The Real Lion's Gate Portal: Welcome back to eclipse season

Hi Friends,

It’s that time again!

Eclipses introduce new storylines, new themes, and even new people into your life, realigning you with your true destiny. This period is highly karmic, with fate taking the wheel.

If you’ve been reading my articles over the past few months, you’ll know I’ve been trying to prepare you for how much change was to come.

I told you in this article from June that by the end of July you’ll have a completely different outlook and perspective on life.

Then I discussed this very rare configuration between the outer planets that I described as the beginning of a much bigger collective shift.

Then I told you that the next 18 months will change the course of your life—the lunar nodes moved into Leo and Aquarius, changing the direction of our eclipse story. Side note: this actually ended up being one of my most favourite articles I’ve written in a long time because it was essentially 2 in 1 with how much astrology I had to try and pack in! I’d highly recommend reading this first, before continuing with this piece as it sets the scene—especially if you aren’t familiar with the nodes.

Finally, in last week’s article, I explained how the Lion’s Gate portal or 8/8 was new age spiritualism and holds no astrological significance. That instead, you should be focusing on the arrival of the eclipse—the real Lion’s portal, since this is taking place in the sign of Leo (the lion).

I even gave you the date you should have stopped manifesting due to this energy change—that was posted in the subscriber chat. I’ll let you know when to pick up again. Of course if you’d rather ignore this, you’re more than welcome to continue with your own practice…for me personally, I try to work with the most optimal, stable energy.

Last week, we officially entered the eclipse portal.

And now, the eclipse has finally arrived.

On Wednesday, 12th August, we have a Total Solar Eclipse at 20° Leo.

Think about the past few weeks for a second—well, the past month and a half even.

What have you noticed? Any sudden life path changes? Have you received information you weren’t expecting to receive? Have your feelings towards a person, job, friendship, relationship or even a version of your own life suddenly shifted? Maybe nothing dramatic has happened externally, but internally, something doesn’t feel the same anymore. You’re questioning things you weren’t questioning a month ago. Something you once wanted now feels less important—or something you’ve been wanting for years is becoming increasingly hard to ignore.

Pay attention to that.

Because one of the things I’ve been trying to explain throughout my past few articles, is that astrology doesn’t go as neatly as: planet moves into sign > major event happens that day > end of story.

The conditions for change have been building for weeks. The intensity in the air has been lingering for a while now!

And now we have the first South Node Solar Eclipse in Leo of this new cycle.

That part in bold is important.

Because despite this being a New Moon and Solar Eclipse—something we would ordinarily associate with beginnings—this eclipse is happening alongside the South Node. So I don’t think we can talk about where we’re going without also talking about what we may have to leave behind (I know, I know, more shedding).

That’s the reason you may have been feeling in limbo lately.

More often than not, you don’t just get a new life handed to you wrapped in a bow—it happens over time because the Universe makes your old life increasingly difficult to sustain or feel content with.

The job stops aligning. The friendship feels different. Your priorities change. The version of success you spent years pursuing loses the appeal it once had. You become uncomfortable with an identity you once worked very hard to build.

That doesn’t necessarily mean everything needs to end right now. But it may mean your relationship to it has to change. That’s what I mean by shedding and release.

And with this eclipse happening in Leo—the sign associated with identity, visibility, creativity, pride, leadership and the desire to be recognised—we’re being asked much bigger questions about who we’ve been, who we perform as, and who we might be becoming, or want to become.

And this is where I’m going to ask you the most confronting question—what or who have you been putting on a pedestal?

This is the first Leo eclipse since the lunar nodes officially moved into the Leo–Aquarius axis, and more importantly, it’s a South Node eclipse.

If you read my article on the nodal shift, you’ll remember that I don’t subscribe to the overly simplified idea that the North Node is ‘good’ and the South Node is ‘bad’. I see the axis as a balancing act. The South Node can show us what we’re familiar with, what we’ve become overly reliant on, or something we’ve developed so extensively that it now needs to evolve. The North Node pulls our attention towards a different way of operating.

So with the South Node now moving through Leo, we’re beginning an 18-month process of reconsidering some very Leo themes: identity, visibility, recognition, leadership, creativity, pride and our need to feel special or significant.

A Solar Eclipse is essentially an intensified New Moon: the Sun and Moon meet in the sky, but close enough to the lunar nodes for the Moon to temporarily block the Sun’s light. There’s something symbolic about that happening in Leo—the only zodiac sign ruled by the Sun itself.

The light goes out in the sign associated with shining.

If Leo represents the part of us that says, this is who I am, what happens when that identity is temporarily obscured? What happens when the validation stops coming from where it used to? When something you were proud to identify with no longer represents you? Or when you realise you’ve spent so long maintaining an image of yourself that you haven’t stopped to ask whether you still want to be that person?

This can apply to any area of your life—it’s currently happening for me with my career. So much of who I am has been tied to my career because I’ve been raised to aim high, achieve the best, be ambitious. I’ve stayed in toxic corporate environments because I’m ‘not a quitter’ and worked hard to be in those spaces. Now I’m getting to the point where I feel disillusioned—do I stay somewhere I’ve become complacent, or look for the next challenge? Do I even want the next challenge—do I want to push myself so hard again—no work/life balance, working around the clock? Does it outweigh the option of staying in a job where there’s no further learning opportunities or real growth but a better social environment?

