The Cosmic Story: June is the month of Nurture: Gemini New Moon 2022

 

The Cosmic Story: Gemini’s June Story

June is Juno’s Month

 

Juno

June breezes in on the fragrances of May, as the blossoms blow away and the buds and leaves begin to appear. Much more secure and comfortable than in early Spring, we feel summer on the way. June is the month of Nurture, for it is the goddess Juno – Queen Mother of the Roman pantheon – who holds rulership over this month.

As the Sun approaches Summer Solstice, its gifts of life and warmth promote growth and ripening in nature and in our human lives. June’s warm comfort is like the contentment and feelings a mother has nursing her newborn baby – or any parent with a bottle and a rocking chair. If any of you have experienced that calm and peace of feeding your precious child, you know how the Romans experienced the month of June. (Remember, they didn’t have heat or electricity!)

During June, we begin to feel contentment; we know life holds promise. The month of June was dedicated to the Goddess as Mother nurturing her young, the Queen of Heaven and her Child. It was also a time when Heaven and Earth join together to produce Life, this Sacred Marriage celebrated at the Summer Solstice.

Both these acts are her Blessings. Juno, Mother of the Gods and Queen over Rome, was both nurturing mother and equal partner with Jupiter. (Italians and their mothers!:) She represents a vital energy of life; the energy of youth, of possibilities. That’s what mothers do while they nurse their babies – they dream a life for them. 

 

Juno, Queen of the Gods 

She was like her Greek counterpart, Hera, who was called ‘the perfect one’ and who was celebrated as the Full Moon. Juno was the Goddess of Love and Marriage, and we all know about the ‘June bride’. Yet, Romans considered it dangerous and unlucky for a woman to marry until June’s Full Moon. Romans believed that the Moon brought good fortune to women – perhaps in memory of that earlier Goddess, who could be perfected at the Full Moon.

While the Romans honored their Divine Mother and Queen during June, the Goddess Vesta was also honored. Vesta was the goddess-energy of Fire – the village/city/home fires. Vesta was the life-force of the village, and later for Rome, the state. For Romans, the Vestal Virgins had to stay virgins. But their real purpose was to be a light to their community. We remember them whenever we do rituals, for all ritual begins with the lighting of the sacred fire. That is Vesta, the sacred fire of life, used for life. And that’s what was – and still is – celebrated in June.

June’s Astrology

June begins with an end-of-May Gemini New Moon on May 30^th. There are a few astrological energies that occur in this last week of May that are connected to June’s astrological signature. 

The Sun entered Gemini on May 20^th and on May 21^st met up with Mercury retrograde in the first degree of Gemini, initiating a new 4-month mindset that will (hopefully) make us look within ourselves and at our shadows (both collectively and personally). The Sabian symbol for 1* Gemini is: A glass-bottomed boat reveals undersea wonders. Will we see monsters or mermaids, horrors or exquisite beauty? Will we see the Other and know that it is really ourselves we are seeing?

 

 

First though, our collective task is to deal with the planetary energy that is already creating waves in the U.S. and around the world. Mars left his deep dive into the undersea wonders/horrors of Pisces and entered his own sign of Aries on Tuesday May 24^th, just hours after the horrific elementary school massacre in Texas. Mars is associated with anger, violence and battle. But it is also the energy of engagement, of stepping up, of protection. It’s time to force our leaders to do something or vote them out!  Integrate your Mars and become the protector of life!

 

 

Mars was in the last few hours of his stay in Pisces (where he met up with Neptune) as the tragedy occurred, creating a tsunami of cries for a better world. Our collective unconscious wants to get it through our thick collective heads that our leaders are complicit in all these deaths by not doing anything to stop the violence. In fact, they are creating the violence with their hypocrisy and vitriol.

