New Moon in Gemini

The New Moon in Gemini on 26 May will bring whirling winds of change that are full of innovative ideas to cultivate and develop in the months ahead. With Mercury and Jupiter present in Gemini along with the Sun and the Moon, there will be an abundance of imaginal material to become inspired by and derive insights from, with increased support for communication and relational interconnectivity. Yet the airy potency of the Gemini New Moon and the amplified mental activity it will deliver can also provoke anxieties and mental burnout if we are not careful to make sure we are maintaining practices of calming nerves and staying grounded so we are not carried away by excessive flights of imagination. Due to so much in the world changing at such a rapid pace, we can become vulnerable to fears and insecurities that prevent us from perceiving clearly how to adapt and co-create within an atmosphere of collective dissolution. Since the coming astrology suggests there will be an immense reconfiguration of many systems and structures in the year ahead, it will be more important than ever to foster and build protective networks of support as well as resiliently persist in engaging with the work that matters most to you. The New Moon in Gemini will initiate a lunar cycle that is ideal for regaining clarity about the current trajectory of your life, making necessary modifications, and implementing effective and cunning strategies for greater success and support.

The astrology of 2025 promised extraordinary, rapid change that would disrupt previous orders and collective norms in part due to Saturn and Neptune moving from the internally directed waters of Pisces into the ascending, fiery speed of Aries in March and May, and Uranus shifting from the steady slowness of Taurus into the fast and frenetic frequency of Gemini in July. The Gemini New Moon demarcates one of the most significant astrological shifts of the year as it will initiate a new lunar cycle only two days after the ingress of Saturn into Aries on 24 May. The entrance of Saturn into Aries places Saturn less than two degrees away from Neptune in the same sign, dramatically magnifying their capacity for dissolving old forms of security while simultaneously signaling sweeping changes in systemic structures as well as worldviews. The thirty-five to thirty-six year cycle of Saturn and Neptune reveals how our collective perception of reality changes across time, delivering a personal reckoning of coming to terms with the death of old dreams and the emergence of vital sources of new vision. There can be greater disorientation as we must come to terms with what is passing away with finality, but we can also experience the inspiration of breakthroughs that lead to more creatively fulfilling directions.

Saturn moving from the end of Pisces to the beginning of Aries conjures primordial creation and the splitting of the unus mundus or underlying unity into the duality of form, as the first degree of Aries has been conceptualized as the first degree of the zodiac. The first degree of Aries is a world axis point of amplified manifestation into visible forms, and so the presence of Saturn there with Neptune less than two degrees away will enflame movements of change that will separate, divide, and break apart previous orders. Coming into relationship with the new forms arising from the death of all other potentialities necessitates letting go of what could be for what is actually happening. The cleavage of the one into the two that comes with the moment of creation also evokes the double-sided symbolism of the Twins and Gemini. Out of all the potential of what we can do amidst all of the great change happening, we will need to focus on the path ahead that is truly our own. With so much changing we are also more likely to become aware of our own multiplicity, parts of ourselves we have been ignoring or repressing, whether you imagine that to be like a shadow, a doppelgänger, or other sides of yourself. The New Moon in Gemini and the lunar cycle that follows will offer support for integrating all of the changes that have been happening within our psyche as well as in the external world, helping us recalibrate and deepen into significant self realization. Though Saturn and Neptune in Aries can destabilize with their piercing change, the sign of the Ram also offers the courage to protect and the capacity to act decisively, boldly, and bravely.

During times of transition, on the edge of crossing thresholds of liminal passages, we can always look to Mercury for guidance. Within the darkness of the New Moon in Gemini, Mercury will be accelerating with speed through their own airy home of Gemini while separating from harmonious sextile aspects with Saturn and Neptune in Aries, and applying closely to a flowing trine aspect with Pluto in Aquarius that will become exact on May 27. Mercury will be too close to the Sun to be visible, and so our imagination will be especially active with many potential ideas and there will likely be a lot of important messages and meetings occurring behind closed doors out of the public eye. Although invisible, at the time of the Gemini New Moon Mercury will possess unusually strong essential dignity which will open up the full range of Mercury’s deft skills in communication and analysis, as Mercury will be in their own domicile, bounds, triplicity, and decan. Donning Pluto’s helmet of invisibility, Mercury’s swift speed can accelerate the potency of ideas and visions forming within the mind’s eye, yet the multiplicity of potential paths that Mercury in Gemini can perceive will need discerning focus so we can make substantial progress rather than being distracted by too many options. Fortunately, there will be greater clarity once Mercury becomes reanimated by the creative potency of the Sun on 29 May at 9°01’ Gemini.

