Aug 8, 2023 | by Daniel Giamario |
Each year, a furor in astrological and New Age circles arises over 8/8, the so-called Lion’s Gate, or both combined. This has become quite a controversial subject, one that I am often asked about. A colleague of mine for decades, Raymond Mardyks, has delved into this subject deeper than most. I am sharing here a few of his thoughts and resources which he graciously shared with me recently.
The three main sources of this hoary phenomenon are Dane Rudhyar, Mardyks himself, and a 2005 channeling from Celia Fenn. The following is from Raymond, and I suggest for those interested in this topic to research it yourself.
“In the ‘Astrology of Personality’ in the Zodiac section, he (Rudhyar) discusses the four and eightfold division of the zodiac and the ‘gates’ between the equinoxes and solstices and solstices and equinoxes. He even mentions Aug. 8, specifically. Remember the four ‘Gates of the Avatar’? He also mentions ‘occultists’, and there are clues in both the ‘Secret Doctrine’ and Bailey’s ‘Esoteric Astrology.”
The next year, his ‘Mansions For New Men’ poetically muses a lot about the ‘northern gate’: http://khaldea.com/rudhyar/nmnm/nmnm_p3_pc3.php
The earliest channeling I have found specifically about the “8/8 Lions Gate” is here and called “Archangel Michael: The Opening of the Lion’s Gate: Portal to Higher Consciousness (Celia Fenn)
Another tremendous resource is the article “Lion’s Gate, Sirius, Orion, Oh My!” by Amaya Rourke who has also researched this really deeply.
My View
My own view is that using number magic, such as 8/8, 11/11, etc. has limited value as it derives from a secular calendar. I very much think, however, that 8/8 is important because it has actual astronomical and astrological meaning as the 15degree Leo cross-quarter point. That is where Rudhyar was coming from about this, and he never mentioned anything about a Lion’s Gate. The Leo constellation and sign are not the same thing anyway. 15degree Leo is not even in the Lion constellation.
The other factor often brought up is the heliacal rise of Sirius. However, precession changes and latitudes vary widely, so that Sirius can rise as early as July 8 close to the equator or as late as Aug 25, depending on where you are on the planet. I think it’s fine to create intentions and ceremonials for whatever timing you desire, but it is going to have the most potency if connected to the actual cosmology. The other suggestion is to be cautious about making it either some hopium light-polarized focus, or something that is doom and gloom.
Rather, I suggest, always use the Three Worlds Approach advocated by TOTAMS. You can read about it here.