June 10 6:53 AM EST
This is a powerhouse new moon that in many ways asks us to BOTH hold uncertainty and possibilities in the air, while simultaneously choosing our path. It sounds like a contradiction- I know! Welcome to the world of Gemini. If you can imagine looking through a prism where light or images reflect in every direction, you will get a sense of the energy of Gemini. There are unlimited possibilities in this world and Gemini has a finger on the pulse of all of them (or at lease the ones that interest them right now). But Gemini’s struggle is refining their discernment about what is actually important, valuable and worthwhile, and discarding useless noise information and clutter.
We are all being asked to take on this delicate and nuanced task right now. The new moon eclipse, at 19 degrees Gemini, is closely conjunct the ruler of the eclipse, Mercury, at 20 degrees. Mercury is retrograde in its home sign of Gemini for the first time in several years. Since Gemini and Mercury are all about communication/ideas/information we are being prompted to review our behaviors and choices in that arena. Some of it is about our belief systems, which is a theme that was highly activated during the May 26th Sagittarius lunar eclipse. Those themes continue on into this eclipse, but the emphasis now is more on how we navigate the world of choice and possibility in an everyday kind of way.
The inter-dynamic between the opposite signs of Gemini and Sagittarius is rather fascinating, and we can learn a lot about how to approach the learning and healing we can gain from this eclipse by looking at how it all plays out:
- the news and information we ingest in school/neighborhoods/media (Gemini) determines our beliefs about the world (Sagittarius)
- we look for and share ideas and information (Gemini) that support what we believe is TRUE (Sagittarius)
- The broader possibilities we see for ourselves and the world (Sagittarius) determine the everyday choices and options (Gemini) that we believe we have in our lives
Ever since the lunar nodes moved into Gemini and Sagittarius in May 2020, we have been rewriting a lot of these stories for ourselves individually and collectively: Who we are and what we believe is possible, and what narratives are being given to us by ‘outside sources’ (media, culture, propaganda, etc). This eclipse is in many ways an apex of this entire 18 month Gemini/Sagittarius eclipse group (the nodes move into Taurus and Scorpio in January 2022). Our thoughts, beliefs, news sources, self-identity, have been shaken up, and now with so many balls in the air it is up to us to discern the most valuable, trustworthy, worthwhile choices and options for us to follow.
There is a heavy retrograde emphasis in this eclipse which underscores that rather introspective and personal nature of it. My prism is not the same as your prism. My choices are not the same as your choices, and if given the same choice- you and I might choose differently. Saturn retrograde at 13 degrees of Aquarius is a very helpful ally in trine to the eclipse. Saturn is highly skilled at discernment and prioritization. In Aquarius it prompts us to ask: “What is beneficial for me, and for the whole collective?”. Again we have this kind of balancing act of Gemini. In addition to Mercury and Saturn being retrograde, we also have Pluto retrograde stationing at 26 degrees Capricorn. Slow moving Pluto is resting on that single degree from April through July. Pluto is being very triggered during this eclipse by an opposition to Mars which I will discuss in greater detail below. While Jupiter and Neptune are NOT retrograde at the eclipse, they are both stationing about to go retrograde- Jupiter at 2 degrees of Pisces and Neptune at 23 degrees of that sign.
The influence of Jupiter, newly in its home sign of Pisces for the first time in 10 years, is very much an undercurrent of this eclipse. And especially because all of the mystical and imaginative Piscean themes that are coming up now and will last through 2022, are noticeably surfacing during this eclipse. This is thanks to the square that the eclipse is making to Neptune. Neptune is connected to both great spiritual interconnection and visionary creativity, as well as lost-ness, addiction and apathy- they are two sides of the same coin. We have to be especially cautious right now that what we are seeing and believing and experiencing and choosing is real and aligned and in integrity (again Saturn will help with this). Neptune can give us that ecstatic feeling, but like looking through a prism, certain choices could be mirages.
In order to not fall for the false dream, or the poor option on the table before us, it is necessary that we do a serious check in with both our needs and motivations. In order to see what is real and valuable and which path to follow, we have to know our core priorities (Venus) and be able to act on them (Mars). The fact that both of these planets are in nurturing Cancer is significant. In Cancer we learn how to meet our own needs (after the literal Cancer mother archetype is no longer our primary caregiver). How well we know what our needs are and how to meet them is our best guiding light for navigating the riddle before us. But with Mars at 29 degrees Cancer opposing transformative Pluto in Capricorn, we are also recognizing that the strategies we have used to get our needs met may not be working anymore.
Over the past 5 years, there has been a very heavy emphasis on Cancer and Capricorn themes collectively, as we have been being asked to discard patriarchal “the way it has always been done” (Capricorn) dictates and tribal familial ancestral drama and patterning (Cancer) in favor of new and upgraded ways of being in the world. “A new chapter” as far as our relationship with these themes began at the time of the Jupiter Saturn grand conjunction in December 2020. Whatever “old ways of doing things” (Mars in Cancer) are still clinging on, can been seen addressed and dealt with under the unyielding influence of Pluto’s opposition. It might not be pretty. Mars and Pluto can both be harsh and combative. The part of us that wants to fight and create drama will be given that opportunity. But the higher choice is to allow Pluto to disentangle from us the vestiges of unnecessary old patterns and habits that are actually preventing us from getting our needs met in a healthy way. It’s deep work, but once we decide that THIS is what we are aligned to- it makes the choices and options and potential paths before us MUCH more clear.
And with Venus at 9 degrees of Cancer, happy in this domestic and nurturing sign, we are again getting a signpost towards what best possible paths are before us. What makes us feel truly safe and supported? How do we best nurture ourselves and others? What feels like “home” to us? How can we gently eliminate or release whatever doesn’t nourish us on a deep level?
With these core principles and signposts to come back to we can easily navigate the myriad options before us without falling prey to Neptune’s sometime illusory and deceptive charms. Or Mercury retrograde’s u-turns and confusion. We can more easily spot them and simply not engage. Keep on moving until something truly feels right. Stilling our mind is also an important part of this. Lower vibrational Gemini keeps moving just to keep moving. That is not the path now. Like taking a freezeframe in a snowstorm- we need to be able to still the scene in front of us so we can see what is actually there and choose accordingly. Mercury retrograde can help us see things differently and upgrade our perception, but we have to be open to this. When, at last, we are accustomed to navigating the choices and paths before us in this way, then we can see “the golden road”- a choice or possibility that is gifted to us by Neptune and Jupiter in Pisces, a wondrous opportunity or path that we never would have seen or intuited if we had been caught up in conflict or drama. Let’s not forget Gemini is all about brainstorming and brilliant ideas and connections. These gems of possibility are most certainly floating in the ethers, dazzling in the prisms of potentiality right now, ready to be aligned to and realized!
*art by @trippydana
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