New Moon in Gemini

The New Moon in Gemini on June 13 opens us to a season of immense change in which having faith in the unknown will be necessary. We often talk in astrology of being open to the mystery, and this will certainly be apt advice in the coming months. During the forthcoming waxing phase of the Moon the fiery red planet Mars will station retrograde on June 26 just as the Capricorn Full Moon (that will be conjoining Saturn) culminates on June 27. The following three lunations after this will be eclipses, and so the coming lunar cycle prepares us for the crossing of the threshold into eclipse season. Its not a normal eclipse season as it will be aligned with the Mars retrograde transit exactly, and so promises an intensified version of the eclipse pattern in which dynamic new forms come into our life as others pass away. Mars in Aquarius will be making three pivotal unions with the transiting South Node of the Moon in Aquarius (June 7, July 20, September 25) as well as three decisive square aspects with Uranus in Taurus (May 16, August 1, September 18) which illuminate dynamics that will take at least the next three months to fully take shape. The curious, explorative, and synthesizing nature of the Gemini New Moon is ideal for making the necessary connections and beginning to discern the patterns taking shape in our life in correspondence. Yet there is an unpredictable quality to the coming months we will ultimately have to surrender to.

The New Moon in Gemini is applying to a sextile with Ceres in Leo, having recently separated from a quincunx with Pluto in Capricorn. These aspects highlight the psychopomp nature of Gemini, the penetratingly deep soulful Twin you don’t always hear about in pop astrology. This aspect of Gemini brings its ability to mediate polarities and weave wisdom from interconnections to the depths of subject matter. There are innumerable crises taking shape on the global stage that have frightening potential given the upcoming astrological transits, and indeed are provoking fear in many. The Gemini New Moon with Leo Ceres brings the space to process, grieve, and release hard feelings as well as the vitality needed to step into the unknown with bravery and open eyes. The New Moon in Gemini calls us to be a witness to both the oppression as well as the inspiration rising and falling around us. The New Moon in Gemini wants documentation, nuanced interpretation, direct communication, and a willingness to not only listen but to reach out to those in need of sharing their story.

Mercury in Cancer rules the New Moon while applying to an opposition with Saturn in Capricorn. Mercury is on the threshold of reappearing as an Evening Star, which will happen two days after the New Moon on June 15 just as Mercury perfects its tense aspect with Saturn. The opposition between Mercury and Saturn brings decisiveness and the need to make clear choices of what to focus on with available time and space. As Mercury reappears in visibility as the Moon also grows in light greater clarity will be gained regarding events of recent weeks. Mercury in Cancer is more about the processing of emotions and feelings than external verbosity, and so the influence of Saturn brings strong capacity for deep inner contemplation rather than the chattering side of Gemini. This will be the first opposition between Mercury and Saturn since their drawn out union involving Mercury retrograde in Sagittarius at the end of 2017 (November 27, December 6, and January 12 were the dates of their three conjunctions), and so reflecting back on what has been brought to fruition since that time can help formulate new plans to develop in the season ahead.

Mercury is separating from a sextile with Uranus in Taurus and applying to a square with Chiron in Aries as it enters its face off with Saturn. This brings an unorthodox vibration for Mercury to transmit in relationship with Saturn, insights and messages that open us to meaning and visions outside our normal frame of reference. Yet the opposition from Saturn brings a cutting reality check to whatever exciting ideas come to mind. Innovative, pioneering ideas are called for that also have a practical, grounded impact. We may also feel the excitement over something new pull us toward taking action despite warning signs of becoming restricted or blocked from full manifestation. It will be best to utilize the limitations and tempering of Saturn to fine tune and hone plans under development rather than rushing forward impulsively. This is a time to commit yet our devotion to whatever we want to create requires patience and capacity to shift with flexibility as needed with the unforeseen changes on the horizon.

Imagination will also need to be integrated into upcoming decision making, since Neptune stations retrograde about five days after the New Moon on June 18, saturating the lunation with its dreamy, oceanic influence. The influence of Neptune brings powerful inner feelings and sensations that can override our ability at times to make clearcut decisions. Yet the otherworldly nature of Neptune holds important insights we need to open awareness to, allowing the boundaries of Saturn to harbor the poetry of graffiti and willingness for synchronous signs to guide choice.  There is growth and expansion to be found in the domain of Neptune since Jupiter in Scorpio will be engaging in a drawn out trine aspect over the upcoming months, remaining within a three degree orb into September. Jupiter in Scorpio calls us to pierce through material illusions to discover the deeper reality, wielding the courageous determination to face the reality of both surface and shadow, embracing change with full presence rather than attempting to manipulate situations out of possessiveness or fear of loss.

An image bringing all these ideas of Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Chiron, Uranus, and Neptune together is the iris tenax flower that now graces the banner of this website. A tenacious flower of flexibility whose leaves have an ancient tradition of being fashioned into ropes and containers for resources, the magical, colorful bloom of the Iris flower  inspires illuminated vision according to author Julia Brayshaw:

Habitual exposure to artificial environments erodes our awareness of the patterns of nature- patterns of harmony, connection, and wholeness. When we lose sight of the unity of creation and perceive ourselves as separate pieces in a disjointed world, responses such as fear, depression, and mistrust are understandable. These states of constriction attempt to block pain. Even our eye muscles become constricted; therefore, under the influence of a negative emotional state, the amount of light that enters our eyes is reduced . . .

