Significant dates from folklore, lunar and meteorological activities this month in green
Selected Events (Harmony Healing and other events as notified) in black
Timings given are UK time (GMT+1), click here to convert to your time zone
August in Britain is school summer holidays. Time for summer camping and outdoor festivals and, our Summer Bank Holiday, this year on Monday 28th August, with typically lots of rain. As someone with a late August birthday I can testify to rain being very common indeed.
The month of August was renamed by Augustus Caesar, after himself. Under Roman rule it was previous called Sextillia, meaning the 6th month in Latin. When the Gregorian calendar was established by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582, January became the opening month of the calendar year. To the Anglo-Saxons, August was called Ƿēodmōnaþ meaning ‘weed (or grass) month’.
During August, we have Khemitian (Ancient Egyptian) New Year on 1st - which is also Pagan Lunasa/Lammas (and this year it's Full Moon and a Supermoon too), Lion’s Gate (8th) and the Perseid Meteors (9th - 17th August, peaking 11th/12th). We can also look forward to three other annual Egyptian Festivals plus a selection of Chinese, Buddhist and Hindu Festivals as well as a Roman annual commemoration.
We have two Full Moons and therefore two Full Moon Guided Healing Meditations taking place on 7.30-9.30pm on Tuesday 1st August (Sturgeon Supermoon, Lunasa and Egyptian New Year) and again on Wednesday 30th August (Blue Supermoon). I am also offering an 8:8 Lion's Gate Meditation at 7.30-9.30pm (UK time) on the 8th. This session will be specially themed on the energy portal between Egypt and the UK, angelic connections, plus of course, being the Lion's Gate, it will have a feline twist to it too. Book at the Harmony Shop
As August is holiday season for most people, we have just two Harmony in Nature taster sessions - a 1-hr one and a 2-hr one - on Wednesday 2nd August at Dapdune Wharf, walking distance from Guildford mainline station and town centre.
Tuesday 1st August is the Ancient Egyptian New year, traditionally marking the start of the Nile flood, started by the tears of Aset (Isis) over the death of Asar (Osirus).
The exact correlation of the Egyptian New year to the modern calendar is disputed, but I favour the linking with the heliacal rising of Sirius (dawn visibility of Sirius) as this star, known to the Egyptians as Sopdet (pronounced Soppday) was closely associated with Aset.
In the Northern Hemisphere, this is also the Pagan Celebration of Lunasa (also known as Lammas), the start of the harvest, season of pregnancy, ripening, transformation and peace.
This marks the height of the northern summer, when the Earth is most alive.
Tuesday 1st August, 7.30-9.30pm UK Time (GMT+1 = UT+1) is our Full Moon Guided Meditationn.
During this session, participants all receive a deeply healing experience. Cost to participate is £20 by online BACS payment (£1 admin fee added for PayPal, concessions to RSE/VFoA graduates), book at the Harmony Shop.
This activity serves as a good taster of Joanna's work in general and the virtual format of our Zoom based programme. And, most importantly, it's a step towards making a difference to the global predicament. To find out how working on your own spiritual consciousness can help humanity and the planet by raising the overall human consciousness levels, see Joanna's You Tube explanation.
Please email or contact me via Facebook Messenger/What's App to let me know you've booked to make sure I send you the link.
Tuesday 1st August @ 19:31 is Sturgeon Supermoon. This year it's also Lammas (Lunasa) and Egyptian New Year - see separate entry above. The monthly Full Moon meditation is also tonight, 7.30-9.30pm (UK time). Book in at the Harmony Shop. If you would like a video guided meditation, but can't make this time, you can purchase our 'any month' pre-recorded Full Moon meditation at this section of the Harmony Shop.
Between this date and the next New Moon is considered as a good time energetically for detoxing the body.
Angela McGerr's self-guided instructions for a Full Moon Angelic Meditation with Gabriel from her A Harmony of Angels Book. Angela's books have been long out of print, but we do have collectible and signed editions at the Harmony Shop.