Hopefully, the death of these children will finally open people’s eyes to the state of our decaying political system – our Pluto return can show us the swamp and also how to drain it. Hopefully, we will rise up and have a peaceful revolution this year and let this tsunami of sorrow and anguish over unnecessary deaths and twisted psyches wash away the ‘old white boy system’ here in the U.S. and around the world. These ‘dominators’ keep allowing our precious babies to die to defend the ‘freedom’ to buy a gun, yet want to force women to have unwanted babies. Their so called prayers are worthless, for their connection to the god-force is lost. They are not leaders. They are dominators.

While the Earth changes intensify, patriarchy goes on a killing spree – it would rather kill everybody and everything rather than die. Instead of turning our energies to healing ourselves and the Earth, we are being led to turn our energies to fear and hatred. It’s time to break out of our old paradigm of power, domination and death, for it is killing us and killing the Earth.

With Mars, Jupiter, Chiron and Eris in Aries as May ends, it’s time to discover who we really are and what we really want. Mars and Jupiter will meet up on Sunday, May 29^th. Jupiter will lend its expansive energy to whatever Mars actions we choose to take. Will we choose more death and destruction, or will we stand up for a better world? Find Aries in your natal chart and see if you have any Aries planets – they will help you channel Mars and Jupiter’s energies, as will planets in any of the cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn).

 

Mercury

Mercury has backed up into Taurus, grounding our Minds in our bodies again. How do we feel now? The world is in total chaos, the hypocrisy is overt, the climate is extreme, and people are devastated by the inflation caused by corporate greed and monopolies. What keeps us as complacent as cows in a field? What stops us from participating in creating a new, better world?

Mercury’s initial energy this retrograde calls for us to re-align ourselves with the cosmic OM, the vibration of creation. Mercury is slowing down at this New Moon so it has a more powerful effect on us. What are we going to do about our world, our life?

When Mercury, the divine messenger, turns direct on June 3^rd at 27* Taurus, it squares Saturn at 25* Aquarius, as Saturn stops to turn retrograde on June 4^th. This aspect touches on the idea that we have to focus on what benefits the whole. But we also have to stay open to new ideas, not letting old, rigid beliefs hold us back from opening to the future. Watch your language and see if you go to extremes – always, never etc. It’s a time to stay balanced and hold the tension of opposites.

The Sabain symbol for Mercury turning direct at 27* Taurus: An old Indian woman selling the artifacts of her tribe to passers-by. This is a symbol of bringing our gifts back into the collective in a wiser way. 

 

 

The Sabian symbol for Saturn turning retrograde at 25* Aquarius is: A butterfly with the right wing more perfectly formed. The butterfly is an ancient symbol of Psyche or Soul. This image speaks to the need to use our right-brain imagination the way it is meant to be used – as a spiritual tuning fork that aligns us with Nature’s evolutionary genius. If we open ourselves to our imagination, it will show us how to meet these multiple challenges.

Mercury will rise in the morning sky a few days after this New Moon. It will appear in the morning sky along with Mars, Jupiter and Venus. If you wake up early, go take a look at this beautiful sight.

 

 

Will our collective (Aquarius) Mind stop and focus on the real issues facing us? Will we grow up and take responsibility (Saturn) for our world and our society? Are we willing to sacrifice some of our comforts (Taurus) to make the changes necessary to create a healthy, peaceful world – a better world (Taurus). Can we play with our imagination to discover new ways to understand what is happening in our world?

Find the natal houses where your Mercury and your Saturn are, to understand how you are affected by these planets. And then find the houses where Taurus and Aquarius lie to see where these planets are moving through your chart, so you can look deeper into your soul to discover what you are being called to.

Gemini New Moon

The Gemini New Moon occurs on Monday, May 30^th at 4:30 am PDT/ 7:30 am EDT/ 12:30 pm GMT.

 

 Gemini New Moon 2022

Gemini is the first air sign of the zodiac wheel. It is the sign of the Twins, of our binary nature, of duality, of knowledge and perception. This duality can also symbolize the two sides of the brain – our rational, left brain and our imaginative, right brain. Reason, intuition, feeling and sensation help us understand our world. These are the Gemini tools that help us shape our world.

