Heya friends,
Welcome to your weekly forecast for August 19-25, 2024.
This week we’re winding down the season of the lion and ramping up to the season of the earthy harvest maiden, Virgo. Additionally, after a few months of embodying the fiery, youthful Southern direction of the medicine wheel, we’re now transitioning into the West, a part of the wheel that represents adulthood, the emotional side of life, and the element water.
This week’s highlights:
Monday, August 19: Full Moon in Aquarius in the Gate of Desires (Gate 30)
Thursday, August 22: Virgo Season Begins
We are entering the direction WEST in the Medicine Wheel, representing Adulthood, Emotionality, and the Water Element.
Human Design/I’Ching:
Mon-Thurs: the sun is in Gate 29, the Gate of Perseverance, the last gate of LEO season!
Thursday-next Wednesday: Gate 59, the Gate of Sexuality, rings in VIRGO!
This week’s themes:
Desire and Passion vs. Devotion and Perseverance
Change and transition
The wisdom of our emotions
T-Square Tension leading to Breakthroughs
Our Place in the Wheel of the Year
Medicine Wheel Direction: WEST (Water, Adulthood)
Wuxing Cycle Element: Earth
Pagan Season: Lammas
Zodiac Season: Leo > Virgo (August 22-Sept 22)
Moon Phase: Full moon in Aquarius (Monday Aug 19)
I Ching Hexagram/Human Design: Gate 29 (Sat-Wed), Gate 59 (Wed-Tues)
29= Water over Water (Kan: “Dangerous Depths/Abyss”) or The Gate of PERSEVERANCE
59 = Wind over Water (Huan: “Dispersing”) or The Gate of SEXUALITY
Moving West in the Medicine Wheel- from Yang summer to Yin fall
Seasonal transitions are times to pay extra attention to your immune system, your lymphatic system, your fascial system, your joints- systems within the body where energy (qi/prana) flows and might have the potential to get stuck. Last week I was super grateful to start up my qigong practice again at my teacher’s bright and airy new dojo. Starting up again after a summer off coincided with my daughter’s first day of kindergarten, and it was beautiful to tap into the transitional season of Earth (in the Wuxing 5-phase cycle) through grounding movements that focused on cultivating and nourishing my yin root. My teacher always reminds us that the strongest, most potent yang actions arise from the most gentle, grounded yin place.
In the indigenous Medicine Wheel as I have learned it (I always like to note that there are many different versions of the medicine wheel that vary from region to region), this time of late summer/early fall is a beacon of the transition from Fire to Water, Youth to Adulthood, the Mental Realm to the Emotional Realm. As I dropped my daughter off at a big new school for kindergarten, the watery emotionality of adulthood really struck me- my baby grew up so fast! The feels swirled from pride to nostalgia to anxiety to excitement to deep love, so quickly running over each other like a rapid current of water.
I didn’t realize how nourishing it was, timing-wise, to have my friend Justine (who I interviewed for last week’s episode) visiting the week before school began with her family. Her daughter is 9, and so she’s always been a mom-role model for me, with her, her husband, and her daughter emotionally supporting my fam into the new phase of kindergarten. After a mental season of figuring it all out in this life, I do feel like I’m entering a season of letting in the wisdom of my emotions, being honest with my true emotions as they ebb and flow. I think being a responsible adult is about responding to the moment, rather than aiming to structure the moment to our own personal desires quite as much as we did in youth. I also feel like the emotions of adulthood in the West refer to the interdependence of adulthood, of allowing ourselves to be supported in our processes instead of going at it alone.
In Taoist thought, Earth and Water are Yin elements, with qualities of receiving, flowing, and changing. In both the Wuxing Cycle and the Medicine Wheel, then, we are entering seasons of Yin after seasons of Yang. This is distinctly noticeable at this time of year in the Zodiacal transition between the Lion, known for outward expression, and the Harvest Virgin, known for discernment and service. In the I’Ching/Human Design/Gene Keys as well, we are also currently in a season of Water, with water being the lower trigram of the hexagrams in water through all of Virgo season.
Transitions between seasons, between yang and yin, are more challenging for our bodies to process than we often are willing to admit to ourselves in this fast-paced world, and going from Yang to Yin energies requires a lot of tenderness and care.
Add a couple T-Squares to the mix…
What’s more, as all of you astrology-lovers probably know by now, this week in the planets is also quite… turbulent. Not only are we in a Mercury retrograde period, but we also have a powerful and unpredictable full moon today (Monday) due to its square with Uranus.
