Lammas (Old English for “lamb,” and later “loaf,” as in bread) celebrates the first grain harvests. Observed Aug. 1 in the northern hemisphere, we can extend the festival all week. Lammas is a festival of gratitude. After summer rains, wheat was harvested and ground into flour. Loaves of bread, including communion bread, were made and taken to the churches for blessing. Lammas was a community celebration. Shakespeare refers to Lammas Eve as the 14th birthday of Juliet from Romeo and Juliet.

This first harvest prepares humanity for the coming autumn and winter, cooler days, crisp apples, roasting of the southwest chile and the last of summer’s tomatoes and corn.

Lammas reminded humanity of the cycle of life and death (light and dark). During August, people knew that soon Persephone would be taken to the underworld by Pluto and Demeter. Her mother, grief-stricken, would make the leaves fall and the darkness come. But before autumn, there was to be festivity, celebrations, gathering the first fruits and baking the first loaves of bread.

And so we, too, give pause in these hot August days, recognizing what is abundant in our lives. In celebration, let us decorate doorways and tables with vines and leaves, make corn dollies, eat summer fruits, celebrate skills, talents and craftsmanship of friends and family, and bake bread together from the first harvest of grains (non-GMO and organic).  

ARIES: You’re like the star of the month in all that you do. Your powerful leadership qualities are called to do tasks no one else can perform. This helps you gain confidence and a new creative identity coming forth. You discover that not only do you initiate new projects, but you’re very competent and skillful. Maintain balance by being dignified, understanding and kind in all situations. You are an influencer.

TAURUS: You shine for those who love you. Your reflection is always in their hearts. They experience your nurturing playful qualities. You are not concerned with public identity or social standing. You are able to lead people in ethical judgments, taking responsibility, and doing their duty. Many do not understand responsibilities, ethics or duties until they meet you.

GEMINI: You must always speak from your center of truth. It allows people to know you as authentic. You must seek to discover your creative voice and words. Have courage and self-confidence to speak always from the heart, never from the lower mind. It is important to know the difference—one unites and the other separates. You want to attain self-realization, and unite with others. You must know your heart and follow it. No stepping back.

CANCER: You always bring something good, nourishing, unusual and new to the table. You shine when people love you. But you often hide under a shell because you’re shy. At times, people don’t hear or understand you. Maintain poise and confidence and your authority over resources and finances. Don’t give this away. When you give without expectation, there is a return a hundredfold.

LEO: Happy birthday to Leos, the heart of the zodiac, the sunflowers of the zodiac. When you use your personal power to help others you shine golden like the Sun. During this birthday month, allow yourself to be dramatic, at one with whatever you love: flamboyant, expressive, creative, radiant, benevolent. But not a dictator; that will tarnish your image and make people back away. Be good to everyone. Show them the kindness of benevolent royalty.

VIRGO: Your new fluency is creativity in all its forms. It’s a Leo, Pisces, Virgo creativity. Much is yet unknown to you about this creativity. However, should you begin a creative project, the steps and outcome will flow from your heart, mind and hands with ease. It is good to consider yourself an artist, recognizing your gifts with pride and humility. You might want to become lost in solitude to discover this process.

LIBRA: You’re always a star of the party. Your smile lights up everyone’s state of mind, and, like the light of Sirius, goes directly to their hearts. You have many who admire your straightforwardness, generosity and ability to share. As you shine your benevolent light on everyone, it allows others to be in the spotlight, too. This makes them feel special. You realize the fact that leaders lead and follow simultaneously.

SCORPIO: At times, we must do what makes us uncomfortable. Moving away from caution and gambling a little on being on the edge and knowing it will be safe. You need a big influx of style in your life—whatever style means to you, adopt it and act within it. You will find you’ve stepped out of yourself into a place that has a bit more zest, color, seasoning, zing, excitement, passion and exhilaration. You need a little thrill, some anticipation and pleasure. Your destiny is not to be boring.

