As an ever evolving tarot reader, I am now learning to read the cards in an Espiritista framework. Interpretations combine intuitive Playlisting and imagery from the Marseilles deck. 

 

Per the Roman calendar we've been following thus far, August, named after Augustus, is the sixth month in the year. He is associated with the imperial cult and the Pax Augusta, in which Rome experienced relative peace with but a few exceptions. His medicine includes working with the Emperor to recognize the inner divine within and entering an era of peace. Numerologically speaking, six is a lunar and cyclical number. It is little surprise that we will be experiencing both a Blue Moon and a Super Moon. August pushes us forward into revisiting old cycles using the moon's intuitive eye and to evolve in doing so. Nor is the Gaelic Lughnasadh to be forgotten–the feast of harvest. This signifies we'll be reaping the rewards of the month prior. August is going to be a transitional period for many, given that we are also experiencing Venus Retrograde in Leo, which asks us to be more deliberate in the areas of romance and finance, as well as Lion's Gate which brings about accelerated transformation. 

 

Energy of the Month: Six of Cups ~Spinning Away by Brian Eno, John Cale~

 

This month we find connection to the intuitive through a playful exploration of the external. Tap into simplicity through doodling, journaling, or simply stepping out under the stars and admiring their beauty. Enjoy the process of creating, or the great creation itself, in the present moment without a thought to the destination or the outcome. This act of enjoyment can be incredibly healing. To find an activity we truly enjoy, we can reminisce and recreate. Think about how we can recreate positive cycles in our emotional psyche. That which makes us feel stable and supported. That which honors the self, the mirror and the duality. 

 

The Marseilles version of the card recalls a table set with six glasses of wine. To be swirled around and enjoyed in a sensory way. It denotes relaxation, mirthfulness, a night in, and creature comforts. There are six cards in this monthly tarot reading, and a glass is given to each. No matter how the cards are spinning, we are doing okay. We have both come home and become the home that people come to. We can tell stories around the table about past memories and experiences. We are a happy and generous host. Coming back full circle, having a stable sense of home invites play. It invites art, playfulness, nonjudgmental enjoyment, in which we can enjoy the happy little shifts and surprises. 

 

Sit outside under the moon and the stars. Recharge under their light. Work with lunar energy this month. Let her stir the imagination, and stir you through dreams. 

 

Love: Moon ~Dreams by the Cranberries~

 

Seeing the Moon in the love sector, recalls the wolf and the dog as the couple in question. Perhaps one is a bit more restrained and living in the material realm than the other, but they are both made of the same primal nature and howl under the moon together. Together they can live wild, free and uninhibited dreams together. Free from the walls of societal expectations and constraints, true to the more animalistic parts of the self, and the waters of their lunar psyche. This card showing up in the month of the super moon and the blue moon feels especially fitting and powerful. The Moon showing up in upright position in Venus Retrograde also shows it's not such a scary time - - rather this is a time to get quiet, work with our dreams and go deep. 

 

In love we are not static beings. We are always changing. And our dreams shift along with us as we gain experience. But our needs, wants and desires are impossible to ignore. They cannot be tamed or civilized, they must be born. These dreams want to come to life in manifest reality. When we can meet each other in this way, sharing our truth openly, it feels raw, scary and unknown, but ultimately rewarding. This love with lunar qualities is the love we couldn't find before. Two amazing minds with liberated psyches figure out a path in the dark together. And in howling under the moon together and reaching for each other's dreams, we become a part of each other's dreams. 

 

Money: Reversed Sun ~Gamma Ray by Beck~

 

This card showing up in reverse position in Venus Retrograde denotes that while in love we are doing well working with lunar qualities, in finance we are not quite assimilated or ready to live out in the sun. Instead of looking to ourselves and feeling confident in the light of our own sun, we look to another to show us how to live. We try to hold onto another person's way of life instead of holding onto something stable that will truly support us. Or we interact with others in a very transactional way because we are operating from a scarcity mentality. Like an Icarus in reverse, a lack of self worth has us suffering under external heat and pressure, instead of staying grounded in the cool waters of our intuition. 

