, which sounds a bit like Coco Chanel.
Alejo: Oh, it’s true. I didn’t think about it. Yeah, sometimes I look at the Sabian symbols. So the Sabian symbol, because it’s in the five degrees, so we look for the sixth degree, right? Because the first degree will be from zero to one. So the Sabian symbol is a progressive and fashionable young woman converses with a rich old lady on the bus. They end by shaking hands, and smiling warmly at each other. So you know, Sabian symbols are just an image and you have to see what this image tells you. To me, what I was wondering is okay, this is about two people meeting, two women meeting, not to mention it. Yeah, it’s true, two women meeting. And one it’s an old women, the other one is a young one. So there is this perhaps, possibility of something that gets kind of renovated or reinvigorated or reshaped in some ways. Perhaps it’s about finding guidance, again, with the Jupiter might be emphasized, guidance from an expert person who has knowledge. And perhaps it’s about creating something new. Like when we meet, you know, we meet elderly people who inspire us, and then we create something new out of it, we don’t copy it. Because if you’re young, you have this energy, you have the Leo energy, you’re bringing something new. So perhaps, is this idea of a bridge node so that we can bring something new by being cautious of what has been done? And actually, yeah, now that you mentioned it, it has a lot to do with the two classic Leo examples that we chose.
Vanessa: Yeah, the way I look at it is also seeing yourself in the future, having that grand vision, where do you want to be? That transpersonal way of tapping into the wise, older you and receiving, you know, that wisdom and knowledge, like tap into that Jupiter trine that comes through, you know? And you’ve written expressing, yeah, expressing who you are to others, finding guidance in others. Yeah, I really like that. And on the bus, it seems like that transit, just in transit, in passing, everyone has a wealth of wisdom to share. Open up to that.
Alejo: Yes. Yeah. Completely. Yes. Yeah, I would say okay, pay attention to who you meet during those days. Because sometimes you meet a complete stranger who tells you like, just one thing, because they’re just passing by, and it might be the clue that you’re looking for to get the inspiration that you’re looking for.
Vanessa: Exactly, exactly. Magic happens.
Alejo: But I love this idea that you said about it’s also about meeting who you are going to be, your older Self, like your future Self. I think it’s a beautiful idea. So I think it might be a good time to ask yourself who you want to be. Yeah.
Vanessa: Yeah, well tap into who you want to be and tap into your future potential that already resides in you. Because you know, that idea of the seed contains everything. That person is already there. So why not strike up a conversation?
Alejo: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. I think it’s beautiful. Yeah, it’s a great thing.
Vanessa: Yeah, love stuff like that.
So the full moon two weeks later at 19 Aquarius, August 11 at 9:36pm EDT. That’s the next day in Australia, August 12, at 11:35am. So it’s part of a grand fixed square. And, you know, I’ve seen traditional astrology come through, and they’re calling it like, it’s at the bending, really at the bending because it’s forming a grand square with the South Node and Uranus conjunct and the North Node and Mars in Scorpio. So big fixed square, I feel like that’s going to be pretty gnarly.
Alejo: Yeah, that’s intense.
Vanessa: Yeah, let me go to my picture of that one.
Alejo: I mean, it looks intense, because the moon is next to Saturn. So it’s not like it’s, there’s also, even if you just look at the Moon, there’s Saturn, then you have the Uranus there. You have Mars squaring.
Vanessa: Yeah, so it’s like, what’s going to happen? Something unexpected.
Alejo: But, you know, I was looking at the— I was looking at— because I thought, okay, because Uranus is in Taurus, and it’s a fixed sign. Maybe these Full Moons have always been squaring Uranus for the past 8 years. So I’ve checked and so Uranus went into Taurus in 2018. Right, and it will leave in 2026. So from all of these eight years, four of them, the full moon is squaring Uranus. Yeah. So what’s interesting is we could look back, we could see 2018-2019, what happened to us, like on a personal level. Because it might be, I think it might give us a flavor of what may happen to each one of us.
Vanessa: That’s a great idea. I think that’s a really great idea. But yeah, with Mars on there, and on the North Node, it feels like it’s more likely to act to really express because then Mars might push it out into a bit more yang. And Uranus is only one degree away from the North Node. So you know, it could be quite impactful and destiny, whatever changes happen at the time, good to be conscious of them, but then it’s square the Sun and Moon, so it might really come out of left field.
