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Astrological Forecast for Sun in Gemini
May 20 through June 20
by our reluctant shaman
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Mercury retrograde alert! Everything will be falling apart!
Or not. No need to panic.
What is it about a Mercury retrograde that gets us so worked up? Well, the Winged Messenger Mercury is the fastest moving planet and closest to our life-source the Sun. When Mercury is moving direct it represents "normal" communication and transportation abilities and we all tend to have a sharper focus on mundane activities. When retrograde (seeming to move backward), our relationships with our inner Mercury simply works differently - not worse - differently. We have a tendency to focus on the past, withdraw at inopportune times, and are too easily distracted by things off to the side - by the shiny things that bring out the inner blonde in all of us - and not necessarily for what's going on right in front of us.
This is why the call goes out to be more careful while motoring (hang up and drive!!!), operating or buying electronic gizmos, signing contracts, or otherwise trying to be clearly understood. An interesting thing about the word "careful" - it quite literally means being full of care - and "care" goes to the heart of caring for ourselves and others. Wouldn't it be a wondrous thing if we could all be full of care at every single moment of every day, regardless if Mercury were retrograde or not? No doubt.
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Mercury rules Gemini the Twins, and this Mercury retrograde cycle will be fully within the Gemini experience. On the downside, Gemini rules the world of dualism (the Twins) - that wretched place where everything seems to be split into the diverse and perverse worlds of good vs. bad, blessed vs. evil, black vs. white, cat vs. dog, caring vs. apathy, etc. On the plus side, Gemini allows us to see both sides clearly in whatever conflicts arise, and affords us the adaptability to know that a third or fourth path always exists. This Mercury retrograde cycle even presents us with the tele-path. Details later.
Knowing that a Mercury retrograde cycle is happening gives us a leg up on the Muggles who are trying their best to cope. It's a good thing the Strength card of the tarot is turned over for this month, as we'll need all the strength we can muster to refrain from yelling at said Muggles to wake up and pay attention! Seeing as how a whole bunch of folks are currently dealing with financial and legal documents these days, it would be a wise idea to hold off on signing anything but autographs until the second week of July, at the conclusion of this Mercury retrograde shadow.
As always, the other planets offer guidance as to how to deal with the challenges involved. First is Venus moving into Gemini on May 24 (joining the Sun and Mercury), ramping up sociability with the potentials for gripe-fests galore. Our new motto with this could be "carpito ergo sum:" I carp, therefore I am.
Second is the New Moon of June 3 with the Sabian* imagery "Bridging physical space and social distinctions, two men communicate telepathically." This speaks to another facility of a Mercury retrograde, the opening-up of different ways to send and receive information via the unseen wires. Of course, correctly utilizing this opportunity rests in our ability to quiet the "monkey mind," the incessant chattering of our distracted brains when we're not being fully in the here and now.
Third is a very rare Sun/Mercury/Venus conjunction in the same degree on June 7 (at 18° Gemini) with the Sabian keynote "The need for the mind to retain its independence from its physical environment in order to concentrate on its special problems." This ringing endorsement of the "here and now" places profound emphasis on the first step of any successful meditational practice as it also points to Mercury's rulership of the mind, intellect, and imagination. Mercury moving in the other direction than the Sun and Venus on June 7 opens the road to imagining things in previously unknown ways, so the first week of June shouldn't be ignored for the potentials of receiving some very important information from our Soul of souls and past lives - our Source.
Eighteen degrees Gemini is the same degree where the Venus Combustion took place four years ago (June 8, 2004), when Venus passed directly between the Earth and the Sun. The next Venus Combustion is scheduled for June 5, 2012 (!), so we're effectively at the midpoint of this once-in-a-lifetime energetic - this current eight-year cycle happens only once every 130 years or so. The previous eight-year Venus Combustion cycle saw the inventions of the electric light bulb and phonograph, as well as the building of the Statue of Liberty - all representations of Venus; light, harmony, and offering hope and refuge to the less fortunate.
The Venus Combustions of 1874 and 1882 were both in fiery Sagittarius, so it is no surprise that humanity learned to harness fire at that time, or felt the need to create a peace monument to Venus as the beacon of light and hope. Our current Venus Combustion cycle is in airy Gemini, and the ways that we communicate with each other have certainly evolved, no? The first telephone message was sent in 1876 during the last Venus Combustion, and I doubt Alexander Graham Bell could have envisioned TV, wireless Internet, or text messaging.
