When you think of Julia Roberts, do you remember her scowling face in Ocean’s Eleven – or her radiant, megawatt smile in Pretty Woman? She tried her best to transcend the romantic comedy genre (and won an Oscar for her terrific role as bombshell-turned-investigator in Erin Brockovich), yet the world will always remember her as the pretty woman who got the guy despite the odds.
It’s her vein of gold. Consider Robert De Niro, who turns in brilliant performances bonding with other men in tough circumstances, dealing with loyalties and betrayals and wrestling with his own dark side. Romantic comedies are not his forte.
As director Martin Ritt, who coined the term “vein of gold” explains, “All actors have a certain territory, a certain range, they were born to play. If you cast an actor within that range, he will always give you a brilliant performance. Of course, you can always cast an actor outside his vein of gold. If you do, that actor can use craft and technique to give you a very fine, creditable performance, but never a performance as brilliant as when he is working in his vein of gold.”
Julia Cameron writes about this phenomenon in her book The Vein of Gold. She states that we all have something at which we excel—because we have a passion for it. “It’s very important,” she says, “to make art about what we are really interested in, not what we should be interested in. All too often, we aim at writing a script we should write, and when it’s done with, that’s exactly how it reads—like a noble effort, well-meant but somehow hollow. The same holds true for dutiful paintings, meals, poems, letters, even curtains.”
You may not be an artist or an actor, but you can feel when you’re working in your vein of gold—you’re in the zone. Time stops, creativity flows, you feel in charge of things. Your unique spark of the divine springs forth.
That spark is about to be lit at the imaginative, outgoing Leo New Moon (July 26, 3:42 p.m. PDT). Tightly conjunct expansive, enthusiastic Jupiter, this New Moon fully releases the Year of the Horse from its starting gate, where it’s been champing at the bit for months. Creativity and passion are running high, with artistic Venus opposite potent Pluto. And, with Saturn recently direct, we’re able to start hammering out a structure to contain our creative efforts.
So the question is, What do you want to create? That would depend, to some extent, on what house the New Moon activates for you. If it’s in the first house, you’re creating a new image and direction. A fourth house New Moon prompts you to beautify or expand your home. A seventh house New Moon could bring new love, or take your existing relationship into new territory. A tenth house New Moon signals that it’s time for your business to take off. No matter where it falls, make the most of this exuberant fresh start. Find your vein of gold—and have fun bringing forth something that you’re passionate about!
If you need help lighting your spark, check out this Leo New Moon ritual from my book, Astro Feng Shui: Making Magic in Your Home and Life. You’ll also find a mini-video at the bottom of that page showing how I helped an artist friend transform her Creativity and Children gua to bring in more creative flow.
Leo is my 6th house natally…I could use some fun. I have been so busy taking care of my elderly, alcoholic Mother for the past two months; she had surgery this past Tuesday so I have been on high alert all week. I am on the verge of a huge burn out. It doesn’t help that my partner of 42 years has made it clear that I annoy the hell out of him just by being myself. I would run away from home if I could.
Full moon in Leo conjuncts my mercury, trine my north node in Aries. I have been writing a novel for about 6 months. The vision is stronger now than ever.