August 2015 horoscopes: See what the last month of summer has in store for you

Date July 31, 2015

Happy Leo season! It’s the season of the sun, the star that brings life to our planet. You can imagine, then, why Leo is associated with the heart. And so symbolically Leo season is about the heart’s journey. This journey is not about reaching the finishing line or answering every question, it is about being brave enough to be on a journey at all, and being wise enough to ask questions that cannot (and may not ever be) answered.

Let this month be a process, not a destination for you. The Venus retrograde period I spoke about last month heats up right around the new moon, on the 14^th and 15^th. It is a time that calls us to surrender completely to our hearts. It’s not about action, it’s about absolute acceptance of what feels true to us at this moment in our journeys. On the 30^th we’ll see a supermoon in Pisces (this just means the moon is at its closest point on its orbit to Earth, and so appears much larger in the sky). Hear the calling of your own hopes and dreams, and find where passion has blossomed in your life.

Illustrations by Stefanie Ayoub. Horoscopes by Aerin Fogel. For personal birth chart consultations, visit Aerin’s website.

Aries (March 21 – April 19)

Dear Aries,

July was probably not an easy month for you. You felt unable to express yourself as directly as you usually do, and your efforts to keep things moving forward seemed to go strangely sideways. August will get easier for you though, and a lot more fun. In fact, things will be flowing so well for you that at times it will feel hard even just to contain yourself in your own skin. Be aware of how you are choosing, and whether you are choosing consciously, or if you are letting your desires overtake you. If you run away with desire you may actually end up making yourself sick.

Channel some of your passionate Aries fire into your style right now. Since many of you may not have a regular artistic practice, let this be your creative expression, as if every outfit re-imagines what you consider beauty to be. You might start a new love affair around the 6th, but be aware that it’s not something that’s built to last, and you’ll give yourself a headache if you try to make it so. Things may feel challenging for you in the last week of the month, as if the things you want and are inspired by are somehow at odds with what the rest of the world expects of you. This will pass, though. As the month comes to a close you are aligned with your own desires and full of energy to create whatever you want and need.

Taurus (April 20 – May 20)

Dear Taurus,

This is an important month for you, although you may struggle a bit with your own resistance to change. The process will feel easier if you are comfortable wandering backwards through the history of your experiences, but if you are still holding any aversion to looking in and looking deeper it may feel as if everything and everyone becomes a battle. When I say the history of your experiences, I mostly mean what it was like for you to grow up in your family—who they were, how they affected you. In fact, digging through your family history is a worthwhile activity for you this month. Surrender to your roots, which you cannot change, but recognize also that this process is a powerful part of reclaiming who you are as an individual.

Strip down your style to what feels raw and essential. Don’t go to work naked (unless it’s part of the job description), but choose outfits that allow a certain nakedness on a personality level. This is who you are, without apology. Don’t let your family process limit your commitment to your relationship though, especially the first week of the month. They can inform one another. Around the new moon on the 14^th and 15^th, take time to be at home in your own space and to be quiet and still. Something deep is turning over within you now.

Gemini (May 21 – June 20)

Dear Gemini,

This could end up being one of those months where you blink and eye and suddenly it’s over. The thing for you to understand is how easily you can slip into a pattern of whittling away your time with small interests and idle tasks. It’s not a terrible thing to do, but it’s also clear that you desire more out of life right now. In a way you are fighting yourself, because your desires are grand but your patience is minimal and so it turns to a kind of restless meandering. Choose how you spend your time carefully, and don’t give up on your choices because of distractions.

Your style can play with colour (with extra emphasis on the word ‘play’). Let it be a joy and a game for you, but keep it integrated, and create rhythm throughout your outfits. You may feel, around the 6^th and 7^th, misunderstood by your family. Consider, in that case, thinking about how you communicate this month and whether it comes from a place that feels authentic to you. If you have kids, open your heart and mind to them as the month closes. Or maybe it’s a pen or paintbrush that needs your open mind, because you are ready to express your creative nature. It can be anything that feels like beauty to you.

Cancer (June 21 – July 22)

Dear Cancer,

Traditionally, Cancers are considered to be quite good with their money. It shows up with less struggle in their lives than with some of the other signs. The challenge to this, however, is around impulse control. Sometimes the feeling of need for something material (or edible for that matter) can be so overwhelming that suddenly your entire paycheque has dribbled through your fingers. This month is not about the doing anything about it so much as the witnessing of what goes in and out of your bank. You will learn some very valuable things about yourself just by watching and perhaps recording what this is for you. Once you actually understand your relationship with your stuff, then you can later decide what changes need to be made.

