A Collective and Lunar Oracle at the Heart of the Lion
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A new Moon has dawned beneath the coiling mane of Leo, as flame met flame in the mansion of fixed fire. On this night, four cards have been drawned by candlelight, the air perfumed with Rose, while the Sun and Moon, those perennial twins, stood conjoined at the second degree of the Lion. The ritual was timed to the exact embrace of these two luminaires, a moment when the heavens echoed the primordial union of royal force and lunar reflection. Such a moment unfolds within the true House of the Fifth, the solar heart of the zodiac, where the Lion guards the throne of creative descent, childhood’s radiance, and the heritage of the Sun’s light. It is a region the ancients venerated, knowing the child and the sovereign dwell as one; the womb of the Solar King, the roaring gate of incarnation.
Present in this royal hall, Mercury retrogrades, weaving riddles ahead of the Sun’s chariot, its feet soon to be kissed by the imminent conjunction of the Sun and Moon. Hermes’ spiral movement thickens the air with enigmas, binding the New Moon’s potential to a deeper process of reflection, review, and return; nothing emerges without first being questioned, nothing shines without its shadow called forth. This New Moon, then, does not simply announce a new cycle; it enshrines the mystery of creative sovereignty and the necessity of descent for true ascent. The flames on the altar flicker in this fifth chamber, revealing the hidden architecture behind manifestation.
The cards, invoked under these signs, form the four pillars of the ritual space: North for the hidden root, South for the mission declared, West for the reflection that completes the circle, East for the gesture that makes the presence tangible. Each is a key, turning within its own lock, under the silent auspices of the One who moves beneath the Rose.
I. North – What Ancient Word Returns Now To Be Heard Anew?
Four of Pentacles – חסד of Assiah; Sun in Capricorn (First Decan); Chauakiah (35) and Manadel (36)
In the North, beneath the altar’s base, rests the Four of Pentacles, a seal of Chesed within the world of Assiah, where the Sun occupies the highest vault of Capricorn. The image is paradoxical: the Sun stands at the zenith, yet in the card it anchors the invisible roots, those sources of stability which permit ascent. This is the light of winter’s noon, stern and crystalline, guarding its treasures within stone and law. The angels Chauakiah and Manadel are present, weaving steadfastness and loyal protection, demanding fidelity to the invisible architecture that undergirds the entire cycle.
The roots feeding this New Moon lie within the gift and burden of preservation. The Sun in Capricorn, enthroned at the summit of the zodiacal sky, illuminates ancient laws, generational vows, and the strict lineage of all that has been consecrated through tribulation. The Four of Pentacles whispers of hidden inheritances, silent contracts, and the memory of the fathers. Nevertheless, by standing in the North, it asks: Which foundations are held in silence, and which are ripe for release? The soil remembers; gold slumbers beneath frost; the name is beneath the bedrock, marking those who serve the altar with a legacy that must neither be squandered nor clung to. It is an ancient word, returning now, requiring to be spoken with care.
II. South – What Luminous Mission Does This New Moon Announce?
Three of Swords – בינה of Yetzirah; Saturn in Libra (Second Decan); Hariel (15) and Hakamaiah (16)
Southward, the Three of Swords descends, drawing its blade across the heart of Binah in the world of Yetzirah. Saturn in Libra presides here, exalted, opening the path of sorrow that tempers love into truth. The angels Hariel and Hakamaiah hold the scales, inviting justice through ordeal and severance. The mission unveiled is luminous only through its capacity to reveal pain and transmute it into clarity.
The image is stark: a New Moon in Leo, calling for sovereign creation, meets the cold discipline of Saturn. The axis trembles, fire crowned with iron. The Three of Swords teaches that every radiant act is cast against the necessity of separation; every new creation is born through a wound that parts the known from the unknown. In this cycle, the mission is neither conquest nor mere celebration. It is the carving of a new order from the apparatus of grief, a solemn offering where the blade shapes the vessel. The luminous task is to serve truth with devotion, to enact love where it costs, to bring the weight of Saturn’s discipline to the revel of Leo’s court.
III. West – What Shared Reflection or Shadow Emerges In This Cycle?
Justice – Major Arcanum VIII; Path 22 – Tiphereth to Geburah; תפארת to גבורה); The Force of Libra
In the West, the mirror is raised. Justice appears, standing between Tiphereth and Geburah, where the radiant heart and the sword of power commune through the scales. Libra’s fixed air presides, calling for equilibrium amidst ceaseless change. Justice and her gaze are lunar and solar, weighing the subtle substance of soul against the visible shape of fate.
The cycle’s shared reflection arises from this place: what is returned is always weighed, what is offered is always seen. The motif of Libra, echoed from the South, thickens the theme. Again, Saturn’s presence is felt, but here transmuted, less as exile, more as impartial necessity. Justice gathers all shadows, offering them to the scales. In this New Moon, the reflection that rises is the collective memory of vows, betrayals, and reconciliations. Partnerships are examined; the past is measured; debts are called forth, not in vengeance but in the silent arithmetic of balance. Each seeker is compelled to see in the Other the echo of their own heart’s truth. The weight of the cycle cannot be cast aside; it must be worn until it becomes light. Justice does not punish; she initiates, she restores.
IV. East – How May One Embody Presence Now?
King of Wands – חכמה of Atziluth; Last Decan of Scorpio and First Two of Sagittarius
To the East, at the portal of becoming, stands the King of Wands, Chokmah in Atziluth, the wisdom of fire revealed through the serpent’s crown. He rules where Scorpio ends and Sagittarius begins, where death is transmuted into purpose, and the arrow is drawn from the bowstring of desire. In the world of archetypal flame, he is the sovereign who acts, the Priest-King whose gesture sets the current in motion.
To embody presence in this cycle is to become the flame’s own signature, fierce and ungovernable, yet answerable to a higher order. The King of Wands speaks through boldness, and the willingness to risk the unknown for the sake of the altar. His scepter is not wielded for personal glory but to ignite the sacred theatre in which the Goddess walks. The King’s throne, alhough crowned, remains always in exile, between the end of what decays and the birth of what burns anew. Presence is not stillness but dance, not silence but song. One becomes witness and actor, bearing the torch through the lion’s gate, a living sign of the Fire that endures. Through this card, the gesture of embodiment is called upon through the willingness to bear the flame, even as it scorches, knowing only those who burn may serve.
Coda – Rite for the New Moon in Leo
As the veil of night crowns the Lion’s brow, kindle a single candle in the hour after sunset. Place before it a vessel of water, a sprig of fresh Rose, and one stone; obsidian or garnet, if found. Invoke the Four Directions in silence, feeling the weight of each. Gaze into the flame until the image of the Lion, crowned, appears behind the eyes. In that silence, whisper a vow to the roots, the wound, the Mirror, and the flame. Anoint the brow with the water. Close with benevolence.
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Fiat Lux.