With this Newmoon in Gemini combined with the Uranus/Mars in Pisces and Pluto in Saggitarius, both the Lights and three other planets are in the mutable signs, bringing a fluid, possibly even murky feeling to this time. One should not feel flawed or out of control just because the pervasive sensation of this cycle is that of being swept along by the current! Instead consider that you might learn to relax and enjoy this feeling of flow, as things which in the past had been irrevocably hardened now melt away and release their resources into your hands for future change.
With five items in Air as well as five items in Mutable signs, the archetype of this chart is maximally Gemini, even discounting the fact that two of those items make this New Moon the epicenter of this chart. As a result, a fountain of ideas, possibilities, and invitations will release what appears to be an endless stream of chances and choices. Do not be fooled, however -- only an irrational creature will believe that s/he can say yes to all of them! No matter how many potentials erupt, you have to remember that you are only one person, and can take only one path at a time. Like surfing a wave or riding an avalanche, you have got to keep your wits about you and conform your own posture to the dynamic forces that have you in their sway. Don't try to hold onto or control anything outside your own immediate, tangible sphere of influence, because the entire environment is "blowing in the wind" somehow, and a lot of the known universe will be in a different order when it finally slows and firms up again.
My love of classicism usually guides my choices in Tarot as well as
in Astrology, but on this occasion I want to draw attention to the way
the modern Lovers cards (sometimes called the Two Paths) will often
bear the sign of Gemini on their faces. This might be part of a larger
trend that I don't entirely support, but I can still appreciate the
thought-form produced when the sign of Gemini is visualized along with
the image of a person making a fateful choice that could affect their
life for years to come. The chooser stands between two paths that angle
away in different directions behind the crossroads where the
protagonist is momentarily halted, lost in thought. Which way will
s/he go?
Pointing down one of the pathways is a figure representing sobriety, chastity, maturity, and wisdom. Pointing down the other pathway is a person representing sensuality, self-indulgence, hedonism, and expenditure of resources. The person at the crossroads is obliged to choose which path will lead to the long-term goal of the Soul. It is clear that as each path proceeds, it diverges farther and farther away from it's opposite. So it is with this Newmoon chart in Gemini here in late Spring. The field of choices one can pick from is wide and varied, and every option promises the fulfillment of one or another of your heart's desires. What is the basis you will use to evaluate the path that is most likely to take you where your higher self knows you need to go?
Jupiter, newly finished with his recent retrograde, is rising on the exact degree of the ascendant here in Seattle (8+ Libra), though too early in the sign to make an official aspect to the Sun/Moon. This Jupitarian ascendant also emphasizes expansion, while the combination of Libra rising with that big ball of Lights and planets in the 9th house will raise the social and cultural potentials exponentially. As spring heats up into summer, doors open and far horizons seem more reachable. In this kind of climate, people with a healthy set of boundaries and limits will choose to actualize a few of the most appropriate opportunities and regretfully let go of the lower-priority offers. This is how responsible people guarantee that their energies will not to be unduly split and scattered. For someone who is not accepting their natural limits, however, this could easily become a time of over-comittment, over-promising, and over-expectation, which then spreads the person so thin that none of their grandiose goals can come to fruition. Ultimately the whole overblown superstructure collapses in a storm of good intentions and useless excuses. Be warned -- there is danger from inflation leading to an explosion should limited resources like time and energy fail to be managed effectively.
The Venus, Midheaven, and Saturn in Cancer suggest to me that "family values" are a strong consideration as people make those judgments about what opportunities to seize ahold of and which ones to pass by. The choices we all are currently making will be affecting those who come after us in a deep, emotionally moving way. Imagine in advance how your actions will send messages to those around you, even if you never speak about those messages out loud. Make every effort to see that the spreading impact of your effects does not have negative repercussions for others. Remember that the adventures of your current life become the teaching stories that go down into history through your family. You don't want to be one of those who becomes a legend for your failure to "see the dangers coming"! Be aware of how your alignments and investments will be remembered and compounded over time, so that this greater awareness might help you to steer away from the poorer choices mixed in with your current array of better ones.
The four planets in Water signs (Uranus, Mars, Venus and Saturn) further reinforce the above-mentioned mutable trend toward flux and reformation. If there is something you need to melt down and recast, reconfigure, or recategorize, this is your moment! The presence of Uranus and Mars together in Pisces in the 6th house (at least in my neighborhood) suggests that the collective cauldron of unconscious impulses, motives, and irritants will be demanding attention, perhaps at the expense of appearances and ego preferences. The acceleration of spring, with it's warming and arousing influences, is also speeding up the rate at which the unfinished business of last year is starting to stink, and demand cleaning up! This might arrive in the form of health challenges long deferred, or surprise stresses on your weakest link, or even reanimation of ancient dilemmas you thought were long-since solved.
