by Levi Banner, M.A.
You might have noticed more and more people posting things about the 8/8 Lion’s Gate Portal coming up each year on August 8th. This article is an attempt to make sense or possibly talk some sense into those with this popular intention.
Though I love to align my chakras towards ascension and manifest my destiny as much as the next spiritual person, I thought that perhaps the information out there isn’t so accurate. Most of it is quite vague and not written by credible astrologers. I want to share what I have found surrounding the subject.
Is there a portal opening on the 8th day of August that has to do with your solar plexus chakra, lion or Leo energy, the Sirius star group, the great pyramids, sphinx and the Sun? Well… let’s discuss.
To start, there is no such thing as a Lion’s Gate Portal from ancient Egypt or any ancient culture. Simply put, it seems to be a new age terminology utilizing pieces of ancient ideas and renaming and putting new meaning on them. I’m not necessarily saying this is a bad thing. Though, when so many people are subscribing to an idea I tend to ask questions. Also being an avid Shamanic Astrologer who bases much of my astrological approach on not only mythological and cosmological events, though also practical and tangible alignments that I can connect to personally, I wanted to know what was actually aligning, when and why.
So, what is in alignment? What is all the fuss about?
The star Sirius is said to play a large part in this portal opening. There is some depth to this statement. Sirius is the brightest star in the sky other than the Sun and does in fact begin to rise around this time of year in the early morning sky. The ancient Egyptians did honor this rise with ceremonial reverence and even based one of their calendars on this very star. The pyramids are said to have possibly been built in part to align with Sirius as well as the constellations such as Orion.
They would celebrate or honor the heliacal rise of Sirius, or Sopdet to them, and they noticed it was right before the annual flooding of the sacred Nile river. However, the ancient Egyptian event of Sirius rising would have happened in early July and not August. Due to a wobble of the earth and what is called precession, it has shifted into August. So the August event practiced nowadays couldn’t have been on 8/8.
Back then they believed that Sirius gave heat to the Sun and added to the summer weather. One of the many meanings of the word Sirius means scorcher or one with heat. Back then Sirius rising also coincided with the “Dog Days of Summer” as the star Sirius is in the neck or nose of the Canis Major or Dog constellation. Though, the Dog Days started in a different month than now.
Orion is the other star group mentioned a lot in the new age Lion’s Gate lore. Known to the Egyptians as Osiris or Sah, this constellation was indeed revered and rises before Sirius in the year. It is said that the 3 stars of Orions belt, sometimes referred to as the 3 magi or the 3 wise men from those great mythic stories are aligned to the 3 great Giza Pyramids. Even though that seems to be plausible, and very incredible, however debatable, it was not at this time of year the Pyramids would have been built to align with that star group.
I have also read in recent Lion’s Gate activation invites that the Galactic Center is aligned with the Lion’s Gate Portal. However, if they are referring to the Sun at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, well the Sun is aligned to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy during the December Solstice. Not anywhere near August. Galactic Center is below the horizon at sunrise and above at sunset in August, though not precisely straight up on that day.
Sirius is not conjunct the Sun in early August either. Sirius was conjunct the Sun on July 5th this year. This bright star is just barely far enough from the Sun to become visible again during Leo season. Yes, this is sometime around August 8th, sure… Though in 2021, it’s more like August 11th, depending on your sky visibility.
Let’s say you were watching the Sun rise at the Pyramids in Giza, Egypt. This would be the time in each year that Sirius would start to become visible just before the sunrise. This is true, though it rarely happens exactly on the 8th day of the 8th month in the calendar we use.
So there was no “Lion’s Gate Portal” in ancient Egypt on 8/8 or any date.
Think about it. Did the ancient Egyptians use the Gregorian calendar at all? No, they did not. They used several different calendars. One Sothic, aligned with Sirius, one lunar aligned with the Moon cycles, and one solar comprised of three seasons with 9 day weeks.
The beginning of the Sothic calendar would start with the first sighting of Sirius. Though definitely not August 8th in the Gregorian calendar by any means.