Your style this month is one of classic elegance. You might feel most inspired by a retro look (I’m talking 50s and 60s). If you feel these days as if you are struggling with self-criticism, know that it will pass. Rather than trying to ignore or bypass the part of you that is critical, consider actually listening to the sound of it. Don’t believe it or buy into it, but the more aware of it you are the less of a hold it will have on you. This process heats up around mid-month so use the new moon on the 15^th to set intentions to value yourself.

Leo (July 23 – August 22)

Dear Leo,

Happy birthday! I hope you read the introduction because it was all about you and your brave journey, and what Leo doesn’t love that? August is a ride of self-discovery for you. You may feel torn between a deep need for appreciation and attention, yet feel a certain amount of shame around this desire. So let me save you the trouble and tell you right now you have nothing to be ashamed of. In fact, shame is one of those feelings that can roll in and in a single moment unravel all of the confidence you have carefully restored in yourself. So you will do yourself a service if you can let your presence be as grand and beautiful as it is meant to be, without any apology or temptation to shrink away.

This all applies to your style this month, too. Be daring and colourful, full of prints, and dress up for a normal day. When you embody beauty you know it in your heart. The 14^{th and 15}^th are important days for you around this theme as well. The new moon is often a moment to plant new seeds, but right now it’s about you stepping back and evaluating who you are. There is the part of you that you present to the world, that knows how to walk and wear beauty, but there is also the part of you that lives within when it is stripped bare of everything else. That is what calls to your awareness now, so be honest about what is really in there.

Virgo (August 23 – September 22)

Dear Virgo,

This is a powerful time for you. In a way, you are learning a new skill, the skill of surrender. It will be different from the other skills you have because it is a way of being, not doing, and this shift may be challenging for you but will restore a deep sense of power you may not have even realized was missing. In a way, Virgos are like the clean-up crew of the next cultural wave. Change is coming, and for Virgo to find its rightful value in the world again, you must become whole and stop analyzing and criticizing the parts of yourself you wish would just disappear. So the skill of surrender is about surrendering to those parts, which won’t disappear, but are in fact the key to wholeness and satisfaction.

This is also a perfect month for you to buy new underwear and lingerie. Just because not everyone sees it doesn’t mean it has no value; learn to dance with a little mystery under your clothing. The first week of August you might find yourself saying out loud what everyone else is trying to avoid; don’t be afraid of it, it’s a gift to stare into those murky waters even if some people get uncomfortable. From the 7th on it will feel easier to express just what you mean. The new moon on the 14th is a beautiful time to be with your kids, if you have them, or to be with your artwork, if you have that. By this point you may begin to feel more comfortable with your newfound depth.

Libra (September 23 – October 22)

Dear Libra,

There’s been a common theme for you the past few months of grabbing your dreams by the tail and making them work for you, or at least making sure they don’t continue to float away from you. This is still the theme for you in August, but you are being asking to let go of any striving or trying too hard, and completely surrender to what is happening. This way you will align yourself with what is rather than continuing to struggle towards that which is not. If you feel unsatisfied by what is happening once you surrender to it, perhaps it’s time to re-evaluate your dreams. Desire is a tricky beast because it is full of elusive longing; once you have the thing you desire you no longer desire it, because desire has already turned itself toward something else.

Be simple in your style this month because the way you dress is about to change. So strip it down to neutral, almost like returning to ground zero, and in the coming months you will build a new style. Though you feel inspired, money has been an issue in the past while, and it feels like it’s holding you back. Be discerning about how you spend right now, but soon this challenge will pass. On the 15th, don’t take action with what feels like it has beaten you down. Let yourself be there, on the ground, and the sky might start to look different to you. Desire will return, at the end of the month, and pick you up off your feet.

Scorpio (October 23 – November 21)

Dear Scorpio,

You are so good at adapting, sneaking in the back door, becoming a fly on the wall, and all that kind of secretive Scorpio stuff where you are usually an important part of the picture, but are hiding behind the scenes. You may also often be the only one who knows that you are an important part of the picture. But this month the world needs you to come out from the shadows and stand on the podium. Take charge, step into leadership, and accept responsibility. The challenge for you will be to do so without becoming controlling; it’s a very fine balance between leading others and making them do what you think is best. Think of leadership as a type of support, rather than as a hierarchy.

Get serious with your style, too. Black is a great colour to help you connect with your sense of authority, as long as it’s not helping you blend in. And don’t be afraid of looking a little dramatic or sexy, either. The new moon on the 14th is a good time to evaluate the path your career has taken, and whether it’s one that feels satisfying to you. Be creative in your thinking about where you want to go next from here, because ideas might come to you now that you hadn’t thought of before. The challenge for you will be letting go of the fear around actually following these new ideas and inspiration. As the month closes you will face another hurdle that asks you to stand strong in your self-confidence, but be sure you are communicating kindly with others while you learn this skill.

