August is a month that asks you to match the external to the internal. At the start of the month, write down all the descriptors of a movie you’d like to star in. Write down the descriptors of the main character, and see if they match your perspective of yourself, what you do on the daily, or how you feel most of the time. Try on some different ways of being that intrigue you all throughout the month. There is an energy that bubbles with a dull ache in August: it is grief. It is stuck or stagnant energy. It is promises not kept and the unrelentingness of the world. This is the part of the year when everything so far has accumulated. It’s been a lot. It’s more than one person can hold. Put down what isn’t yours and act upon what is your responsibility to take action around. If you’ve done nothing for the environment, nothing to end white supremacy, nothing to stop transphobia, ableism, and other harms this year, August is the time to start. August is also the time to lie down under trees and rest under dancing leaves while various emotions ripple through you like invisible oracles.

The theme for August is Quantum Leap.

— Excerpt from the 2022 Many Moons Lunar Planner. To read the rest of this energetic overview for August, download the August Guide or order a copy of the planner to see you through the rest of the year. To get the August Tarot spread, visit the Moon Studio Patreon at: patreon.com/themoonstudio

Sign up for my online course Resourcing The Creative Self! Enrollment ends at the end of this month. It’s the last time the studio is offering it this year. If you’ve been looking to jumpstart your creative spark in a wonderful community, and infuse magic into your art, writing, or performance practice or life, this is your chance.

This month's Tarotscopes were channeled and written by meditating on each archetype and pulling a Tarot card for them. You can read for whatever sign you feel called to: some read for their Sun, rising, Moon, or all three. As always, take what you need & leave the rest. If your Tarotscope doesn’t resonate now, you may want to go back at the mid-point or end of the month to re-read.

Please note: If you don’t know if you are allergic to a specific herb or plant, use caution or consult with your herbalist or doctor before ingesting. Never leave a lit candle or flame of any kind unattended. These Tarotscopes are not intended as an alternative to medical or psychiatric health services and should not be interpreted or used as such.

Aries
10 of Pentacles

Every spiritual practitioner knows that true abundance is measured in how much you give away, not in how much you make. Prosperity, which is about being resourced in capacity, love, and support, as much as it is in your bank account, is on your mind, and it’s up to you to figure out how to get it. This is determined by mindset and creativity as much as it is how well you know yourself, and what your strengths are. In order to live a meaningful life, internal *and* external resources must be cultivated.

Fiery one, August will help you make leaps around investments in the material world. This isn’t merely about stocks and bonds, although if you’ve wanted to learn more about financial sorcery, that wouldn’t be a bad use of time. This is more about an audit of the overall ecosystem of your life. What needs upgrading, attention, or repair? What must be thrown out, quit, or stepped away from for a while? If you’ve ignored dreams that include long-term plans, legacy, physical health, budgets, chosen or biological family, or daily routines, get those in check first.

Ultimately, small things become big things, and big things add up to make the unique shape of your life. This month, experiment with what you give away, how, and why. Radical generosity will open pathways to an autumn harvest of a different, but well-needed, sort.

Suggested spell ingredients: Rosemary infusions, tree ring meditations, temporary luxury, spontaneous offerings, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self. 

Taurus
The Sun, Reversed

All the changes you've made, and are making, have overwhelmed you for a long time. The more you resist the truth, the longer doubt hangs around. The danger is when you begin identifying with the hardship, the stuckness, and the lack of momentum. Just because challenges have seemed to be your constant companion this year, it doesn’t mean they always will. In fact, this is the month they begin easing up. Can you open up long enough to notice?

August is primed to be a time of inner revelations that always precede greatness. The insights and inspirations will come fast and furious. Pay attention, as they will give you the nudges you need to get back behind the driver’s seat of life. Whenever possible, get out of your own way. Ruminate less. Celebrate the little wins a little more. Share your specific light whenever, however, and with whoever you can.

Just because the right opportunities haven’t happened yet doesn’t mean they can’t. This month is perfect for resurrecting old dreams, projects, or simply reconnecting with certain people you’ve lost touch with. The more opportunities you create for yourself, the better. Every day—no matter how chaotic, annoying, or exhilarating—is another chance to live how you’d like, by choosing your perspective and embodying who you want to be. Experience the heart of your own sun.