Alejo: Yeah, yeah. I think it is something about— we’re talking about identity and who we are and how we shine. And I think it is an opportunity, if you want to put it that way, to reshape/change to find a new way of expressing who we are.
Vanessa: Yeah, definitely. And with so many identity wars going on at the moment—pretty timely, isn’t it?
And Saturn on the Moon. So Full Moon in Aquarius, the polarity, you know, the Self and the audience or the Self and the group, with Saturn on the Moon it depresses the Moon, doesn’t it? And it restricts and limits, but Saturn also focuses and consolidates so perhaps really drilling down into what is your—what is your gift to humanity? Or what is that one thing that you want to contribute? What is that? Your sense of authority as well? And what you really need, like the bare essentials, what is that?
Alejo: Yeah, because I fear that with Saturn so close to the Moon, there might be a feeling of loneliness, you know, when the Moon conjuncts Saturn, usually there is this feeling of solitude and not having your basic emotional needs fulfilled.
Vanessa: And a fear, as well.
Alejo: Yeah, exactly. And Uranus is also involved, I mean, Uraus, yeah, it brings change and freedom, but usually Uranian people, they feel quite lonely, also, they feel not understood. They feel a bit left out of society. So there might be, I mean, on a personal level, there might be this kind of awareness of what makes you different. And sometimes this may feel like a gift. Oh, I’m special. But sometimes it might feel like nobody can understand me. I’m alone.
Vanessa: Yeah, thinking about the backdrop of what’s happening. It’s like everything is getting so specific and walled up, that it’s like, there’s so many options of who you can be. There’s none.
Alejo: Yes, yes, exactly.
Vanessa: Because the Moon needs to be open and the place where we all interconnect.
Alejo: Yes, exactly. And I think it’s one of them. Again, it’s one of the shadows of Leo, like at some point, not, not just Leo, I think it’s the axis Leo-Aquarius. At some point, I think, in the Leo-Aquarius axis, we reach to this idea well, who we really are, if we’re showing this image because we have the audience and because it works with the audience— who are we? Who aren’t we? You know, we go through life, and we have these identities, and we change identity as we go through life. So at some point, I guess we all wonder, “Who am I, really? If I’m not this identity, and then I’m not this identity in the end, and then I’m not this one either.” So I think there might be something of that during this Full Moon.
Vanessa: Mmmm, yes, who am I in society, as well, with the Aquarius opposition. And in mundane astrology, the Moon, of course, represents the people. So there’s Saturn conjunct the Moon, you’ve got that Uranus and Mars square. It seems like, yeah, there might be some repression or sudden changes or new rules, or like the restrictions. Also on the other side of that, again, I just feel like that stepping into one’s own authority, as well, and finding what that is rather than just being like a child and projecting like the mother and father, parental Saturn on to the government and the rules and restrictions, like look at what is right and what actually isn’t right for you. Don’t just go blindly in.
So we’re up to give me the headlines. So key signatures on Leo season. Of course, it starts on July 22 4:02pm. Australia, July 23 6:07 am. You’ve written down the ingresses first, which I quite like so let’s go through those. Starts with the New Moon in Leo. And then we’ve got— which is July 28. July 28, also, Jupiter turns retro at 8 Aries.
Alejo: Yes. So I think it’s a time to— I mean, when Jupiter goes retrograde, I mean, this happens every year, it’s a time to reflect on your vision. Like we were saying before, right? We had the New Moon when you can feel alive and powerful and everything. But then right then, Jupiter goes retro. So it’s a time to reflect on what gives you a sense of purpose. What gives you a sense of meaning. Why do you have —where is this vision coming from? Is it really coming from your heart, like we were saying before, your divine spark. So this, these goals and these, these expectations that you’re creating, are they really coming from your heart or where are they coming from?
Vanessa: That’s an interesting one, isn’t it? That’s really interesting. And you’ve also written July 21, there’s a semi-square between Jupiter and Saturn. But because when it retrogrades it’s going to be repeated a couple of times, so that’s an interesting one just to note on the 21st.
Alejo: I think it’s interesting because you know, the Jupiter Saturn semi square, I mean, it’s a semi square, I wouldn’t necessarily pay a lot of attention to it, but it’s going to happen. It’s going to happen a lot. It’s going to happen three times. So I think, okay, maybe there is something building up, right?
Vanessa: Yeah, just to note, just to note, you know, especially if it takes in personal planets in your own chart. Right? Yeah. And that’s with most of these things. I like how you’ve written when the sun goes into Leo, viva! Can you say that with your accent, please?