Wednesday 2nd August, 11.30 - 12.30, 1-hr taster session (£15) and 2-4pm, 2-hr taster session (£25) at Dapdune Wharf, Guildford. the venue has its own National trust carpark, but is also walking distance from Guildford mainline station and the Centre of Guildford. There are special double ticket prices if you have a friend who would like to attend with you.
Immerse yourself in the healing elements of nature and connect deeply with all your senses.
We will take you on a mini taster session (either for 1 hour in the morning or 2 hours in the afternoon) around the little island linked to Dapdune Wharf itself. Through a selection of simple sensory activities, you will learn how to enhance your perceptions and slow down to focus on what could easily be missed. We end with a treelaxation. A deeply relaxing and rejuvenating experience, and which, despite the title forest bathing, does not involve any swimming!
Some of the scientifically proven benefits of spending time in woodland include reduced stress levels, stronger immune system response, and a stabilised cortisol cycle.
This session which will take place in all weathers except very high winds and/or electrical storms.
Book at Harmony Shop. Please email katieandjo@harmonyinnature.uk to go on our Harmony in Nature monthly update mailing list.
Tuesday 8th August is The Lion's Gate. I'm offering an 8:8 Lion's Gate Meditation at 7.30-9.30pm (UK time) on the 8th. This session will be specially themed on the energy portal between Egypt and the UK, angelic connections, plus of course, being the Lion's Gate, it will have a feline twist to it too. Book at the Harmony Shop
August 8th (8:8 in numerology) has always been experienced as the Lions Gate doorway opening up a time portal to ancient Egyptian encodings situated between the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza.
It is said to be an energy doorway, which activates through the Solar Lion into the etheric and the Hall of Records (Akasha) and is said to be associated with the marriage of matter and antimatter, where polarities meet and merge.
Encrypted at sacred sites all over the world, but headquartered at Giza Egypt, these long-established data programmes, communicate with our own inner crystalline codes held in our DNA. By tuning in and connecting with these codings we may be able to access a portal ancient truths and wisdoms resulting in an accelerated spiritual awakening. Book at the Harmony Shop
Wednesday 9th August – Thursday 17th August may be able to see some Perseid meteors. The Perseids is one of the best meteor showers to observe, producing up to 60 meteors per hour at their peak.
The shower's peak usually occurs on August 13th (predawn), this year, with Full Moon 1st August and New Moon 16th August (actually a Micromoon so even better), light pollution is likely to hamper viewings less towards the end of this peak window. However, you may be able to see some meteors any time between 17th July and 24th August. The radiant point for this shower will be in the constellation Perseus. Look to the northeast after midnight. For more, see diagram left and earthsky.org website, from where the image has been taken.
Saturday 12th August/Sunday 13th August (see entry under 9th August).
The radiant point for this shower will be in the constellation Perseus.
Look to the northeast after midnight; with a New Moon which is a Micromoon (so smaller than usual), viewing could be good weather permitting.
See earthsky.org website for more.
Saturday 12th August is also the Day of the Light of Aset (Isis). On this day Aset (Isis) is celebrated with all forms of light including sun worship, during the day and candles at night.
Interesting that it is very close to the date of the Roman Festival of Diana (varies 11th-13th August though mostly shown as the 13th), which no doubt was a development from the Egyptian Festival.
Informative Egyptian laminated posters by Jacqui Taliesin El Masry (Alkhemi) are available from this site - see Harmony Shop.
Sunday 13th August, in Roman tradition, is the Festival of Diana, being the date upon which King Servius Tullius dedicated her shrine on the Aventine Hill in Rome in the mid-sixth century BCE.
Diana was the hunting goddess, associated with wild animals and woodlands. She later became a moon goddess, supplanting Luna; and the moon was an emblem of chastity.
Oak groves were especially sacred to her. She was praised in poetry for her strength, athletic grace, purity, distinct beauty, and hunting skill.
Despite her virginal status, Diana was also a Goddess of Fertility.
