The Opening of Summer & Gemini's New Moon
The Gemini New Moon takes place at 24° 3' on Sunday, June 14th at 7:55pm Pacific & 10:55pm Eastern.
The Sun has finally returned after a few somewhat typical weeks of ‘Junuary,’ reawakening our hearts and revitalizing our spirits. It’s not that the rains weren’t welcome—they were that, and absolutely necessary to assuage the wildfires that have become a normal backdrop of Late Summer. Yet the return of the Sun is apropos as we stand on the threshold of the Gemini New Moon, arriving late in the sign of the twins, as well as the Summer Solstice here in the Northern Hemisphere, just a week later.
Gemini reminds us to open ourselves to the bigger conversation that Life seeks to have with us, through us, as us. It encourages us to pay attention to the memos, to make space for the the messages, and to become available to the material that Reality wants to offer us in each and every moment. But so often the only ‘reality’ we’re aware of is that which is happening in our minds, which is not what I’m referring to at all. The ‘reality’ that’s in our minds only—what many with an Eastern bent would call ‘maya’, which literally translates to ‘a measure of’ that which is infinite, and often gets called simply, ‘illusion’—is the thing that keeps us trapped in a never-ending cycle of misperception. And while Gemini is often quite good at sticking with its own mentally-driven material, it’s also got the super power of being able to receive signs and signals from the Universe that stop the mind in its tracks, giving way to insight, epiphany, and straight-up revelation. These are the moments I refer to when I write, ‘the bigger conversation that Life seeks to have with us, through us, as us.’
Beings on the path of awakening have pointed time and again to this simple feature of the human mind. They’ve highlighted the fact that it takes what it sees and experiences in life, then filters these things through the complex web of karmic, ancestral, familial, social, and psychological conditioning in order to arrive at a much different place than the experience on its own contained. For example, if five random people were invited to the same event, not only would each have a completely varied experience of what happened in comparison to their peers, but the message and understanding they’d take away from the occasion would also be totally varied. This is because the way each of our minds—not to mention hearts, bodies, and souls—are wired is very unique. The trick isn’t to stop the mind from doing what it does best, i.e., think, it’s to know the terrain we’re navigating so thoroughly that we recognize we’re peering at life through this set of particular complexities, and to be able to put the lens down every now and again in order to truly experience life as it is—as well as to know that our own set of preferences are both gateways to and distractions from the ultimate truth that’s always unfolding itself from ‘within us and without us’.
Now Gemini, being the first Air sign and necessarily the most oriented toward thinking, is very good at this task. It also tends to be great at conversing, chatting, and gathering ideas, then sharing them in short, transparent aphorisms. It takes in complicated information, then turns it into easy-to-understand concepts. This is why its archetypes include the Teacher and the Story-teller, as well as the Journalist and the Witness. It’s expert at asking the right questions to beget answers that, in fact, have a tendency to bring insight and a-ha moments. Yet in order to get here, it must be willing to shift its view from the million-miles-a-minute mental state, making space for the synchronistic experience that’s always just a moment away. When it does this, its perception opens, the moment of eureka happens, and it’s left better off than where and when it began. But only if it can switch its focus from the tempting thought streams that constantly pull it in a thousand directions, and all at once! When it remains embedded within this cerebral clutter, mental chaos ensues, as well as a dysregulated nervous system, a very real sense of overwhelm, and a cacophony of convictions that all demand its attention, and not only that, demand its belief in them. Sound familiar?
The irony within the sign of the twins is this: while it’s certainly the most thinking-oriented of them, it can probe reality with a tried-and-true curiosity that leads it to moments of wonder, its real currency. It paradoxically has the ability to use its mind to foil itself and create more confusion, or preferably, to move into moments of awe that stop the mind in its tracks, leaving room for the magic of the Universe to deliver its message. This is truly what Gemini needs to keep it going and makes all of the movement it seeks worthwhile. Adept at following life’s proverbial breadcrumbs, letting its curiosity lead it exactly where it’s meant to go, Gemini can take one step outside its door, and anything is possible. Making itself available to the way Life wants to move it by tuning into its own interests, it is pleasantly surprised, obviously delighted, and clearly charmed by what it finds. And all because it chose to have a ‘conversation’ with life’s infinite potential.