These are the types of questions the eclipse can start raising for you in the aspect of your life that it relates to. But whatever is coming up for you, trust that its on your mind for a reason—a hint at change to come.

Leo can describe our relationship with attention, status, pride and external recognition—the places where being seen gets mixed up with feeling valuable.

And because this is happening at the South Node, some of us may be confronting where that relationship has become excessive or outdated.

For some of you, that could be very literal: leaving a job behind, ending a relationship, relocating, changing direction professionally, stepping away from a community, joining a new community, launching something new, becoming a parent, beginning a course of study, or new financial opportunities.

For others, the eclipse may be much quieter externally but just as significant internally.

You may realise you no longer want what you thought you wanted, or needed.

Sometimes its actually the internal change that can be harder to process because you’re not seeing the results manifest externally in your life yet. It results in a lot of back and forth in your head.

There’s something unsettling about achieving—or getting close to achieving—a version of life you once desperately wanted, only to discover that you’ve changed somewhere along the way and it doesn’t feel as satisfying as you thought it was going to feel. Sometimes we stay attached to an ambition, identity, relationship or lifestyle simply because of how much time and energy we invested in becoming that person.

This is a reminder that Leo is a fixed sign. Fixed energy can hold on out of stubbornness, complacency or fear.

So I’ll ask you another confronting question now: are you still choosing ‘X’ because you genuinely want it, or because letting it go would force you to admit that you’ve changed?

But I’ll caveat here, that the sign only gives us part of the story, i.e. Leo tells us what kind of themes we’re dealing with, but find 20° Leo in your chart. This will give you a better indication of the area of life being activated by this eclipse. Feel free to comment your rising sign if you need help understanding where this is.

And if you have any placements around 15–25° of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio or Aquarius, I would pay particularly close attention to what develops around this eclipse.

But it’s also important to note, this isn’t a one-day event. Wednesday is just one chapter in an eclipse cycle that continues across Leo and Aquarius into 2028. So whatever begins changing now may take months to fully make sense.

The most discussed trait when it comes to Leo in astrology is: pride.

And that doesn’t necessarily mean arrogance or thinking you’re better than everyone else.

It can look like never asking for help/hyperindependence. Wanting someone to reach out but never telling them you’re struggling. Being hurt and pretending you don’t care. Staying in a situation longer than you should because leaving would mean admitting it didn’t work out the way you hoped. Wanting love, recognition or reassurance but acting like you don’t need it.

I think this eclipse asks us to put our pride aside to be honest about what we actually want, rather than remaining loyal to an identity we’ve already outgrown.

Can you admit that you’ve changed your mind, even after spending years convincing yourself—and everyone else—that this was what you wanted?

Pride can keep us attached to identities and decisions that no longer align. Don’t let pride keep you loyal to a version of yourself you’ve already outgrown.

But saying that, I also understand how pride can be a protective defence mechanism. Especially in POC communities. I can only speak from the experience of my culture, but I see this particularly among older generations who immigrated, and in the children they raised. When you’ve had to build a life from scratch, navigate a new living environment where you may not have necessarily been welcomed, work harder to access the same opportunities, or prove that the sacrifices you made were worth it, pride becomes linked to survival. There’s dignity in being able to say, I did this for myself. I made something of my life despite the circumstances.

And then those behaviours can get passed down to children who inherit the survival strategy even though they're living under different circumstances—those attitudes can become generational (and this can be seen astrologically). You inherit the work ethic, resilience and ambition, but sometimes without knowing it, you inherit the armour too—the difficulty in asking for help or admitting when something isn’t working. I’m looking at you in particular Saturnians—Capricorn and Aquarian placements. If you’ve been able to read between the lines of some of my articles, (although most of the time I’m not subtle) you may recognise this is something I’ve expressed in the workplace.

Pride is something that can be culturally inherited and developed for survival—not always something we should condemn. Sometimes it protected us first. The question is whether we still need it in the same form..

…so then the lesson isn’t to get rid of pride altogether, but to recognise when something that once protected you starts preventing you from evolving.

Leo is associated with the heart, and I think there’s something interesting about how much courage it can take to actually live from that place. We tend to associate confidence with being self-assured, decisive and unaffected by other people’s opinions. But sometimes confidence is admitting that you care. That you want something. That somebody hurt you. That you were wrong. That you’ve changed your mind. That the thing you spent years working towards doesn’t make you happy anymore.

There’s vulnerability in being honest about desire because once you admit what you really want, you also have to accept that you might not get it.

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This is where the Aquarius North Node becomes important.

If the South Node in Leo is asking us to examine an excessive attachment to individualism, recognition or pride, Aquarius reminds us that none of us exist entirely on our own. We need other people. We need friendship, community, collaboration, conversation and different perspectives. We need people who challenge us as much as we need people who support us.