Mercury, as the ruler of Gemini, is a god who travels between realms, uniting different dimensions and different perspectives and learning how to communicate what he sees and understands. Gemini brings two opposites into a tension that can result in a new, 3^rd thing or idea through the transcendent function. This brings about the new insight, the new understanding, the new integration.

This Gemini New Moon is interesting because the Sun and the Moon only form an aspect with each other. There are only weak energetic connections between this New Moon and the other planets – meaning there are no major aspects to this New Moon. Therefore this Gemini New Moon is openly on-track with the realizations of this Mercury retrograde. Is your mind free? Is it free to let your imagination shape your thoughts? Is your mind free to look at those thoughts and choose how you want to work with them – will they control you or will you use those thoughts to understand something new about your life? And where do your values comes in (Mercury in Taurus)? Can you come to an understanding of yourself and the world based on those values you want to shape your life?

With Mercury retrograde in Taurus, values will need to shape our thinking going forward. The world, our country, our people are at a cross-roads – we really are! The only resolution to this chaos is for each of us to contribute whatever our gifts and talents are to our families, friends, communities and world.

With this free-floating Gemini New Moon, we can shape what we want to plant without other energies shifting things. What do we really intuit/feel/think about the world (Gemini Moon)? What do we want to do about the world (Gemini Sun)?

Take all those Aries planets – Mars, Jupiter, Chiron and Eris – and use their energies to figure out who you are. You can always change things at a later date when you know more about yourself. But just be who you are now.

Be Here Now!

With Venus, Pallas, Uranus, the North Node, and Mercury retrograde in Taurus, let your body lead the way. Venus conjuncts Uranus on June 11^th, so stay open for surprises. Listen to your body. What does it feel like? If you’re tired, rest. If you’re hungry, eat. If you’re nervous, go out into nature. Get back to your original nature. We’ve been so cut off from our body and its wisdom. It’s time to pay attention and begin to let go of old destructive behaviors that were generated by patriarchal advertising agencies and big corporations. Get over your negative body image and just be and love it.

Gemini/Sagittarius Full Moon

This Sagittarius Full Moon occurs on June 14^th at 4:52 am PDT/ 7:52am EDT/ 12:52pm GMT.

 

 Sagittarius Full Moon 2022

The message of this Full Moon, which squares Neptune in Pisces, is this: are we going to listen to the voices of those in need – the children, the elders, the poor, the war-torn – and re-adjust our beliefs. Can we focus on what we’ve learned since the New Moon and reflect on our lack of understanding of the forces at work in our world? Can we be curious about what is happening around us as well as to us? Can we finally understand that we depend on each other to make life worth-while?

 

The Sagittarius Moon is out-of-bonds, meaning that it can embrace and encompass more than usual.  Hopefully, we can embrace new beliefs and ideas and possibilities .

This Sagittarius Full Moon comes about a week before Summer Solstice, so I’ll end here and write something for the upcoming Cancer season.

Until then, stay grounded. Bring in peace, love and understanding to whatever you do. The world needs it.

Cathy

 

 

For a Parent on the Death of a Child

No one knows the wonder
Your child awoke in you,
Your heart a perfect cradle
To hold its presence.
Inside and outside became one
As new waves of love
Kept surprising your soul.

Now you sit bereft
Inside a nightmare,
Your eyes numbed
By the sight of a grave
No parent should ever see.

You will wear this absence
Like a secret locket,
Always wondering why
Such a new soul
Was taken home so soon.

Let the silent tears flow
And when your eyes clear
Perhaps you will glimpse
How your eternal child
Has become the unseen angel
Who parents your heart
And persuades the moon
To send new gifts ashore.

