New Moon in Gemini Uniting Within

Tide Pools                                   Catherine Al-Meten Meyers

At 3:03 A.M. on June 3, 2019 the New Moon in Gemini opens up to new lunar cycle. The Gemini-Sagittarius axis encourages us to develop both our personal and social communication skills. It’s a time to listen to what others have to say as well as a time to recognize the we are not alone in our life choices nor in our understanding of what is meant to be. In a culture like ours that focuses so much on the individual sense of independence and personal responsibiltiy we sometimes feel choices depend on what we seek or desire, alone. This new lunar cycle is a time when we seek to understand better how our own fate is dependent on what is going on in a multitude of other people’s lives and conditions. Knowing what we want is not enough for it to simply occur. Divine right timing may not be in accord with our timing at all. The challenge for this New Moon in Gemini cycle is to come to a deeper understanding of what is needed in our own habits and patterns of life in order for changes to happen that are beneficial and harmonious.

The Gemini New Moon occurs at 12/34 °, the second decan of Gemini. This will have a powerful impact on those with planets, points, and transits between 9-17° of the mutable signs (Gemini,Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces).  Look also to the houses in your chart/life where these mutable signs reside. The Sun in Gemini has been waxing for nearly two weeks, so the Gemini energy has already begun to affect us all, personally and collectively.  Mercury, the planet of all forms of communication, is in the waning degrees (27° Gemini), and will soon be entering the energy of Cancer. Movement toward transition in the Gemini cycle means that your feelings, intuition, dreams, and the general energetic environment has already been buzzing with the nudgings and urges to be heard and to hear with greater attention and care. Be sure to notice the house/area of your life where Gemini reigns. This will be the area that is most affected by this lunar season. Changes in this area will be profound and powerful.

Mercury is very at home in Gemini, and you might notice you’re doing a lot more socializing as well as seeking out more depth in friendships, relationships of all kinds, and in how you wish to understand the world you live in. Curiosity and passions are awoken during this cycle, especially on the intellectual level and in the area of social interaction and activism. Because there is so much stimulation, distractions may be a major issue for us too. It is important to give ourselves enough time to quiet our minds and lives in general, and to take time to reflect and reconsider plans, especially after experiencing so much input. Mercury is near last degree of Gemini as the New Moon in Gemini peaks. On June 4 Mercury will enter Cancer, where it will stay until June 26 (when it enters its retrograde phase until July 19.  Keep this in mind when making plans as decisions and actions are best made prior to the retrograde phase, if at all possible.

Venus has been in earthy, sensual Taurus since May 15. She will enter Gemini on June 8. Until that date, our sensual appetites, love of pleasure and beauty will continue to color our view of the world as well as the choices we are pondering. There is also a great deal of concern about the quality of our purchases and choices, and elegance and solid practicality are favored over temporary or superficial ones. Love and romance have us yearning for tangible expressions during the Taurus transit as well. We require solid expressions of devotion. The tone Venus sets after June 8 when she enters Gemini is quite a switch. Variety, curiosity, and a more detached view of love and romance lightens our emotional senses. Intellectual stimulation becomes more important for us than the more pragmatic expressions of Taurus. The growing edge of this transit is noticing how our more lighthearted and perhaps more fickle view affects those relationships we value most. “Make new friends but keep the old, one is silver and the other is gold” reminds us not to disregard or abuse our trusted relationships in favor of variety and intrigue.

Mars has been in Cancer since May 15, and will remain there until July 1. Mars in Cancer moves us into the realm of safety, security, and the nurturing of home, hearth, and family. Mars, planet of action, softens some in the realm of watery, emotional Cancer. We are more drenched in the emotional aspect of how our actions affect ourselves and others. Emotional harmony is one of the key needs during this transit. There may be a tendency to be a little moodier than we normally feel (especially if we are not water sign people). On the other hand for those with more water in their charts, this might be a very positive, balanced time with less the stress and edginess of the recent transit through an air sign. We feel more connected and grounded emotionally.