Stop trying to prove how little you need anyone else—it’s going to become an outdated way to live.

Instead, look at the quality of your relationships and the people you surround yourself with.

Relationships are where this Leo–Aquarius axis could become very obvious.

I’ve recently written about recognising where some of my own friendships have become imbalanced, particularly when it comes to reciprocity. What happens when you stop being the person who always reaches out? Who makes the plans? Who checks in? Who keeps the friendship moving?

Sometimes without your participation, there isn’t actually much of a relationship happening.

I was thinking about this on my walk the other day, actually in response to a recent article where I wrote about my endo diagnosis. A few friends messaged me after reading it to check in and ask how I was feeling, and I remember having this overwhelming feeling of gratitude that I have people like them in my life. I thanked the Universe and said a little blessing for each of them, because they’re all dealing with their own things right now.

One of those friends is actually someone I’ve only known for the last year or so, but in that time she’s become such an amazing support system.

Longevity isn't the same thing as depth.

Having lots of friends doesn’t necessarily mean you have meaningful connection, just as knowing someone for a long time doesn’t automatically mean they should continue to have the same role or meaning in your life.

Community isn't about quantity; it's about the quality of participation.

Aquarius is concerned with community and belonging, but only if its authentic.

I’ve been speaking a lot about the themes of this eclipse on an individual level, but of course, eclipses show up collectively too—and given this one is happening in Leo, I’m paying particular attention to people whose power relies on being seen.

I spoke about this in much more detail in my article on the Leo–Aquarius nodal shift, particularly what I think this could mean for celebrity culture, influencers and world leaders. Leo is associated with royalty, leadership, fame, performance and the individual, so with the South Node moving through this sign, we’re entering a period where some of the people we’ve collectively placed on pedestals are going to come down from them, e.g. artists, actors, influencers, Royals. That could happen voluntarily—retirement, stepping away from public life, changing careers, illness. And historically, eclipses themselves were omens when it came to rulers and those in positions of power. So if you can read between the lines…

…and remember what I said earlier, a transit isn’t just a one-day impact, particularly not an eclipse. Eclipse energy can last for six months. So apply that thinking with the fact that historically, eclipses signified ‘death’ or ‘downfall'/fall from grace’ of leaders or kings. Watch the news for change in power/authority, news of powerful leaders and prominent figures.

Power isn’t only about having a platform; it depends on other people continuing to recognise the importance of that platform. We’ve spent years watching individuals become brands, influencers become ‘experts’ and politicians become celebrities. Perhaps the Leo–Aquarius story isn’t the end of fame altogether, but a change in who we decide deserves our attention—and what somebody actually has to offer before we give it to them.

Certain areas of our birth charts are activated again over the course of our lives. And this isn’t the first time eclipses have passed through this part of Leo.

There’s a few dates I want you to look back to—go through photos, texts, emails etc—think more broadly about what chapter of your life you were in at the time:

• We’ve already had the first eclipse across the Leo–Aquarius axis this year. On 17th February, we had a Solar Eclipse in Aquarius—before the nodes had even officially changed signs. So I’d think back to February: what was beginning to shift then? What were you starting to think differently about?

• August 2016–January 2019—the previous Leo–Aquarius eclipse cycle. particularly 21st August 2017 + 11th August 2018. The nodes were travelling through the same signs, although in the opposite direction to now.

• February 2008–August 2009—particularly 1st August 2008 + 9th February 2009. The nodal direction matched the current Aquarius North Node/Leo South Node cycle.

• 11th August 1999 Total Solar Eclipse

Where were you living? What were you doing for work or school? Who were the important people in your life? What ended, began or changed direction? And I’d pay attention to who you were during those periods. What mattered to you then? What were you trying to prove, create or become?

If you’ve read any of my previous eclipse articles, you already know what I’m going to say: I don’t recommend manifesting during eclipses. And like I said earlier, I already posted in my chat about which date was the ‘cut-off’ for this.

You may want to listen to all of the social media influencers about using this day to manifest, and if that aligns with you then do what’s best for you. However, I don’t work with eclipse energy in that way.

What I would do, and something this eclipse in Leo is actually great for, is thinking about new ways you could start your own business or side hustle. How can you create new opportunities—it doesn’t necessarily need to pertain to entrepreneurship, but how can you create space for more of your passions and hobbies to share with others?

You won’t catch me watching the eclipse.

It’s funny because one of my siblings said to me, you know there’s a solar eclipse, how can I watch it and what should I be doing?

I obviously said not to watch it and the response just made me laugh: oh why can’t we ever do anything fun with these things

LOL

Sorry to be the party pooper. If you’re interested in my two cents:

Anyway, I think this article needs to wrap up—it’s currently 09:55am as I’m typing this. I started writing this at 11:30ish last night and have been going through the night lol. I’ve only had one hour of sleep just before writing.

My period literally just started (talk about shedding) and I have to get ready for work…although I’m definitely late lol and I have a full day of meetings :)))))

Between work and my recent health issues, it’s getting harder to find the time to write!

Maybe my personal eclipse story is: try not to burnout…maybe the Universe just wants me to go to bed. 😂