8/8 Lions Gate
Every August, during Leo season, Sirius—the brightest star in our night sky—makes its annual heliacal rising, an event that has become associated with what many now call the Lion's Gate Portal.
In contemporary spiritual traditions, the portal is said to extend from roughly July 28 through August 12, with its peak occurring on August 8 (8/8). The symbolism of the date itself—the 8th day of the 8th month—has only amplified its significance, with the number eight long associated with abundance, strength, and infinity.
However, far from being merely an internet or social media phenomenon, the reverence for Sirius stretches back thousands of years, appearing across some of humanity's most enduring spiritual traditions.
Sirius, the brightest star in our sky, has been revered for millennia as a transmitter of higher intelligence...
In ancient Egypt, its heliacal rising marked the flooding of the Nile—symbolizing renewal, fertility, and life-force. But beyond the agricultural symbolism, there are deeper threads. Compelling evidence suggests that the Egyptian, Sumerian, and Dogon civilizations were seeded by beings from the Sirius star system. (See The Sirius Mystery for a deep dive: link).
The Egyptians had an intimate relationship with feline energy—enter the Sphinx, Bastet, Sekhmet. Though channeled texts describe Sirians as blue beings (not big cats) the Sirians have been dedicated to earth’s leonic sovereingty. Over the last 5,000 years, Sirians are said to have been on missions to repair Giza, re-tune Stonehenge, retrieve the lost Azurites, clean up the cloned identities clogging our energetic grids, and increase vertical alignment.
It’s this vertical alignment that grips me most right now; because it is about courage and wakeful wholeness.
There is a teaching in Shambhala Buddhism called The Lion's Roar. It refers to the fearless expression of truth.
Truly, if you would, imagine a lion roaring in your face. The force of air blasting your skin, the deafening sound rattling your bones…
In that moment, you don’t have time to negotiate with your fears. You are present, clear and awake. That is the Lion’s Roar.
Most of us spend the day running—from our insecurities, our feelings of inadequacy, our fears. It’s a breathless retreat: avoiding, deflecting, rationalizing, and busying ourselves to death.
The Lion’s Roar is when you turn around, face these ghosts, and, with the force of your clarity, shatter them into oblivion.
The Lion’s Roar is very present in Kundalini yoga.
In Kundalini yoga you can get a spiritual name. If that speaks to you, I encourage you to pursue it while the woman who was trained to do this work is still alive.
When you receive a spiritual name, it comes with a surname: Kaur if you are a woman, Singh if you are a man. Both mean Lion’s Roar.
It’s a declaration in Kundalini Yoga. The Lion’s Roar is the unapologetic expression of your human and divine right to exist. An affirmative stamp on the exaltation of your spirit and the royalty inherent in your human being.
I don’t subscribe to the narrative that humanity is inherently destructive, nor to the ideology that paints humanity as Earth’s greatest mistake. It’s just not true. Rhetoric that paints humanity as a shameful planetary curse is a profound misunderstanding of our potential.
If humanity were to truly inhabit its innate nobility, we would see no more exploitation of Earth’s resources, nor misuse of human creativity, talent and genius.
There is a statue of Buddha that I saw at Yoga: The Art of Transformation, a temporary exhibit at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco in 2013.
The statue featured Buddha seated in meditation, one hand resting in his lap, the other reaching down to touch the Earth.
This gesture is known as the Bhumisparsha Mudra—the “earth-touching” mudra—it represents when the Buddha summoned the Earth bear witness to his attainment of enlightenment.
It wasn’t a plea. It was a sovereign act of integrity: a being fully claiming their place in the order of existence.
This is the visceral conviction with which I want to approach this Lions Gate.
So much of modern spirituality revolves around shadow work, around not avoiding your discomfort. And while there is value in that, I have to ask:
When are we going to stop sidestepping the sheer radiance of our own clarity?
When are we going to stop negotiating with our insecurities?
And stop postponing our presence?
This is the Lion’s Roar.
Please join me for the 2026 Lion’s Roar Workshops:
In-Person in New York City — Online through RA MA-TV.