Sunday 13th - Tuesday 15th August is Obon (also known as Bon); a Buddhist festival to honour dead loved ones. This custom has evolved into a family reunion holiday, during which people return to ancestral family locations and visit and tidy their ancestors' graves.
On this day, the spirits of ancestors are believed to revisit the household altars. Celebrated through the lighting of bonfires, sacred meals, paper lanterns and dancing.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
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Interestingly, there are some parallels between the Ancient Egyptian Day of the Light and the modern communities in Japan celebrating Obon through lanterns and bonfires thereby bringing balance and wellbeing into their lives.⠀
Wednesday 16th August @ 10:38 is New Moon and it's a Micromoon.
The New Moon Abundance Ritual should be carried out within 24 hours after the New Moon. It needs to be after the New Moon because the moon should be waxing (getting bigger again) to carry the manifestation energy. There are video instructions on my Facebook Page or You Tube Page.
New Moon is a good time to work on your Vision Board for the rest of 2023.
Friday 18th August is the Egyptian Feast of Wagy.
Taking place seventeen days after the Egyptian celebrations of New Year's Day, there was the more sombre feast of Wagy, when families paid respect to their ancestors.
They came to the tombs of the deceased, with offerings, performing rituals, specifically "fumigations" - producing fumes - smoke. The ceremonies were often followed by a funerary meal.
Saturday 19th August is the Festival of Tehuti (Thoth) marking the occasion on which Tehuti (Thoth) ordered the healing of the eye of Heru (Horus).
An MP3 Meditation to visit the Akashic Records with Tehuti is available from the MP3 Downloads & CDs section of the Harmony Shop.
This is a meditation to visit your personal Akashic record (which the Egyptians believed were housed in the Halls of Amenti) to see if hidden blockages to your spiritual growth and wellbeing may be revealed at this time.
The totality of the Akashic records are said to contain and describe all knowledge of human experience as well as the history of the cosmos; so they could be described as the DNA of the Universe. This meditation was devised for 19th August or 19th September (both being Festivals of Tehuti) would add emphasis, but can be used anytime.
Monday 21st August is the Roman Festival of Consualia, to honour Consus, the god of counsel, and the one who protects the harvest, which was in storage at the time of the festival.
Mars, as a protector of the harvest, was also honoured on this day, as were the Lares, the household Gods that individual families held sacred.
During the celebration horses, mules, and assess were exempted from all labour, and were led through the streets adorned with garlands and flowers. Chariot races were held this day in the Circus Maximus, which included an odd race in which chariots were pulled by mules.
Monday 28th August is the Summer Bank Holiday in the UK. In the United Kingdom, most workers have a day off work or school and the banks are closed. In Scotland, however, the Bank Holiday is actually on Monday 7th August.
The Bank Holidays Act of 1871 introduced the August Bank Holiday to give bank clerks and shop people a day of relaxation not connected to holy days such as Christmas.
This has morphed into a three-day weekend before the school summer holidays finish.
If you have children, weather permitting (avoid woodland locations in heavy winds), it's a great day to take them out on a nature trail at a local park, beauty spot, National Trust or woodland location.
Wednesday 30th August is Raksha Bandhan, the Hindu festival honouring the bond between brothers and sisters, celebrated on the day of the Full Moon in August.
Brothers take a vow to protect their sisters, whilst sisters pray for a long long life for their brothers, sealed by tying a thread around their right wrist..
Wednesday 30th August is also the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival.
This is the Buddhist Festival of All Souls or the Festival of Hungry Ghosts, when offerings are made until before the next New Moon (Friday 15th September) to spirits who have not yet found rest.
The Hungry Ghost Festival, also known as the Zhongyuan Festival, takes place on the 15th day of the Ghost Month (which starts at a New moon), so it naturally co-incides with a Full Moon.
Wednesday 30th August, 7.30-9.30pm UK Time (GMT+1 = UT+1) is our Full Moon Unity Consciousness Meditation.
