Dear Friend and Reader:
To live on Earth is to be confronted by paradoxes. It’s conceivable that they are all the products of the mind, which makes them real to us. Gemini, as the sign of oppositions and of dualism, is where this topic finds a home.
It used to be that people were in love with paradoxes. Today it seems people run from them. This amounts to the same thing: each of those possibilities allows for the suspension of thought and avoidance of a true confrontation. Yet to meet the world requires engaging with what you’re presented with and what you perceive. This is not always pleasant; there is so much about life that seems to make no sense.
Yet the real mystery is within: that of consciousness and of perception. The twins of Gemini explain something about how the mind works and the way in which it tends to split in two all that we perceive. And people tend to rush to one side of the divide or the other.
As the consummate Gemini Sir Bob Dylan said, “It was a strange world ahead that would unfold, a thunderhead of a world with jagged lightning edges. Many got it wrong and never did get it right. I went straight into it. It was wide open. One thing for sure, not only was it not run by God, but it wasn’t run by the devil either.”
Sir Bob was never one to run from complicated philosophical and ethical questions. His statement implies: who then is running the show here?
True intelligence is never snide. It always contains an element of doubt and self-reflection, leaving a door open to other possibilities, and to being wrong.
The Special Challenge of Gemini: Using Your Head
Studying the work of Alice A. Bailey, we learn that Gemini is a 3rd Ray sign: along with Libra, it is in service of active intelligence and the ability to adapt and adjust. Like authentic science, this does not just show up; it is a spiritual path, and it takes work, and growth. Intelligence is entirely dependent upon awareness, which requires a broad spectrum to be honest and encompassing of the possibilities.
True intelligence is never snide. It always contains an element of doubt and self-reflection, leaving a door open to other possibilities, and to being wrong.
If you are not working with your doubt as a tool and ally, you will have no way to know in advance of a serious problem that you were incorrect about something. Yet the willingness to admit an error is more than we can expect of most people.
This raises the problem of what Carlos Castaneda called “clarity,” which he described as one of the four mortal enemies of mankind. By clarity he meant the false clarity of not knowing when you don’t know. This requires hesitation. Castaneda wrote that a person must “wait patiently and measure carefully before taking new steps; he must think, above all, that his clarity is almost a mistake.” This means being aware at all times that you could be wrong, while not having that paralyzing you.
Working with doubt as an ally needs an end point. At a certain point you have to swallow. Think of doubt as chewing. Most people just swallow their food without chewing it much. Where thought is concerned, there are those who chew endlessly like a cow grinding cud, and there are those who swallow mindlessly, not caring what they take in.
As Pink Floyd said, breathe in the air. Don’t be afraid to care.
Mercury retrograde in Gemini may present you with multiple versions of reality, and it’s up to you to sort them out, remembering the problem of false clarity, or not knowing when you don’t know.
Upcoming Astrological Highlights
Mercury Retrograde in Gemini. Between May 29 and June 22, Mercury will be retrograde exclusively in Gemini. As Mercury will make two squares to Neptune during this process, the special challenge here is honesty. I highly recommend the book Radical Honesty, the original, not any of the subsequent ones.
There is an episode of I Love Lucy wherein she is challenged by her friends to tell the truth for one whole day. This is in response to her constantly telling what are called “white lies” to cover for uncomfortable situations.
Many get into this habit, they find that it works for their purposes, and then one day discover themselves drowning in mendacity. Being a liar comes at the cost of not trusting yourself, then eventually hating yourself.
Mercury square Neptune can have an integrity issue similar to the one that is afflicting the whole world right now, which is, “If I believe it, then it’s true.”
When someone else presents orderly, verified facts that one does not like, the modern answer is, “Thank you for sharing your opinion.” So we might sum up the lesson of Mercury square Neptune as, “There is a difference between facts and opinions.”
Mercury retrograde in Gemini may present you with multiple versions of reality, and it’s up to you to sort them out, remembering the problem of false clarity, or not knowing when you don’t know.
One other thought. As one who has devoted much of his life to understanding and documenting fraud, I have observed that many people are deeply devoted to being lied to. This avoidance of the truth is an avoidance of confrontation, which translates to hiding from oneself. If we could get over our obsession with being lied to, the world would be a better place. But alas, there is little that does not threaten fragile, delicate humans.
