Insights for the Month of Gemini

May  20^th
Sun enters Gemini 05:09 PM EDT
Uranus square Pluto
Mercury sextile Uranus
Some say the mind is a monkey –darting from one window to another, so fast it seems as if there is a different monkey at each window. Others say (similarly) that the mind is the slayer of the real. The mind tells us stories, tricks us into thinking about being, rather than actually being. But the mind – the human mind – is a fascinating creative magician. Not to be rusted nor ignored. Welcome to Gemini. Butterflies and dingbats, liars and thieves. Magicians and physicians. Cultivate genuine curiosity rather than the inclination to entertain yourself to death.
For those of us who have been following the astrology of chaos over the last while we know that this is the third exact square of Uranus and Pluto. (Read more about this here: https://juliesimmons.ca/first-exact-square-between-uranus-and-pluto/) This planetary aspect is a core symbol for the chaotic forces at work in our world. Uranus in Aries is the universal individual. It symbolized the fact that we are distinct and unique and yet we are also a collective of humanity. It champions the rights of the individual. This can inspire us to great humanitarian acts but in a disturbed mind it can also inspire such acts of the bombing at the Boston Marathon in April 2013. Pluto is quite averse to all that Uranus represents. It can represent the entrenchment of the status-quo. It represents the manipulation of resources (even if those resources are people). On one hand this might be for the sake of the survival of the corporation but Pluto in Capricorn can also be about conserving and protecting natural resources. Uranus represents uprising energy and Pluto represents the inevitability of decay or loss. The first square was June of 2012. The last square is March 2015. We have a distance to travel over the territory of the economy, climate change and kindness and compassion toward our fellow humans and all the other beings which whom we share the earth. Look for the places in your life that need to break down so you can break through. Turn toward the places that scare you.  Fear not the inevitable. It’s the only dance there is and our bright minds will find a way: Many ways, most likely.
Diversity is the enemy of stagnation. Mercury softens the square by encouraging us to look for the opportunity to celebrate, encourage and strengthen diverse solutions to our problems.

May  25^th     
Lunar Eclipse 4 degrees Sagittarius 12:25 AM EDT
Mercury conjunct Venus
It’s a party but it seems everyone is wearing a mask. Even you! People use odd inflections and say things that sound true but may not be. There are a lot of empty calories on the buffet table (literally and metaphorically). What to do? You can join in the confusion and see what sticks to you. Don’t be surprised if you wake up next to a stranger speaking in rhyming couplets. Deciding not to play requires a genuine discipline of mindfulness.

May  26^th
Sun square Neptune
The party continues. The pickpockets have arrived and there are hangovers to deal with. Restrain the impulse to get rich quick; to somehow get to the head of the line. Reign in your desire to be conned.

May  27^th
Mercury conjunct Jupiter
It’s smart to be well informed. Even so, information isn’t everything.

May  28^th
Venus conjunct Jupiter
Hopefully, the joke is not on you. Even if it is these days are made for laughter, wit, music and all things entertaining. “It’s alarming how charming’ we can feel.

 May  31^st
Mercury enters Cancer
Mars enters Gemini
Shift happens when planets change signs. It’s like someone you know having a makeover. Their presence in a new style alters our perception. Memory is a factor in what we are thinking about. Memory of things past is like fertilizer for the seeds we are planting today, for tomorrow. We are meant to use it that way; for wisdom and images; not bitterness and regret.
Curiosity motivates our actions. It kills way less cats then you think.

June 1^st
Sun sextile Uranus
There has been a lot of sleight of hand going around this world of late. We can’t change the politicians or the government in one fell swoop but every little bit of awakened truth that cuts through lies and manipulation is well worth the effort.
As Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” 

June 2^nd
Venus enters Cancer
She looks into our hearts and wonders how we nourish what we love. She asks us what we love and how we nourish the seeds of that love. She asks us to make an alter and on it to place reminders of the things we love: The things that we could grow our values from. What is it for you? The golden early morning sunlight? The soft smell of a baby’s head? A book that changed your life? A run through city streets? The kitchen when it’s full of folks? A quiet moment when everything settles? (Feel free to add some of your own to the comments.)

 June 3^rd
Mercury trines both Saturn and Neptune
It’s called a Grand Trine, which means a giant triangle in the sky. We can’t see the triangle because one of its members would be below the horizon and Neptune is invisible to the naked eye anyway. But still it spans the sky and indicates gifts and talents. It’s about feeling, knowing, connecting. It’s about expressing those feelings and knowings in a way that includes all people. More specifically it is about grounding your dreams and images. Giving them shape and color. Understanding that the realm of feeling is as real as the chair you are sitting on. It has structure and therefore we can travel through it at times and return with real experiences.

June 6^th
Neptune stationery retrograde
Feelings are real. We all know it. Some of us are more sensitive to these seemingly invisible energies but that is not a hyper-sensitivity; simply a kind of perception. If you have the gift this is an incredibly supportive time to learn to use it, to trust it, to be guided by someone who can help you navigate it. Shamans and meditation teachers, healers and seers of all sorts are generally practiced in this art.

 June 7^th
Venus trine Neptune and Saturn
Mercury opposite Pluto
Mars square Neptune
More Grand Trining. Now it’s about our values. All those things you placed upon your alter (June 2^nd) must be honored and integrated because to be a true value it must belong to you.
The mind needs a challenge today: something to ponder deeply; to chew on, possibly to argue about.
Be slow to act. It’s as easy as pie to do something that you will wish (shortly after doing it) that you hadn’t done. Possibly the best physical activity today would be akin to watching the river flow: The river that runs through your city or the other river, the one that flows through your mind and body.

June 8^th
Mercury square Uranus
New Moon 18 degrees Gemini. 11:58 AM EDT
There are those who make lemonade from lemons and others who manage to made something from nothing. There are realities made of whole cloth and stars and worlds made from big bangs. Today there are new ideas like pollen looking to fertilize something, anything. We are flowers in the field; waiting to be fertilized. We are wind and insects carrying pollen from here to there. We are pollen, full of potential. Make the most of these pieces of possibilities flying through the air of your life when you align yourself with your true intention: Be it from whole cloth or hole cloth.

June 11^th
Venus opposite Pluto
Saturn trine Neptune
There is no end to wanting. But there is no peace in constant craving. So if what we want is peace we need to find some kind of peace in the wanting. And this is why people sit in meditation. To sit very still for a period of time on a regular basis can turn paradox to unity.

June 12^th
Venus square Uranus
If you can sit with this one you’re good. Masses of people in this world are agitating for the basics: Food, shelter, work. Why is this so hard to accomplish?

June 17^th
Mars sextile Uranus
Clever actions create opportunities which benefit many people. Be inclusive. There are breakthroughs in places you would least expect.

June 19^th
Sun conjunct Jupiter
A good idea is not nothing even though it has no discernible substance or shape. It’s pure energy unless and until it becomes something more than thought. Write it down, draw a picture, or let it blow like a bubbles in the wind. But don’t make promises you can’t keep just because they sound good.

June 20^th
Mercury conjunct Venus
A day for poets and storytellers: A day to dress images in feelings and add music or paint or movement or all three. Today is the very last day of spring: The first of the three longest days (shortest nights) of the year. Celebration is the thing.