 

When we feel like we're falling, the advice in this card is to hold out for now. Right now it feels like we either have to sacrifice abundance or our true passions. It feels like we cannot have it due to societal structures or other circumstances out of our control. With the latter, we feel unstimulated and wondering what we've lost. We feel stagnant and confined to the backwater. Never once realizing that we are the deadly force the world needs to watch out for. This realization is the key to challenging these perceived obstacles and reconnecting with money in a way that's authentic to the self and allows us to do the work we are meant to do. 

 

Work: Reverse Page of Wands ~ Solar Pilgrim by Twain~

 

In a reversed position, the Page of Wands is tired of playing the job and career game. They have an ardent will to do things their own way but not the savvy or experience to sustain it in manifest reality. The body is also tired from so much doing and trying. This is the call to recharge and take care of ourselves while we are still healthy. We seem a bit headstrong right now. It is as though we threw ourselves onto a trail with no map and no research, but the simple will to find our own way. Others would run from this situation because the path seems uncertain, and one that would have to be paved for the first time. This is an admirable energy, but perhaps not the most practical as we are doing things the hard way. It feels as though we're embodying a sunken cost energy - we've come so far down this route that we can't just turn around or ask for help now. But what we really want is to get pulled out of and rescued from the situation. 

 

In addition, it looks like the page is stubborn about old ways of being and operating that once worked for them but no longer do or may not even be available anymore. They're not resistant to flexibility and a new way of doing things. .As though to make up for a lack of experience. Perhaps there's also a frustration of there not already being a path being laid out already. Why does there have to be this tiresome practice of learning? Our way of operating in the world feels heavy and unwieldy. We aren't rooting our wand into the earth and intuition, nor working with universal energy, but rather depleting our own will and energy. We will get burned out this way if we keep trying to work it out this way. Perhaps it is time to sit down and take a rest, and regather strength for the journey. It may be helpful to find another hiker on the trail and ask for directions, which would better inform our own path. It is time to retrace our steps. 

 

Health: Reverse Ace of Wands ~Flames by Rey Pila~

 

Rather than go full force into a new health initiative that we are so eager to jump into, this month we are asked to consider taking a step back to build a stronger foundation for more sustainable action. It seems like right now we are shaking the club (the conduit of our will) in frustration. As though we keep shaking a tree's branch for fruit to no avail. We are yet unaware that there are better tools we could use that would wear us out less, such as a ladder and a basket. We may even feel at the mercy of external forces when things don't go our way. 

 

It is as though we are striking a match repeatedly and getting increasingly frustrated when no spark comes out. Or the flame doesn't catch to the wick and we're at risk of burning ourselves as the flame travels up the match towards us. We're assuming that we are the problem but it is likely a faulty match or box or wick. At this stage the hand's grip on the wand isn't too steady, so the will to keep going could be lost easily if we don't encourage it in little ways. We start wondering if one little match is even enough. Our ambitious spark is precious, so if this is happening we should take a step back and look into how we can better approach these obstacles, as well as the tools at hand. Is there a way to work smarter, not harder? We need to give the situation a bit more breathing time, research, and renewed energy so that the spark can really catch. 

 

Spirit: Page of Swords ~Freedom is Free by Chicano Batman~

 

As the Page of Swords, we stand firmly in our beliefs with our heads on straight and a sword in our hands. We've had a spiritual awakening - - an aha moment so to speak. We've been able to cut through the programmed societal conditioning and recognize the divinity within self, and nature, and the values of freedom, freedom of speech and belief among other things. We know no one can take that away from us now that we've gotten a hold of these firm values. 

 

We feel unencumbered at this stage of the journey and eager to learn and take on new challenges. We're ready to start the hourglass and begin to delve into the deep and hidden knowledge of nature and fate. As the page, we aren't influencing anyone yet but we have found ourselves. We are sharp students full of ideas to express even if we are still gaining experience. We have lots of theoretical knowledge and what others have done to draw on. We feel equipped and strengthened by ideas. This is an excellent time to start gaining experience by applying our ideas in the manifest world, and engaging with others. This is how we can best refine what we know as it applies to life itself.