Everyone Wants to Be Queen

The Leo Full Moon is Painting the Roses Red

These are princesses made of valour and poison alike and they are here to hold court as your queens. - Nikita Gill

Alice in Wonderland is one of the most iconic children’s literary stories, brimming with side plots of logic vs. surrealism, philosophical ponders and political/social commentary. Written by oddball mathematician Aquarius Sun (and Jupiter and Uranus) Lewis Carroll, Wonderland was published in 1865, immediately praised as a beloved before-its-time work of absurdist fantasy fiction. Wonderland’s themes of consumption (and their trippy side effects) plus game-playing kept the baby heroine in a constant state of analysis while drifting through a labyrinth of riddles and obstacles (and sometimes finding herself right back at the beginning).

In a final test, Alice’s most intense conflict was NOT that of hyper-intellect or mind-alteration; it was battling the fiery temper of the Queen of Hearts.

The Queen of Hearts was, above and beyond all others characters, the most painfully obvious to figure out. Showing her ass in a way no amount of finery in all the world could make truly refined, the Queen was easy to spot as a deeply insecure person regardless of her powerful position. A juxtaposition of diplomacy was disregarded and replaced with intimidation is a prime example of a shadowy Leo theme. Even though the Queen of Hearts is literal royalty, demanding respect, living to lead, she hinges on aggressive vanity, seeking constant validation, can not help but be explosively dramatic and NEVER holds herself to the same standard she holds others.

The hedonistic hunger to be Queen, crowned in the center with spotlight and praise, but with no want for the responsibilities of leadership…

Though the Queen of Hearts was laughably ridiculous at times, her threats of violence were all too real.

I do not even need to note who in major American politics is similar in ridicule/risk right now. The sick system has always been broken but is especially precarious with oligarchs currently influencing the government, hoarding resources and yet wanting to rip away the menial programs that the poorest of people in this country could receive aid through. With no real standard for safety or protection protocol, the people are kept in a cycle of helplessness and fear of what is to come. And we are all Alice, the vulnerable isolated on-looker, reacting to each illogical injustice at every turn, exhausted from one insane overturning and needless tragic decision after another.

The policing of identity and restriction of autonomy that attempts to shove us back into the closet and withholds rightfully deserved resources encourages masses of folks to hide themselves away (literally re: ICE’s manhunt for “illegal aliens”). The Republican Party plans for people to “die off” and will take over whatever is left in the aftermath of mass death, violently expressed in Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people that Trump is now very loudly saying will be a real estate co-venture for the United States. This is all playing out parallel to Nazi Germany, starting with queer and trans people as a prejudice propaganda, one of Hitler’s first physical targets. Our civil rights are swiftly being suspended right before our very eyes.

In the words of Leo Sun and Aquarius Moon Jenny Holzer, “Abuse of power comes as no surprise.”

The vibrancy of Red in the Queen of Heart’s castle, wardrobe and garden signified her intensity and, of course, blood. That white roses would lead the Queen’s subjects to a beheading was a show of what people are willing to do to people-please a monster. Painting the pure pristine petals crimson, a veneer that would lead to the flowers’ toxic-death, was the only save for the servants to avoid their own certain death. The Queen’s need for amped-up shades of “Love” expressed by the extreme hue of Red is doubled by its association with Anger, explored for the Aries Full Moon ala Twin Peaks’ Red Room. Now that Venus is in Aries, a RED-HOT passionate placement, our “wants” are ON FIRE with a Venus AND Mercury Retrograde ahead influencing impulse.

DANGER AHEAD! (But totally got y’all! The Femme Moon’s Spring Venus Retrograde Guide arrives on Valentine’s weekend for paid subscribers.)

Carroll’s Queen of Hearts loved to punish and yet the character was mortified of humiliation, keeping a watchful eye over her Court. Her authoritarian position over others AND process of phishing for praise from her minions was the only way she felt any sense of self-worth. That being said, her worth did not come from her actual Self. She was in no way in control of her own sense of value, stomping her feet with threats in order to receive her “needs” from an endless stream of servitude from others. Any lack of loyalty resulted in scathing punishment, the Kingdom enduring cruelty like clockwork and executions setting an example that no one can cross the control at reign.