~ John O'Donohue ~

(To Bless the Space Between Us)

In memory of those lost

in Manchester, United Kingdom

The Cosmic Story: Eclipse Season, Fall 2021 -- Taurus Lunar Eclipse

The Cosmic Story: Eclipse Season Fall 2021

We’re entering eclipse season again, so get ready for some changes in your life. Eclipses represent portals of transformation and awakening, opening us to unknown parts of ourselves. Perhaps it’s time to cleanse and heal past life patterns that tested us to grow. Lunar eclipses often finish up old business. Eclipses sometimes bring fated events into our lives that help with the evolution and growth of our soul, especially if they contact any of our natal planets.

The lunar nodes are the two points in space where the planes of the Sun, Moon and Earth meet, causing eclipses. Metaphysically, the nodes show us the collective lessons we need to learn. The north node shows us our new direction in life, and the south node shows us what we have to release to move forward. 

 

Lunar Nodes
 

This week’s Lunar eclipse begins the move of the Moon’s nodes from Gemini/Sagittarius to Taurus/Scorpio. The Moon’s nodes shift signs backwards every 18+ months. We have one more eclipse in the Gemini/Sagittarius nodes with the solar eclipse in Sagittarius on December 4, 2021.

And then for the next 18 months or so, the eclipses will occur with the North Node in Taurus and the South Node in Scorpio. The last time the nodes were in Taurus/Scorpio was from July 2003 – December 2004. Think back to what you were doing then. The most potent contacts for this next set of eclipses will be for those of us who have planets in the fixed signs of Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius.

Since May, 2020, the north node has been in Gemini and the south node in Sagittarius. We’ve been learning to release old beliefs (Sag) that no longer serve life and open up to new ideas and ways of thinking (Gemini). We’ve been releasing our limiting beliefs that hold us back, our old religious beliefs that no longer make sense to us, and our personal beliefs about who we are and what we’re here on Earth to do.

After two years of Covid, many of our old beliefs have failed us. The political unrest around the world is partially the result of no longer trusting those institutions that govern us, thanks to Pluto in Capricorn. It’s especially true for the U.S., because we are about to experience our country’s first Pluto return next February. A country’s Pluto return is often brings an end to either empire or their role in the world. We can see how America has lost her place as the world leader in many respects. We are in the same intense energies that were present before the American Revolution. (More on that in another newsletter next year.) By 2024 we’ll be ready for a new beginning when Pluto finishes up with Capricorn and moves through Aquarius until 2043.

Taurus - Scorpio Eclipses

This week’s lunar eclipse will be visible over North America overnight on November 18-19. This is a strong partial eclipse, with almost 97% of the Moon covered, leaving a thin sliver of light and a reddish tint to the Moon. Since the Moon is almost at its furthest (apogee) from the Earth, it’s also the longest lunar eclipse since 1440 C.E., lasting a few minutes over 6 hours. 

This Taurus Lunar Eclipse occur near the Pleiades, the star cluster that sits above the constellation of the Bull.  I had a dream back in 2007 about the Pleiades, which might symbolize a new dispensation -- meaning 'all will be well', even when things look darkest.

The Pleiades Star Cluster

You can read more about the astronomy of this eclipse at Earthsky.org:

https://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/partial-lunar-eclipse-november-19-2021/

In many ways, this long eclipse is perfect for slow-moving, grounded, methodical Taurus. Real change takes time!

 

In ancient times, the Taurus Bull symbolized wealth and power.  It represented what was of value, what was of worth. 

Symbolically, this eclipse deals our social and personal Values – our values (Taurus) as well as how we view and allow other people’s values (Scorpio). These two fixed signs – Fixed Earth/Taurus and Fixed Water/Scorpio – also deal with growth. Taurus wants us to grow into our physical world and Scorpio wants us to grow psychologically and emotionally, by releasing old fears and traumas. Neptune in Pisces, which is in a positive relationship to this Taurus/Scorpio eclipsed Full Moon, helps us grow spiritually.

So how do we grow into our lives and into our deaths? For new life to grow, something has to die away. This is the real crisis our world is facing now. Something has to die. The old way of life isn’t sustainable. If we continue on our present path, the people of the future are ‘f***ed’. The corporate powers of the world will continue to use people for their profits, with less and less resources to share. It looks like a slow death for the future.

