Astral Weather Update: Full Moon in Leo, the Festival of Love, and the Vedic New Year

Learn a simple meditation practice that can help you transform sorrow into joy and enlightenment during this spiritual time

Please note that this and all my other forecasts are based on the sidereal zodiac used in both Vedic and Western sidereal astrology, not the tropical system used by most Western and some Vedic astrologers. All the astrological charts below are calculated according to the sidereal zodiac and Lahiri Ayanamsa.

Waxing Gibbous Moon Phase Leading Up to the Full Moon: Heightened Mental Processes and Emotional Sensitivities

We’re currently in the final days of the Waxing Gibbous Moon phase leading up to the culmination of the Full Moon. This event will occur early on March 7, 2023, at 7:40 AM Eastern Time (12:40 PM UTC). Use the World Time Buddy to convert this to your time zone if it’s different.

Our mental processes and emotional sensitivities are generally heightened in the days leading up to a Full Moon, the day of the Full Moon, and for a couple of days afterward, as well. This is especially true as this month’s Full Moon will square Mars, which can point to conflicts, impulsive actions, or dramatic behavior. Accordingly, it’s important to mind the mind and be cautious.

Full Moon Will Occur in Leo on March 7: Creative and Passionate Energy

The Full Moon of March 7 will occur in the warm-hearted, noble, inspiring, dramatic, and magnanimous Leo constellation, and in the creative, passionate, and fortunate Purva Phalguni nakshatra. According to the late astrologer Bepin Behari, Purva Phalguni symbolizes the "consolidation of the Divine impulse for its materializing activities" (i.e., this Moon has BIG creative power).

This will be the last Full Moon of the winter season (in the northern hemisphere). It is known as the "Full Moon of Anticipation," so this is a good time to follow your heart and dream big!

Full Sap “Sugar” Moon: Setting the Stage for Springtime in the Northern Hemisphere

Some of the traditional names for the March Full Moon include the Crow Moon, Worm Moon, Lenten Moon, and my favorite, the Sap Moon (or Sugar Moon). Maple sugar season is underway in many locales where the sap of the maple trees is collected during the tapping season. This occurs from February to April when temperatures are above freezing during the day and below freezing at night, which makes the sap flow.

Just as a Sap Moon marks the time when the sap of life is rising within all of nature, our life force and mental power will also begin to awaken this month.

The End of the Old Vedic Lunar Year: Preparing for Equinox on March 20, Followed by the New Moon in Pisces March 21, and Vedic New Year on March 22

The Full Sap Moon sets the stage for Spring Equinox which will soon be upon us in the northern hemisphere, on March 20. We are also in the final weeks of the old lunar year, as the Vedic New Year will occur on March 22 after the New Moon in Pisces on March 21. As we wind down the old lunar year, some may feel more tired than usual, ready to let go of the old and begin anew.

Vedic Holika Dahan and Holi Festival, March 7 and 8: Celebrating New Beginnings

The ancient Vedic rishis had a deep awareness of important astrological and natural cycles which they marked by important spiritual festivals such as Holi, which is celebrated around the last Full Moon of the Vedic lunar year. Holi this year will be celebrated around March 7-8 (Holika Dahan on March 7, and Holi on March 8).

Holi is the Spring Festival of Colors or Festival of Love which always occurs for a few days around the Full Moon in Leo every year. Many wonderful legends in Indian culture describe why this is the time for new beginnings in the early-spring season, and why this festival celebrates love and the triumph of good over evil.

Leo the Lion stands for courage, an interesting word that comes from the Old French “corage,” which means “heart and spirit.” So the Leo Full Moon is a wonderful time to contemplate the true meaning of courage as the fire burning within our hearts. This fits with the idea that Holi is a festival of sacrifice, in which great bonfires are burnt so that offerings may be made into the fire of transformation, a very necessary practice as we begin to close out the old lunar year to begin the new!

According to the late Swami Sivananda:

The call to Holi is to always keep ablaze the light of God-love shining in your heart. Inner illumination is the real Holi. The spring season is the manifestation of the Lord, according to the Bhagavad-Gita, and Holi is His heart. (Here is the link to the rest of this wonderful article about Holi if you would like more information: http://www.dlshq.org/religions/holi.htm)

A Meditation Practice for the Full Moon in Leo: Enhance Joy, Peace, and Well-Being

Here is a practice that I like to do for the Leo Full Moon at any time on the day before or the day of the Full Moon.

• First light a fire, incense, or candle(s), and contemplate the flames of the fire for a while before closing your eyes, and then carry the images of the fire into your mind's eye.

• Next, visualize a bright Moon above your head, with sweet divine nectar (soma/sap) dripping down from it into your own inner heart center, transforming your chest into a bright and blazing fire with all the colors of the Holi celebration.

• Once the fire is really burning in you, bow before it and begin to offer it all the impurities of your mind, whatever they are — fear, anger, sadness, conflict, confusion, sorrow, frustration, illness, pain, regret, and so on — and then, allow the fire to transform these impurities into faith, vision, compassion, joy, peace, ease, well-being, gratitude, freedom, prosperity, and whatever else you are hoping to embrace and enhance in your life.

• Allow the fire to burn brighter and bigger until in encapsulates the whole world and beyond, transmuting everything it touches into one divine light. As Swami Sivananda said, “This is the real spirit of Holi. Rise from the mire of stupidity and absurdity and dive deep into the ocean of divinity.”

Happy weekend ahead, happy Holi and a blessed and sweet Full Moon to all, with so much love and light!