If you focus on the known, you get the known. If you focus on the unknown, you create a possibility.” Dr. Joe Dispenza, Becoming Supernatural.
“The Art of Paying Attention” is the subtitle of Steven Forrest’s book Air, and a good name for a manual on how to do Gemini. It’s simple: Pay Attention.
This Gemini lunation has the power to blow our minds, if we’re willing to let it. Let’s begin with the Sabian Symbol. The New Moon is at 16:17 Gemini in the USA 7th House. We round up to 17 Gemini for the symbol:
“Head of a youth changes into that of a mature thinker.”
It took a lot of self-discipline not to end that with an exclamation mark. This has been the whole point of the last twelve years. To overload us with uncertainty, bombard us with drama, flood our minds with facts and experiences, emotions that run the gamut. We are being shaken out of our stupor. All to move us out of our comfort zone, and bring us into the present moment. This is Saturn’s mission – to grow us up.
The last Full Moon supported our dreaming and aspiring. It cracked open the door to illumination. The Gemini cycle supports a whole month of evolving our minds. Think of this period of our lives as a metamorphosis. We have been exposed to the weaknesses in our societal structures. By now we are clear about what we don’t want – and that is the known.
The big question is what do we want? We all have our hazy images of a better future. It’s time to bring them into focus. The answers lie in the Unknown, yet they are readily available. Insights are whispering through our minds. Chance encounters, synchronicities, images that flash through our head as if they came from nowhere. The Cosmos is bombarding us with energy, quanta of light and information. We just need to pay attention. It’s all in the details.
So what is a mature thinker? For one thing, it requires an open mind and the ability to hold a neutral emotional state. It requires both the skills of logic and reason, but deep intuition and instinct. It requires a wholistic mind, free of conditioning from the past, free from the temptations of the ego, free from the story of one’s life. And it requires reflection, self-awareness, and a congruent heart.
Doesn’t even sound human, does it? Such a tall order for our ego absorbed minds! But we can set ourselves free from its domination and step into dominion. We begin by becoming witnesses.
The New Moon
The Sun and Moon come together on Thursday June 6th at 5:38 a.m. Pacific. Traveling with them is Venus. On June 4th Venus made her superior conjunction with the Sun, the apex or “full moon” phase of her own synodic cycle which began last August 13th, 2023 at 20+ Leo. Retrograde Venus/Sun conjunctions initiate the cycle when Venus is between Earth and Sun. At the Superior conjunction, she is on the far side of the Sun, her reflected light absorbed in the Sun’s beams, as Spirit recharges her batteries.
Sun, Moon and Venus form a Mutable T-Square with Saturn conjunct our natal Sedna in Pisces, while Orcus and Juno in Virgo conjunct our natal Varuna. Saturn is pressing us to focus on endings, on surrendering control and allowing ourselves to be evolved. Time to stop struggling against the current and go with the flow.
Orcus reminds us of our soul’s mission, guiding us into the shadows to reclaim more of who we really are, pointing out the fine details we may have missed, in Virgo fashion. Juno emphasizes partnerships and commitment. Both are triggering the dwarf planet Varuna, the archetype of sovereignty or mastery. Varuna is a higher octave of Saturn, the next step to freedom beyond our karmic entanglements. These Virgo planets are in our 9th House of higher learning, expanded awareness, world view. Saturn is in our 3rd House bringing us growth opportunities, one after another.
Duality
All the Air signs have glyphs that symbolize duality. Gemini is represented by two vertical lines with cross bars. Libra is two horizontal lines, the top line forming a dome over the lower line. Aquarius has two parallel jagged lines, like flashes of lightning. What is that all about? Two-ness.
In Gemini we have the myth of Castor and Pollux, symbolized by the two brightest stars in the constellation. These twins, born of different fathers, but simultaneously from one mother, represent both our human condition and our essential divinity. Castor was fathered by a mortal. Pollux by a god. When Castor died, Pollux wept his loss and begged to rejoin his twin. The two were placed among the stars.
This myth depicts the human condition, the separation between our animal selves and our souls, our mortality from our divinity. The emptiness we feel within, the hunger that we try to feed, is this very loss of connection with soul. This is the challenge of Gemini – to integrate polarities into a greater whole, to resolve the paradox of duality and discover peace of mind.
The simple fact is that we couldn’t be here without duality. The birth of matter required splitting the atom. Apparently it happened with a Big Bang. Integrating our twin identities is one of our human challenges. We’re here to embody Spirit, not turn our backs on it. While we cannot escape duality, we have the mental power to harmonize the polarities, rather than wrestle with them. We can see the bigger picture, the great paradox that both are true. In our minds we create separation and judgment, but we can just as well create oneness, harmony, and wisdom.
With Gemini in the 7th House we learn through relationships. We need each other to mirror our own wholeness, to give us feedback that points the way to greater self-awareness. With Sedna, Jupiter and Mercury in early Gemini closing in on our natal Uranus, we can expect flashes of insight. The trick is not to overreact. Stay in the observer mode. Our natal Uranus is also conjunct the dwarf Gonggong, the Chinese god who had to learn to harness his emotions and become aware of his impact on others.
