Leo Full Moon: Sovereignty & Being Seen

February (one of the most potent months of 2026) opens with a Leo Full Moon at 13 degrees on Feb 1st at 2:07pm PST/5:07PM EST. This lunation is not itself an eclipse, but it opens the eclipse portal, acting as a moment where something asks to be seen before it can be transformed. Full Moons are mirrors. They illuminate polarity, revealing what has been quietly pulling us in two directions beneath the surface.

This Full Moon rises across the Leo–Aquarius axis: the axis of heart and mind and self and collective. Leo asks us to stand in our radiance, to create, to express, to lead from the heart. Aquarius asks us to decentralize the ego, to widen our lens, to remember that we are not meant to shine alone. These archetypes are not opposites meant to cancel one another out, but collaborators. The highest expression of Leo cannot exist without Aquarius, and the highest expression of Aquarius cannot exist without Leo.

Leo vs Aquarius: Heart vs. Head

The polarity of Leo and Aquarius is not about opposition, but about balance in selfhood and belonging. Leo is fire; the self, the sovereign, the king or queen rooted in self-worth and inner authority. It knows its light and does not need permission to shine. Aquarius, the Water Bearer of the air signs, pours vision outward. It dismantles hierarchy not to diminish greatness, but to celebrate it everywhere... to affirm that no one flame is more sacred than another. When these energies fall out of balance, Leo can cling to the throne and mistake sovereignty for separation, while Aquarius can dissolve distinction in the name of equality.

Like everything, they both carry shadows: Leo, when disconnected from community, can become isolated—perched on a royal throne of self-sufficiency, convinced it doesn’t need anyone. Aquarius, when disconnected from the heart, can idealize sameness and non-hierarchy to the point of flattening individuality and creative fire. This Full Moon asks us to notice where we’ve leaned too far in either direction. Where has sovereignty turned into solitude? Where has belonging required us to dim or dilute ourselves? This Full Moon asks us to hold both truths at once: to stand fully in our radiance without eclipsing others, and to belong without abandoning our creative fire.

There is a strong theme of performance woven through this lunation. Leo rules the stage, the spotlight, the act of being seen. But the question that arises is why are you expressing yourself? Are you creating, sharing, and showing up because something inside you longs to move, speak, or dance its way into the world? Or are you performing in hopes of being validated, chosen, approved of, or loved from the outside in? This lunation asks us to feel the difference in our bodies. One is alive, warm, and self-sustaining. The other is exhausting, brittle, and dependent on an audience.

Leo Full Moon: Letting Your Light Be Seen

With this theme also comes the possible experience of being seen, but not truly met. Of being visible in ways that feel misaligned or unwanted, while longing to be recognized by those who can actually perceive your depth. This dynamic can stir old fears of being unchosen, or only valued for surface qualities rather than soul. This lunation asks us to look more closely at the quality of the gaze we are inviting into our lives... because dissonance is not a sign we are unseen, only that we are no longer available for being seen incorrectly. As eclipse season opens, the invitation is to refine our relationship to visibility itself by choosing presence over performance, discernment over validation, and trust that the right mirrors arrive when we stop offering our light to spaces that cannot truly hold it.

Relationship Patterns Rising to Be Transformed

Leo is ruled by the Sun, and right now the Sun is traveling through Aquarius, closely conjunct Venus, Mercury, and asteroid Vesta. Relationships, communication, devotion, and creative sovereignty are all activated at once. There is a deep inquiry here around visibility: Do your relationships allow you to feel genuinely seen? Are you letting your real self be visible, or only the version you believe will be accepted?

At the same time, Mars and Pluto are conjunct in Aquarius, stirring themes of empowerment, liberation, and the breaking of old patterns. This can feel intense because old relational dynamics, fears around rejection, and long-held strategies for belonging may be rising to the surface. Pluto exposes the places where we learned it wasn’t safe to be ourselves while Mars asks us to act differently now. Relationship themes are especially potent, as both Venus and Mars are activated; inviting us to look honestly at how desire, power, and self-expression move through our connections.

Staying Rooted in Your Truth

Adding to this moment is a quietly profound alignment: Saturn and Uranus, the rulers of Aquarius, are in harmonious aspect to one another in the final degrees of Pisces and Taurus. This is a bridge between conditioning and deconditioning, between what we were taught to value and what we are ready to liberate ourselves from. Both planets are here for the last time in our lives, asking us to stand firmly in what truly matters. How do you value your energy, your time, your resources? What, and who, are you willing to invest them in?

These are integrations that have been brewing beneath the surface for a long time. Saturn will cross into Aries on February 14th, meeting Neptune shortly after, while Uranus remains in Taurus until April. This Full Moon also leads us directly into eclipse season, including the first Aquarius eclipse since 2018. Eclipse seasons are not prophecies or uncontrollable fates. They're portals of evolution. The people and situations that enter your life now are invitations; mirrors asking whether you will repeat old patterns or choose differently. Will you continue to protect yourself from being seen? Or will you trust that those meant for you will recognize your light, and seek you out for it?

Pluto in Aquarius may stir fears of rejection, exile, or not belonging. The invitation is not to bypass these fears, but to lead from the heart anyway. To stay open even when it feels risky. To create, express, and connect from an inner yes rather than a need to be received in a certain way. This Full Moon is not about proving your worth but about remembering it. This lunation asks you to stand sovereign and connected. To let your creativity move through you because it wants to...because it’s alive, not because it needs applause. Heart open, feet grounded, willing to be witnessed without self-abandonment.

Much love,

xo Vanja

Where is 13 degrees of Leo/Aquarius in my chart? What is this telling me about the themes that are emerging for me at this time?

Where in my life am I expressing myself from genuine inner desire...and where might I be performing for external validation? How does each feel in my body?

What parts of me long to be seen, heard, or expressed more fully right now? What am I afraid would happen if I let them be visible?

What creative fire am I being asked to tend with devotion, even if no one is watching?

Embodiment Practice: Moving from the Inside Out

Set aside 10–15 minutes. Choose a song that feels warm, expressive, or playful... something that stirs your heart.

Begin by standing or sitting with one hand on your chest and one on your belly. Take a few slow breaths and ask yourself: What wants to move right now? 

Let the movement start small. A sway, a shoulder roll... Allow your body to lead rather than your mind. If you notice yourself “performing,” gently slow down and return to sensation.

As the movement builds, imagine you are dancing with yourself... not for an audience, not for approval, but as an act of devotion to your own creative fire. When the song ends, place a hand on your heart and notice how it feels to move from the inside out.

This is Leo in its highest expression: self-expression as nourishment.