Welcome to August, the hot days of Summer (ridiculously hot here in Arizona!) and the mighty number 8 vibration!

Switching gears from July's 7 vibration see-saw of head vs. heart, logic vs. intuition, to August’s energy of material supply you may find the shift to be a bit dizzying.

July was a communication challenge for many (primarily because of Mercury retrograde for most of the month). Yet many of my clients and people in my classes talked about the levels of doubt and indecision they were experiencing. That is the shadow side of the 7 vibration, so no surprise that this affected a number of people.

Now we’re switching gears from thinking, questioning, learning to listen to our inner guidance, and being open to the spiritual side of life, to what is going on with us on a material basis. 

August is an 8 vibration. The 8 is about abundance, power, recognition, and success.

The tricky bit might be to stay in the heart and a place of love and possibilities, rather than act from the ego and a place of constriction, fear and lack.

Since most of August is in the astrology sign of Leo, ego might be oozing out, piping up and demanding to be heard. Leo likes to take center stage and so that vibe may be just what your ego needs to fuel its very own Power-Play. Just be aware and notice if and when it shows up.

When ego shows up, don't bash it down (bashing never really works), just think or say to yourself, hmm, that's my ego, how interesting. And then put your hand on your heart, take 3 deep breaths and center yourself. Now check in with what your heart/Spirit wants to do. Choose that and override the ego. If it acts out, remember, you are the one that gives it power, so you can decide to take your power back.

Now on to the money aspect of August...

While I don’t expect you to win the lottery this month (yes it would be cool if you do!), you will be given opportunities to increase your material supply (money and or other things that equate to abundance for you).

The energy of money will be strong this month, so this is an ideal time to take a realistic look at your finances and see what (if any) changes need to be made.

If you don’t track what comes in and what goes out and prefer to keep your head in the sand regarding your financial situation, well this is the perfect month to break that habit and really, really take a good look at it.

If you don’t know where you are, how can you create a plan to get you where you want to go?

Money enjoys attention. So if you honor your money and acknowledge it (even if it is less than you like), you become more attractive to the energy of money.

If you ignore it and deny it and push it aside, things happen to get your attention focused on your money situation. Perhaps an unexpected bill comes in or something breaks.

The other aspects of the 8 vibration are recognition and power.

So this month you might find yourself receiving more recognition for the work that you do, winning an award, deciding to go for a promotion, or wanting to be recognized more for your contribution.

Power can be about stepping into a leadership role of some kind; however, it often means standing in your own personal power.

Stop giving your power away. Anywhere that you’ve been giving your power away will probably become uncomfortably obvious this month. It is an opportunity for you to become aware and shift it.

So notice where your usual power leaks are: what people and what kinds of situations trigger you to give your power away? Notice where you are playing the "Blame Game," People-pleasing, trying to "Be Nice", or going into "Victim-mode".

In some ways blaming others and playing victim are easy... uncomfortable as all heck, but easy. Because you don't have to take responsibility for yourself.

People-pleasing and Being Nice are ways we undermine our self-esteem. Fear of being rejected, alone, unworthy, unloved, etc. are often at the core of the people pleasing habit. Try pleasing yourself instead. See what happens.

Bottom line… start with you!

• Acknowledge yourself for all your accomplishments instead of beating yourself up over all the things you didn’t get done.

• Pay attention to your finances – where you are and where you’d like to be – and begin to realistically (not fearfully) plan accordingly.

• And stop giving your power away to others in at least one area of your life… more if you feel inspired to do so.

May the Power of 8 be with you! And may your Spirit and Heart be your guide...

Love & Blessings to you!
Karen

Note: Some of this was also included in The Conscious Community Mystical Musings Newsletter for August