Suggested spell ingredients: Sunlight, gold leaf collages, yellow candles, sunflower seeds, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self.

Gemini
8 of Wands

You’ve been hard on yourself because the respect, attention, and support you’ve craved have been in short supply. What you’ve done for others isn’t always acknowledged in the way that it deserves. Honestly, sometimes it isn’t acknowledged because it isn’t even seen. You give and give with grace, with the best of intentions, until a breaking point occurs. August is that breaking point — it’s time to slam the brakes on some major energetic drains. Let others help themselves. Let others worry about the messes they’ve made.

The act of letting go will free up the energy to truly deepen into living for yourself, first. Write a list of everything you’ve ever wanted to do, everything you’ve ever wanted to experience. Don’t edit. What are the core themes? What can you begin working on, today? Experimentation is key. So is having a number of different projects, and even new relationships, going at once. More is more: after a period of less, you are totally capable of keeping multiple plates spinning for the next while.

As momentum builds around you, remember the following simple, but profound truths. Growth can be made through joy, not only struggle. You can put yourself first, and still be a good person. You can experience new levels of abundance because you are infinitely resourced.

Suggested spell ingredients: Grace, emotional and energetic and literal boundaries, red candles, bloodstone, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self.

Cancer
The Wheel of Fortune

Moonchild, do not let frustrations around lack of motion become a default setting. It requires discipline to keep practicing internal refinement. You want to go to sleep each night feeling like you did your best. You want to show up for each moment knowing you were at your best, no matter how others behaved. You crave opportunities, inspiration, excitement, and movement. More than anything, you crave a type of change that is tangible: an affirmation that all the work has paid off.

Change happens when you do, and no matter how you feel, you *are* changing. Get real about how you’ve wanted shifts to take place, but have been unwilling to transform in some fundamental ways. Admit you’ve been scared to let go of certain relationships, habits, or projects completely. Be clear about what actions are most uncomfortable for you to take, and why. That’s what needs to be addressed—sooner, rather than later.

Sometimes, the Universe needs you to make the first move. Then it will respond, then it will show you the next steps, and give you the next clues. How many signs do you need? What if *you* were the sign? August is poised to be one big pivot, amidst highs and lows of trials and errors. Be ruthless around external growth. Make at least 3 bold moves a week. See everything as an opportunity: especially the ability to embody the change your spirit needs.

Suggested spell ingredients: Short-distance socially-distanced spontaneous exploratory trips, mint tea, unturned stones, bold moves, synchronistic passages from unread books, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self.

Leo
2 of Swords

It’s your season, brave-hearted one, and no one enjoys it more. Your key theme for August is replenishment. The celebrations might be quieter and more intimate, the drama more muted, because that’s what you need right now. The reverberations of some harder decisions you’ve had to make over the last few months are still being felt, and are still being dealt with. The shock of an important truth still works its way through your system. Be as gentle with the somatic self as you would with a sacred secret. Rewiring takes patience, repatterning takes time. Assure your body it is safe to give you more information by respecting its requests as much as possible.

As you continue to center recovery and healing, it’s imperative to get clear on what you are and are not available for. Decision fatigue needs more simplification. Practice choice reduction: eat the same things, wear the same (flashy and gorgeous) fits, and refuse to entertain the noise. Pro-tip: most of it is noise.

The boundary enforcement you’ll have to continue in August could leave you framed as “the villain,” if only in your own head. Remember that all that self-advocacy you’ve committed to has set some part of you free. There’s nothing more precious than spaciousness and peace. Stretch out into it. You’ve earned it.

Suggested spell ingredients: Clear quartz, the poetry of Nikky Finney, weekly meal prep for the month, brown noise, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self.

Virgo
The Hierophant

August marks a major turning point in the year. Yes, late August marks the start of your season, a time when you shine. Yes, it’s a time where previous efforts are visibly paying off: harvests are so bountiful that you almost don’t know where to begin counting your blessings. Practice gratitude and name all that worked. Organize and share your resources. That’s when you are happiest, that’s really why you do all that you meticulously do. Innovation, service, strategy, tending, and the relishing of growth make up the foundations of your soul.