T-Squares present tension that needs to be resolved, not with conflict, or judgment or denial, but with a mature mind, open to seeing the truth. The South node of the Moon has been transiting over our natal Saturn, bringing our attachments into focus, revealing what still needs resolution. The South Node is the tail end of the nodal dragon, the place where we release what no longer serves us. It is also our connection to our many past lives. In the 10th House Saturn asks us to consider our contribution to our society. Are we bringing peace, justice, harmony and balance or are we nursing old conditioned grudges? When the nodal axis passes through a natal planet, we can see where we have been as well as where we are headed.
Saturn, of course, is not only the karma lord, but the wise mentor who attempts to mature us through challenging experience. Saturn shows us where our faulty thinking leads. What we think and feel and believe, we manifest. If our life is in shambles, it arises out of a messy mind.
There’s an intriguing series on Apple TV called “Dark Matter.” The protagonists are traveling through various versions of reality and slowly learning that their thoughts and emotions create the conditions they find themselves in. If they are afraid, they are met by treacherous circumstances. Negative thoughts create negative realities. Great power lies in this realization.
Black Moon Lilith
In close conjunction with the South Node is transiting Black Moon Lilith, BML for short. These two straddle our natal Saturn in Libra highlighting the tension between the oldest of dualities – male/female. This reinforces the Venus square Saturn at the New Moon and the conflict between patriarchal authority and the Divine Feminine. The synchronicity of BML conjunct our natal Saturn reinforces this theme and brings ancient history into the mix.
I ran across an illuminating article in The Mountain Astrologer written by Charlotte Wenner who has examined ancient Sumerian texts and discovered the original significance of BML. In Judeo/Christian lore, Lilith was demonized as part of the patriarchal plot to replace the feminine gods with dominating masculine ones.
In Sumeria, BML was the handmaiden of Inanna, one of the sacred priestesses of the “Heiros Gamos” or Sacred Marriage ritual. History is full of references to the divine right of kings, but this divine right was bestowed by the Feminine through the ritual of tantric sex. Inanna transmitted the wisdom and powers of the Divine Spirit to Adam, or Addapa as he was named in Mesopotamian texts. Over time, however, Lilith was associated with the serpent, ultimately transformed into the mother of demons in the Torah and eliminated from the Christian Bible altogether.
Black Moon Lilith in our charts is etheric. She is not a planet or asteroid, she is an invisible point in space, fitting for this heavenly priestess. The Moon’s orbit is elliptical and therefore has two focal points, while a circle has only one center. Earth is one center to the Moon’s ellipse, BML is the other. When New Moons occur close to BML, we get total solar eclipses. How perfectly this mirrors the Gemini twins. On the human side, we have Earth. On the Divine we have Lilith.
Lilith is further confused in astrology because there are actually three Liliths, one of which is an asteroid. But the Black Moon represents our essence, our original divine identity. The sign it appears in gives us the quality of energy that we carry and broadcast. The House tells us which area of life in which Lilith needs to be recognized and expressed.
Lilith represents our authenticity. The point opposite Lilith in our charts is called Priapus and represents the conditioned self. We are born wild and free, with innate qualities that frequently violate established norms in our society. We soon learn to suppress these unacceptable parts of ourselves, to create a persona that pleases others and allows us to belong to the group. Belonging is one of our essential needs, but it entails the sacrifice of our original identity.
So what does it mean when BML is conjunct the South Node and transiting over our natal Saturn? First of all, we are being asked to remember who we are, the essence of the democratic spirit, the ideals and futuristic visions of our founders. We haven’t realized their dreams yet, but we still can – a free society in which we can be our authentic selves, living in equality and respect for each other, our minds fertilized and inspired by the unique gifts diversity bestows.
Black Moon Lilith is a symbol of higher consciousness and a link to our divine essence. Conjunct Saturn in Libra, she reminds us that we are a nation of laws, that we have social agreements that preserve the peace and allow us to live in safety and harmony. Over the past eight years our agreements have been trampled, our laws pushed to their limits. Respect has been lost in the frenzy. We are headed for a pivotal election in which we literally choose between freedom and autocracy. Do we really want to elect someone with zero respect for others? Whose only interest is self-aggrandizement and avoidance of prison? A felon despot in the throes of rage and revenge?
Lilith is a goddess of insight and wisdom, a direct link to our divine essence. This New Moon is yet another witness to the return of the Divine Feminine.
Conclusion
2024 is a fateful year. Pluto and Sedna are trine at the beginning of Aquarius and Gemini respectively, working together to assist our spiritual unfolding. Haumea is adding depth to the mix from early Scorpio. Venus has just had her superior conjunction with the Sun and occupies the exact same degree as the New Moon. And Black Moon Lilith conjunct the South Node reminds us of our origins and the shameful persecution and domination of male over female. She reminds us of our divine rights to be masters of our own bodies and choose our own paths. Now is the time to pay attention to our own patriarchal biases, to monitor our thoughts.
We are coming up on the Summer Solstice on June 20th and the Full Moon in Capricorn on the 21st. Capricorn is the sign of maturity. How perfect as our growing pains subside and we settle into expanded awareness!
On a personal note, I am now living in Los Angeles for the month of June. My husband is getting a new knee and he is my first priority. I’ll try to keep up with the newsletters, but I’m stepping into the great unknown and the gods may be laughing at my plans.
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