Gemini also symbolizes transportation, so there is every hope for the perfection of carbon-free (electric?) vehicles in the very near future, as well as the totally renewable energy sources to power them. If you are a physicist, inventor, or a "Green" venture capitalist, this is the ideal time to become a visionary. Even if you're not a scientist or the next Edison or Da Vinci, adding "visionary" to your esoteric resume can be accomplished at this time
Back to the here and now, the Sun enters Gemini on May 20 while Mercury is slowing down to begin this particularly intense retrograde cycle. Although Mercury won't officially move retrograde until May 26, the effects will begin to be noticed around May 19 at the height of the second-in-a-row Scorpio Full Moon. The last week of May also sees Chiron and Neptune stopping to turn retrograde, joining Jupiter and Pluto who have also begun retreating recently. Overall, it should be "fun" in a difficult-to-integrate-mental-state sort of way - kind of like it's happy hour for techno-nerds at a Science Fair... in another galaxy
For immediate clues, Mercury is slowing down to station (stop) retrograde after nudging into the same two degrees as Ceres (May 20 - 22), at 21 and 22 degrees Gemini. The Sabian images for 21° Gemini ("A tumultuous labor demonstration") and 22° Gemini ("Dancing couples in a harvest festival") further illuminates the current chaotic issues surrounding Ceres as the Goddess of Agriculture, especially with grains like corn and rice (we get the word "cereal" from Ceres). Both the Moon and Ceres are strongly inconjunct Jupiter at that time - a real howler monkey of an aspect.
Last month, Ceres moved into a 90° square with Saturn and food riots shortly broke out in the Third World, a "big box" US retailer announced it was rationing the sale of rice, some rice producing nations stopped exporting, and the debate over corn for ethanol vs. food grabbed a few headlines. Shortly afterward, a cyclone wiped out Burma's rice-growing capabilities, a further disruption in the food production chain as mentioned in last month's forecast. Ceres moves into emotional Cancer and into opposition with Pluto the second week of June - in the middle of this Mercury retrograde cycle - so don't expect much in the way of good news regarding the food supply to result. But also look for brilliant and innovative minds to discuss brave new alternatives - policy makers would be wise to listen.
Speaking of policy makers and authority figures, of more long-term significance is Saturn picking up steam forward from his retrograde cycle of the past five months (See the PS at the end of this forecast for details as to why this is so important). It doesn't surprise any astrologer that a major earthquake would happen within days of a Saturn (in Earthy Virgo) station-direct trine Pluto.
Saturn stopped to move direct on May 2 within one degree of exact trine to Pluto. One of the effects of this has been in exposing terminal weaknesses (Pluto) for certain authority figures (Saturn) that began around 1996 -1997 at the last Saturn/Pluto trine - the ruling Burmese junta and US Republicans for just two. Acting as the cosmic release valve for the Saturn/Pluto trine has been the Sun, Mercury and Venus taking turns being the third leg of Grand Trines with Saturn and Pluto this past month, finalized now by asteroid Goddess of Wisdom Pallas Athene as the third point in this slowly waning Saturn/Pluto pyramid, exact as the Sun moves into Gemini May 20.
Some sources within the astronomical community have been suggesting that Pallas Athene will soon be re-categorized, joining Pluto and fellow (former) asteroid Ceres to the ranks of "dwarf" planets, so a greater awareness of Pallas' movements should be taken more seriously. Our species could use a lot more wisdom these days, so Pallas' elevation to planet status - "dwarf" or not - would be seen as a welcome addition to the collective psyche.
Pallas being the third point in a Grand Trine with Saturn and Pluto would be a signal for us in how to use the raw intellect and intuition of Mercury in order to reach for Mercury's higher octave energetic, the creative and revolutionary Prometheus (Uranus). Pallas therefore becomes the stepping stone of wisdom to connect the dots. Her clear message is that wisdom comes from incorporating the brilliant and transformational (Pluto) minds from the past (Saturn) and synthesize them (Mercury) into our current situation in order to invent (Prometheus) a brighter future.
Speaking of transformation, Pluto moves retrograde back into Sagittarius on June 14, back into the sign he'd been in since 1995 before his brief peek into Capricorn beginning this past January. Pluto will be back in Capricorn in late November for a fifteen-year stay, so it would behoove us all to do more than just pray for enlightened global leadership. When the people lead, the leaders will follow.
Venus moves into relationship-oriented Cancer just hours before the powerful Sagittarius Full Moon on June 18, and Mercury stops to move direct the next day. Every planet is involved at this Full Moon in configurations that would give a non astro-geek a migraine trying to comprehend (see the PS at the end), so I'll let Dane Rudhyar's Sabian keynote for 28° Sagittarius sum it up curiously yet succinctly: "The enduring elements in a society which reveal its ability to significantly link the genius of its individuals to the needs of the collectivity." This might seem incongruous with a Mercury retrograde, but it fits quite perfectly when viewed from a much broader perspective.
In other words, if we take this month as a whole, with all the immediate challenges presented (Mercury retrograde, Ceres opposed Pluto, etc.), and utilize all the wonderful opportunities to open-up to our imaginations, we can find new ways to contribute to the greater good for our local communities specifically, and humankind in general. The Sabian image for 28° Sagittarius speaks volumes in this regard "An old bridge over a beautiful stream is still in constant use." I'll break it down for anyone still reading because the Sagittarius Full Moon of June 18 is so pregnant with promise.