Or we can change the system. Patriarchy and capitalism are values that inform our present social structures, and they are wearing out and breaking down. Like the death of the Queen in fairy tales, the emotional impetus behind these systems has drained away. It will be kinder to kill it now, rather than give it a lingering death. It’s already fighting to retain control, like the old god Saturn, who ate his own children rather than give up his power. It’s time to put these energies to bed.

We know we can do better. We have to do better on a global scale, because we now know that we are all connected. Instead of fighting over resources, we need to learn to share them. All parents know this is an important lesson for our children’s future growth. In developing new social systems, it’s possible that we can find our freedom and human potential through the downfall of capitalistic, dominator culture. I vote for freedom for all, with respect for all.

We have to let the old order – patriarchy – die away so a new order of real equality and freedom can grow, both here in the US and around the world. This might mean buying less ‘things’ (which we often don’t need and which makes billionaires of people.); living more sustainably with our food and fuel needs; being responsible for our community’s welfare as well as our personal welfare. Some people won’t like the word sacrifice, because they see it as ‘something is being taken away from them’. But we’ve forgotten that it originally meant ‘to make sacred’.

What are we willing to ‘make sacred’ again by sacrificing some of our expectations of life? Americans have so much comfort compared to other countries. But the price the world pays for our comfort is climate change, the rape of Mother Earth, the destruction of aboriginal peoples and ecosystems, continual war and competition, and unrestrained capitalism. These are the results of our comfort that we don’t think about.

Perhaps now is the time to start. Taurus will be asking us, ‘What is of value to you and your life?’ Scorpio will ask, ‘How long are we going to hold onto childhood’s traumas when the world needs us to grow up?’ Isn’t it exciting to be at the fore-front of shaping a new vision of life, of a new society? If we value the Earth and all her children, if we value our lives and our community’s lives, if we value the future lives of our children’s children, what do we have to do to make it happen?

To Make It So.

One day in the future, we will be a responsible species. I like to think that one day, Earth will be inhabited by grown -up human beings, very much like Captain Jean-Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise. And his crew.

Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon Eclipse

Full Moons are emotionally intense because they show us what we need to see and drive us to take action on whatever issues are pressing for us. Eclipses add transformational energy and intensity to the mix. With this strong lunar eclipse in the fixed signs of Taurus and Scorpio, we might find ourselves struggling to make those changes, since fixed signs don’t like to change! But even things that are ‘fixed’ need an upgrade at some point. And with the length of this lunar eclipse, we have time to make those changes stick.

With Uranus in Taurus, though, we can expect the unexpected during the next 18 months as the nodes travel backwards through Taurus. Uranus is awakening us to the needs of Mother Earth, as well as to her creative genius. Hopefully, we’ll start to look to Her to understand how we are part of Her biosphere, and come up with solutions and practical applications to climate change, how we produce our food and energy, and how we can reclaim our place as stewards of this amazing, beautiful, bountiful and wounded planet.

The Taurus/Scorpio Full Moon eclipse occurs on Thursday night November 18 at exactly12:57 am PST through Friday morning November 19 at 3:57am EST. Of course the eclipse will start earlier and end later than exactitude.

 

 

The Sabian symbol for the Moon at 28* Taurus is: A post-menopausal woman experiences a new love. I would call this image a Crone (the crown of womanhood) finds new love. In the past, there were never this many post-menopausal woman alive and well in society. This is the time for the wise women and grandmothers to step forward and help the world. Women set the feeling tone for a society, for the feminine part of our nature receives the new information and gestates it. This new beginning will have a more mature response to the new opportunities to experience life. (this goes along with the upcoming Venus retrograde in Capricorn – initiating a new council of Grandmothers to help guide the world. More next month.)

The Sabian symbol for the Sun at 28* Scorpio is: The King of the Faeries approaching his domain. While Faerie also has a reigning Queen, the King is charged with protecting the land, while the Queen brings it fertility and new life. While the Moon’s symbol calls on wise women to step into their power in the world, this image asks for grown-up, responsible men to step into their power as well. It’s time for men to accept their own magic.