The powerful role played by Mercury in Gemini in the week following the lunation will help mediate the great changes occurring within our inner life and unconscious with the extraordinary changes rippling through the external world. Although the superior conjunction of Mercury on 29 May can help burn off the inessential while clarifying the essential, keep in mind that Mercury in Gemini will still be in a process of incubating whatever new ideas are being developed. Mercury in Gemini can play the role of devil’s advocate, so we may need to be confronted at times about places where we are holding fixated positions. Listen to the messages brought by Mercury and signs of where you need to be more flexible, or open you mind to new possibilities. The one thing we know for certain is how much more will be changing at rapid speed, and so this also means that all sorts of new potential pathways will also be opening up. As Mercury speeds through the sign of Gemini en route to forming a conjunction with Jupiter in Gemini on 8 June, be open and receptive to breakthrough ideas even if they go against the way you previously conceptualized things, listening to the way in which social interactions and conversations bring you important insights about what you need to change or be more flexible about.

Another reason that the first six months of 2025 has brought so much change is the fact that we began the year with Mars retrograde in Leo and Cancer followed immediately by Venus retrograde in Aries and Pisces. Although Mars in Leo and Venus in Aries are still in the signs in which they stationed retrograde in the past, they are both well past the degrees where they stationed retrograde and are picking up in the speed of forward motion. Moreover, in the week before the New Moon in Gemini on 22 May there was a flowing trine aspect between Venus in Aries with Mars in Leo that will have a lingering influence over the lunation. The separating trine between Venus and Mars brings momentum for a lot of important realizations regarding how to make productive progress on all of the changes brought by the Venus retrograde and Mars retrograde transits that began the year. As the Gemini Moon becomes visible as a slim, waxing crescent light it will weave through sextile aspects with Mars in Leo and Venus in Aries until forming a conjunction with Jupiter in Gemini on May 28.

Venus in the fiery home of Mars separating from a flowing trine with Mars in Leo and applying toward a harmonious sextile aspect with Jupiter in Gemini (exact on 4 June) can feel creatively inspired and lead to rushing forward into the new changes emerging. Yet in between these prominent aspects, Venus will form a conjunction with Chiron in Aries on June 1, a few days after the New Moon in Gemini. Venus together with Chiron may pierce a wound related to whatever changes or tests we had to endure during the opening months of 2025 with Venus retrograde, put us in touch with wounds from much farther back in time, or in connection with neglected parts of our inner multiplicity. Contacts between Venus and Chiron are not always pleasant or comfortable, but they can be extremely helpful for making us aware of unconscious forces, places of inner vulnerability in need of tending, or ways in which we have been seeking external goals as a way of distracting ourselves from the inner work that also needs to be done. Fortunately, the movement from Venus away from Chiron into a harmonious sextile aspect with Jupiter on 4 June suggests that whatever material is brought up by Venus and Chiron can be part of regenerating your purpose and gaining greater clarity for the path to follow ahead.

Saturn in Aries

The New Moon marks one of the most important astrological changes of the year: the entrance of Saturn into Aries on 24 May. The ingress of Saturn into a new sign always delivers major changes in both collective and personal stories, as Saturn is the slowest moving of the visible planets who spends approximately two and a half years in each sign on average. However, due to the entrance of Saturn into Aries causing Saturn to be less than two degrees away from Neptune in the same sign while also activating the “world axis” point of zero degrees of Aries, the shift from Saturn in Pisces to Aries is even more impactful than the usual Saturn ingress. While Saturn had been in Pisces since 7 March 2023 with Neptune also in Pisces until the end of March 2025, the entrance of Saturn into Aries makes Saturn and Neptune the closest they have been since 1989 and also near the exact place they will form their pivotal conjunction in February 2026.