Alejo: Viva! The Sun goes into Leo— viva!
Vanessa: I think that we could wake up every morning and into Leo season each day with a viva.
Alejo: Yeah, we should. Yeah. Even if the world is collapsing, we should.
Vanessa: I know, then we’ve got well, Mercury goes into Virgo on August 4. So getting down to very specifics, really the mind focusing the mind and awareness onto what is even useful, like practical usefulness— get to the point. And it refines the Leo. So find a lot of Leo’s that I look up will have some planets in Virgo. And I think that’s probably part of their success. They know how to get that beautiful vision refined and polished and useful for people, in service of people. It’s a very practical combination to come in at that time. As much as, you know, it would be interesting to be in a field of just Leo. There’s some some practicality to it. Then we’ve got the Full Moon on the 11th as well on the same day. Oh, hang on. No we don’t — we’ve got Venus. Venus going into Leo and the Full Moon on the same day on the 11th.
Alejo: Yeah. Which I think it’s also interesting. Yeah, I mean, yeah, Venus goes right into Leo, when we’re having this whole, this whole tension in the world about what’s going to happen on everything.
Vanessa: So that’ll be interesting. Venus in Leo is a very fun, “big hair” placement. So, what, spending money on hair products? Maybe? Yeah, and yeah, going out and playing and meetings. Every time you see your friend- viva! Raise the vibration, celebrate! Celebrate your friendships and your connections. And that’s a way to do it. Like pump up the fire from the heart. Get active, like get yang about how much you love everyone. You know what you will celebrate about them, celebrate your friendships, I think that’s a nice way to just raise the vibration when there’s so much that is quite depressing. And the fear factor is quite, you know, just to pull you out of that and shift that energy if you have been on socials too much. Especially Twitter.
Alejo: Yeah. But I mean, because if we think about Venus has been traveling through Cancer, so it’s more like a homey placement in connecting with the inner world in a real realm and valuing perhaps these kind of more intimate moments, right? And finding pleasure in that which is great. And now Venus is going into Leo, so it’s like okay, now you have, you have found this place of comfort within you. Okay, so now let’s go. Let’s go and share it.
Vanessa: Exactly, exactly. You got everything set up. And now it’s time to invite people over as well. Like be the hostess with the mostest. Yeah. You’ve like, written that Uranus stations—
Alejo: So it goes retrograde a little bit later if I checked it properly, but I think it gets— it stops moving on August 19.
Vanessa: Okay, so Uranus stations at 18 degrees 55 on the 19th. So check where that is because that’s where it’s going to be sitting for a while. Could be interesting. Let us know what happens if you have planets, or, you know, a point— is that your Ascendant? I know that’s one degree off my Ascendant so— Yeah, I’ve got 17 and it’s just going to sit there and then it’s going to rock back into the 12th. So I feel like this is a little foray into direction and what to expect in terms of okay, how do I redirect here? Yeah, bring bring me something left of center, out of the blue, please, Universe, that’s exciting and practical. So August 20, Mars goes into Gemini. Mars goes into Gemini through to March. Yes. So that’s a big deal. That’s going to be in for— Is it six months or seven months?
Alejo: Yeah, I think it’s like six months. Yes. It’s a lot.
Vanessa: It’s a lot. So last retrograde was the big one in Aries, this time in Gemini and it goes from August 20, right through to March 25, 2023. And the degrees it will retrograde from 25 degrees Gemini right back to 8 degrees. So that’s going to be the shadow period or shadow degrees. Yeah. For this, it just starts into Gemini. So it’s on the mutable cross, adapt your action, direction, house, speed, your delivery, I think about the polling in America. And I was thinking about what could that be like Mars in Gemini, the keyboard warriors, the war of words, Twitter’s gonna be interesting. And that’s already, there’s debate about you know, Elon Musk buying it, then he didn’t want to buy it. And now they’re forcing him to buy it. Yeah, you know, cutting with words, weaponized words, maybe acting on your ideas and your words as well would be great. Defending yourself with language. I also thought like, I just realized I have to pay for Zoom now because it keeps kicking me off. And they’ve changed their terms. And I am wondering if it’s like redirecting the way that we, you know, back up a bit, look at what’s out there and make some changes and redirection with what we’re using to communicate.
Alejo: I think it’s a great idea. Yes. Yeah, I think it might have to do also with that, yes.
