Come closer my tender, dear little heart-Aug 2023
As Above, So Below: A monthly guide to consciously align your focus so you can flow with the changing energies of the planets’
Art: Brooke Shaden
Key themes at a glance this month: reviewing your relationships with love, vulnerability and keeping your heart open, reflective journaling on matters of the heart, building and managing your personal resources, being brave & shining your unique internal light and gifts out into the world with passion and love, activation of the mind around practical & health related projects, exploring the depths of your inner realms.
Dates to note:
New moon in Leo 16th August at 7:38 pm (AEST)
First Quarter Moon in Scorpio 24th August at 7:57pm (AEST)
Full Moon in Pisces 31st August at 11:35am (AEST) (Super Moon)
Third Quarter Moon in Gemini 7th Sept at 8:21am (AEST)
Lions gate portal –This year it was exact on 8th August where our spiritual Sun, Syrius, Orions belt and the Earth come into alignment. It was a time in ancient Egypt where the rive Nile rose, and signified a period of abundance. It is said to be a time each year when we have an expanded spiritual gateway to galactic energy, and there is potential for greater spiritual awakening. While the extent of it’s influence may not be felt as much in the Southern Hemisphere, it’s still something to be mindful of during this time of year.
Last month saw big energy changes and intensity, and a focus on relationships and reviewing what you value in your relationships which continues for all of August into early September.
August sees the continuation of Jupiter in Taurus (until next year) which continues building and managing your personal resources.
The start of August saw a full Super Moon in Aquarius- where the moon is much closer in its orbit to the earth (there is a greater gravitational pull, bringing more heightened emotions during this time). Key themes were around connection, higher information, community, innovation.
Saturn opposite mercury -the start of this month saw your focus on thoughts, communication and the mind (mercury) in it’s higher aspect you may have noticed an increase and a more structured thinking reflecting the higher mind. In it’s lower expression there may be attempts to control communication mirrored through this transit with people around you.
The New Moon in Leo (16th August) sees a conjunction with Mercury and Mars (in Virgo). This is a time to put down an energetic seed for something new you would like to welcome in. Dropping into your heart, being brave and shining your unique internal light and gifts out into the world with passion and love.
The energy of Mars in Virgo will give any new projects initiated a sense of detail and refinement. Jupiter trining Mercury gives a lot of energy to projects at this time and a very optimistic activation of the mind around practical (Taurus) and health related projects (Virgo). Heart breathing will be a great practice at this time in August.
Mercury starts to go retrograde (Aug 24th-Sept 15th)
There is a LOT of retrograde energy happening in August-whenever planets are in retrograde we get more of an inward focusing energy. Generally this does not signal a time to be outward focused, instead it provides the opportunity to ‘re’ many things – including review, reflect, redo, refresh, renew.
By the end of August, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto, Venus, Uranus, AND Mercury will all be in retrograde (where the planet appears to move backwards). Some of the themes these planets cover:
Saturn-responsibility, discipline, order, boundaries, reality checks around choices, rules
Neptune-dreams, faith, compassion, spirituality, creativity
Venus-love, relationships, harmony, values, beauty
Uranus-astrological rebel, difference, sudden insights & changes, unpredictability, technological advances
Mercury-thinking, all forms of communication, transport, plans, technology, negotiation, contracts
So give yourself permission to not feel overly social, or for spending time exploring the depths of your inner realms during this time. This is a time for thinking deeply, meditating and reflecting upon concerns to do with the above themes this month.
Journaling & creative writing will be particularly helpful during this months. Mercury in retrograde in particular signals taking care to thoroughly review any contracts or agreements before signing. It’s generally best to wait until Mercury goes direct when signing into any new important decisions.
Venus stays in Retrograde in Leo (through until early September)
Relationships– evaluating, reflecting upon your relationships, how are you in relation to others, what are the patterns you have been experiencing? How do you really feel about your relationships/partnerships/friendships?
You can fully embrace the energy of this time by doing some reflective journaling on the below questions. You might like to jot down the answers to the below questions with your non-dominant hand to fully engage with your intuitive wisdom as you do this.
Key questions to ask yourself during this transit regarding relationships/friendships/partnerships:
- What is working and in which ways could they potentially improve?
- Is there balance or imbalance in giving/receiving?
- Do you feel appreciated and valued?
- How have you been triggered & what have you learnt from those experiences?
- Where are your relationship and friendship boundaries?
- What has been harmonious and what hasn’t?
- Is there a point you have reached where you recognise you have outgrown a relationship, if so in which way?
- What are you learning about the future & what are your non-negotiables?
- What are the stories you have been telling yourself about love, your ability to attract and retain it?
- Which stories have you overdone and can now leave behind?
- How do you listen to the messages of your heart and what you really need?
This is an opportunity to be gentle, tender and more loving even if you have been disappointed or hurt in the past by love. Keeping the doorway to your heart open and taking things very gently. Venus in Leo retrograde shows you can be vulnerable and maintain a state of openness even if you’ve been hurt before.
Venus also represents Money
This time may see you also reflect on what are your stories about money and what you value. It is ideal during this month to review what you value, even as you are managing and building your personal resources (Jupiter in Taurus). Re-evaluating and reviewing your finances may be front of mind during this month. Due to the retrograde energy, if there’s a large purchase you have been pondering on, it would be better suited to wait until the retrograde has ended before committing to big financial decisions.
Uranus features strongly on 29th Aug as it goes stationary (before going retrograde) coming up to the full super moon in Pisces on 31st Aug.
We still have a Pluto T square to the nodal axis-empowerment themes (until Nov)
Are you stepping into and focusing on feeding your creative power and potential, or do you fall into a disempowered reactive state with your emotions, thoughts, and patterns and decisions.
This month sees a lot of reflective, retrospective energy which may feel like it is buzzing around inside wanting to burst forth. However now is not the time for taking action or striving ahead, it’s time to reflect on how you are responsible for your own life, your dreams and what you create in your life. This review takes place on your relationships, how you shake things up (or are shaken) when things are stale, and how you think and communicate. So give yourself permission to be, go gently, keep your heart open even if it feels vulnerable & spend your time building your internal resources so you can open that door and go forth when the energy is supporting of action.