Aries is the fall of Saturn, meaning that Aries is a sign that lays Saturn low rather than raising Saturn up to exalted heights. Saturn in its fall carries symbolism of being humbled or being brought down into a depression in the ground. Yet since planets in fall are not exalted by the dominant culture, they can also become agents acting on behalf of counter-cultural perspectives, and in this way through their underworld experience of incubating within the depths, they can bring ideas and movements that help overturn oppressive power dynamics. As a result, Saturn in Aries can be a more rebellious Saturn who can become more infuriated by the setting of limits and constraints than we normally experience with Saturn. Our collective experience of Saturn in Aries combined with Neptune in Aries will exacerbate the unraveling and unbinding of the previous order, and will enflame movements of change. Yet one of the challenges of Saturn in Aries is that Aries will move fast and leap ahead with change, whereas Saturn needs to take time and slowly build secure foundations to operate optimally. Thus we will need to be mindful of rushing too quickly ahead, as well as burning out by pushing too hard and too fast. We will need to keep up a steady pace with Saturn in Aries that is just fast enough but also slow enough to sustain the long distance race that will be required, as Saturn will not leave Aries until 2028 for good.

Although we will experience significant changes and new movements in storylines with Saturn in Aries, it’s important to also realize it will be more like an opening three month preview of a longer transit, as Saturn will return to Pisces on 1 September 2025. After a final stretch of time in Pisces, Saturn will enter Aries on 13 February 2026 where Saturn will remain until 12 April 2028. This means that whatever new forms are forged by Saturn in the fiery sign of Aries from June through August will require a prolonged quenching within the imaginal waters of Pisces for five months until the changes initiated by Saturn in Aries are fully set into motion in February 2026.

Setting of Jupiter

While the waxing light of the crescent Moon will unite with the Jupiter on May 28, the star of Zeus will be approaching the end of both his visible phase as an evening star and his transit through the sign of Gemini. While the actual date of Jupiter moving from being visible into being invisible and too close to the Sun by zodiacal degree to be seen in the sky will vary from location to location, Jupiter will reach the idealized range of being within fifteen degrees of the Sun on June 3, just over a week after the Gemini New Moon. As a result, there will be an intensified presence of Jupiter in the week following the lunation and we will be receiving important messages related to our relationship with Jupiter. Since Jupiter is simultaneously coming to the end of his transit through Gemini, it will be a potent time to reflect upon your experiences related to the transit of Jupiter in Gemini that began on 25 May 2024. By the time of the upcoming Full Moon in Sagittarius, Jupiter will have left the airy sign of Gemini to enter his watery exaltation of Cancer on 9 June.

The swift transit of Mercury through Gemini will amplify our ability to receive important messages from the final weeks of Jupiter in Gemini, as Mercury will swiftly move through a conjunction with the Sun on 29 May into a conjunction with Jupiter on 8 June. Adding to the “crossroads” quality of the New Moon in Gemini, Jupiter (who is the lord of the transiting north node of the Moon in Pisces) formed a square aspect with the lunar nodes in the week before the New Moon in Gemini, while Mercury (who is the lord of the south node of the Moon in Virgo) will form a square aspect with the lunar nodes in the week following the New Moon in Gemini. As Mercury and Jupiter come together at the end of Gemini while also moving through square aspects with the lunar nodes, we will likely come across important messages, information, and insights that can help clarify trajectories. It can also be a particularly powerful time for research, writing, or anything else related to communication or intellectual studies.

Jupiter will enter his exaltation of Cancer on 9 June, following behind swift Mercury who will enter Cancer on 8 June. There is a dramatic difference in essential dignity between Jupiter experiencing the inversion of being in the sign opposite his domicile of Sagittarius while in Gemini, compared to Jupiter being exalted in Cancer. At its best, Jupiter in Cancer can inject waves of relational support and care and the kind of rising tide that can lift all sails. Jupiter in Cancer will deliver new avenues of inspiration, spiritual devotion, and feelings of hope that can help you cross dark passages of soul. Adding to the hopeful boost of the lunar cycle ahead, Venus will also leave Aries on 5 June to enter her earthy home of Taurus. Although it is not a magical elixir that will take away all of our problems, the combination of both Venus and Jupiter experiencing elevations in essential dignity can be helpful for finding the support you need as well as increasing the potential for enlivening relational experiences and creative inspiration.