SAGITTARIUS: What are your ideals? Write them down, review them, cross out and add to them. Ideals are the outcome of vision, so it’s also important to understand what visions you have and maintain those visions even in adversity. You have a central purpose, and that is to express the truth of what you believe. You are also to have concern for others and not be someone with limited self-concerns only. It’s the heart of all things, which is your heart, that matters.

CAPRICORN: Sometimes you are a mystery to others. Mysteries are good. Yours has a special tone, color and vibration. It can hold your creativity and passion. Allow your intuition to guide you. You always have dignity, even when situations are at their most difficult. Life is complex these days. Tune into all that’s unspoken around you to understand the heart of everything speaking with you. It happens mostly in the garden. The devas there want to communicate with you. Tell them your name. They will eventually talk back.

AQUARIUS: During the days to come, somehow you become mysterious, hiding behind an unspoken reality holding onto your personal power. Something’s very instinctual about you, deep like dark, streaming waters. You sense those you can and cannot trust, those who use you for gain, and those who are loyal friends. You’re aware of setting aside childish behaviors. You become playful and laugh a lot. You’re in a time of deep profound change. Remain there.

PISCES: Always Pisces must remember to maintain a distinct sense of self-identity and strength in relationships. This can be a difficult task and a test for Pisces, ruled by Neptune, which helps Pisces blend into other realities—people, places and events—until they are lost and without identity. Pisceans, like Libra, are always seeking balance. Pisces seems drifty a lot, but behind that façade is a very logical and mathematical mind.

Free Will astrology for the week of Aug. 1, 2018.

ARIES (March 21-April 19): I predict that August will be a Golden Age for you. That’s mostly very good. Golden opportunities will arise, and you’ll come into possession of lead that can be transmuted into gold. But it’s also important to be prudent about your dealings with gold. Consider the fable of the golden goose. The bird’s owner grew impatient because it laid only one gold egg per day; he foolishly slaughtered his prize animal to get all the gold immediately. That didn’t work out well. Or consider the fact that to the ancient Aztecs, the word teocuitlatl referred to gold, even though its literally translation was “excrement of the gods.” Moral of the story: If handled with care and integrity, gold can be a blessing.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Taurus socialite Stephen Tennant (1906-1987) was such an interesting luminary that three major novelists created fictional characters modeled after him. As a boy, when he was asked what he’d like to be when he grew up, he replied, “I want to be a great beauty.” I’d love to hear those words spill out of your mouth, Taurus. What? You say you’re already all grown up? I doubt it. In my opinion, you’ve still got a lot of stretching and expansion and transformation to accomplish during the coming decades. So yes: I hope you can find it in your wild heart to proclaim, “When I grow up, I want to be a great beauty.” (P.S. Your ability to become increasingly beautiful will be at a peak during the next fourteen months.)

