August 2024: Fog Meets Form
on the numerology of the month & its moons
What’s up, swimmers?! I cannot believe it’s August.
Earlier this year, we looked at the eight year through the lens of four keywords—Powerhouse, Embodied, Ordeal, God—and at the beginning of July, we checked in with how that energy has expressed so far. Little did we know that we’d see so much eight action in July, not only in the political sphere, but also in the Olympic arena via assassination attempts, shifts in power, endorsements and momentum, continued pushes for progress, unbridled creative expression, triumphs and defeats. But these experiences only came as a result of having moved through the community-based love in action of the number six, and the explorative curiosity and commitment of the number seven, our ruling numbers for July (7, and 7+2+0+2+4 = 15, 1+5 = 6).
So what can we expect this month?
August this year has an extra boost of eight energy because it’s not only is August the eighth month of the year, but 2024 is an overall eight year. And as your know by now, eight rules all kinds of big shit—confidence and efforts, money and resources, karma and the infinite, power and tension and energetic dynamics, debt, loans, business and legal, taxes, death, rebirth. These are not shallow topics. We’re in the deep end of the pool.
However, the pattern I’ve observed this year is that our core number of the month is one step behind the numeral of the overall month. We’re always being asked to look at mutliple numbers at once, but these monthly numbers show us that we still have some learning to do from the previous month. We're getting the opportunity to observe, experience, and play with what it means to really live with these numbers in all kinds of same, same, but different positions. So this August, things may still feel a bit foggy, as seven is at its core (8+2+0+2+4 = 16, 1+6 = 7).
Seven rules questioning, and it comes before eight. There might be a push-pull energy this month between what you want to move forward with, and what you still don’t know. This is an uncertain and sometimes stifling energy. Feeling held at the starting line, waiting for the pistol to ring out. In short, August could feel a little heavy. In the Northern Hemisphere, August can hold some of the hottest days of summer. Fall is approaching, the spirit is weary and ready for renewal. But we’re not quite there yet.
In a perfect world, we’d be able to relax into this slow, foggy energy. We’d be able to grab a cool beverage, take a nap on a blanket underneath the shade of a massive oak tree, and slip into another world that’s been crafted with care on the bound pages of a book. Trail our fingers down the cheek of a lover. Bite into a ripe piece of stone fruit and feel the juice drip down your fingers and chin.
And especially in an eight year, why shouldn’t we at least attempt to live in a perfect world? Our ability to dream and scheme is also our contribution to the larger move away from systems and structures of exploitation, violence, and oppression, and towards a more loving, equitable, and nourishing world.
This August, stay hydrated. Stay connected to your body. This is not a month to disassociate, but rather to feel into the sacred weight of being alive. Being embodied, being in a body. Seek pleasure as often as possible and do not spend your precious time and energy feeling guilty for how good it fucking feels.
I also understand that not everyone is in a body that allows for much presence or pleasure. Pain intensifies under eight energy. If you have unanswered questions around an illness or diagnosis, August might not bring answers. But it could absolutely still bring options and opportunities to take action. So maybe the test results are inconclusive, but your doctor’s office just started offering acupuncture, which is ultimately supportive.
(I’m also writing this to you on the one-year anniversary of receiving the steroid shot that would poison my entire muscular system, leaving me debilitated and without answers for more than six whole months. If you’re in a similar place of uncertainty around health and the body, I am sending you so much love, healing, rest, and will to survive!)
The combination of seven and eight energies is ripe for overwhelm, so before you make any magic in August—and don’t sleep on the New Moon in Leo, it’s one of my favorite lunations every year—make sure to cleanse all of your tools and maybe even perform a consecration spell or two.
In The Witch’s Book of Numbers, I share ideas for consecration magic that include using symbolic items for each of the elements, noting that this type of interaction will bring your tools back to their neutral and natural state: “I like to use a bowl of moon water, or tap water with a splash of Florida Water or other aligned oils, to connect to Water; sea salt for Earth; my own breath or a smoke stick like tjärved wood, a smudge tool from my own ancestral lineage, for Air; and a candle for Fire.”
But you can also leave your tools out on a windowsill during the Full Moon or in the sunlight for a natural clearing. Always use safety when working with fire, and be sure to research the materials of the tools you’re using to see how they respond to heat, light and/or water.
NOTABLE NUMEROLOGY IN AUGUST
NEW MOON IN LEO
08/04/2024
8+4+2+0+2+4 = 20/2
Check in with your gut. Make logical decisions that are rooted in emotional understanding. Hold a New Moon circle or check in with a friend of family member. Go on a date with yourself or a lover. Practice protection magic. Open your heart and stay soft. Experiment with intuition exercises. Do something for which the future will thank you. Sit for a loving-kindness meditation. Try to see a situation from another perspective. Forgive yourself. Hug yourself. Touch yourself.
EIGHT EIGHT EIGHT
08/08/2024 (8)
8+8+8 = 24/6
Move slowly, in ways that feel good. Sit at your altar and say your prayers. Make magical offerings. Make mundane offerings. Make monetary offerings of mutual aid. Say yes to something that pushes you out of your comfort zone. Have a cup of tea or coffee with your fears and hear them out. Then, gently remind them of the beauty in the unfolding. Thank them for their concern, and refill their cup. Take a walk outside and feel the sun on your skin and the stretch of your legs. Eat a vegetable. Take shrooms. Practice gratitude for all that is and all that will be.
PS. I don’t personally feel connected to the New Age concept of the Lion’s Gate Portal, but I absolutely feel the power of 8/8, especially this year! Block out definitions that don’t speak to you, but do make aligned magic! And if you love the Lion’s Gate, feel free to email me and let me know why :)
FULL MOON IN AQUARIUS
08/19/2024
8+1+9+2+0+2+4 = 26/8
Release! Celebrate! Harvest! Re-connect and commit to love and pleasure! Acknowledge all of the patience and perseverance you’ve no doubt shown this year. Have the little treat. Spend time basking in your own energy. Gaze upon yourself in the mirror and know that you are God incarnate. Call a friend and make a vulnerable share. Don’t take it back once you’ve done it, and don’t judge yourself for an emotional reaction. Banish! Protect! Ground! Have an orgasm!
If you’re looking for support, clarity and guidance this month, my books are open for 1-on-1 numerology readings, tarot readings on Moonlight, and I’m also teaching the last of The Road Trip workshops on August 24th, What If I Hate My Life Path?, a virtual workshop on disappointing digits. If you’d like to take the whole trip and receive the replays of the first two workshops, email me for the new package rate of 50% off at $111. I hope to work with you soon!