Sagittarius (November 22 – December 21)

Dear Sagittarius,

For some time now you’ve been focused on a new learning path; you may have been the student, you may have been the teacher, you may have even started the whole school. You will never go wrong by having something like this in your life, that inspires you to grow and gain wisdom. Start to think, now, about how you can translate all this new wisdom into work in the world. It is possible that your vision of what you are doing with your life has changed, or may need to change, because so have you. It may have felt in the past while that there is some hidden force blocking you from really having what you want, but this is going to start to shift, especially after the 11^th. Now the challenge will be to actually try and keep up with your own pace, because the floodgates will open, and there’s a mighty river that comes through once the block is removed.

This is a great month to travel if you can, so your style is this summer’s vacation look. Buy a beautiful hat with a wide brim, or leather sandals for your adventure. While new moons are usually about planting seeds and setting intentions, this new moon on the 14th is really about witnessing. Take stock of the journey you’ve been on since last summer, because you’re about to step across a new threshold. It may seem subtle at first, because it requires a shift in perception, for you to leave behind any old ways of thinking that are no longer supportive.

Capricorn (December 22 – January 19)

Dear Capricorn,

There’s a very particular kind of control I equate with Capricorns that has to do with ‘getting on top.’ I’ll let you in on a secret; no matter how much it feels like you’re in a position of power, it’s an illusion. There’s actually no such thing as having control, and no one can have control over you. August is the month where you learn to let someone in deeply without trying to control the situation. And I mean deep, right into your heart. It’s a vulnerable place, so I understand the temptation to try to fully understand or dictate the experience, but there’s a beautiful kind of surrender you can find where the deeper you go, the safer it is. You won’t know it until you try it.

Add some intensity to your style this month. Extra accessories and all the black you own might not seem like August attire but it will certainly suit your mood. There’s a now-familiar struggle with friends and other groups in your life that will feel challenged the first week of the month, and it may feel like everyone else is just shutting you down. Really, though, it’s okay to slow down your pace a little and let things unfold in their time. Discover real intimacy on the new moon on the 14th – let it be both physical and emotional. If it’s not both, it’s not intimacy, but something different altogether, and it comes back to your ability to surrender completely without trying to control.

Aquarius (January 20 – February 18)

Dear Aquarius,

At times this month it might almost feel like you’ve forgotten yourself because there’s someone else you’re so focused on. So don’t forget about yourself. On the other hand, it’s a little like your heart is waking up; as compassionate as you are, the passion doesn’t come easily to you. So getting temporarily lost in another person is not the worst thing if it means in the process you find your own heart. It could feel a little scary at times, since it calls for a deep level of trust, and a lot less perspective than you normally have. Leave your perspective at the gate and enter into this like it’s an adventure. It’s not about getting answers, it’s about asking questions.

Since passion is the theme, let your style reflect that. Find a version of sexiness that feels real to you and isn’t just an idea from someone else you’re trying on. It might involve fiery colours, it might involve some new underwear, or you might feel sexy just showing off your ankles in your sandals. Whatever works for you. A certain kind of brilliance is flowing through you the first half of the month, so put your ideas to paper or they will slip easily by and you will forget you ever had them. The new moon on the 15th will help you see something more clearly in relationship, but unlike most new moons this isn’t about trying to change or re-route what you see. Let the honest truth inform you of what’s really in your heart.

Pisces (February 19 – March 20)

Dear Pisces,

In a sense you have been inside yourself the past few months. A lot has changed, and some things have become more stabilized, but it has certainly been an internal process. You are ready, now, to integrate that into the rest of your life. And it starts with your work. Inner change is best served right now if you bring it to the workplace, even if that workplace is a desk in your room. Let yourself emerge a bit from the deeply personal realm you have been in and share some of that goodness with others. There’s a lot that you want to accomplish right now, so make sure to channel the inspiration and motivation well, otherwise you will soon get lost in other distractions (or other people).

Your style this month is about practicality. If it’s not comfortable, and if it restricts you somehow from getting around your day, then don’t wear it. That being said, comfort does not mean sacrificing style and you’re able to find the perfect blend of the two right now. Be extra conscious of your body this month, too. You need regular movement and exercise that is also not overly strenuous and going to exhaust you, and you need healthy food, because your whole system is extra sensitive. If your body is struggling a bit, wait before taking action, give it space, and it is quite possible it will find its own resolution. Your body knows what it’s doing!