On July 22, two significant astrological events are taking place, one just a few minutes from the other. At 9:33 PM ET, Venus stations retrograde in the sign of the Lion, while at 9:51 PM ET, Leo season 2023 begins as the Sun leaves Cancer and enters Leo. Venus is going to remain in retrograde motion until September 4, and the Sun is going to stay in Leo until August 23.
The energy of the Fixed Fire sign of Leo is very prominent at the moment. As this archetype takes center stage, it illuminates our path toward genuine self-expression, encouraging us to cultivate our relationship to our creativity, to our life force, to our inner sacred fire.
The Sun’s ingress in Leo will be more strongly felt by those of us who were born with personal placements in Fixed signs. Those of us who will be more impacted by the beginning of Leo season will experience an increase in their vitality and enthusiasm, an urge to invest in their creative expression, and a greater desire to channel more time and energy into what they are passionate about.
Venus retrograde in Leo will also be felt the most by people born with planets and angles in Fixed signs, but also by those with significant Libra and Taurus placements, as these signs are ruled by Venus. The individual most strongly impacted by Venus’ shift of motion will have opportunities to find better alignment with their true values, reconsider their relationship choices, observe how they show up in relationships, and revisit their financial life and their sources of income.
Leo Season 2023: Let Yourself Be Seen as You Are
In the Zodiac, Leo represents the stage of growth in which we become aware of ourselves as separate individuals. During the stage of growth corresponding to Cancer, we formed a relationship with our inner world, to the ebbs and flows of our emotions. We formed a connection to our intuition, to our emotional body, we created an internal self-image, we became aware of our vulnerability, and developed protection mechanisms.
The sign of Leo comes after Cancer, offering us an invitation to consolidate the self-concept that has been created internally by externalizing it, by allowing it to exist in the world, by allowing the Self to be expressed, seen, witnessed, and acknowledged. Through Leo, we express what is going on in our inner world, we give a voice to our emotions, we put them on a stage, and we allow our inner experiences to inform and nurture our creativity.
Ruled by the Sun, the center of the solar system, Leo reminds us of our connection to the source of life, of energy, of creative power. Through Leo, we actualize our creative potential and we learn to take space with confidence, without making ourselves either smaller or bigger than we actually are. Every year, Leo season encourages us to shine and to dare let ourselves be seen exactly as we are.
Leo season is a particularly favorable time for romance, art, and all types of creative endeavors. While the Sun is in his domicile, we are being encouraged to remember the power of play, access our passionate nature, and recover our connection to our inner child’s joy, enthusiasm, and lightheartedness.
Leo season 2023: the Power of Play
During Leo season, the Sun’s transit through his home sign supports our vitality, our radiance, our charisma, and our self-confidence, inviting us to work on reclaiming and proudly embodying all that we are. This time of the year brings the spotlight on our journey towards full, authentic expression, and invites us to observe how we are channeling our creative energy, how we are investing our life force.
Leo season represents an invitation to invest more time and energy into what we enjoy doing, into what we are passionate about, into what lights us up and fills us with joy. Following our passion has the potential to help us develop more self-confidence and connect with a clearer sense of purpose in life. The Sun’s square to Jupiter in Taurus, exact on August 6, will offer us opportunities to observe the difference between self-confidence and arrogance, between allowing ourselves to enjoy life and indulging in excesses, between bold, authentic self-expression and attention-seeking behaviors.
This time of the year is also a great moment to allow ourselves more space to play and experiment without putting unnecessary pressure on doing it right or on getting something out of it. Creative experimentation will be a particularly relevant theme around August 16, when the Sun squares Uranus in Taurus. The Sun-Uranus alignment will increase our desire for change and creative exploration as well as our urge to rebel and break free from structures, commitments, and lifestyles that feel restrictive or that are no longer aligned with our truth.
The Sun’s transit through his home sign is also an invitation to reflect on our relationship with celebration, with being celebrated, with being at the center of attention. The Leo Sun is going to trine Chiron in Aries on August 12: around this time, we will have opportunities to heal wounds connected to having the right to exist, take up space, be fully expressed, be celebrated, and be seen in our uniqueness.
Venus retrograde in Leo: Renovating Relationships, Values, and Finances
As Leo season begins, Venus stations retrograde at 28º of Leo. Between now and September 4, she is going to travel back all the way until 12º Leo, offering us an invitation to redefine our relationships with others, renovate our relationship with ourselves and with our creativity, restructure our finances and our way to make an income and refine our alignment with our values.
Venus retrograde is not a common occurrence: this is the planet that spends the least amount of time in retrograde motion. She goes retrograde only every 542 days: the last Venus retrograde period began in the sign of Capricorn in December 2021, and the next one will be in March 2025 in the sign of Aries.
Retrogrades happen when a planet appears to be moving backwards, from our perspective on Earth. Astrologically, all retrogrades invite us to slow down, pause, and reflect. Retrogrades accelerate our process of individuation by encouraging us to turn inward, challenging us to question habitual ways of doing things, and inviting us to rebel from conformity.
Venus retrograde phase always offers us an opportunity to go back to the past to reflect on old relationship dynamics and revisit our relationship history. It is well known in astrological circles that people from our past tend to come back during this transit, giving us a chance to resolve unfinished matters, see things from a different vantage point, acknowledge how we have changed, and make more conscious choices.