Vanessa: Yeah. So like I’ve paid for that for now. But like, and it’s all integrated with my booking and everything for readings. So I’m like, oh, that’s going to actually take a little bit of— because I’m not that techy— looking into so I really saw it partly like that. What— how do you see that Mars going through Gemini? Because it’s going to be there for so long, we may as well get really close to what it means for whatever the area of that chart is, Mars is gonna be there for ages.
Alejo: Yeah, it’s gonna be there for ages, I think about the — like the media, like you were saying information, how information is going to be a weapon to attack or defend yourself. And we have been going through a period where information has been a bit, it has been hard to know, to distinguish the good information from the bad one. Yeah, I don’t want to call it good or bad, but like the effective information, perhaps, or the valuable information from the bad one. And I think there’s going to be—yeah, like you were saying a war of words. Or it might be hard to— I think it’s going to be harder and harder to differentiate, what’s the good source of information and what’s a bad source of information. And then the other thing, the other thing I think about when Mars is in Gemini is this idea of Gemini being— having so many faces. So I’m also thinking that maybe it will not be clear, like the course of action may not be clear, we might have to — if we start things with Mars in Gemini, we might have to divert sometimes, or we might have to take several paths, several different paths to get to one place. So I think there’s the idea of multiple action, multiple different courses of action. And sometimes, these may bring a lot of creativity. But I think sometimes the energy gets lost on the way.
Vanessa: And you’ve written— I see your note on this where you’ve said “there might become a time where action might be impeded by thinking” and perhaps that’s good?
Alejo: Yeah, I think so. Especially I think at the beginning because Mars goes into Gemini, while Mercury is about to go retrograde, right. So I think there might be as Mars will be in Mercury’s domain, and Mercury is going to be going retrograde, I think it might be a time to reflect on our actions and to think if our actions are representing our thoughts, like what we — what the way we think, and if we have enough information before we act and all of these kinds of things, which is hard— I think usually, well it depends probably on your chart— but I think most people react and sometimes after we react we realize if we were respecting our thoughts or not like if we thought we were doing or not, right? And I think it might be a time where either we have the opportunity to sit to think about that or maybe we want to act but we are somewhat stuck because we don’t know, we were figuring out what course of action we want to take, we were thinking about it. So there might be a possibility for reflection. Yeah.
Vanessa: Yeah. Right. Multiple, like there can always be two with Gemini, so might be having to take, yeah, at least two courses of action or yes, interesting, and yeah, adapt something. Certainly adapt your actions. Yeah, I think what you said before about yeah, and building also on what I said— that war of words, like that is how, you know Mars being Aries, like the war. That’s what’s been happening. And that’s how other countries have been sabotaging other countries by having all these bots and this false information and getting everyone all riled up. Like that’s so using a Mars in Gemini kind of idea. And perhaps with the retrograde, we can start to understand that or start to choose how to act on the information that we’re picking up like everyone’s been so inflamed and just easily inflamed, maybe we start to get a bit more savvy about how we can be so manipulated by this, you know?
Alejo: Yeah, I agree. I hope so.
Vanessa: I hope so, too. I really do. Okay, so we’re gonna just jump back to when we’re talking about that semi square earlier, Alejo had a good point to make, what was that?
Alejo: So my idea is that when you when you follow the aspects, when you follow the cycles of two planets, on the on when they are in a conjunction is like a New Moon, right? So when you go out in the New Moon, it’s a dark sky, you don’t really see what’s happening. So the same thing happens when you have the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, we all had the Jupiter-Saturn conjunction, at the end of 2020, something began, like a new vision started to be structured, probably we felt a sense of restriction because they were together. But actually, this sense of restriction was the opportunity, not maybe the opportunities to wonderful world. But it was the possibility perhaps, of building a new vision, building a new sense, a new purpose, right? But when it starts, when it’s the conjunction, we don’t really see what it’s about. But when we get to the semi square, usually, we start seeing what it might be about. So it’s like a plant and the conjunction, you put the seed, and you know, you put a seed and you’re watering the earth and you don’t see anything. But when you get to the semi square, a tiny little leaf, this is starting to appear. So maybe it’s an opportunity to start thinking about, “Okay, what plan is what plans what happened in 2020, that got frustrated perhaps, or that got that started kind of taking little bit shape.” And we were not very sure about it. So if you reflect on the end of 2020, and now, and your projects and your goals and your vision, maybe you’re you, you can start seeing what you’re trying to build. And so when we get to the square in a few years, which is going to be a challenging time, you are very much aware of what you want to do. And you can actually defend that you can build that you can you can defend that project. Yes.