First, the need for a bridge of any kind indicates a sense of disconnectedness with an obstacle to overcome, no matter how beautiful "the stream" might be. On a "point A to point B" physical level, the need for a bridge might be to further trade, or to reduce a ten-mile hike to Grandma's house to just one mile. In this light, a physical bridge is a matter of practicality and convenience. For a bridge to last a long time (the "enduring elements"), it needs to be designed and built with durability in mind, and it starts with solid foundations on both sides of the obstacle, with the utilization of the "genius of society's individuals" - everyone working together - to make a solid and dependable bridge happen.
On esoteric and spiritual levels, a bridge to our higher selves is hopefully what we're all ever striving toward, and this month would be the perfect time to discover new ways to build upon a solid foundation on our side of the "beautiful stream" - this thing we call our lives. The other side of the bridge (our birthright) already has a solid foundation to connect with, so we'll all need to find solid ground - Strength - within ourselves. Our end of the bargain relies upon our imagination (ruled by Mercury and Gemini), so the serious seeker will have no excuses to delay or negate the inevitable.
While we're at it, we can fully utilize our imaginations to know that this bridge doesn't last just a couple of hundred years in the best-case scenario of physicality, but that the spiritual bridge between us and our Source has been there since the beginning of time, and will exist long after the concept of time fails to serve us. Only time will tell, but by 2012 the very concept of time itself may change.
The Sun - our physical and spiritual source - is currently in Gemini, but is Gemini in the Sun? Yes and no - the Sun doesn't care a whit about dualism, so why should we care about the either/or scenarios that have driven our species to so much madness, pain and suffering in the past and present? Isn't it therefore obvious that dualism is strictly a human construct, and has nothing to do with anything that lies somehow or seemingly outside of ourselves?
Gemini loves these sorts of questions, and a Mercury retrograde necessarily ratchets these kinds of investigations to new levels. Mercury stays fully within Gemini in this retrograde cycle, so if you have any natal or Progressed planets between roughly twelve to twenty-two degrees Gemini, you'll soon be finding out which areas of your life will need to strive to that next level.
Peace.
(*The Sabian symbols are from Dane Rudhyar's "An Astrological Mandala," 1972. For further reading about the Venus Combustion cycles, check out "The Secret Architecture of Our Nation's Capital" by David Ovason, Harper Collins, 1999)
PS regarding the Full Moon of June 18: At exact (!:30 PM, EDT), the Sun in Gemini, along with Venus and Ceres in Cancer are straddling the Cancer Midheaven (straight up) within six degrees, and all are opposing the Moon and retrograde Pluto at the IC (straight down). All five orbs involving the Sun, Venus and Ceres on one side, opposing the Moon and Pluto on the other side, are (kind of) part of a "mystic rectangle" with Neptune, Chiron and the North Node in Aquarius, slightly opposing Saturn in Virgo. However, allowing for even a 9° orb of separation, Saturn and Neptune are no longer in opposition to each other - a "rule" for a true Mystic rectangle.
The Saturn/Neptune opposition that has plagued our planet the past couple of years will further wane by more than 14° by the end of July, and by 19° at the end of August. Meanwhile, the Saturn/Prometheus (Uranus) opposition on June 18 is 19° from exact, but will be strengthening to less than 15° at the end of July, and by less than 10° at the end of August. Saturn recently moving out of his retrograde cycle has signaled a slight return of the spiritual fogginess of the Saturn/Neptune opposition, showing up as people still desperately clinging to belief systems that are no longer working for them, and who are resistant to changing their failing paradigms.
In short, the Saturn/Neptune opposition is fading while the first of five (on November 4) exact Saturn/Prometheus oppositions are closing in. This major shift will catch a lot of unaware folks wondering what the heck is happening to them.
To further this point, the Full Moon of June 18 sees Prometheus (Uranus) as the focus of a T-square with the Sun/Moon (etc.) opposition, giving us a sense of urgency to build the foundation on our side of the bridge ASAP if we haven't already. This T-square presents us with a preview of the upcoming Prometheus/Pluto square, currently about 7° from exact. Some astro-geeks are partially "blaming" our current economic downturn on this approaching Prometheus/Pluto square as it moves to exact starting in June 2012 (there's that year again!), but I'd prefer to see it as a decisive moment to prove the ancient wisdom that "necessity is the mother of invention." The difference between becoming victims or victors of the coming changes is proactivity, with forward-looking people taking the lead. Again, when the people lead, the leaders will follow.
While Saturn isn't "officially" opposed to Neptune (and Chiron for that matter) at this Full Moon, Mars is, and Mars is also inconjunct Prometheus. If this doesn't give the above energetics a shot of amphetamines and steroids, nothing will. Retrograde Jupiter remains sextile with Prometheus, but otherwise isn't aspected by anything hard or challenging. Mercury is only aspected by a soft quintile to Jupiter, but the Winged Messenger is stationing to move direct again, which is almost as intense as the beginning of his retrograde cycle.
I hope this Full Moon PS has helped to clarify a few things for the happily confused techno-nerds at the Science Fair in another galaxy. Seeya there!
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