Underneath the blooms, there is also a deeper shift taking place down in the roots. The more you understand that there is no distance between yourself and the divine, the more deeply trust is felt. You can experience divinity experiencing itself through you, in all its wonder and appreciation. The magic positively pulses through the mundane. Nature is your church —so is an errand run, or a shared moment with a bird on a wire.

The sooner you can use faith to help accept uncertainty, the easier it will be to get to work. What you are investing in now doesn’t need to be for some practical purpose, or to wrap up some neat bow. This is the work of the devoted, the one in love with mystery: it looks like love letters to a future generation, a gift to a friend who doesn’t even know you yet, an offering to a monarch butterfly you’ll never meet. Leave cosmic breadcrumbs everywhere. It’ll all come together, with the divine timing the trust inspires.

Suggested spell ingredients: Microbuses of magic, mushroom feasts, mycelium movement, milkweed seeds, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self.

Libra
The Queen of Swords, Reversed

You don’t have anything to share or educate others about this month. You’ve got no advice to give, no commentary to add to the chattering peanut gallery. This time, folks can go somewhere else for one-of-a-kind wisdom and highly detailed feedback. That’s all reserved for your own needs, your own questions, and for your highest self: this is non-negotiable. You aren’t available for unnecessary invisible, energetic, or emotional labor until well past your birthday season, Libra. Continue to pull back your energy until centering yourself first becomes second nature.

You’ve got a legacy to build, clarity to uncover, and old stories to retire. Use all that reserved mental energy for writing memoirs, experimenting with different levels of consciousness, or self-hypnosis. The tendency to utilize intuitive abilities for everyone but you must end now. So must the tendency to ignore clear psychic messages about what the next best steps are. They are subtle and ripple through when longer, sustained silence is found. They aren’t always logical, some feel downright unrelated to…well, anything you’ve been pondering. Little by little, take action. Explore what happens when the ideas become reality.

Keep all of this change behind the scenes. This isn’t the month to do anything public: any creative projects, rebranding ideas, or career pivots will happen later in the fall. The new moon last month has certainly lit a fire of inspiration; the New Moon at the end of this month will highlight where you tend to hold yourself back. September’s New Moon will help you take action. This time, make it all for you.

Suggested spell ingredients: Astral travel, a new oracle deck, peonies on your altar, a new journal, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self.

Scorpio
Knight of Swords

You’ll make the most headway this month by clearing away the cobwebs in your mind. Invisible assumptions are often unfounded ideas you have about everyone and everything, but you don’t always get you are making those assumptions. You can’t see your unconscious in action. These judgments can create distance between you and others, particularly when they aren’t generous, or aren’t accurate. Invisible assumptions also dictate the number of options you have: they can shut down possibilities and limit your behaviors and growth.

Try to see situations from another’s perspective. Are you hearing what people are saying, but not listening? Zoom out, slow down, and notice when your instinct is to defend, push away, reject, or manipulate. If the scenarios are switched this month, and people truly are refusing to listen to your requests, maybe they aren’t meant to be kept close. It’s time to get honest.

Rewrite certain stories that have been keeping you stuck, or looping. Catch yourself in those moments where you start to spiral, or derail, and pause. Adopt a beginner’s mindset: curiosity, calm, and detachment are all needed ingredients. People who confuse the past for the present keep repeating it, then wonder why nothing changes. August is a month for starting fresh, and it all begins with a different mindset.

Suggested spell ingredients: I Feel statements, lilies, Dolly Parton albums, accountability, the smell of rain (or sprinklers) on hot concrete, rose quartz, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self.

Sagittarius
The Moon

August is a month for getting fed. In some areas of your life, there’s a ravenousness that needs attention. Travel, meaning-making, sharing your voice or work with a wider audience, and publishing, are all topics that could be getting stirred up. It’s been easy to ignore because most days, the need is quiet — it lays under the surface, hidden away; it doesn’t feel like a necessity, it doesn’t feel urgent. While it is utterly magnetic, there’s something repulsive there, too. But often, what repels us is what needs healing the most. Naming and exploring the themes that continue to tug at your attention means some major reflection on the sweeping story arcs of your life. It means facing uncomfortable aspects of yourself.