Here is a fine place to start: say yes when you mean yes, say no when you mean no, say maybe when you mean maybe, and say I don’t know when you mean I don’t know.
In the eclipse chart, Venus is about to make a square to Chiron. This is an invitation to resolve lingering sexual wounds. This only happens one way — through telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth about your situation and how you feel.
June 10, Annular Eclipse in Gemini
The next whistle stop after Mercury retrograde is an annular solar eclipse in Gemini. This is the corresponding New Moon eclipse to the May 26 Full Moon eclipse in Sagittarius. This eclipse is loosely square Neptune (no such thing really, Neptune has a very wide orb) and also conjunct retrograde Mercury.
It’s also loosely square the centaur planet Nessus. If we develop the integrity and truth theme, the presence of Nessus fills in some details where sexual matters are concerned. SciFi master Robert A. Heinlein’s character Lazarus Long said, “Everyone lies about sex.” Maybe it’s time to see the cost of this. Society seems to be retreating from its most recent sexual obsessions; we need a new one and maybe it can be a truth moment.
In the eclipse chart, Venus is about to make a square to Chiron. This is an invitation to resolve lingering sexual wounds. This only happens one way — through telling the whole truth and nothing but the truth about your situation and how you feel. Guilt, shame, rage and regret are only part of the story — though they seem like insurmountable obstacles.
In considering all matters of sexuality, it’s critical to acknowledge that the entire society serves to abuse all people — all children, all men, all women and everyone in between — with its pernicious lies and demands that we be in constant denial. I don’t know what will prompt evolution or revolution here. If you have any ideas, please share them.
Saturn is the guardian of structure. Uranus has a way of up-ending structure. With Taurus we are talking about physical existence. With Aquarius we are talking about mental, electrical and theoretical existence.
June 14, Saturn square Uranus
Saturn in Aquarius made its first square to Uranus in Taurus on Feb. 17, 2021. There are three total for this Saturn cycle. The next is June 14 and the last one is Dec. 24. However, the middle one of the three-part aspect is always the “real” one, meaning it’s the closest from a heliocentric perspective.
Saturn is the guardian of structure. Uranus has a way of up-ending structure. With Taurus we are talking about physical existence. With Aquarius we are talking about mental, electrical and theoretical existence. So this is a rather all-encompassing event. I will say more at the time of this event, though I want to offer a comment about Chiron.
Students of the first centaur planet know that seen one way, it is a blend of the qualities of Saturn and Uranus. It grounds energy into matter and vice versa. Chiron is now in Aries, which is about self-actualization. That’s a fancy term for growing and becoming self-aware. Your self becomes actualized; you become real.
The tension held in the square between Saturn and Uranus describes this process beautifully. It is not easy; it can feel impossible; it can feel like moving a mountain. Yet Chiron holds a solution set that applies to much other astrology this month: be yourself. That means be real with yourself and be present for your own existence.
The solstice is a moment of extremes. You may notice that within your own psyche, you are stretched to one side of your awareness or another.
Cancer Solstice: Summer in the North, Winter Down Under
The Sun enters the cardinal sign Cancer on June 20 at 11:32:04 pm EDT (early morning June 21 from Halifax to points east across the UK and Europe). This is the day that the Sun’s rays meet the Tropic of Cancer at a 90-degree angle, creating the longest day in the North and the shortest day in the South. At the equator, nothing much changes. Day and night are always about equal.
The Sun is trine Jupiter in Pisces. This is an opening at the time things are “opening up” many places. This chart is lavish with potential: for self-inquiry, for healing family matters, and for accepting your own personal truth as something worth relating to.
The solstice is a moment of extremes. You may notice that within your own psyche, you are stretched to one side of your awareness or another. There is a moment of pressure release, or release of tension, when the Sun reaches its most northerly point and starts to make its way back southward. There is a similar sensation coming from Mercury, which stations direct soon after the solstice: those days before Mercury changes direction and moves direct.
Lots of water will pass under the bridge between now and then.
Stay conscious and please don’t participate in any medical experiments.
Faithfully,
