Cycles of Time is a weekly forecast that explores at the energies of the upcoming week through the lenses of astrology, the Pagan Wheel of the Year, the Daoist 5-Element Cycle, the Indigenous Medicine Wheel, and the 64 gates of the I’Ching/Human Design/Gene Keys/ mandala.
Each of these ancient, cyclical systems have the potential to connect us deeply with the changing seasons and also with the wisdom of our global ancestors. Viewed together, they reveal the profound interconnectedness that human beings have always held with mother earth. Thanks for reading & listening!
-Alison
Join us this Wednesday: Leo Season Breathwork Session!
Register here for the session (on Zoom) where we’ll dive into the energy of all things Leo, and experience a guided breathwork journey to connect with your inner radiance and courage.
The Pulse of the Week:
This week’s big events: we have a full moon in Aquarius opposite the sun in Leo, and the planets shape into a rare Kite formation, a geometry that takes raw potential and gives it a tail to steer.
This Saturday’s Full Moon arrives a day after 8/8, the so-called Lion’s Gate Portal. This is a date celebrated by many in the spiritual world as a time of amplified manifestation, cosmic downloads, and heart-centered awakening. The imagery is rich: the Sun is in its own sign of Leo, the number 8 is looping like infinity, and the star Sirius is rising in the dawn, aligning with the earth and sun. Some speak of it as an ancient Egyptian alignment, and others as a modern New Age portal. Whether the history is airtight or more poetic than factual, the symbolism still hums with possibility.
As one of my favorite astrologer’s, Caroline Casey, always says, “Believe nothing, entertain possibilities.” You do not have to take the Lion’s Gate as literal cosmic fact to work with it. I invite you to treat it as a beautiful mythic frame, an excuse to open your heart wider, to align your actions with your deeper purpose, and to imagine yourself as part of something greater than the minutiae of the moment. If nothing else, this week’s Lion’s Gate full moon offers a reason to pause, to set intentions in the spirit of heartfelt courage, and to see what magic wants to slip in through the open door.
In addition to the full moon, this week has some wild astrology: a Grand Air Trine locks Mars in Libra, Uranus in Gemini, and Pluto in Aquarius into an easy flow of quick thinking, radical insight, and transformative force. Mars’ in Libra also makes a direct opposition to Saturn and Neptune in Aries, extending the trine and creating the kite’s spine, adding pressure and structure to the free-flowing dynamism of the moment. This week, vision needs to be matched with discipline, and inspiration must hold up under real-world testing.
We continue the transition from Fire to Water in the Medicine Wheel, from the high heat of the South to the emotional harvest of the West, and from Fire to Earth in the Wuxing 5-Element Cycle. This is a week to clarify your role in the larger pattern (as the sun travels through Gate 7, the Role of the Self in Interaction) and direct your momentum with intention.
This week’s full moon and grand-trine-kite energetics invite you to catch the updraft of change, harness the air currents, and steer toward the future you want to inhabit.
Let’s get into it….
MEDICINE WHEEL Direction: SOUTH > WEST
WUXING Element: FIRE > EARTH
PAGAN Season: LAMMAS/LUGHNASSA (Widely celebrated on Friday, August 1; Astrological Lammas is this week on August 7th at 15 degrees of Leo (Gate 7)
ZODIAC Season: LEO (July 22-August 22)
I’CHING Hexagram/HUMAN DESIGN Gate:
Thursday, July 31- Tuesday, August 5: Gate 33: Heaven over Mountain “Retreat”, aka the Gate of PRIVACY
Wednesday August 6- Monday, August 11: Gate 7: Earth over Water “The Army”, aka the Gate of THE ROLE OF THE SELF IN INTERACTION
MOON Phase: Full Moon in Aquarius (Saturday, August 9th) - Gate of the Listener, 8/8 Lion’s Gate Portal
PLANETARY Dances:
Wednesday, August 6th
Mars enters Libra (and opposes Saturn and Neptune in Aries)
Tuesday, August 5th
Grand AIR Trine with Mars in Libra, Uranus in Gemini & Pluto in Aquarius
Which equal….. a rare KITE Formation! Mars, Saturn/Neptune, Pluto, & Uranus in the mix! Check it out:
The sun moves from the Gate of Retreat to the Gate of The Role of the Self
The Sun’s move from Gate 33, Retreat, into Gate 7, The Army, feels like the moment when you’ve been offstage for a while, lights dim, and you finally sense it’s your cue to step out.
Gate 33, which the sun has been transiting from last Thursday to this Tuesday, has been time to take a pause when the outside world feels too loud. It’s when we choose to close the door, clear the table, and sit with the raw pieces of our own story.
During this transit, I’ve taken time to look back over what’s unfolded recently - the conversations, the missteps, the little wins - and let them settle in my body. In that quiet time, I started to see the patterns and in that stillness remembered what’s actually important, instead of chasing what’s urgent. (Because doesn’t everything seem urgent these days?). The Gene Keys describe Gate 33 as a progression from the shadow of Forgetting to the gift of Mindfulness to the siddhi of Revelation, and it’s true — I never find real clarity in the middle of constant motion. It comes when I’ve given myself the grace to step away. I hope you’ve had a chance over the past few days to give yourself a little space. If you haven’t- try to find a little bit of space today or tomorrow!
When the Sun enters Gate 7 on Wednesday, (The Gate of the Role of Self in Interaction), the inner space we’ve been connecting with starts to naturally point outward. The question for this gate is: now that I’ve found my own center again, how do I show up in the larger pattern? What role do I play?
