Dear Heart, this year, so far, has been nothing short of transformative. Aspects of your existence are completely different than they were one year ago, or even a few months ago. Through sobriety and joy, heartbreak and connection, you have awakened; certain wounds are finally healing. Even if there are still rips and tears that need a few stitches, you are prepared to attend to this task with needle and silken thread in hand. The world may attempt to make your vermillion life grey, but your heart is so much more vibrant than anything the status quo offers up. Remember that your heart is an accurate divination tool.

August is a month of extremes. The sun gives us life, and also takes it away. In certain places, mustard-colored sunflowers burst forth like daytime fireworks; elsewhere there is drought and destruction. This is the time of year when we find out what our previous efforts have yielded. We sort through our expectations, count the curveballs, and make peace. These results often determine our choices—and trajectory—for the rest of the year. Close loops; end specific timelines.

Dear Heart, there are a million different ways to live. If it is time to change course, if it is time to hit pause: listen to your intuition. Rest and take solace in the quiet evening symphony. Or, your heart might feel ready to go for it! If it is fire energy you crave, tune into that. Take action; prioritize creativity and boldness.

Since last New Moon’s synchronicity activation spell, the world might have become a metaphoric mirror: spiders weaving webs on midnight walks, birds soaring in the sky above, certain flowers catching your eye. Repeating words, repeating circumstances, repeating Tarot pulls. Symbols have been speaking and showing you the way. Have you been paying attention?

Numbers are also synchronistic, and this New Moon lands on a synchronistic day. Along with being the Lion’s Gate Portal, 8/8 corresponds with the double-infinity loop. If you are using an RWCS-style Tarot deck, then 8 corresponds with the Strength card. It also corresponds with the Minor 8s: the symbols of transformation, expertise or mastery, momentum, and pattern breaking. In the Rider Waite Colman Smith deck, there are three cards that showcase the infinity loop: the Magician, Strength, and the 2 of Pentacles. Infinity symbols have to do with self-fertilization, energetic recharging, internal and external alignment, portal leaps, and profound spiritual returns. It is the DNA spiral; it is the ouroboros. It is you, coming home to yourself. You might feel called to work with any of these cards and their particular messages around this New Moon.

All year you’ve been uncovering and refining your unique gifts. Let the firepower available to you at this time help you attune to the infinite, undulating possibilities that surround you. 

—Excerpt from the 2021 Many Moons Lunar Planner. Read the full essay in the August Monthly Guide. Download the Receiving Your Future Self Meditation.