Numerology is an amazing tool, though it can be misused.
The very calendar we are set to in society is not aligned in any way to nature. Not that it’s bad or wrong, as it is quite a challenge to create a system everyone can follow. However speaking with nature, it’s quite hard to confirm dates each year as the pattern of the planets and stars are slightly more fluid and change from year to year. Hence the leap year making up for the lost time of a 365 day solar year.
So is it actually the 8th day in the 8th month anyways?
Well not originally. The word August is named after Augustus Caesar who wanted 31 days in his month like his brother Julius in which July was named for. They took days from poor February. This along with Pope Gregory changing the beginning of the year to January 1st made all the months off schedule to their very names. Oct means eight… October is the 10th month… Oops.
So when you see the clock on your phone say 11:11 again and again, there could be some magic involved. As if spirit is speaking to you or giving you a message. Though on the other hand, if we literally name what time is and what months are called and what a month even is, and it’s misaligned with the natural rhythms of the earth and sky, the very makings of spirit, then don’t we then lose some of the magic and meaning?
There are also a myriad of numerology schools that say completely different meanings for the sacred number of 8. From infinity, to abundance, to balance and harmony. What meaning do you give it? Regardless, Numerology works best in its intended form like we find in the way the sacred geometry of the ancient pyramids and indigenous temples were built, all in relation to seasonal and star alignments.
More important to the ancients and to me is actually following the lunar cycle for each month and the Sun’s precise timing for a year or tracking the rising of certain stars. The Sun conjuncts Sirius on July 6th this year and Sirius is visible on more like August 11th.
However, this year, 2021 out of all years, the August New Moon does fall on this magical date of 8/8. It won’t do that again for a very long time. Though the Moon aligns with the Sun every month and in this sign of Leo once per year, every year, there is some potency on that day this particular year.
Indeed a good date for New Moon intentions and manifesting abundance ceremonies or whatever else you might fancy. Though that’s because New Moons are always good times to set intentions and quite literally plant seeds. Depending on the time of year.
However, in regards to the New Moon aligning with the Lion’s Gate, well, the Lion constellation has nothing to do with the sign of Leo (wait, what?). The signs and constellations are not the same thing in western or tropical astrology, the astrology that most everyone in western culture follows (Mind Blown).
That could be a lot to take in if you don’t yet understand the precession of the equinox. In brief, the stars move slowly in the background of the seasons over long periods of time. That’s why Sirius was not rising in the middle of summer in ancient Egypt and the Lion constellation is in a different part of the sky during Leo season.
The Sun is not in the Lion constellation during Leo sign time. Sorry if this disrupts your projected image of the Lioness Queen or Leo King of the jungle. Though you could easily pick a different king like animal to identify your Sun sign with.
On August 8 the Sun is actually near the beehive cluster or the Crab constellation. Not even a bit of the Lion is covered by the Sun in Leo time. This is why a Vedic or Sidereal astrologer will say you’re a Cancer after your horoscope always said you were a Leo. Though, those that use western or tropical astrology are working with the seasons as the signs, not the stars! The season of Leo will always be Leo season, regardless of the star grouping behind it. In either case, the Lion Gate date of 8/8 is not aligned with the Lion constellation.
The Sphinx is said to have been facing the Lion constellation during March equinox when it was built. Now, the Sphinx looks due East to where the Lion constellation rose 12,800 years ago. Today, it’s a mirror image, as the Water-Bearer constellation is beginning to rise there at that time.
What is a portal anyways? What is this gate leading to really? In the many years I have been tuning into astrology, ceremony and global meditations, I haven’t seen anyone transcend into 5D during the Lion’s Gate Portal except if they got a new cell phone.
I hope this sheds some light on the light coming from Sirius and the timings aligned with pyramids, lions and gateways. If you’d like more info or have something to tell me that I missed, please reach out.
My intention with any of this info was to encourage reverence, respect and gratitude for ancient and indigenous star wisdom that is speaking to us now in this modern world.
Sincerely,
Levi
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