The I’Ching calls Gate 7 The Army, but it’s not about control or conquest. It’s about belonging to something bigger, focusing on your own role in the revolution but also moving with others in a way that serves the whole. The Gene Keys describes this the path from the shadow of Division to the gift of Guidance to the siddhi of Virtue. This tells the story that real leadership isn’t about being the loudest or the most forceful, but about holding a steady, trustworthy place that others can align with.
Over the past week, retreat (hopefully) gave us some inner clarity, and this week Gate 7 gives us the call. It’s the pivot from listening to speaking, from gathering our own inner strength to lending it to the collective, determining the best place to step into leadership.
The Aquarius full moon shines in the Gate of the Listener
The Full Moon in Aquarius lights up Gate 13, The Listener, directly opposite the Sun in Gate 7, The Army. This is the polarity of leading and listening, a reminder that the two are inseparable when leadership is rooted in truth. In the I’Ching, Gate 7 is The Army, the kind of leadership that aligns personal will with the good of the whole. Gate 13 is Fellowship with Men, the bond formed when we listen to each other’s stories and carry the shared memory of where we’ve been.
In the Gene Keys, Gate 13 moves from Discord to Discernment to Empathy, showing how deep listening transforms misunderstanding into connection. Together, Gate 7 and Gate 13 form a call-and-response: the Sun in Gate 7 asks how you will step forward with clarity and purpose, while the Moon in Gate 13 answers by reflecting the wisdom that comes from lived experience and collective memory. Leadership without listening loses its compass, while listening without direction can drift into nostalgia. This Full Moon demands both.
This Moon is also conjunct Pallas Athena in Aquarius, sharpening strategy and pattern recognition. It listens with an ear for what fits and what doesn’t, able to see the structure within a story. Yet it is under tension - squaring Lilith, Juno, and Vesta in Scorpio. Lilith here brings the raw, uncompromising truth that some stories have been silenced or denied. Juno stirs questions of loyalty, commitment, and equality in relationships. Vesta calls attention to what has been held sacred, or sacrificed, in order to belong. These squares bring friction, asking you to integrate truth-telling and devotion without losing yourself in power struggles or old wounds.
This lunation challenges you to lead with both voice and ears, to hold authority and empathy in equal measure, and to let your direction be shaped by the truths that rise to the surface now.
Planetary Dances of the Week:
(...I’m High as a Kite, I just might, stop to check you out….)
The Kite formation unfolding at the same time as the Full Moon this week supercharges the Gate 7/Gate 13 polarity.
A Kite takes the greased-up flow of a Grand Air Trine (in this case, Mars in Libra, Uranus in Gemini, and Pluto in Aquarius) and grounds it with an opposition, giving it direction and purpose. The Grand Trine alone could feel like ideas, insights, and conversations moving fast and freely, but also drifting without a clear aim. The opposition to Saturn and Neptune in Aries creates the kite’s spine, bringing the need for focus, commitment, and a clear vision to steer the energy.
In the context of the Full Moon, this means the listening of Gate 13 and the leadership of Gate 7 are not happening in a vacuum. The Grand Air Trine opens channels for breakthrough thinking, strategic alliances, and conversations that could dramatically shift your perspective. Uranus in Gemini electrifies the mind and the social sphere, Mars in Libra brings initiative and relationship dynamics into play, and Pluto in Aquarius pushes for deep truth and transformation in the collective. The opposition between Mars in Libra and Saturn-Neptune in Aries keeps asking: will you use this insight to build something real, or let it stay as ungrounded inspiration?
The Kite lifts the Full Moon’s energy into higher altitude, making it easier to see the big picture. But it also demands you steer with precision. If you lean too hard into the Air Trine without the grounding spine of the Mars/Saturn-Neptune polarity, you may stay in talk and vision mode without translating it into concrete movement. If you stay only in the Saturn-Neptune opposition, you risk feeling the weight of uncertainty or pressure without catching the lift.
Used well, this Kite can carry the listening of Gate 13 into visionary guidance through Gate 7, turning your revelatory insights of this week into a clear plan of action that others can rally behind.
How will this week show up for you?
This week has a clear shift in tone from the relentless heat of summer. It is the true cross quarter day between the summer solstice and the fall equinox by degree this week. I think of this holiday as one where gratitude and grief share equal relevance, as our ancestors cut the living grain for their consumption while realizing the first harvest also means a step closer to the death of winter.
As we move into the energy of Lammas’ first harvest, it is a good time to notice what has grown in your life since spring. What is ready to be shared? What do you want to carry forward into the next season? Take the time to acknowledge what you have built and what you can harvest from spring and summer’s activity, even if it is still forming and taking shape.
This week you may feel yourself moving from an inward, reflective space into one that asks you to take the lead in some area of your life. The quiet sorting-through of recent happenings begin to solidify into a sense of direction. You will likely feel both the urge to speak up and the need to listen more deeply than usual. The wisdom you gather from others will be just as important as the clarity you offer. This week rewards those who combine courage with listening, action with discernment, and inspiration with a plan.
There is also a feeling of lift in the air as the week progresses and the grand air trine takes shape. It could feel like the wind is at your back…. if you are ready to catch it. Opportunities for connection, collaboration, or a new approach may appear more easily now. The key is to ground them, keeping one foot planted in what matters most to you so the inspiration does not drift away.
This week isn’t a light one, but who’s surprised there? The Leo Aquarius axis and the unique planetary geometries invite us into full self expression, connecting our selfhoood to the collective’s evolution like the jewel-drops of Indra’s Net..
Sending you all love and care this week.
Until we meet again,
xo,
Alison
Remember to exhale….
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Leo Season Astro-Breathwork Journey (Wednesday, August 6 at 5pm mst)
These monthly sessions are a great way to learn about the upcoming transits, integrate the themes of Leo season in your body, and release emotions that are no longer serving you.
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xox,
Alison