And so we’re back to the Values we hold. Is life and the Earth’s vitality worth our sacrifice? The King of Faerie protects the natural world, both its health and its beauty. We are being asked to wake up from our ‘sugar-high’ of modern culture and figure out what’s important enough to protect and defend.

Jupiter in Aquarius forms a T-Square to this Full Moon, blowing things out of proportion if we’re not careful. But it’s also a great time to expand our community as we get clear about who and what we value, and help support each other. While a lunar eclipse can be excessively emotional on its own, the Sabian symbol of an older wise woman brings an emotional balance to this energy. And when the Faerie King sees any darkness in his domain, he is responsible for cleansing it and healing any wounds that were caused by it.

With Venus, the ruler of Taurus, in Capricorn, in a very tight trine with Uranus_rx in Taurus, we might be surprised by how well things turn out if we’ve done our work. Although with Uranus closing in on its 3^rd and final square (February 17^th, June 14^th and December 24^th) with Saturn in Aquarius on Christmas Eve, if you need a wake-up call, you’ll get it. Because Mars joins in the fun between these two opposing forces (old vs new) with its dynamic energy. Something is definitely cooking. What happens will all depend on how you meet it. Don’t fight it. Change is happening. Dance with Venus and bring in the new.

When Venus goes retrograde from December 19, 2021 to January 28, 2022, she comes between Earth and the Sun, disappearing from the Evening sky only to re-appear about 14 days later as a Morning Star. Venus will stay in Capricorn from November 5, 2021 to March 6, 2022, going into Aquarius and meeting up with Mars at 1* Aquarius – the degree of 2020’s Jupiter/Saturn conjunction. Things might start moving then as we spread the wisdom of the heart throughout our ‘innernet’ of souls.

Venus’ retrograde in Capricorn might signal a shift from patriarchal top-down rules to a Council of Grandmothers, who gather to help each other and their communities. That is, if we women do it – mentor young people, help young families, volunteer for our causes, go to Town Council or School Committee meetings that are being disrupted by dissenters. We can be a good counter-balance to them, offering a different vision than the one of two opposing sides out to kill each other, which some Americans seem to revel in. Maybe it’s time to give our communities our wisdom, vision and commitment to help all of us make a better future together.

Venus reminds us that we need to stay connected to our hearts, which connect us to the cosmos. We do have a spiritual mission. Especially women. The Feminine aspects of life must be given an equal respect and value as that which we give the masculine technological aspects of society. Uranus is the sword of Truth, which wakes us up. Venus in Capricorn sees what is necessary for the life of her people and makes sure that the Truth is heard.

Two other creative aspects help make this lunar eclipse powerful. Mars in Scorpio and Pluto in Capricorn work together to create effective change, while the Scorpio Sun gets support for its transformation from Saturn in Aquarius, who is creating the thought-forms and principles that will eventually manifest a new society.

It’s pretty exciting, if you forget to be afraid. We are the grandparents of the future. But it’s not only the Elders who have a role to play. People on a mission to achieve their goals will be the change-makers. It’s like the kids protesting at the Glasgow climate conference. They know what is at stake. Their future. And so they aren’t afraid to confront power with truth. Can we do any less?

Change is still the fuel that will take us into the next year. Prepare yourselves!

Blessings and peace to all of us

Cathy

 

To honor the last months of the North Node in Gemini – the Power of Words!

 

 

Let's Remake The World

Let's remake the world with words.
Not frivolously, nor
To hide from what we fear,
But with a purpose.

Let's,
As Wordsworth said, remove
"The dust of custom" so things
Shine again, each object arrayed
In its robe of original light.

And then we'll see the world
As if for the first time.
As once we gazed at the beloved
Who was gazing at us.

~ Gregory Orr ~

(Concerning The Book That Is the Body Of The Beloved)