When the Sun enters agile, inquisitive Gemini at 8:16 A.M. PST on May 20th, it will usher in a cycle of review and release. Venus is already traveling retrograde in the mutable air sign, and preparing for a historic June 5-6th occultation. Mercury will transit curious, affable Gemini from May 24th through June 7th, and giant Jupiter will enter the domain of astrology’s twins on June 11th for a one-year stay. The eclipses of May 20th and June 4th fall along the Gemini Sagittarius axis, where the moon’s South and North nodes are also presently positioned. Add Neptune and Chiron in Pisces and Mars in Virgo to this major mutable mix, and we can see the cosmos making way for the new through clearing and closure.
To every thing there is a season, and nature’s four seasons end under astrology’s four mutable signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces. Adaptable and flexible, the gentle mutable signs teach us how to bend and move with the tides of change. They also prepare us for the new beginnings represented by astrology’s cardinal signs, Cancer, Libra, Capricorn and Aries, the signs that start the four seasons. In 2012, the Gemini prep time is leading us right into the first of seven exact Uranus Pluto squares. The last time we experienced a series of squares between Uranus and Pluto in cardinal signs was during the Great Depression. Regarded for their ability to facilitate systemic reform, these alignments, which will take place through the spring of 2015, portend great societal shifts. Uranus, in instigating, revolutionary Aries, and Pluto, in ambitions, pragmatic Capricorn, will be at a relatively early eight degrees when they collide under a cardinal Cancer Sun, at three degrees. The seismic force being unleashed by this alignment is about initiation and ignition. What we bring to life and where we land on this evolving landscape will depend greatly on having and holding a clear, integral vision, for ourselves and the world we live in.
Representing what we value, Venus began probing our thoughts under Taurus skies when she began her retrograde on May 15th. In mental Gemini, her love quest is guiding us on a journey into our hearts. She is helping us take an emotional inventory of sorts. Sometimes becoming keenly, if not painfully, aware of what we lack is the key to defining what we want next. From her review vantage point, Venus may speak to us through the language of yearning and loss. The longing and desire that emerge may point us in the new directions we need to take. Some points of inspired illumination ahead include June 1st, when Venus meets up with clever Mercury, June 4th, when the full moon eclipse occurs, and June 5-6th, when Venus crosses the Sun’s path.
The Sun, Venus, Mercury and Jupiter in the sign of travel, communication and technology support dialog, open-mindedness and the exchange of ideas. These transits encourage us to think about and express what we want individually and globally. As our visions become clearer, what we need to release also becomes evident. Several contentious points, especially amongst the planets in mutable signs, arise during the forthcoming cycle. Neptune and Chiron are transiting holistic Pisces, and Mars is gaining momentum opposite them in meticulous, detailed Virgo. While they engage in an argument about the nebulous and the intuitive and the precise and analytical, they will form squares to the planets transiting Gemini and to the full Sagittarius moon. That full moon itself presents a challenge. Gemini loves to meet, mingle and learn. Sagittarius needs to find the deeper meaning behind all of that information. The South lunar node in Gemini and North node in Sagittarius intensify this struggle, and the June 4th eclipse is the final one taking place with the nodes along this axis. We are being asked to strike a balance between frivolity and taking life too seriously. Mercury squares Neptune on May 25th and Mars on the 30th, the Sun squares Neptune on May 23rd and Mars on June 7th, and Venus quarrels with Mars on the full moon. If we look at the issues that surface on these occasions as matters asking for peaceful resolution, then we will see how to bridge divides or completely let go of unproductive situations and patterns.
The Gemini cycle of course concludes when the Sun moves into aggressive Cancer. What immediately follows this year is that Pluto Uranus square on June 24th and Saturn and Venus turning direct on the 25th and 27th. This is a cosmic thrust forward, one intent on progress. We get to chose its application. To decipher what’s ahead and what to shed, we need look no further than the evening sky. There resplendent Venus will be shining like a beacon. If we bathe our spirits in her intrinsic beauty, attune our ears to her celestial songs and behold her gracious majesty, friendly, brilliant Gemini will mapquest us our directions.