06.06.24: New Moon in Gemini
"But there is no energy unless there is a tension of opposites; hence it is necessary to discover the opposite to the attitude of the conscious mind."
- Carl Gustav Jung
Hello, dear One,
we're in the middle of Gemini season – the thinker, the curious, the social butterfly. And, the one who gives duality an introduction in the zodiac.
As for me, I'm juggling paradoxes here in Berlin. Longing for my little jungle oasis, I'm already missing my friends and family that I'll be leaving soon. The complexity of life never seems to end.
I also feel that this New Moon in Gemini comes with hope for new perspectives, for a new life that is built even more on my terms. Helping me (and maybe us?) to invite new ideas for a new cycle and accept that life usually happens between sweet opposites. Isn't this really what Gemini is here to teach us?
NEW MOON IN GEMINI: THE JUGGLER OF DUALITY
You'll hear many people (and astrologers) say that Gemini is the archetype of communication, thinking, mindset, bla di bla. And I'm not saying this is not true – it is. But this is only the outer layer of the archetype. And as you know – I'm here for more than one layer.
In my understanding of Astrology and what I have learned, especially from my Evolutionary Astrology studies, Gemini is the sign of duality. That's also what the two columns stand for it.
And of course – after the cosmic fire was born in Aries, it was embodied in Taurus, and in Gemini comes in the intellect. That's not a lie. But the deeper understanding is that with intellect we get to know that there are two sides to everything in life, at least in this human dimension.
Have you ever thought of the fact that nothing comes without an opposite? Light – and dark. Love – and hate. Peace – and war. Happy – and sad. It seems that as soon as we're able to think, we must confront duality as if it's a concept we can't avoid. A really bittersweet concept. Because it comes with longing. Longing for a sorrow-free life that is beyond the tragedy of being human.
So maybe the twins, the two faces that often represent Gemini (and in Tarot “the Lovers”), do not stand for “two characters” but rather a knowing that life is formed by opposites.
BIG QUESTION: DUALITY OR POLARITY?
You hear lots of people in the spiritual field and in the esoteric realm say: There is no hope without darkness and there's no love without hate. We would not know peace if there would be no war.
I'd like to challenge that perspective (without having the answer obviously).
Some years ago, I stumbled upon a Swiss philosopher who came up with the theory that it's polarities that need each other but not dualities.
Meaning: A polarity such as feminine and masculine need each other, they depend on each other in order to exist. Also, the negative and positive pole in physics. Probably the Moon and the Sun too. But, as he was very clear here, dualities such as light and darkness do not need each other in order to exist.
In his theory, darkness exists because it's created by stepping out of the light and forming a shadow. Therefore, the light doesn't need the darkness but the darkness needs the light.
The same goes for love and hate, according to him. Hate is formed by isolating itself from love but love doesn't need hate to exist, he goes. Reading his book, confused me on many levels and brought up questions until today.
A LIFELONG QUEST: DOES GOOD NEED BAD IN ORDER TO EXIST?
While I loved reading his ideas and an ideological part of me wanted to believe them true, I also knew that after the darkest times in my own life, I've seen the brightest light.
So I kept asking almost all my teachers from many different disciplines the same question: If they believed that there is a correlation between the trauma one suffers and a higher level of consciousness when one deals with it. They all agreed that they see a correlation here.
Maybe that's why, the most brilliant people I know, have suffered a lot.
So maybe it's true that the light needs the darkness as an opposing force in this universe.
And here we're are, in the midst of the Gemini archetype. You get the vibe?
GOOD AND BAD: DO THEY REALLY NEED EACH OTHER?
In the past months, I had several lectures from the Jungian Institute about the “Archetype of Evil” (opposing to god) and there as well, we discussed the burning question of whether these two are opposites that can individually exist or are two sides of one and the same coin.
Honestly, this question drives me wild and whenever I think I am close to an answer, I am brought back back to the zero point. Welcome – this is the realm of Gemini and my Mercury in Gemini is jumping in circles.
Probably, the non-dualistic theories coming f.e. from Buddhism reflect the wise Sagittarian opposition to Gemini, saying:
“My dear, let those opposites exist, but you're so much more than them. You have a wise higher self that can witness this game of duality on this earthy plane and not be pulled into any of them."
If you look at my birth chart, it's full of opposites (red lines). So maybe, I'm thinking just know, this is one of the reasons why this topic is so close to my heart.
GEMINI: BORN THIRSTY FOR KNOWLEDGE
Gemini is a mutable archetype in the zodiac, belonging to the element of air. Air signifies intellect, spontaneity, and a thirst for information.
If there's a party going on, then Gemini for sure would be the star, being acknowledged for its wonderful small talk skills by all the others who are too shy to talk.
It's ruled by the outwardly social Mercury that likes to connect, share ideas, and keep going (different to the inwardly directed Mercury in Virgo).
Since it's a mutable sign, it has no problem with change. Its adaptation skills are exceptional and it's a true chameleon getting used to new situations.
THE SHADOW OF GEMINI: A BUZZING HEAD
Do you all know the feeling when you've been too long on social media, talked too much with someone, or been exposed to social situations too much?
