We enter the quickening time of year, as spring turns into summer. Mercury is our guide--the traveler, the guide. it's all about new possibilities, new experiences, new insights. The New Moon in Gemini is always a time to plant new seeds for the Mind. This year, after April's cosmic cross and the 5th Uranus/Pluto square, it's time to balance the brain and start using the Unitive Mind.

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"If the doors of perception were cleansed everything would appear to man as it is, infinite." William Blake

After the new birth of the Spring Grand Cross and Taurus' grounding of this cosmic energy, the Sun has entered the sign of Gemini, the Twins. This is the sign of the Mind and how we use it. Will we take the long view (the immortal twin) or the short view (the mortal twin)? And can we let everything we think we know go and see with new eyes and feel with a new heart? Can we learn to see the infinite?

Mercury is said to rule Gemini, because Mercury is the archetype of the human Mind. As a Mercury-ruled person, I shouldn't have been surprised that my computer fell sick (I know it's a machine but maybe it's a person too?) just as the Sun entered Gemini and Mercury entered the shadow of its retrograde. Ah, have I mentioned that we're approaching another Mercury retrograde period? Mercury goes retrograde on June 7^th until July 1^st, traveling from 4* Cancer back to 25* Gemini. As many of you know from personal experience, Mercury rules breakdowns in communications--often in our computers. (Such as the devious breakdown of the Health Care site during the Mercury retrograde in Scorpio last year.) Travel is also another source of breakdown, but 'going backwards' gives us time to re-think, re-do, re-imagine, re-claim, re-generate. So if you're stuck in an airport, take it as an opportunity and look for the adventure waiting to happen to you, rather than looking at your phones.

Mercury turns retrograde on June 7, 2014 at 4:57am PDT/ 7:57am EDT/ 11:57am GMT. It will be retrograde while the Sun travels through the signs of Gemini and Cancer. We need to re-think how we think and learn to be open to what we feel.

The Sabian symbol for Mercury at 4* Cancer is: A cat playing with a mouse. We see in this image a cruel objectivity, an ability to commit an action that, while part of our human nature, goes against our spiritual morality. But some of our favorite cartoons tell us that Tom and Jerry are worthy opponents--they seem to enjoy their adventures, their play. Which is the truth? Perception is everything. As a symbol, this image speaks of pinning down mouse's very detailed-oriented perceptions by our cat-like 6^th sense which sees into the unseen and knows what is un-spoken. Perhaps their play creates reality. Or at least a truer vision of reality.

Just as the sign of Gemini is ruled by the Twins--one immortal and one mortal--we have different ways of perceiving reality. Patriarchy would have us see reality as It wants us to, and for a long time, most of us did. But now we are waking up to other realities, and we are seeing the deadness of many of the patriarchal institutions that are the foundation of our society. We need to hold the tension of opposites in our minds, the mortal detailed-oriented way of perceiving Life and the immortal mystical vision of Life. When we hold onto this tension, a third way will open before us, one that combines both the details and the vision. We get to listen to what our souls want and unite it with our concrete minds.

"It is man's intelligence that makes him so often behave more stupidly than the beasts. ... Man is impelled to invent theories to account for what happens in the world. Unfortunately, he is not quite intelligent enough, in most cases, to find correct explanations. So that when he acts on his theories, he behaves very often like a lunatic." Aldous Huxley, Texts and Pretexts (1932), p. 270

The purpose of the Mind is to bring the Soul to consciousness.

As the archetypal energy of the Mind, Mercury symbolizes all the ways culture has learned to use the Mind: to understand the mysteries of Life; to strategize in war and peace; to do business; for the Arts. Mercury is the Messenger of the Gods, traveling between realms. Hermes (the Greek Mercury) was the god of travelers, business men and thieves. He was the Psychopomp who led souls to the afterlife.

Mercury's attributes are fitting symbols of the way the Mind works. At its highest, the Mind can travel between different world, different kinds of consciousness--between the left and right brains, exploring the mysteries of Life. Our right-brain imagination and intuition gives us the information we need so our left-brain rationality can name, shape and transform our understanding of things and our world. The Mind will strategize--if we train it--in war and peace, and in relationships. When the Mind is only functioning from the masculine, left-brain, we are turned over to the dark side of the Force--rationalization, hierarchical thinking and too much objectivity. This in turn leads to strategies based in greed and domination. Hermes the Thief is another of Mercury's attributes! As for Mercury ruling business--that can go either way. The way of greed or the way of fairness that brings a profit but doesn't go overboard.

Gemini New Moon, May 28, 2014

The Gemini New Moon occurs on May 28, 2014 at 11:40am PDT/ 2:40pm EDT/ 6:40pm GMT.

Gemini is the sign of the Mind, a twin sign that signifies the human mind's capacity to see things from different perspectives. To perceive means to 'apprehend or seize thoroughly'. It takes a large mind to be able to do this from different perspectives. Our usual Mind default is to rely on our left-brain rationality which upholds patriarch rules and perceptions, and which tends to ignore our right-brain feelings and imagination. This masculine consciousness then supports one way of understanding over another. It's an either/or mentality. If we allow right-brain imagination to be the Mind's grounding, we can learn to see things from many different perspectives--accept both this and that. That is the challenge and the gift of Gemini.

In this time of vast cultural change, as our patriarchal institutions are failing--a failure of future vision--we can find different perspectives (yes, even in politics) and learn to understand them if not accept them as our own. In accepting someone else's perceptions of the world, we expand our own. In rejecting others perceptions, we narrow our minds and lose sight of the Truth. We need to learn how to have conversations again or else how will we heal? When we can see the bigger picture, the larger Truth, we will change the world.