Gemini 1 Decan

The New Moon in Gemini is in the first decan of Gemini associated with the Eight of Swords arcanum illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. The image of the bound woman has been interpreted as the paralysis that comes from fears running rampant within or triggered in present circumstances.  While some interpretations suggest that the same mental swords enveloping the figure could also be used to cut away the fabric of bondage, it is also important to note the moist and muddy fertility of the ground she is standing on. As Jupiter rules the first face of Gemini, the image also reveals how fear can arise in times when a huge new potential becomes available to step into, as well as how Jupiter occupying his antithesis of Gemini can lead to an overabundance of mental material and potential options in ways that can lead to a paralysis in decision making. The hidden fertility and release within the image also speaks to the multivalence of Saturn and Neptune coming together at the end of their cycle in Aries, as experiences of Saturn and Neptune could on the one hand feel like facing a wall of obstruction, while on the other hand a shift of perception could also reveal that very wall to be a doorway opening up new vistas of imagination and potential. Through the release of fears the specific pathway of our soul purpose may emerge, and we may gracefully flow into the tremendous change that will be occurring in the months ahead.  

Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces ascribed the image of “The Apple of Eden” to the first face of Gemini, linking Eve’s bite into the apple with emerging awareness of “the duality within all things” including the yin and yang of the self. Coppock described that the discovery of the binary and “the multiplicity within all unities, the complexity in apparent simplicities” unlocks “the capacity to code all things” and display clever skills in all of the arts and sciences. Yet in keeping with the image of the Eight of Swords card, Coppock also declared that this opening to abundant flow also “de-centers and sometimes paralyzes its inhabitants.” Coppock noted that the mental acuity of this decan not only generates all arts and crafts, it also directs its prodigious curiosity to explore the multitudinous found within, both the light and the shadow of the deep Self.

In contrast to the tightly bound woman in the Eight of Swords image, ancient texts ascribed a graceful woman of flowing mind and deft dexterity inhabiting the first decan of Gemini.  Ibn Ezra pictured “A beautiful woman standing in the air, and she can sew,” while in the Picatrix we find “A beautiful woman, a mistress of stitching, and with her ascend two calves and two horses.” Indeed, the Picatrix declares it to be “a face of the art of the scribe, of reckoning, of number, of giving and receiving, and of the sciences.” In keeping with the double-bodied nature of the sign of the Twins, we can imagine how the image of a woman gracefully prodigious in arts and crafts is another side of the first face of Gemini to remember in contrast to the Eight of Swords image.

Fascinatingly, the Hellenistic text the 36 Airs ascribed Tethus, also known as Tethys,  to the first face of Gemini. Since Tethys is the Titan goddess of fresh water which interconnects and nourishes our earth, we can note her appearance in the Eight of Swords image as the water at the foundation of the figure. Tethys was also the wife of Okeanos, the primal sea divinity of the oceanic field surrounding the world where the Sun rises from at dawn and returns to at sunset, and the mother of river, cloud, spring, stream, and fountain spirits. Daughter of Gaia, Tethys fed her children through the subterranean waters of Okeanos as her name is derived from the Greek word têthê meaning “nurse” or “grandmother.” Moreover, she was often depicted in art with a pair of wings on her brow signifying her role as mother of rain clouds that fertilize the earth, revealing her role of supreme creatrix.

In Hesiod’s Theogony Okeanos and Tethys did not take part in the war between the Titans and Olympians, instead continuing to focus on their immense procreative capacity for generating new life together.  The extraordinary power Oceanus and Tethys produce together for creative generation and setting new life into motion resonates with the fertile quality of the New Moon in Gemini, and the fact that the first waxing light of the Gemini Moon will form a conjunction with the fertilizing life force of Jupiter. Within the darkness of the New Moon in Gemini, open to the world you may create with your own life and community, as the wider world continues to morph into new pathways of possibility.

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I also made a video on the New Moon in Gemini you may watch here:

References

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.

Tethys, Greek Titan Goddess of Fresh Water. https://www.theoi.com/Titan/TitanisTethys.html