Vanessa: That’s a good point. Yeah, like that. I really like following the cycles and looking back gives you so much information. So when you know they’re coming into strong aspect or point, you can look at how that thread has been developing. Yeah, totally.
All right. Well, let’s— there’s no other outer planet to outer planet aspects this month. There’s some nice ones. My favorite is Venus trine Jupiter on the 18th. Venus in Leo at 8 degrees trine Jupiter at 8 degrees Aries. Again, like really great, it’s so celebratory. Great for like meeting up with friends and having a little party. Viva everyone, every time you see them. There’s a mixed bag, as always. There’s Venus then trine Chiron on the 31st. And so yeah, any wounding in friendships will make themselves known then or you know, your sense of friendships and relating and just— check out the good as well as the easy as well as the challenging aspects just so it doesn’t happen to you. And if it does start you don’t go down fighting, you step back and go “actually, there’s this challenge in the environment, what is it brought up?” rather than feed the fire, you know, you can deal with it consciously and get through it without ignoring what has actually come up.
Alejo: I think it may be also a good opportunity to maybe discuss with the people you love. If there’s something that they do that you know— I think it’s important to take it like okay, this what this person is doing to me it’s hurtful, it’s not that this person is trying to hurt me, to me it feels perhaps not nice. So I think it might be a good opportunity to open up because the person with this with this aspect, they might be more open to listen to that and being willing to respect and to try to do something about it. I think it could be nice.
Vanessa: Exactly and same if someone comes to you or you notice something ping but they don’t say anything, you know, yeah, how to self heal your relationship. So the key takeaway and monthly mantra for our next segment, I’m going to say the mantra is “I easily go for and achieve greatness in all that I do.” And that’s basically the takeaway is I’m going, I’m going Patty Jenkins.
Alejo: I love it. Well, I chose one from Carl Jung actually, which I mentioned before. “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” And then the other one from Walt Whitman, “I celebrate myself and sing myself.” Say this every morning. Yes.
Vanessa: Beautiful. It’s very— both of yours are about creating, isn’t it? It’s about creating your own narrative and who you are and doing, doing what you can with that to your ability. Yeah, yeah. Not just like “I am what other people are” like, well, I create myself. That creative force of the Sun, you are literally creating yourself.
Alejo: So when you think about the Sun, I don’t know what you’ve researched for your book, but when I think about the Sun, sometimes I think it’s also— it’s, you talked about the hero’s journey, it’s something that we need to, we need to earn that light. I was talking about King Arthur before, right, he had to go through some tribulations in order to become the king is that we need to earn our Sun.
Vanessa: And we’ve, like, that journey—we both do transpersonal style. So going down into the journey is within oneself as well. Even if you experience in the world, whatever you come up against you have— It reflects on you, you have to look at your ideals and what your own ethics are and who you are and what your ultimate vision is, like follow your own light, like King Arthur’s that story of the Holy Grail. So that’s within, as a Sagittarius I’ve finally worked out.
Alejo: Yeah, no, I agree. I agree completely. Yeah.
Vanessa: So it’s true. And you’ve got to earn it with yourself. And then you’ve got to celebrate that within yourself too. And recognize it, recognize your own light, your own Sun.
What is on your coffee table?
Alejo: I have been reading, actually, I finished a few weeks ago, but I think it goes with this with a Leo Sun, I’ve been reading The Drama of the Gifted Child by Alice Miller. I love it. Because usually—well I’m a psychologist, usually we read everything about how childhood was traumatic for so many people. Why was it awful? But in this case, The Drama of the Gifted Child is the opposite, it’s the idea that— so you’re never safe, you know, you have a traumatic childhood, and it’s a problem, and you had a nice childhood and it’s also problem for psychologists. No, I’m joking. What it says, what Alice Miller says, is sometimes these children who were super loved, these parents, perhaps because they wanted to give them so many opportunities, they actually could not see what was the basic needs for this child. So this child becomes gifted, and he excels in everything he does, because his parents kind of encouraged him, because they loved him. So they gave him every opportunity to express himself. And they actually could not, they actually believed they were giving him every opportunity to express himself. But actually, they didn’t allow the possibility of frustration, because they were expecting so much of him. Because, and in a nice way, like they loved him. So it’s like a person who says, “oh, I want to learn the piano.” And they are seven and they go and buy the piano lessons. Every afternoon, you know, or I want to be a football player. So they find the best club sport where they can where they can play football. So everything becomes serious and everything becomes— and in the end, there’s no room for frustration.