There is no avoiding a serious self-interrogation. What you avoid still gives your life shape. Over time, what is missing gets louder than what remains. A lack of relevance starves the spirit. Trading self-respect for predictability makes no sense when nothing is a sure thing.

Feed yourself by visiting your shadows and seeing a different side to them. Share unpopular opinions about yourself. Use myth to situate yourself into wider possibilities. Take the parts of your psyche that have been projected upon as too much, or not enough, and give them the attention they deserve. Breathe through the self-consciousness until it is alchemized into acceptance.

Suggested spell ingredients: Moonwater, terrariums, hypnosis, Psyche and Symbol: A Selection from the Writings of C.G. Jung by C.G. Jung, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self.

Capricorn
The World

This month could reflect your work in the world — namely, where your work ends and where you begin, and how you define success professionally and personally. Somehow certain accomplishments still do not feel like enough. Somewhere, you are attaching a drive to create and build with a desire for attention or affirmation. That must be uncoupled before moving on any further. Something has to be just for you. Be clear about what your true work in the world is right now so that you’ll stop feeling disappointed even though you’ve scored a major win. Reflecting on this will also show you how much you’ve grown: make what is truly important to you front and center this month.

Redefine what living successfully looks like and why. It’s probably more about getting to grow a garden and less about a line on a resume. It’s probably more about ease and less about proving certain things to certain people. Once you are totally clear about what you need to feel accomplished, you’ll see instances of those definitions all around you.

There’s been a lot of lessons learned this summer about internal growth. Write them all down and offer them up to fire, tears, and to the earth. The next chapter is being written by the wisest version of you that has ever existed.

Suggested spell ingredients: New writing utensils, unexpected color combinations, time spent with plants, a new resume written for your future self, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self.

Aquarius
4 of Pentacles

August is a month for making quantum leaps through consistency. Power accumulates through routine. There’s more than one subject you’ve wanted to get deeper into — one program, protocol, or technology you’ve wanted to learn. Schedule time every day to learn, meditate, invest, or whatever else it is you’ve been wanting to practice.

When the going gets tough, the tender hearts stay grounded. Star child, you are being asked to really live out your values right now. There could be some external events that are causing a bit of derailment at the moment. Even when life is swirling and whirling around you, come back to yourself. Remember what you know to be true. Get into your body and your body will help give you answers and guidance.

There’s a saying, “secure the bag.” Go after what you truly want and desire: obtain something meaningful and overflowing with value far beyond the material realm. Use the power of consistency and every week you get closer to embodying your desires. There must be one non-negotiable component of this process, especially as the month heats up around your Full Moon, and more distractions surface. Never forget that you are the bag: secure yourself.

Suggested spell ingredients: Handwritten schedules, calendar invites, grounding meditations, sun salutations, tea tree oil, peach moonstone, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self.

Pisces
5 of Wands

Pisces, there is strife somewhere in your world right now that must be dealt with: tension or stress, blocks or challenges, real or imagined adversaries. You could be enacting self-sabotage in some way: playing the compare and despair game, trying to prove yourself to people who won’t actually ever understand you, or fighting some deep, creative and energetic expansion that has been wishing to burst through you like seedlings out of parched soil.

Marcus Aurelius wrote: “What stands in the way becomes the way.” The Stoics believed that hardships built resilience and strength. They embraced them as much as possible, and in doing so, found growth and confidence.

What is happening right now is ultimately helping you develop skills that you can use far in the future. It is about knowing when to drop the rope and when to keep fighting. It is about mastering energetic transformation: anger into action, dissatisfaction into discipline, and impulses into innovation. It is about tapping into your spiritual and creative energy and plugging these into more appropriate outlets. Move forward because of—not in spite of—the challenges. Tenacity will ensure you choose your own Self on a whole new level.

Suggested spell ingredients: Joy as defined by Zadie Smith, saltwater, mint leaves, black tourmaline, Wong Kar-wai films, and enrollment in Resourcing The Creative Self.