Marina of DarkStar Astrology calls the New Moon in Gemini, the Balancer.  As in all signs, the oppositions, polarities, and dualities innate in the energy of Gemini can affect us in one of two ways. We can fight or resist the duality or we can seek a blending and balancing, a movement toward wholeness. The best way of course is to see how opposites blend to help us cultivate both sides of our inner conflicts and the natural polarities in our nature and the nature of the world in which we live. Fighting and resisting leads to more conflict, greater stress in meeting challenges, and in delays in coming to wholeness or in finding solutions in allowing the unfolding to take place in our lives. This New Moon in Libra occurs as the Moon transits the constellation of Orion. Unlike many of our recent New Moon cycles, there are few heavy aspects to this New Moon. A semi-sextile (think of it as a harmonious nudge or gentle encouragement) of the Moon and Sun to Mars. This makes the energy of the New Moon in Gemini feel more like  release of pressure and stress than other recent transits. That doesn’t mean, however, nothing is afoot.

Orion is one of the more potent and powerful, lusty and sexually energizing constellations, so this will be a very stimulating time. Love, courtship, fertility, and the conquest are highlighted with this new moon. This may express itself in different ways, depending upoin what part of your chart/life the Sun and Moon are currently transiting. It could bring more intrigue, twists and turns, and surprising behind the scenes mystery. Gemini sparks the desire to debate, conquer, compete, and challenge (intellectually). If one does not have a well-developed intellect or sense of social justice and a strong moral code, this intrigue could lead to less than positive and downright dirty tricks. So it’s best to keep watch to make sure you’re not drawn into something that is not what it sells itself to be. There may be a pull between familial obligations and a desire for personal pleasure. This may also manifest as a pull between duty and obligations with work/career and career and a desire and need to be free from responsibilites and the daily routines that may have been weighing you down. We’re nearing a change of seasons and the end to the academic and school year so the need for a more leisurely life may hold the answer to this tug of war. We all need to take breaks, find ways to rest more and restore, especially after a long period of hard work, heavy obligations, and nose-to-the-grindstone kinds of periods. Plan some breaks. Take time off. Set aside a part of every day, indeed within each work period, to stand up, stretch, take a walk, change your pace and perspective. Move things around a bit, and start looking at the world a bit differently. Open windows, get some fresh air, start an exercise routine that takes advantage of the outdoors and nature. Do what you can to build in tranquility, serenity, renewal, and refreshing changes into each day. Be wary of trying to hold the reins of your life and the lives of those for whom you are responsible, so tight that no one can breathe. Leave room, space, and time so that every moment isn’t filled in with activity and obligatory duty. The energy of Gemini is like  a tightly wound clock, and if you get too high of an adrenaline rush, it overwhelms and short circuits your whole body. Get some rest. Slow down your pace. Let go of some of the ‘duties’ you don’t really need to take on. Lighten your load, and give yourself ways to channel that energy into something more soothing. Dance, walk, swim, ride, paint, garden, or do whatever it is that you dream about having time to do. Make the time fit your needs now.

Another ongoing transit and aspect is that of Pluto’s conjucntion to the North Node and Neptune’s trine to the North Node. Pluto, the Great Transformer sitting atop the North Node (gateway to the future) signals the end of what we’ve been transforming in our lives these last few years and the start of a new phase of life where the transformation will unfold in a big way. Neptune, the planet that rules intuition, creativity, the hidden and unconscious trines the North Node as it also squares the retrograde Jupiter. The negative aspect can trigger Neptune’s tendency to deceit and cult-like behavior with Jupiters over the top enthusiasm bordering on zealotry.  Venus is trining Pluto offering a softening on the transformative and transitional nature of the lunar cycle. Notice where you might be pulled towards the darker edge of these transists, and resist getting drawn into the negativity or fanatacism of any of this energy. It is important to remain on an even keel even when the emotional and intellectual seas become rough and stormy. 

Though the New Moon is not being heavily aspected itself, and though we may not be directly drawn into the heavy edge of some of the other aspects, there is much going on behind the scenes--actions and plans which we cannot control or know at this time. Ground yourself in a place of peace and harmony within and within your own realm. Make your plans and changes in accordance with what you know to be good, sound, balanced, healthy, and right. This is a very karmic New Moon in Gemini, so you will be coping with whatever remains to be handled to insure your path is clear forward. Choose the path of the peaceful warrior, and avoid acting as the armed guard of your own life and the lives of those around you. Choose compassion over power. Choose love over hate. Choose peace over struggle. Choose kindness over getting your own way. As the Old Deuteronomist says, “We have before us a choice between life and death. Choose life.”