We are also right in the middle of tense-T square energy, with square angles happening between Mars & Jupiter in Gemini, Saturn in Pisces, and Venus in Virgo. T-squares are when 2 planets in the sky form an opposition (in this case Venus in Virgo opposite Saturn in Pisces) and another planet sits at a 90 degree angle from these two planets, making a square angle to both of them (in this case, Jupiter and Mars are both in Gemini, creating squares to Saturn and Venus). T-squares indicate a presence of lessons that need to be learned by facing a challenge head-on- kind of a no-pain/no-gain energy.
Thinking of the chart as a round table with the planets around it having a conversation, a t-square is two opposing voices and a 3rd one directly conflicted in the middle of the two. Since oppositions exist on the same polarity or axis, they usually have the same goals, but very different ways of achieving those goals. In this case, Venus, the planet of values, is in Virgo, the sign of healing through discernment and analysis. She’s opposite Saturn, the planet of structure and boundaries, in Pisces, the sign of healing through merging and spirituality. They both have the goal of healing and serving the larger whole, but do them in very different ways.
The 3rd, or squaring planets, Jupiter and Mars, are in Gemini, the sign of gaining knowledge through local community and gossip. Mars intensifies and Jupiter expands what it touches, so these two are like a 3rd wheel in the disagreement between Venus and Saturn, seeing both sides but not being convinced of why the argument is even happening in the first place! Our values, how we structure our lives, and our passions are all laying down the line in this tense aspect this week.
T squares happen quite frequently, but part of this aspect, the square between Jupiter and Saturn, only happens about every 10 years. These two outer planets bring that tense conversation between our dreams and reality to the limelight, asking us to identify what’s truly important to us, and to recognize discrepancies between our ideals and our actual situation. It’s a reality-check moment to ask ourselves how our fantasies and realities match up, and take action to think about what we can do to align them as we move along toward the future.
Gemini, Pisces, and Virgo, the signs where the planetary T-Square is happening, are all mutable signs in astrology, which means they are the signs of transition between seasons (Gemini transitions spring to summer, Virgo transitions summer to fall, and Pisces transitions winter to spring). These planetary configurations are unique to this year, and they are adding to the changing and transmutative vibes that happen during this season every year, as the sun makes its way around the wheel of the year.
All this is being noted to say: Take care of your bodies and try not to take on too much this week. Be gentle with yourselves as the seasons and planetary angles shape-shift and transform, especially with this tense outer-planet energy in the mix!
Aquarius Full Moon » Leo vs. Aquarius
Happening at the same time as this mutable T-square, today (Monday) we’re winding down Leo Season with a Full Moon at 27° Aquarius. The full super-moon is part of another t-square in the skies- it’s opposite Mercury retrograde and square Uranus in Taurus, making it pretty intense and potentially filled with quite a few unexpected and electric-feeling elements. This combination of t-square aspects may signal the arrival of a long-awaited, systemic change that could ultimately propel us forward.
To learn about the theme of this new moon, we can look at the polarity that it is occurring on- the Leo/Aquarius axis of expression. The sun is in Leo, the sign of self expression or expression in the present moment. It’s directly across from the moon in Aquarius, in the sign of societal expression, or expression that shapes the future. The sun, representing our conscious awareness, is in the season of being in the present and radiating our hearts into the world. The sun’s light is being reflected back by the moon’s embodied, somatic awareness of the wintry season of Aquarius, a time when we must innovate and express new ideas for the collective in order to reach a thriving spring. How your personal self-expression and artistry are interconnected with the larger collective’s progress is a big theme of today’s moon~!
Full Moon in HD Gate 30 » Calm Perseverance vs. Fiery Passion
In the Human Design wheel, the sun is still transiting through the Gate of Perseverence (Gate 29), which we talked about last week. The full moon is opposite in the Gate of Desires (Gate 39). Like we can look at the similarities and differences of the Leo/Aquarius axis, we can also look into distinct similarities and differences between these two opposite Human Design Gates.
In the I’ching, Perserverence, or Hexagram 29, is symbolized as water over water. Like I mentioned last week, it is an energy of overcoming obstacles by embodying the flowing quality of water, persisting with dedication through the layers of dirt until you reach your goals. Like it’s Leo sign, it’s about having courage to face dangers and also maintaining a calm disposition, allowing us to meet the present moment rather than get caught up in the potentialities of the future.