At least for me, these moments feel like my brain is tingling and my thoughts are racing. Very often, I like to eat some thing sweet (I know, very Cancerian of me) to ground myself. Shaking my body also works well or just laying down on the floor and breathe deeply. A Gemini over-stimulation has its price.
And that's the shadow: Since Gemini is so intellectual and quick, it sometimes forgets to pause and just feel. Probably this is why, in the intelligence of the zodiac, Cancer comes after Gemini and brings in deep sensitivity.
If Gemini doesn't remain conscious, it can overstimulate itself and bypass its needs for grounding – and the ones of others. Just wanting to share and inhale even more information. Easy catch for burnout by the way.
NEW MOON IN GEMINI: CHANGING PERSPECTIVES
The Moon is New in Gemini on June 6, 2024, at 2:38 PM Berlin time.
This phase of the Moon occurs at 16 degrees and 18 minutes of Gemini, affecting people born with personal planets and points at approximately 12 to 20 degrees of the Mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces) most significantly.
You probably have learned from this newsletter that New Moons occur when the Sun and Moon meet at the same degree in the heavens.
In Astrology, this astronomical event is interpreted as a new cycle, a good time to set intentions and form some wishes for the future.
VENUS IN THE GAME: LET LOVE RULE
This New Moon is a bit special though. Venus, the planet of beauty, love, and pleasure, teamed up in the same degree with Sun and Moon in the sky heavens.
What does this mean? While the Sun and Moon are having their talk in Gemini, Venus walks along and gives her flavor to the party: She reminds the two that everything can be done with beauty, from the heart, and in a way that creates pleasure – even in a world of duality.
Venus in Gemini likes to share her ideas with pleasure and in an embodied way. She shares from the heart and loves her feminine way of being – this goes for both men and women since I refer to “feminine” as a universal energy that we all have have rather than the gender you're born with.
Let me put it easier: Both men and women have a Venusian part in them and this New Moon is a wonderful time to dedicate more time to love and the things that give you pleasure in life – even when it feels paradoxical.
VENUS: THE FEMININE IS PRESENT
Also, Venus reminds us that, although we live in a patriarchally structured society, there is a feminine way of living life: with intention, led by intuition, done with slowness and from the heart. Allowing ourselves to receive as often as we have the impulse to give would be a good start.
In our current “ASTRO UNPLUGGED" podcast episode, Klaudia and I, talk a lot about the Venusian energy and its effect on us as individuals and the collective – you can listen to it in German language here.
I could probably write essays about it but let me say one last thing here: Allowing the feminine in, for both men and women, means tending to our hearts and allowing to slow down. It means inviting peace into our lives which is so necessary in these times.
SATURN ACTIVATED WITH THIS NEW MOON
Additionally, Saturn in Pisces, the strict teacher of the planets, forms a square with the bundle of Venus, Moon, and Sun in the heavens.
Whenever Saturn is active, we're being asked to be in integrity and to commit.
Since Saturn is in Pisces, I could imagine that he screams over to our lovely threesome:
“Hey you three, isn't it lovely to commit to your own word with integrity and share from your heart? It's time to let pleasure into your words and enjoy sharing your ideas. But beware that these ideas come from a place of honesty. I'll be watching you.”
WHAT THE NEW MOON IN GEMINI WOULD ASK
Infused with Venus and Saturn vibes, the New Moon in Gemini would ask:
What people do you want to surround yourself with that share your values around beauty, pleasure, and love?
How can you commit to seeing all perspectives of a beautiful life for yourself?
How does duality play out in your life?
What means the feminine to you?
How can you make more space these days to slow down, make more intuitive choices, and just receive?
THE MEDICINE OF GEMINI: HOLDING THE REALITY OF DUALITY
I truly believe in synchronicities so I was not surprised when this morning, after writing most of this newsletter yesterday, the following words came up in a book “Bittersweet” by Susan Cain that a dear friend has lend me:
“The bittersweet is also about the recognition that light and dark, birth and death – bitter and sweet – are forever paired. ”Days of honey, days of onion", as an Arabic proverb puts it. The tragedy of life is linked inescapably with its splendor; you could tear civilization down and rebuild it from scratch, and the same dualities would arise again. Yet to fully inhabit these dualities – the dark as well as the light – is, paradoxically, the only way to transcend them. And transcending them is the ultimate point.
(…)
“This is why, in Homer's Odyssey, it was homesickness that drove Odysseus to take the final stage of his epic journey, which starts with him weeping on a beach for his native Ithaca. This is why, in most every children's story you've ever loved, from Harry Potter to Pipi Longstocking, the protagonist is an orphan. Only once the parents die, transforming into objects of yearning, do the children have their adventures and claim their hidden birthrights. These tales resonate because we're all subject to illness and aging, break-ups and bereavement, plagues and wars. And the message of alle these stories, the scret our poets and philosophers have been trying to tell us for centuries, is that our longing is the gateway to our belonging.”
With lots of curiosity,
Karina
** header graphic from GIPHY.com