Radiant colors are nourishment for the iris of the eye. They feed our souls as well, breaking through the dark cloud layers that confine our vision. Iris, whether in the form of a rainbow, the messenger of a goddess, or a flower, is the archetype of the beauty and color that successfully penetrates our dreary, constricted states. Iris, in her multi-colored guises, pierces the illusions of a disconnected, senseless world and floods us with inspiration. Her divine messages are elusive and fleeting, often just a momentary shimmer that melts with the rainbow. Yet they reorient us to the eternal truth of our souls, of a coherent world infused with meaning and color. Through restoring clear vision, Iris awakens the artist, whose expression helps others to glimpse the beauty of creation.

— Julia M. Brayshaw, Medicine of Place: Patterns of Nature and Psyche in the Wildflowers of Cascadia

Venus is at the very end of Cancer at the time of the Gemini New Moon, shining brightly as an Evening Star. Only a couple of hours after the lunation, however, Venus leaves the sensitizing waters of Cancer for the fierce fires of Leo where she immediately sets her gaze upon the North Node of the Moon, striding her way boldly toward a tense opposition with Mars in Aquarius. However, the first aspect Venus makes upon entering the sign of the Lion is a square aspect with Uranus in Taurus. Since Uranus is in Taurus, it means that Venus is receiving Uranus with her emboldened sense of courageous passion she can find in Leo like nowhere else. Venus receiving Uranus demands the freedom to connect with relationships resonant with our inner essentiality. Space may need to be created in relationships that are not fulfilling certain needs for connection with those that do. The brave and vital heart of Venus in Leo that is willing to resist and fight to protect essential values can be utilized in collaboration with others as well as infused into collective movements.

Gary Caton recently made a social media post breaking down the coming opposition between Venus in Leo with Mars stationing retrograde in Aquarius as a collective tipping point in values. Caton astutely noted that once Venus perfects its opposition with Mars on June 21 it will enter into a superior position relative to Mars based upon diurnal rotation. The point being, the brightly shining Venus will gain astrological leverage over the brightly shining Mars, and though there will be fierce tension stoked between them, in the end the harmonizing significations of Venus can win out. The night sky will be a beauty to behold as Venus will shine brightly as an Evening Star after sunset, and after Venus sets on the western horizon we will experience Mars ascending into visibility over the eastern horizon. Though likely ripe with conflict, this can also be an incredibly fertile time for creativity and dynamic breakthroughs. Venus will be near the North Node of the Moon, while Mars will be near the South Node of the Moon; its as if the purification of the Mars archetype can feed into an expansion of the Venus archetype.

Gemini 3 Decan

The New Moon in Gemini falls in the third face of Gemini associated with the Ten of Swords card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. Pixie’s illustration of the Ten of Swords took on new meaning for me when I read Austin Coppock’s book on the decans, 36 Faces, and realized that since ancient Egyptian culture made the Cancer solstice the beginning of the year, and Egyptian culture is the source of the decans in astrology, it means that the third decan of Gemini would be the end of the cycle, the final of the thirty-six faces of the zodiac. Coppock ascribed the image of “An Executioner’s Sword” to the third decan of Gemini, writing that though “the other decans of Gemini involve discovery, exploration, and simultaneity, in the third wait choices- judgments that must be made. To achieve actuality, a multitude of possibilities must be sacrificed” (p. 99). This symbolism aligns perfectly with the opposition formed between Mercury in Cancer with Saturn in Capricorn.

Thus the image of a dead man with ten swords plunged into his back resonates with surrendering to the end or death of a cycle. While the card’s image contains dark skies and death, there is also brilliant light present in the sky revealing the new beginning of a cycle to come.  The Sun is the ruler of the third face of Gemini, and since the Sun is moving through this zodiacal terrain en route to its glorious appearance at the Solstice on June 21, we likewise will be experiencing the death of one season of light for the birth of another. The Hellenistic text 36 Airs names Praxidike to this face, goddess of judgment and exactor of vengeance, signifying the complex karma encountered here in decisions made, actions undertaken. Fascinatingly, the Orphic hymn to Persephone connects Praxidike to the subterranean queen, signifying the psychopomp side of Gemini previously mentioned and holding space between worlds, between cycles.

The coming lunar cycle will take us across the threshold of Summer in the northern hemisphere, Winter in the southern hemisphere, as well as into the initiation of Mars stationing retrograde in Aquarius. We can surmise from the transits of coming months that more than the usual amount of change is on the way. With an open heart and focused mind we may not feel carefree within the tumult of these times, yet can still muster the confidence required to meet the strange times ahead with strength and creative resolve. As Rainer Maria Rilke once mused:

This is not to say that one ought to weaken the impact of what is difficult or take it less to heart so that it can be properly assimilated. On the contrary, the more fully we experience what is difficult, the more it pulls and drives us with its weight toward the center of life . . .

In life one cannot awaken often enough the sense of a beginning within oneself. There is so little external change needed for that since we actually transform the world from within our hearts. If the heart longs for nothing but to be new and unlimited, the world is instantly the same as on the day of its creation and infinite.

—Letters on Life translated by Ulrich Baer

References

Brayshaw, Julia. (2007). Medicine of Place: Patterns of Nature and Psyche in the Wildflowers of Cascadia. Alchemia Publishing.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: the history, astrology, and magic of the decans. Three Hands Press.

Rilke, Rainer Maria Rilke. (2006). Letters on Life. Edited and translated by Ulrich Baer. The Modern Library.