In one word, tyranny.

Both the Queen of Hearts AND the Cheshire Cat are versions of Leo at opposite ends of the spectrum, though they can also nod to the Leo-Aquarius Axis itself. The whimsical, creative Cat who coolly shares poems of freedom, encouraging Alice to believe in herself and question reality, a wild card perspective of how to move thru Wonderland, is very akin to Aqua qualities, but the autonomous gentle push to be courageous is at core very Leo. “Not all who wander are lost.” Disappearing in thin Air and then re-appearing when needed, the Aquarian imagination and mind-expansion to the Cheshire Cat was her spirit guide whenever sweet Alice hit a wall, mentally or literally.

The Queen of Hearts is Leo gone completely wrong, a self-appointed sovereign of self-centered insanity who cared nothing about anyone else in her Life. She is the epitome of all the nay-saying around how we can live our fullest, most joyful lives. To protect self-expression meant to confront her, knowing that to do so was a bold move inevitably dragging up drama if not death. Yet that need for bravery in the very end of all the trials and tribulations of Alice’s journey was the crescendo moral to the chaos vortex of Wonderland. The discomfort of stepping outside of our comfort zones and questioning EVERYTHING for the sake of EVERYONE’s well-being, encouraged by the weird Cheshire Cat’s urging to speak up, to learn to advocate for the Self AND for Community, is the true Lion-Hearted path.

How did such a loathsome lady come to represent the Heart of all things?

WHAT: Leo Full Moon

WHEN: Wednesday February 12th, 2024 8:53 AM EST

THEME: Eat Me, Drink Me, but Don’t Overrule Me

It is important to look at some of the major Astrology that is happening during this cycle to understand how this shocking Leo Moon may play.

In cartomancy, the Queen of Hearts is warm and loving, linked with the emotionally-counseled Queen of Cups in Tarot and the Mother of all Signs, Cancer. Mars Retrograde in Cancer, an ill-suited pairing between the War & Sex Planet and the soft-centered Moon Maiden, technically ends February 23rd but its shadow shall stretch into March’s Venus/Mercury Rx between Aries and Pisces. Mars Retrograde in Cancer has influenced our deepest darkest insecurities, cornering us to defend desperation cosplaying as “needs”. Cancer’s shadow side has its claw so tightly on personal “resources” that can degrade and devalue us merely due to loss itself being a trigger.

The fear of being alone should not keep us sentimental about cycles of abuse that were never right for us in the first place.

In the case of the government however, we deserve EVERY resource and I fully believe we are owed that as tax-payers!) On a personal level, Mars Rx in Cancer puts care into curation of inner circles aligned with shared values and mutual respect. This upcoming Leo Full Moon strengthens our inner belief that we deserve environments that are supportive but also will be honest when we need to hear some real-deal shit that will break us free from the chains that bind our minds and souls. We’re often in a crux of having to balance give and take in our own lives and how we handle this echos out into everything we do. You can choose to protect yourself by diminishing your desires and making yourself as small as possible or you can blow-up your Ego to become your own kind of vampire, drinking the blood of everyone and still never satisfied, but there is something in-between that keeps in mind a bigger picture among a pressing personal dirge.

The Leo-Aquarius Axis is speaking loudly and though it will not fix all our problems, it will show us the ways in which we must balance between Me and We.

The Leo-Aquarius Axis at its best does not give a fuck about tradition and it does not accept intimidation, manipulation or degradation.

Desire to be praised can be dangerous, a lofty love potion that overrides the darkest deepest pits of ourselves that are ignored and turned into delusion and/or defense. With the Leo Full Moon occurring just a couple of days before Valentine’s, a time where many want to feel cherished and considered, we are in a lot of ways set up to hurt our own feelings perhaps projecting it onto others. If curious like little Alice, the Full Moon in Leo implores us to step up and ask questions to move forward instead of biting our tongue and being left in the dark, simmering with fear and eventually resentment. With Venusian subject matter on theme and Sun-ruled Leo in the spotlight, the Full Moon in Leo presses on what it is to be Queen in our own lives.

And yet one Astro aspect will create extreme shock-waves that will shake us to the core either collectively or individually or at worst, both.