When The Energies Don’t Change (And That’s Okay)

This is my August 2023 newsletter.

Happy Lughnasadh and super full moon, my friends (today, August 1st!). This is actually the first of two full moons this month, which makes the latter one a Super Blue Moon! I’ve been hearing lots of things about the shifting astrological energy of August and that’s exciting and cool if you feel like you’re in a time in your life where you’re ready for shift. 

And sometimes things don’t shift. Sometimes we’re stuck in a rut for a long long while and nothing seems to change no matter how many full moons pass us by. I’ll be honest—with everything I’ve been dealing with this year, I am in a sort of self-imposed, restorative rut. I’m in day-by-day mode. I’ve given myself permission to not set any intentions for a full calendar year. I have found intention setting to be incredibly powerful in the past, and I’m not done with it forever. A time will come when I’m ready to look to the future again, but right now I’m still working through the past. I’ll say hello to the full moons this month and let them do whatever energetic magic they are going to. But I won’t be casting spells or lighting candles for my wishes for the future. Nah. Not this time. You’ll probably find me in therapy. Or taking a nap. 

Or here, waiting for my darling child to go the F to sleep

We live in a culture that is so focused on work, productivity, and the future—qualities that have moved the human race forward in some very interesting ways. But that same impulse to grow and evolve and invent has prevented us from slowing down enough to notice the damage we’ve created in the name of progress. We don’t rest enough. We don’t integrate enough. We’re so busy doing we forget about being. Until, that is, we’re so exhausted and sad we have no choice. 

In the narrative of the Wheel of the Year, August represents the very beginning of the waning toward the dark. It’s that moment when a fruit is almost too ripe to eat, but if you wait one more day, it’s gone. Lughnasadh is an ancient harvest festival, the first of the season, where we welcome the grain (more on that below), and focus on enjoying what is. It was a time to celebrate, feast, and have fun. One of my favorite pieces of trivia about Lughnasadh is that it is an ancestor to our modern summer county fair: it was a time for playing games, watching shows, and celebrating, just like I used to do every year at the Pacific National Exhibition in Vancouver, making a point to eat mini donuts and watch the Superdogs in the summer heat. 

This is a good time to celebrate and enjoy, and full moons can be about that, too. I’m going to invite you to try something a little different this year: don’t worry so much about the full moons and the energies changing and what you’re gonna do next. Go see the Superdogs and have fun. August is the last month of the summer season. September will come. Slow down. Be sad if you need to. Enjoy if you can. It’s enough. 

If not Superdogs, then Monster Trucks, which was pretty exciting for this little guy.

PS— If you want to learn more about the energies of the seasons and the full moons of the year, check out my new course called A Year In Full Moons. We start officially in January, but you can begin anytime.