In any case, try not to respond to these emerging challenges with the urge to fight back against the knowledge. Rather, recognize that you are being tested on your own internal coherence. By this I mean, this New Moon gives us each a chance to demonstrate the sober maturity and refined understanding to discriminate between short-term and long-term gains, between projecting blame and taking responsibility, between self-indulgence and standing for the greatest good for the greatest number. Yes, the winds of temptation blow strong, and the siren song of "rest and ease and whatever you want" is ringing in our emotional and psychic ears. But our real job right now is to row on past those tempting teases, and move along towards the Good Goal, the solidification of a family culture that will stand future generations in good stead. Let's clean up our diets and lifestyles, pay back our debts even if it's inconvenient to our personal pleasures, and ask ourselves every day what we can do to make this world a better place for the kids and grandkids. Let's all become multidementionally healthy people whom our fellow earthlings can admire and be inspired to imitate. If we will but try, we are sure to be amply rewarded long beyond this month with the kind of self-esteem that no amount of self-indulgence can attain.
One thing that catches my eye is that Mercury is making a sextile/trine with the Moon's nodes, emphasizing that "I/thou" axis which is also highlighted by Jupiter's position in Libra at the ascendant. This tells me that what was in the past projected as the "other" turns out to be the Self, and what was clung to as Self turns out to have been an implant from the "other". What does this do to our embedded certainties about who you or I actually are, in fact? How can we untangle our relations with others from the identifications they hold for us? How has each of our sense of self been propped up or distorted through positive or negative contrast with our beloveds/adversaries? How would we know who we are if we didn't have them to be reacting off of?
Concurrently, Pluto also stands in trine/sextile relationship with
the nodes, but from a point in opposition to Mercury. The resulting
figure is called a "mystic rectangle", consisting of a 120 x 60
rectangle centered by crossed oppositions. This signature is
recognized by spiritual astrologers as one of the most fulfilling kinds
of aspect pictures. Combining the easy learning of sextiles, the
harmonious function of trines, and the awakening objectivity of
oppositions, it brings the constituent parts into greatest possible
alignment. However, two sides of this rectangle are Nodes instead of
Planets, so the realization of this mystic rectangle depends upon a
person's will to work with that axis and "add mass" to those nodal
points. At the north node point, this requires defining the self as
something larger than merely a body of personal preferences and
opinions. Simultaneously one must fulfill the south node instruction to
take back the projections that have been cast outward upon the world of
others. Then it will be possible to bring all four points into their
peak alignment, and reap the greater insight available through this
figure.
Meanwhile, alignment with what? Pluto's motto is "Mutate or Die!", and this figure challenges us to say yes to change at the deepest, scariest internal level. The entire element of Fire in this chart is held down by Pluto retrograde in Saggitarius at the bottom of the chart. Pluto's square to Mars and inconjunct to Saturn makes for a sacrificial, initiatory, and ultimately evolutionary Harmonic Grand Trine. These aspect pictures are the 3/4/5 triangles of Pythagorean theory (the 3 is the square side, the 4 is the trine side, the 5 is the inconjunct side). This figure represents the introduction of paradox (Pluto/Saturn inconjunct) into the "known world" (Mars/Pluto square and Mars/ Saturn trine), thus roiling the system from within. Mars (Brute Force) and Saturn (the Pressure of Time) have been the guardians of patriarchy since the fall of the Goddess. But now they are both being superheated by Plutonian catalyzation, hopefully to synthesize new creative compounds that will work for the healing of the nations. Saturn and Mars being trined in the water signs highlight the awakening of deep intuition and powers of caring, whereas the fireiness of the Mars/Pluto square requires exquisite care to keep the two from spontaneously self-combusting and burning down the house. All three planets are encouraged to use their considerable potency together in concert to address the emerging evolutionary chaos, rather than succumbing to polarization and wasting their energies striving against each other. Certainly the fact that the Mars point of this triangle falls into the 6th house is suggestive that we can use these experiences towards our own enlightenment, whether or not we can save the world some hassle and confusion in the process...
Earth is entirely unrepresented in this chart, present only on the cusps of the Water houses. I see this as a kind of braking action being put on the emotions in general, despite the Water trine between Mars and Saturn. Because of his great elevation in this chart, Saturn the Responsible has the stronger sway than Mars the Avenger. I'm betting that we will each find the traction to take a stand on the principled side of the issues, and take steps towards detoxing and healing our own crazy patterns rather than waiting for others to "get their trip together."
All in all, this Gemini Newmoon tests us through the ultimate
temptation -- trial by liberty of action. You may do what you want,
but there are always consequences. Smart people learn to put the brakes
on themselves when appropriate, so that others don't have to live out
the consequences of their short-sighted impulses. Certainly, nobody
should consider themselves insulated from tests of their values, their
resolve, and their relationship with the Greater Good. Periods like
this late spring come along to confront us with our double standards
and our rationalizations. If we are lucky and take the hint, we can use
the opportunity to grow towards greater coherence with our best selves.
Blessings for the cycle to come,
Christine
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*Christine Payne-Towler*
Research: Esoteric Tarot, Literature and Practice;
Bishop, Gnostic Church of St. Mary Magdalene
Founder: Tarot University;
Author: The Underground Stream;
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