Vanessa: There’s no play, either. There’s so much pressure.
Alejo: Yeah, exactly. Yes.
Vanessa: Oh, very interesting. Very interesting. Flipping that and yeah, it reminds us it’s about balance, isn’t it? You can’t have too much of what seems a good thing.
Alejo: Exactly. Yeah. And I would say it’s also about allowing frustration to emerge, you can be always, you know, because it’s a Leo thing, you always shine, to always be impactful on others. And the gifted child, I mean, he will probably grow— he or she— will probably grow up to be a successful person. It’s kind of people that you meet that they are creative, everything they do is perfect. They look like they have a perfect family. Everything is stunningly beautiful. And if you go down deep, perhaps not always, of course. But perhaps there is this tremendous fear of failure. And it’s not because they were not loved— the opposite. It’s because they were so much loved. That they weren’t—they didn’t feel they had the opportunity to fail. They had to always shine. Which I think might be a Leo thing. That’s why I thought it could be a nice thing to talk about here.
Vanessa: That’s a good point. And you mentioned something along those lines earlier too. Yeah, that can be a real shadow actually. And for parents these days, in the old days, most kids just died. So, they were pretty, just not really investing that much. And now, you know, so many people only have one or two children, small families and investing so much in them. It’s almost like it’s the reverse and it’s too much pressure. So that is something to think about. You’ve got to get bring the playfulness in and bring that space.
Oh, you’ve actually written also The Soul’s Code by James Hillman, who’s very interesting.
Alejo: Yeah, it’s about— I think it’s about finding yourself. That’s why I— I read this one a few years ago, actually, it’s not at all like- I mean, it’s always on my coffee table, because I always go back.
Vanessa: And this yeah, okay. It’s and anything by James Hillman really is pretty interesting.
So on my table, at the moment, I’m reading Invisible Women: Exposing Data Bias in a World Designed For Men, and also by men, it’s, it’s worse than you think, unfortunately. It’s by Caroline Criado Perez, and it’s just full of data. She looks at where it’s been corrected, like when it’s like, it goes from the individual to really big scale, like public planning, and how much extra it costs to ignore half the population. And then when it’s corrected, obviously, places like Sweden have looked through a gendered lens, and de-aggregated, I think the word is, their data to show gender, it’s completely different. And so they’ve gone in, and they’ve redesigned things, taking that into account, and it saved them a massive amount of money. So if it comes down to the dollar, it’s actually better to take into account that the world is half female. And the roles tha— because of the genderized roles, there is a difference. And yeah, it’s really interesting, really interesting. And one of my takeaways from it is actually they’re saying that thing about that gender, by default, is male, and what that actually does, and like— I know it from my own experience— but it’s interesting to see the data, that it doesn’t work, women do read it as male, men do read it as male. And women perform worse on something that’s gendered male. Like if it’s a test, if it’s an application, anything like that, they’re performing much worse, even if in brackets, it says he or she, it doesn’t matter, they’ve still gendered the title as it’s for male. And that’s totally how I feel and a lot of people say “Oh, I just read it gender neutral,” but it’s not. And the data is there for that. So that’s one of my big things about really making sure the representations there and then it was talking about if things are gender neutral, because neutral has been gendered male, it’s not neutral. It’s still male, and people still see it that way. And of course, in astrology that’s quite an issue, as well. So yeah, that’s, that’s been thoroughly entertaining.
Alejo: It’s interesting. I love it.
Vanessa: And in terms of the Sun, you know, it’s not an astrology book, but in terms of the Sun, to me, that’s about the Sun. That’s about being seen, or not seen. Being catered to your needs or not. And being centered. Valued, yeah. Which is Venus, value, but it’s the Sun.
