Thursday afternoon, we welcome the New Moon in Gemini. Arriving at 3:45 pm EDT, this New Moon belongs to Mercury, patron of traders and thieves, fast talkers, jugglers, and tricksters.
Mercury is interested in both sides of any question and happily adds a third, then a fourth. Hermes, god of the crossroads. Thoth, inventor of language. Lugh, the many-skilled.
Although all these gods are male, Mercury holds gender lightly as well. Fluidly androgynous, Gemini is the sign of duality, polarity, and quick change.
And we were so enjoying the quiet stability of Taurus. Do we really need more change these days?
Perhaps not, but we live in interesting times.
Before looking at the gifts of this New Moon (and there are gifts), let’s look at the sky. The Grand Trine in Fire continues to dominate the heavens and brings the incendiary changes we’re experiencing.
Uranus the revolutionary and Eris the chaos goddess move slowly through late Aries. Venus and Pallas Athena are close together and moving toward Uranus and Eris. See what’s happening there? Venus, Eris, and Athena are all on fire and moving toward Uranus, the force pushing us to claim our power and light up the sky.
Venus is also challenging Pluto in a square. Yes, transformation is happening. Yes, the sacred feminine is rising up.
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Saturn continues retrograde in Sagittarius, trining Uranus. Saturn’s usual function is to put on the brakes. He likes to point to tradition and ask everyone to consider the consequences. But as this fiery connection to Uranus drags on, it might feel more like that moment when hitting the brakes sends the car fishtailing toward the cliff.
Completing the Grand Trine is the North Node of the Moon in late Leo. This is the point of unfolding, the place where the future comes into being. The link here reflects the sense of destiny we feel. Things are happening now that have never happened before and, at the same time, point to fateful patterns from history that might be coming around again.
We have no idea what will happen next. We struggle to come up with reasonable predictions. And still, we know what is happening now is terribly important.
This is the backdrop for the Gemini New Moon.
A reminder: New Moons are times for planting seeds. These seeds are wishes and intentions aligned with the energy of the time. But New Moons are dark. There is no light on the road ahead. So we are not taking action, no concrete steps in the outer world. New Moons are for inner work.
Our wishes can include things we would like to let go of as well as things we want to have.
The shadow side of Gemini in times like these is fractured attention, anxiety, and the inability to focus. Which news is worth paying attention to? Which news is even true? Should I focus on global warming, social justice, how my kids are doing, or where the next mortgage payment is coming from? The answer too often seems to be all of them. Everything is vital. Each issue deserves the best of my time and attention. So, I watch television, which doesn’t help. Wine helps, but only temporarily.
If the world feels too demanding and events impossible to juggle, plant seeds of discernment. Gemini pays attention to everything to choose what is most important right now. Nourish those seeds with a little laughter. Another of Gemini’s gifts is the ability to hold things lightly.
The strengths Gemini offers are, naturally, the flip side of his shadow. When the world is unfamiliar, milestones disintegrate, and even the bedrock is shifting, being able to keep our perception wide is essential. When traveling through strange territory, we need to pay attention to everything––lightly and easily––so we don’t miss what’s critical.
This New Moon, at 4 Gemini, is mostly on its own. The asteroid Ceres (who we know better as the fiercely maternal Demeter) is nearby. Vesta, goddess of home and hearth, is in sextile, an energetic flow of energy. Those are the only aspects, and both are to goddesses much attached to home, family, and the earth. Mercury, who rules this Gemini New Moon, is in calm, green Taurus.
Think of a traveler––young, optimistic, curious, easily amused, but nobody’s mark. This young person travels to a great fair in a nearby town, a fair so big and important that many others journey to it as well. The roads are crowded with people and animals who are fascinating but never quiet.
Our traveler earns his dinner, and more, by busking: singing a few songs, telling a few tales, juggling whatever anyone tosses his way, and possibly picking a few pockets. It takes sharp wits and quick fingers to make your way in this hard world.
But then he catches sight of something in the woods. A flash of light, perhaps from a pool or waterfall. A bit of color from a bird’s wing or bright ribbon. He slips off the path to investigate and finds himself at a spring where clear water bubbles up between carved rocks.
Sitting on the rocks, he watches the play of light on water and feels the breeze on his skin. In this moment of calm, he knows his essence and is at peace. The world is still out there, buzzing and blooming. He will return to it soon and use all his wits and skill to survive it. But for now, he breathes deeply.
Dipping his hand into the water, he drinks. Another handful splashed on his face wakes him from his reverie.
Taking a charm from one pocket and a bit of ribbon from the other, he threads the charm onto the ribbon and ties it to the tree overhanging the spring, a tree already laden with offerings of coins, bits of jewelry, and many other ribbons.
This Gemini New Moon can be like a cool spring in the woods, a moment of respite in a clamorous world.
When we reach that quiet place, we can ask: What is our internal dialogue like? Are we so caught up in the outside world that our inner landscape is equally chaotic? If so, we can plant seeds for slowing down, for handling our lives with a light touch, for making sure we pay as much attention to ourselves as we do everything else.
There is power in finding our calm place. This is a Supermoon, the biggest of this year. We tend to notice Supermoons when they are Full Moons, glowing brighter and larger than ever in the night. But this year, the largest moon is this New Moon, the closest to Earth the Moon will be in 2017. Even though we cannot see her, she is right there, pulling at us. A day or so after this New Moon, the highest of spring tides will wash our shores.
With so many events claiming our attention, Gemini excels at a vital skill we need: The ability to remain in the present moment.The world is so enticing, so full of wonderful and interesting things. Why would we dwell on past mistakes or dread future ones? Why second guess every word and action? All we have is now. This now. If we can learn to stay focused here, everything else will fall into place.