Astrological Alignment for beginning of August!
First things first, let's address the current astrological climate. There’s a lot going on this month—this whole summer has been an emotional and psychological trial by fire, but we’re in the home stretch, folks. For the week of August 2nd through August 9th, we have a relatively chill period—no major transits end or begin. August 4th, we have the last quarter moon, and then the dark moon from the 8th-10th. We’re still under the influence of Mercury Retrograde in Leo, along with Mars retrograde in Aquarius, so don’t expect things to move forward for a while.
To avoid falling into stagnation, use this time to reflect on how you fit into your group, your community, and what role you play. Are you comfortable in that role?
Are you communicating to the right audience? Are you receiving validation? Is this for the collective or is it for your ego? Where do you draw the line between your individuality and your assimilation to the needs of the whole? It can be tricky, and these two transits are really bringing those issues to the forefront.
Disclaimer: The planets and stars do not actually cause shit to happen.
That’s ridiculous. They are chunks of rock and ice and gas in space. That said, as someone who believes in the adage “As Above, So Below,” I believe in the interconnectedness of all existence. I believe that the movement of the astrological bodies reflects what is happening in the Collective human experience. Life is going to happen the way it happens whether the skies move in unison with those events or not—but happily, it does. Because Universal Consciousness purveys all things, we can use the cycles of the planets and movement of the stars to guide us through our lives here in the microcosm. Mercury does not cause miscommunication—it shows us that miscommunication is happening, and everyone is being called to slow down, revisit some old patterns of behavior, or spend some time digging up some unresolved issues your ex has with you.
So when Mercury goes retrograde, Venus moves into Libra, or Saturn squares off with Uranus, just think that the heavens are giving us all a heads up and making it easier for us to tune into the Collective’s radio station.
August 1st marks the beginning of the harvest season—the “first fruits.”
Lammas (Anglo-Saxon) or Lughnasadh (Gaelic) is celebrated on this day, and is the first of three traditional European harvest celebrations. Lughnasadh is frequently associated with corn and grain. Gaelic mythology told the story of the god Lugh defeating the god Crom Dubh in order to bring food back to humans; alternatively, the struggle was over a woman, who probably represented fruitfulness. Lugh was a god of rulers and kings, and was sometimes a solar deity. We can compare this to stories of Hades who kidnaps Persephone, casting the earth into eternal winter, until Persephone’s mother Demeter, a grain goddess, arranges for her daughter’s release.
We can see these archetypes in the astrology of August as we move from symbols of the sun at its most powerful in Leo into Virgo, a grain-carrying goddess of service and fruitfulness.
This week, while the moon is waning, the energy available to attune with is that of banishing, releasing, hexing, discharging, deprogramming, and cleansing.
Harvest and weed your literal and spiritual gardens. Show gratitude for what has come, and reflect. Our ancestors celebrated life and all its glory and all its terror. Every day was a blessing, because storms, disease, infestations, and fires could take everything from a village without warning, with no mercy. Personifying seasons and earthly energies was how our ancestors felt connected to and a part of Mother Nature. In our current life, in this first world country, it is so easy to take for granted our abundance year round. We do not slave to seasons, and we are barely aware of what is seasonal, sustainable, or sacred.
We are living in a time where the gods no longer battle to ensure we have grain and that spring returns.
Honoring the Wheel of the Year, remembering the gods and goddesses and spirits of our past is not just for mere entertainment. They serve as beacons of light shining a light on our privilege, as gentle reminders of our connection to Nature. The gods do not resent us for taking our eternal harvest at Kroger for granted. They seek us still to humble us to the work that was put in to make this season-less lifestyle exist and to remind us that this privilege comes with a price of a disconnect from the Earth. It is now our responsibility to chose to come back and attune to Her.
written by Arianna Page
art by David A. Hardy