Vanessa: So let’s move to what we’ve got coming up. So head over to astrologyuniversity.com. Click on the event calendar and you’ll see all the upcoming events. July 23 we’ve got Foundations of Financial Astrology with Gianni Di Poce. So this lecture will examine and share the foundational principles of financial astrology, so the individuals may learn and implement the knowledge in their own practice. Mundane rulerships as well as planetary transits and aspects will be highlighted in order to narrow down time bands where markets could reverse or breakout. Then we’ve got July 30, The Telling of Astrological Time, and that’s with my ex-teacher Brian Clark, always quite a pleasure. “Philosophy and physics question the reality of time, the way we commonly accept its flow from past to future sometimes portraying this passage of time as illusory. My intention is to assist us to become mindful of what happens when we participate with timing techniques and symbols. Our journey will visit with some gods of time, some philosophers, physicists and poets, all who have explored its mysteries and synchronicities in order to amplify how the qualitative and symbolic nature of time infuses with our practice.” He’s such an artist and poet. So that’s on July 30. Part two we have of the Transformational Journey of Astrology with Mark Jones. So this is a journey of astrology and the 12 signs. Then on August 8, we have with Kelly Surtees, Chart Interpretation 1: The Planets. So, this is “discover the 10 planets in astrology and explore the power and potential in your birth chart.” Then we have August 13, The Kurios: Lord of the Nativity with Demetra George. This is going into Hellenistic astrology, “the planet was imbued with a mystical significance and associated with the personal daemon in later spiritualizing, philosophical and magical doctrines.” So that will be very beautiful and interesting as well. Aug 17, Intro to Astrological Symbols, and that’s with Tony Howard. “In this course, you will learn the basic symbols necessary for deeper astrological study—14 planetary symbols, 12 signs and 12 houses.” That’s over four weeks, so week 1, 2, 3, and 4 or a longer journey through. Get onto there, have a look at what stands out, you can always do these later, pick up on other ones that are foundation to them or join live, which is, you know, if you’re in the right time zone, because there’s Q and A’s as well, so you can be part of that conversation and connect in, also and deadlines are always, I know for me, very helpful, rather than I’ll do it later. It’s like, well, I’ve got to show up. So what do you have coming up? And where can we find you?
Alejo: Well, because it’s summer, to be honest, I don’t have a lot of things coming up. You can find me on Instagram, my Instagram is @liminalcosmos. And what I will be doing is, well I teach for the faculty of astrological studies, and there’s summer school, which happens at the end of August— the 19th to the 26th of August. So I will be talking there about relationships and modern relationships, especially. Like the idea of polyamorous relationships or open relationships, and how they might be represented in a chart. Also going to be talking about mundane astrology, especially about the Sun’s entrance to the different cardinal signs, Aries and Libra kind of things. And then I’m going to have a—I’m gonna give a talk. So those are kind of courses. But then I’m going to give a talk, which I’m very excited about, which is called the astrology of hope. After all, that we’ve been living through. I’m looking forward to it.
Vanessa: Yeah, beautiful. I love that. And are you doing readings?
Alejo: I do readings. Yes, I do readings. And I also take patients because I’m also a psychologist. So sometimes, some people come because they want to have a reading, but sometimes they want to work on something specifically. And so it depends on what they want to do. We might set like a schedule, we meet every, every month or every two months, or if it’s something deeper that they want to do like self work to discover themselves, like they want to do. And sometimes we do a meeting every every week. So I use Jungian psychology for that. But I also mix it, usually I asked for the chart at the beginning. So I know the chart and then depending on each person how we approach it, but I use Jungian psychology to to navigate that sort of process.
Vanessa: Right, and people can find you through your Instagram?
Alejo: Yes, it’s the best way. @liminalcosmos.
Vanessa: Okay, great. And I have— I’m open for readings myself. And you can do a one off or you can book in for an annual package calling it the Soul Cycle. I’ve got past life regressions open again, I’d prefer to do them in person if you’re near the Gold Coast or can fly me to anywhere in the world. I am ready for that, live for doing one to ones and getting down deep and digging around in there. And also all the Sag is just like “okay, well let’s put some hope in there. What’s great. Build up the confidence.” It’s so important in Leo season specifically coming back to that.
Vanessa: So thank you so much for coming and sharing, that was really great to meet you. I loved hearing your take on these things. And on Leo season and for everyone else. Have a wonderful season of the Sun, get some sunshine, viva, celebrate. And thank you again for tuning in and stay cosmic.
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Tony: Thanks for tuning in to the Astrology University podcast. Study astrology online with some of the greatest astrologers of our time at www.astrologyuniversity.com where we offer webinars, online classes and virtual summits to bring you inspiration, connection and insight through the study of astrology. Take good care, and we’ll see you next time.
