DAILY 
Themes
The past informs and nourishes the present. Two sides of the same coin offer insightful information. The big picture is formed by many-minis. “As above so below. As within, so without.” We crisscross, face-off, cycle around and reach out to know ourselves once again.
- Another week of shifts. This time it’s not backward since we did that last week. These shifts are about balancing the twin decrees of being gasbags, and going quietly within under a dark, dying Moon. We may not be able to help ourselves over-sharing, exchanging absurdities, offering un-asked for assistance, and giving bad advice. Buyer beware!
- The mental-butterfly essence of Gemini offers a balancing conversation to the slow Retrograde energies sogging into emotional bodies. Longing, sadness, and loss mix with bright ideas of restructuring, re-consideration, and future possibilities. Both emotional and mental conversations seek alternative means to move into a new unknown.
The four planetary Retrogrades now include Jupiter. It’s funny in that it’s another ‘twin-thing.’ Jupiter moving ‘backward’ requires we consider two sides. A Retro-Jupiter says, “Do the very thing I ignore when moving forward. Stop and consider the first step.”
In this week’s Balsamic phase of the Moon, we close into the dark, release the past, and incubate new ideas. Energy is low. Don’t push the river. On the 22nd, Venus conjuncts Mercury, ruler of the New Moon, dictating this new cycle is about relationships, finances and values. Be the dancer of reconfigured intention and vision.
THE STORY
With the essence of Gemini running at an all time high, we’re in a complicated, double design blueprint we cannot escape. Nor should we try. The Gemini mantra is, “I seek my self through what I think.” This airy, twin energy is expanded by the Sun’s move into Gemini on the 20th, New Moon in Gemini on 22nd. Gemini’s ruler, Mercury in Gemini, and our directional captain, the North Node, now resident in Gemini. This, all accompanied by Venus Retro in Gemini. The glyph of the roman numeral two, representing twins, is its symbol. But the complex, crisscrossing dancer is also graphically perfect, as it synchronizes the New Moon birth with Venus and Mercury tied together.
Gemini is of a multifaceted, dualistic, multi-leveled nature. In the physical body, it rules the lungs, larynx, arms and hands. Interesting when you consider Covid’s attack on the lungs at this time. (It makes sense that discoveries, either toward a vaccine, or better lung support, are discovered during this time.) Action in a Gemini body revolves around mental activities, especially communication, exchange of ideas, being inventive, intuitive, or an accomplished polyglot, a comic genius. A highly tuned Gemini combines intuition with the rational for great storytelling, or public speaking. When they join this force of the mind to spirit, they are unstoppable!
The opening months of 2020 have been weighted in serious planets passing through dense, earthy Capricorn. This fall, that energy returns, but in the meantime, enjoy Gemini conversations and lightness, along with the slower pace. Jupiter’s forward thinking optimism and inspiration can offer more when he is toned down, up close and personal in his Retrograde persona. When some of his exuberance quiets, we can better hear him as a wise guru. Rethinking the future, he supports us taking the next step, as opposed to the next leap. Jupiter, like all planets in their Retrograde, offers wise and wonderful gifts. Each of the ‘slow four:’ Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto have specific mantras helping us explore possibilities, dreams, even pie in the sky hopes. Listen to their wisdom to quietly reinvent Self.
PS MYTH OF VENUS RETROGRADE CYCLE. With Venus Retrograde, conjunct ruler of this New Moon in Gemini, I thought this ancient myth would intrigue and inform you.
- The ancient goddess Innana, Babylonian goddess of love, fertility and war, also known as Ishtar, begins her descent into the underworld as Venus turns Retrograde, currently just ahead of the Sun. 2. Venus, as Evening Star, disappears into the Sun’s rays of the Western sky, and Innana goes through the initiation of being stripped of her outer beauty. 3. When Venus disappears behind the Sun, Innana dies in the Underworld. 4. Venus becomes visible as the Morning Star, and Innana is reborn in the Underworld. 5. As Venus turns Direct, Innana emerges from the Underworld and regains her role as queen.6. Venus is at her highest visible point in the morning sky before sunrise. Innana confronts Dumuzi, her husband, the shepherd-king, (also known as Tammuz) and expresses her rage in his not mourning her death. 7. Venus as Morning Star disappears into the Sun’s rays in the Eastern Sky, and Dumuzi is sent to the Underworld. Innana enters a period of mourning for him. 8. Venus appears to move behind the Sun (diresct motion) while Innana experiences her separateness from her beloved. 9. Venus first visible as the Evening Star in the Western sky after sunset. Innana celebrates Dumizi’s return from the Underworld through sexual ritual. “the end”
*****
YOUR BIRTHDAY WEEK: This is a New Moon Birth week for you, one in which you are beginning again, but this time with more imagination and spiritual vision, if not wisdom. Your ideas are multiple. Your task is to bring them into a workable endeavor…hopefully one that excites you. Your intuition is high so pay attention to the odd voice whispering in your ear, the unexpected note found on your computer. With Neptune strong, it may be more difficult to separate fact and fiction, so keep your radar up and stay focused. Your social calendar, such as it is in these zoomy days, may be off the charts with phone calls, emails and songs from days of yore. Love it all! Remember, if you don’t like what you see, it’s changing. If you like it, then change you to drive the car of your dreams.
YOUR PRACTICE: Bend and bow to your inner being under the dark New Moon energies. The Balsamic phase is always about letting go, and feeling the release of what’s been in place. On the mat, make your exhales longer, practice Kapalabhti Pranayama, be inventive with your stretches so you can stay in them longer. Bring lots of soft props to support you staying in a pose with greater comfort. Listen to the muse of the mat who magically appears when we slow down long enough to listen to her songs.
Comments