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “Manage with bread and butter until God sends the honey,” advises a Moroccan proverb. Let’s analyze how this advice might apply to you. First thing I want to know is, have you been managing well with bread and butter? Have you refrained from whining about your simple provisions, resting content and grateful? If you haven’t, I doubt that any honey will arrive, ether from God or any other source. But if you have been celebrating your modest gifts, feeling free of greed and displeasure, then I expect at least some honey will show up soon.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Don’t worry your beautiful head about praying to the gods of luck and fate. I’ll take care of that for you. Your job is to propitiate the gods of fluid discipline and hard but smart work. To win the favor of these divine helpers, act on the assumption that you now have the power and the right to ask for more of their assistance than you have before. Proceed with the understanding that they are willing to provide you with the stamina, persistence, and attention to detail you will need to accomplish your next breakthrough.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Sometimes, I feel the past and the future pressing so hard on either side that there’s no room for the present at all.” A character named Julia says that in Evelyn Waugh’s novel Brideshead Revisited. I bring it to your attention as an inspiring irritant, as a prod to get you motivated. I hope it will mobilize you to rise up and refuse to allow your past and your future to press so hard on either side that there’s no room for the present. It’s a favorable time for you to fully claim the glory of being right here, right now.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I’m not an ascetic who believes all our valuable lessons emerge from suffering. Nor am I a pop-nihilist who sneers at pretty flowers, smiling children, and sunny days. On the contrary: I’m devoted to the hypothesis that life is usually at least 51 percent wonderful. But I dance the rain dance when there’s an emotional drought in my personal life, and I dance the pain dance when it’s time to deal with difficulties I’ve ignored. How about you, Virgo? I suspect that now is one of those times when you need to have compassionate heart-to-heart conversations with your fears, struggles, and aches.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Do you absolutely need orchids, sweet elixirs, dark chocolate, alluring new music, dances on soft grass, sensual massages, nine hours of sleep per night, and a steady stream of soulful conversations? No. Not really. In the coming days, life will be a good ride for you even if you fail to procure those indulgences. But here are further questions and answers: Do you deserve the orchids, elixirs, and the rest? My answer is yes, definitely. And would the arrival of these delights spur you to come up with imaginative solutions to your top two riddles? I’m pretty sure it would. So I conclude this horoscope by recommending that you do indeed arrange to revel in your equivalent of the delights I named.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Don’t try to steer the river,” writes Deepak Chopra. Most of the time, I agree with that idea. It’s arrogant to think that we have the power to control the forces of nature or the flow of destiny or the song of creation. Our goal should be to get an intuitive read on the crazy-making miracle of life, and adapt ourselves ingeniously to its ever-shifting patterns and rhythms. But wait! Set aside everything I just said. An exception to the usual rule has arrived. Sometimes, when your personal power is extra flexible and robust—like now, for you—you may indeed be able to steer the river a bit.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “Dear Astrologer: Recently I’ve been weirdly obsessed with wondering how to increase my levels of generosity and compassion. Not just because I know it’s the right thing to do, but also because I know it will make me healthy and honest and unflappable. Do you have any sage advice? -Ambitious Sagittarius.” Dear Ambitious: I’ve noticed that many Sagittarians are feeling an unprecedented curiosity about how to enhance their lives by boosting the benevolence they express. Here’s a tip from astrologer Chani Nicholas: “Source your sense of self from your integrity in every interaction.” Here’s another tip from Anais Nin: “The worse the state of the world grows, the more intensely I try for inner perfection and power. I fight for a small world of humanity and tenderness.”

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Time does not necessarily heal all wounds. If you wait around passively, hoping that the mere passage of months will magically fix your twists and smooth out your tweaks, you’re shirking your responsibility. The truth is, you need to be fully engaged in the process. You’ve got to feel deeply and think hard about how to diminish your pain, and then take practical action when your wisdom shows you what will actually work. Now is an excellent time to upgrade your commitment to this sacred quest.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): The questions you’ve been asking aren’t bad or wrong. But they’re not exactly relevant or helpful, either. That’s why the answers you’ve been receiving aren’t of maximum use. Try these questions instead. 1. What experience or information would you need to heal your divided sense of loyalty? 2. How can you attract an influence that would motivate you to make changes you can’t quite accomplish under your own power? 3. Can you ignore or even dismiss the 95 percent of your fear that’s imaginary so you’ll be able to focus on the five percent that’s truly worth meditating on? 4. If I assured you that you have the intelligence to beautify an ugly part of your world, how would you begin?

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A scuffle you’ve been waging turns out to be the wrong scuffle. It has distracted you from giving your full attention to a more winnable and worthwhile tussle. My advice? Don’t waste energy feeling remorse about the energy you’ve wasted. In fact, be grateful for the training you’ve received. The skills you’ve been honing while wrestling with the misleading complication will serve you well when you switch your focus to the more important issue. So are you ready to shift gears? Start mobilizing your crusade to engage with the more winnable and worthwhile tussle.

Homework: What was your last major amazement? What do you predict will be the next one? Testify at Freewillastrology.com.