THE WORLD was designed to drag us into existential self-inquiry. That’s Buddhism 101. In that sense, August is a gold mine.
During the “soft” centuries, mind becomes contemplatively lazy. Life is about color, style and “getting stuff” from the raging impermanence– not making meaning out of it.
Then the civilizational pendulum swings.
Death, disease and old age spill out of their collective closets. Naked displays of “evil” (the plundering panic of mind-on-a-countdown) erupt onto the world stage. The feasting fades and “making meaning out of suffering” becomes, once again, our meat and potatoes.
I say all this because August carries this feast-fading signature. Saturn in Pisces pokes and prods: “How grim does it have to get before you seriously commit to reclaiming your soul-seeing skills and prepare for a luminous demise?
Venus Retrograde: July 22nd – September 3rd
Mercury in Virgo moves its enormous, all-seeing magnifying glass over the theme of relationship all month. Here’s why:
Not only has Venus moved into a love-cooling Retrograde until September 3rd, the Lunar nodes have shifted into the Aries/Libra (self/other) axis while a Pluto square stirs death-reckoning into our relating. Deliciously disturbing questions arise:
What was boundless Being hoping to get by dividing off into these separate somebody’s?
Why fire the self/other synapse at all?
And last, but not least:
Who do I want to lose everything with?
Ah, this is Venus Retrograde in top form.
The good news: wise-loving souls have been traversing this sober landscape for thousands of years and they’ve left a meditative vapor trail.
August says, “pick up the scent.”
August 1st Full Moon in Aquarius
The month begins with a Jupiter-squared Full moon in Aquarius on August 1st. Meanwhile, Saturn is opposed Mercury in Virgo, then Mars. The perfect time for a disciplined daily practice that preserves our Leo love of life and prepares us for the faith-testing fog of a Neptune-engulfed Mercury retrograde which begins on August 23rd.
Note for fridge:
Critical thinking happens when we get beyond either/or.
Here’s a simple Leo practice designed offset the potential heaviness and confusion. Try reading this short meditation (aloud to your partner or inwardly to yourself) before going to bed. Then revisit it in the morning.
Leo Meditation: Night Flight
As you lay in bed, before nodding off to sleep, imagine yourself snuggling into the seat of a long overseas night flight. In the morning, as consciousness returns, give thanks. The landing gear of your eyelids has successfully deployed and you are now skimming the runway of an exotic, unknown country. Due to the dedication and expertise of the Leo pilot seated in the bloody cockpit of your chest you have landed safely. Your crash date has been postponed and you are blessed with a free bonus life.
Creepy Cults and Nano Wars
It looks like religion is going out of style. But Saturn in Pisces (March 7, 2023- Feb 13, 2026) vehemently disagrees:
Look again, grasshopper. Billionaire Transhumanists are lunging for eternal life within the dream of separation, terraforming the planet to achieve their electric Heaven.
Clearly, it’s in the DNA of every soul to make a god of someone or something. The only question is, Will our devotional brain cells come along for the ride?
Meanwhile, the dharma-deprived are being indoctrinated into a raging cult of Scientism.
What to do?
I say: resolve the opposition between Saturn in otherworldly Pisces and Mercury in work-a-day Virgo by sprinkling everyday conversation with casual, shame-free god-talk: God bless you. God bless us all. God-willing. God’s business. Then watch the virus spread.
While the media focuses our attention on sickness, war and other blatant Psy-Ops, the entire planet is caught in the crossfire of a nano/frequency war that makes missile-lobbing look downright prehistoric.
What to do?
Again, Saturn in Pisces urges us to take the long view.
Will you meet this incarnational blip with mystic equanimity or will you slip into self-important Saturnian depression?
Will you stay rooted in the Merciful Witness (with support from sangha) or will you bang between extremes: feeding the digital paranoia then escaping via soul-numbing distraction?
On the way to the second full Moon in Pisces on August 30th, the practice is simple: exit all opinion-tribes and reconnect with the Shepherding Presence until a path with heart is revealed mid-September when Venus and Mercury are move out of their post-retrograde shadow periods.
In the mean time, demonstrate grace under pressure, heart over protocol.
-Hunter Reynolds
astrodharma.org
Planetary Transits for August 2023
Aug 1st Full Moon in Aquarius
Aug 8th- Last Quarter Moon in Taurus
Aug 16th- New Moon in Leo
Aug 23rd Sun enters Virgo
Aug 23rd- Mercury Retrograde in Virgo
Aug 24th- First Quarter Moon in Sagittarius
Aug 27th- Mars enters Libra
Aug 28th- Uranus Retrograde in Taurus
Aug 30th- Full Moon in Pisces
Upcoming:
Sep 3rd- Venus Retrograde goes direct
Sep 15th- Mercury Retrograde goes direct
Oct 14- New Moon Solar Eclipse in Libra
Oct 28th- Full Moon Lunar Eclipse in Taurus
Ready for more?
–Learn about the Styles of Awakening online training
–Schedule an astrology reading with Hunter
–Subscribe to Styles of Awakening newsletter (monthly)
–Receive these articles by email as they are posted
Like this article? Please share it with friends.
Get free newsletter & e-book