During this session, we connect with other like-minded people and together we work through a mindful chakra balancing process using colours and etheric crystals, with the aim that all participants will experience a degree of unity consciousness. Participants all receive a deeply healing experience. Cost to participate is £20 by online BACS payment (£1 admin fee added for PayPal, concessions to RSE/VFoA graduates), book at the Harmony Shop.
This activity serves as a good taster of Joanna's work in general and the virtual format of our Zoom based programme. And, most importantly, it's a step towards making a difference to the global predicament. To find out how working on your own spiritual consciousness can help humanity and the planet by raising the overall human consciousness levels, see Joanna's You Tube explanation.
Please email or contact me via Facebook Messenger/What's App to let me know you've booked to make sure I send you the link.
Thursday 31st August @ 02:35 (Wednesday night, Thursday morning) is another Supermoon, and being the 2nd Full Moon in August, it is a Blue Moon according to the current definition. The monthly Full Moon meditation is on Wednesday night, 7.30-9.30pm (UK time). Book in at the Harmony Shop. If you would like a video guided meditation, but can't make this time, you can purchase our 'any month' pre-recorded Full Moon meditation at this section of the Harmony Shop.
Between this date and the next New Moon is considered a good time energetically for detoxing the body.
Angela McGerr's self-guided instructions for a Full Moon Angelic Meditation with Gabriel from her A Harmony of Angels Book. Angela's books have been long out of print, but we do have collectible and signed editions at the Harmony Shop..
Harmony Healing Blog updates can be emailed to you - You can sign up here
The Harmony Healing regular Blog update can be emailed out with more information as the events above happen (updates are headed with a title detailing the occasion so you can choose whether to open it or not), featuring New and Full Moon, meteor showers, eclipses and other meteorological events, interesting anniversaries, ancient festival dates plus notification of dates of numerological significance.
Sometimes Blogs will appear on successive days and at other times there will be no messages for a while. The sender e-mail address is j (and the sender will show as Joanna Bristow-Watkins @ Harmony Healing). You may need add this email to your safe list and check your junk filter initially. See https://harmonyhealing.co.uk/blog for typical Blog entries.
Acknowledgments
Celestial Forecast is compiled by Joanna Bristow-Watkins of Harmony Healing, the original is published at Joanna's Monthly Celestial Forecasts. It is created using many sources but notably the Moonwise Calendar and Lia Leendertz's annual Almanac. Whilst considerable effort is made to ensure accuracy, this is not an exact science and sources are sometimes contradictory!
These monthly Celestial Forecasts (CF) are generally uploaded to the Harmony Healing website a fortnight ahead and can be accessed via the drop-down box on the right. They are sent out to the main mailing list and CF subscribers a few days before the month starts.
Extracts from the Celestial Forecast are reproduced in Glyden Magick, an online magazine offered via Gylden Fellowship which is a fabulous resource for Neo-Pagans (particularly in the South of England when physical meet-ups can resume).
Through Harmony Healing, Joanna utilises the philosophies of the Ancient Egyptians, in the form of Reyad Sekh Em® (RSE) Level 1 Egyptian Alchemy Healing. Featuring four online modules of Khemitology (Ancient Egyptology according to the indigenous oral traditions), Violet Flame of Amenti, Mindful Chakra Balancing & Essene Angelology. Missed sessions are fully recorded so that late registrations or are possible. Reyad Sekh Em (RSE) Level 1 costs £266 and run about three times a year. the individual modules are stand-alone and cost either £88 or £66, hence the RSE 1 package offers a cost saving.
She is also an intuitive healer offering 1-2-1 distant healings and readings, plus MP3 recordings. She is a fully qualified Fotrest Bathing guide, offering Forest Bathing sessions in the Surrey Hills of England. Joanna acts as the retailer for her sister, Angela Mcgerr's, best selling angelogy books and angel card sets. The are mostly now out-of-print, but Joanna still has some unused copies as well as pre-used versions of many of the card sets, see the Harnony Shop for the full details.