Gate 30, where the moon sits, is the gate of Desires, symbolized as fire over fire in the I’Ching. Water over water versus fire over fire on opposite sides of the wheel really shows the beauty of the I’Ching sequence, and I love the parallels to the Leo/Aquarius axis here! While water over water is an energy that flows calmly downward, into the heart, into the earth (which is the season we’re entering in the Wuxing cycle), and into the present moment.
Fire over fire, on the other hand, the energy of this full moon, is the energy of moving upward, pursuing desires, embracing emotional intensity, flickering up into the air where new ideas and potentials are born. This full moon’s gate emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and embracing your emotional highs and lows, seeing them as burning fires that help you reach new potentials of being. In the gene keys, gate 30’s siddhi is “rapture”, while gate 29’s is “devotion”- both terms of complete dedication to a purpose, but with different ways of getting there! I see “rapture” as being burned up in flames of passion, head up to the sky, while I visualize “devotion” as head bowed down, receptive like water.
The oppositional energy between the moon and sun highlights the different ways of achieving goals: through calm, dedicated perseverance or through fiery, passionate, burning desire. As is true for all oppositions in the wheels of the year, there is no “better” or “right” way to do it. I love full moons because they help us feel these differences in our bodies, so we can become aware of them in our minds. This full moon, take some time to deeply listen to the conversation between devotion and rapture, calm and passion, water and fire, present and future.
I think that full moons are notoriously known as intense because we are fundamentally out of alignment with the larger similarities between polarities, and we are shocked by the opposite season’s energy suddenly showing up and shining a light in our current way of being. Intense can feel bad or good, and I find that full moons feel better in my body if I allow the discourse across the table to happen without taking immediate sides. Having Uranus as a T-square here between the sun and the moon allows for a 3rd perspective, too- but as Uranus is the modern ruler of Aquarius, he might err on the side of the moon’s passionate fire this time around.
I encourage you to take some time to listen to your desires today, and to be with your body, knowing that while emotions can be intense and sometimes challenging, they are key to unlocking our deepest aspirations and fueling our journey toward fulfillment. I feel like Leo season has revealed so much about the power of heart-centeredness, so this full moon energy is a great way to cap off the Zodiac month with a lion’s roar before we head into the devotional fields of Virgo on Thursday.
Thursday, August 22: Virgo Season Begins
Stay tuned for a deep dive into Virgo season in my next post- I will be publishing my full Virgo Season article for Astrum Opus this Wednesday and sending it out to subscribers too here ( so please subscribe if you haven’t!)
The First gate of Virgo Season: SEXUALITY/DISPERSION (Gate 59)
To wrap up this episode, I’ll give you some quick insights into the first gate of Virgo season, which the sun will be transiting from Thursday through next Tuesday. It’s a fun one that is apt for our Virginal main character… gate 59 is known as the Gate of Sexuality. As we leave the hearth of the lion’s Pride Rock and land back on the fertile plains in time for harvest season, this gate welcomes the season with themes of intimacy, procreation, and the breaking down of barriers to create closeness and trust between people.
Here, intimacy isn't just limited to traditional sexuality and reproduction; it's also about creating a safe, respectful environment where authentic connections thrive, allowing for the birth of new ventures, projects, and relationships.
I spoke a lot about the heart-centeredness of Leo in last week’s episode, and with Virgo we are moving into new associated Zodiacal body parts: the spleen and the digestive system. In the I’Ching, this gate is known as Dispersion, and it’s about taking all that devotion and rapturous passion that we just encountered on this full moon, and seeing how we can disperse it and spread it around to create a safe, warm, honest, and intimate community. It’s hexagram is wind over water, so you can visualize wind skimming across a watery surface and creating lots of ripples in its path, a time of many small changes leading to a new forward direction and groundedness.
In the Gene Keys, the shadow of this gate is fear, drawing on the notion that some kind of fear is necessary for sexual attraction. Like the polarities between the sun and moon in this full moon, the goal and desire is the same, but the means of getting there are inherently different, and this can be scary! It’s gift level is intimacy, something that happens when we acknowledge these fears that exist between us and begin to be honest about them. The siddhi level is transparency, which is a lot like dispersion, a sense of breaking down all barriers that stand in the way of union.
After a massive seasonal transition and an intense full moon, use the arrival of Virgo season and the Gate of Sexuality this weekend to take notice of the small and simple things that build intimacy between you and the people you are in relationship with: a smile, a phone call, a gesture of support. Gratitude opens the door to love in your world.
Have a beautiful week ahead!
<3
Alison
Desire vs. Devotion: The Aquarius Super Moon