Gemini certainly needs very real conversations as well, ones that get its mind ticking in ways that invite the all-so-important ‘a-has’. When it approaches these with receptivity and open-mindedness, anything also becomes possible here, the place where new ideas are born, fresh innovations are dreamt, and downloads are received. These, too, are as significant to the twins as novel experiences, for its critical requirement is keeping things moving, varied, and unique before its mind has a chance to get bored by them! Yet the threshold here is clear—constantly probing reality for what’s new and different can be the biggest trap, so Gemini must learn to harness the energy of living the questions and possibilities, as Rilke said, rather than driving itself mad constantly seeking the unknown. And this is a real skill, indeed!
Especially as the world continues to become what seems more unhinged, practices and techniques that invite us to connect with Life’s magical memos grow absolutely necessary. When we allow ourselves to be available to the signs, symbols, and omens that the Universe is constantly offering, we tap into the very moments of insight and understanding I write about here. And though constant conversation and thinking can sometimes bring an epiphany, it’s more likely that we’ll undergo this shift in perception when we pause for a moment or a few, making space for bigger Reality to magically reveal itself in ways we could never have imagined or made up ourselves. That might mean putting down the phone or putting away the screen, and choosing to use technology as tools rather than things that think and perceive for us, as devices that take us away from the synchronistic movement of life rather than toward it.
Where we’re headed as a human family seems to be necessitating the conversation about the role of technology in our lives, for in having it, we grow more clear on where we can and must draw the line within our own personal and professional lives, and the role it can and should play in our families, communities, and businesses. Because while having a ‘convo’ with AI might be helpful when it comes to making recipes for the week or knowing how to most effectively stretch the TFL, when I’m needing real human connection and dialogues that come from only this realm, not to mention those with Spirit, guides, and ancestors that come from another, I will not be turning to my devices. The same is true with my writing. I have a hard time reading other astrology reports before I birth my own into the world, so that is most definitely true for AI: I just don’t have any space for it in this aspect of my life. There’s no room for it in bringing my ideas to life, unless I’m asking another way to say, “drop me a line,” or something simple like that. Wordhippo does a great job here most of the time anyway!
What does it mean to be open to Life, to make yourself available to Reality, and to synchronistically align yourself with its magic? What are some ways you can bring these themes to life as we approach the Gemini New Moon? Which conversations are necessary for you during this time of rapid transition in technology?
The Summer Solstice takes place on Sunday, June 21st at 1:25am Pacific and 4:25am Eastern, just in time for Father’s Day. Here in the North, we celebrate the return of the light and warmth that bathe our Earth, as well as our own hearts and bodies, with their gifts. The Sun makes its longest appearance, and we’re invited to bask in the things that light us up from within and without, remembering that our innate nature is to shine. And while the sign of Leo has obvious connections with the Summer Solstice’s themes, we first move through Cancer’s nourishing embrace to feel all we can, and to tend and nurture our deepest selves, only so we can grow evermore available to Summer’s radiant glow.
We are revivified at this celebratory turn of the wheel, invited to the joy our hearts know in their depths. Now, we live into this facet of ourselves, experiencing and expressing its delight, weaving its luminous flavor into our being and becoming, and savoring the innate joviality that arises at this special time. We’re also welcomed to bask in the morning sun, the evening light, and the heat of midday, perhaps under the shade of our favorite tree, soaking up the warmth that we’ll inevitably carry into the cooler months. And, perhaps most significantly, we tap into a portal that so many of our ancestors also did, tuning into the innate magic that marks this shift in seasons.
If you’d like to read more on the Summer Solstice from both the Western and the Chinese Medical perspectives, I wrote at length on them a few years ago. You can find that article here: https://lilapiercebrown.substack.com/p/summer-solstice-and-the-heart-of
My lovely friend and colleague, Chinese Medicine practitioner Andrea Wilson, has also written a lovely ditty about the upcoming Solstice. You can find that here: https://view.flodesk.com/emails/6a1cc4f0228353e86694e129
For those of you interested in joining me for an Evolutionary Astrology Workshop in the Okanagan on Sunday, June 21st at 4pm, I’ll be offering a workshop at my friend and colleague’s space entitled, Stardust & Soul Sovereignty. You can read more here: https://evolutionmedicine.ca/events/manifesting
And I’ll be in Rossland on Wednesday, June 24th at 5:30pm for a Celtic Solstice Workshop that includes a solid yoga practice that weaves in the themes of this powerful time of year. More on that can be found here: https://evolutionmedicine.ca/events/celtic-solstice-yoga-celebration
May your New Moon be illuminating in only the ways a dark moon can be, filled with possibility and potential, and may your Solstice bring an enlivening glow that never grows dim.