Recovering Connection with our Creativity, Beauty, & Inherent Worth
Retrogrades represent an invitation to reassess, redefine, and reshape our approach to engaging with the domains of the planet involved. In the case of Venus, we are talking about relationships, values, self-worth and self-esteem, money and resources, receptivity and sensuality.
While Venus is retrograde in Leo, we are encouraged to question where we are sourcing our self-esteem from and whether our self-worth is too tied up with other people’s attention, validation, praise, and recognition. Our relationship with money, our sources of income, and our way to manage our possessions and resources will be another area of revision and reorientation during the upcoming retrograde journey of Venus. This transit is a time to explore how we can deepen our receptivity, strengthen our ability to manifest and hold resources, and cultivate our capacity to feel pleasure and let love in.
Creativity will be another key theme of Venus’ retrograde through Leo. This transit will offer us an invitation to recover our connection with our creative, artistic, and playful selves, and encourage us to explore and discover different outlets for self-expression without expecting anything in return. Venus’ retrograde through Leo is an invitation to question existing ideas of beauty, deepen our ability to see and receive the beauty all around us, and recognize and celebrate our unique beauty.
Recalibration and Reevaluation of Relationships
Venus retrograde will remind us that outgrowing relationships is part of life: we are constantly reorienting and making choices according to how we have been maturing, to how our needs and values are changing.
Are we setting appropriate boundaries? Are we honoring our needs for both solitude and connection? Are we communicating our needs or silently expecting others to know them? Do our current relationships have the potential to offer us what we desire in the long term? Are we settling because we fear being alone? Are we having unrealistic expectations? Are our standards too high or too low? Do we rely on a scarcity mindset, both in finances and in relationships?
This transit is an opportunity to ask ourselves difficult questions and carefully observe how we tend to show up in relationships and what type of dynamics seem to be repeating in our lives.
Venus retrograde in Leo: Slowing Down and Looking Inward
During Venus’ retrograde period in Leo, we will have the opportunity to see ourselves from a completely different perspective. The Sun and Venus retrograde meet at 20º Leo on August 13. Venus will purify herself in the heart of the Sun, and their alignment is likely to offer us new clues, insights, and realizations about the journey that we have been on and its deeper meaning.
Venus is also going to square Jupiter and Uranus in Taurus for the second time while she is retrograde. The Venus-Jupiter square, exact on August 22 will encourage reflection on the balance of giving and receiving in our relationships, and invite us to ask ourselves whether some of our giving could be transactional. Venus squares Uranus on August 9, offering us opportunities to reflect on how we balance our need for connection and closeness with our need for freedom and change, and inspiring us to break free from relationships and relating models that no longer feel authentic.
As Venus stations retrograde, we embark on a phase of realignment, recalibration, and reevaluation of our relationships with both others and ourselves. We are entering a period of profound introspection regarding our values and our relational needs, and this transit prompts us to look within ourselves before making the necessary changes. Once Venus turns direct again, we will have opportunities to take action from a place of deeper clarity and self-awareness, thanks to the insights gained during this time.
Crystal Pick for Leo Season 2023: Sunstone
As the Sun enters Leo and we bask in all the solar rays, Sunstone is the perfect crystal embodiment of the sun’s light and all the divine consciousness it carries.
The yang to Moonstone’s yin energy, this feldspar mineral sparkles with orange light and harnesses the highest vibrations of Leo-style creativity, enthusiasm, passion and purpose.
It’s an amazing stone to help you align with happiness and joy in your life, to find upliftment and a positive perspective, and shine your brilliant light out to the world!
Crystal Pick for Venus Retrograde in Leo: Rhodonite
As Venus Retrograde in Leo puts the focus on our heart space, rhodonite is a beautiful stone to work with to open your heart to more compassion, acceptance and deep levels of forgiveness.
As you find yourself questioning and reevaluating your relationships and personal value during this transit, rhodonite can help you release old wounds and buried emotions from the past, grounding them into the earth, increasing your sense of self-worth, self-acceptance and self-love to guide you forward.
This black & pink stone is perfect to carry with you throughout Venus’ retrograde spin to mend any broken or wounded places within your heart and create fertile ground for new growth to bloom.
To celebrate the arrival of the Leo Season we present you our new creation! Zodiac Season Workbook has now become our monthly offering. This is a printable PDF workbook that you can print out and work on right away!
It is absolutely powerful workbook that you deserve and must experience – for all zodiac signs, no matter your sun sign or configuration of your natal chart. Don’t think twice, go ahead and get workbook now – get your Leo Season Workbook.
Leave a comment below with what resonated with you the most and tap on the heart if you liked this article.. Happy Leo Season!
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Hello, I’m interested in, If I married on 22 July 3:00AM, is this Bad for our Marriage? officially, we married in 2020, but we didn’t had a wedding, but now we married orthodoxly, and I wore white dress and had wedding too.
The lion illustration is just beautiful! So excited for this time of year.
Thank you!!! I loved this article, it brought deep clarity that helped me understand what I´m going through…. I have Venus in Leo in my astral chart!
Hello, I’m interested in, If I married on 22 July 3:00AM, is this Bad for our Marriage? officially, we married in 2020, but we didn’t had a wedding, but now we married orthodoxly, and I wore white dress and had wedding too.