That's what this New Moon in Gemini can bring us. A Union of Opposites which brings us to wholeness. Because it is the patriarchal Mind which disconnects us from our bodies, our souls and each other. The New Mind we are planting seeds for connects us to ourselves, our world and each other.

So this New Moon, plants seeds of new perceptions, of new ways of thinking and of categorizing--the left brain needs to put things into categories, which is fine in itself. It's just not fine if those categories become written in stone. Each culture has its own morality, its own values and its own categories. But one culture's perspective is never the whole truth. And to think it leads to fanaticism--whether Muslim, Jewish or Christian.

The Sabian symbol for the Sun and Moon at 8* Gemini is: Aroused workers surround a factory. Dane Rudhyar says this symbol signifies "the disruptive power of the ambitious mind upon the organic wholeness of human relationships. " The type of power generated by the analytical intellectual faculties is essentially disruptive; it is based on the destruction of matter and invites egocentric hoarding and " privileges. This symbol speaks of a revolt against privileges."

If this is the symbol for our new Moon intentions, we can take it on many levels. On the collective level, watch for more urgent discussions of the issues we face locally, nationally and globally. We can handle the changes if we can see the issues clearly, without the hysteria (which only comes with intense fear) and speak Truth to Power. When will we start the real discussions about using our collective wealth to transform our society from a consumer-driven society to a sustainable, creative society? Climate change is at the center of this shift, but with our technological abilities, we can create a new future-driven society that is equal and fair to everyone. We need a new economic vision that might contain elements of both socialism and capitalism. Whatever we choose, it must be a sustainable economy which is fair for everyone. We don't yet have the collective will to stop the patriarchal corporate juggernaut. But we will. This is all occurring within the womb of April's cosmic cross and the on-going Uranus/Pluto square. We are not finished transforming yet by any means.

If we dig even deeper into the symbolism, we see that the analytical Mind is the rational left-brain and when it has too much power over our thinking and choosing, our inner Being revolts against it. Our feeling life cannot be ignored and when it is, we end up going on strike if need be to get our needs met. The heart relays its knowledge through 40,000 sensory neurons connected with the brain. We can 'think with our hearts' if we let ourselves trust it. And that means making sure the left brain does not ignore or kill the knowing of the heart and right brain. Once we listen to our hearts, though, we need the left brain rational mind to help us find the meaning of what our hearts tell us, the solutions to problems and the focus to act.

Other Astrological Aspects

At the New Moon, Mercury is at 29*34' Gemini and Venus is at 29*39' Aries, forming what is called a sextile (60*) aspect which is mentally energizing and offers us opportunities to reform both ourselves and our culture. It is an aspect of aspiration, intuition and self-expression, all geared to the future. The 29^th degree of a sign is called a critical degree because it is the culmination of the spiritual purpose of that sign. With Venus in Aries, we begin to embody the new identities we awoke to when Venus and Uranus hooked up right after the Scorpio Full Moon. With Mercury in Gemini, we slow down and take a look at how we use our intellect to understand life. With a new archetypal identity, perhaps we need a new perspective.

This New Moon occurs within another grand water trine, very similar to last summer's grand water trine. With Jupiter in Cancer, Saturn in Scorpio and Chiron in Pisces, the cosmos is offering a watery healing for our souls, for each other and for the planet. This water trine can heal the rift between our heads and our hearts if we let it. Trines are gifts from Spirit, opening us to creativity, insight and ease; water adds her powers of intuition, healing and intimacy. This trine will help us deal with the issues and challenges and new life that April's grand cross brought us.

Mars, finally moving forward in Libra, trines this New Moon in Gemini, offering us the power to grapple with our different viewpoints in a fair and balanced way.

As we enter the Summer season, remember that life grows better with love, light and laughter. Balance work and play. And remember to have conversations!

Walk in the Light,

Cathy

Mindful -- Mary Oliver

Mindful

Every day
I see or hear
something
that more or less

kills me
with delight,
that leaves me
like a needle

in the haystack
of light.
It was what I was born for -
to look, to listen,

to lose myself
inside this soft world -
to instruct myself
over and over

in joy,
and acclamation.
Nor am I talking
about the exceptional,

the fearful, the dreadful,
the very extravagant -
but of the ordinary,
the common, the very drab,

the daily presentations.
Oh, good scholar,
I say to myself,
how can you help

but grow wise
with such teachings
as these -
the untrimmable light

of the world,
the ocean's shine,
the prayers that are made
out of grass?

~ Mary Oliver ~

(Why I Wake Early)

Authors Website: http://www.cathypagano.com

Authors Bio:

Cathy Pagano is a spiritual advisor and Jungian psychotherapist, storyteller, author and teacher.

She is the author of a book on the return of the Goddess, "Wisdom's Daughters: How Women Can Change the World".

Cathy trained at the C. G. Jung Institut-Zurich in dream interpretation, has an M.A. in Counseling Psychology in Feminine Spirituality, and is a certified Life Coach.

As an astrologer and storyteller, she weaves the Cosmic Stories written in the stars. From The Bard's Grove, she writes about emerging archetypal themes in movies and books.

Cathy works with the tools of the imagination - dreams, alchemy, myths, astrology, symbolic language, storytelling, ritual - to awaken the Soul's wisdom.



I believe that Americans are called to a higher consciousness at this point in our history. We are called on to live up to our ideals and create the country our forefathers imagined. Inner consciousness needs to be acted upon for social justice.



Cathy believes that our writers and artists must take up our responsibility to create art that inspires, teaches and heals our humanity.



Cathy writes about political, psychological/spiritual, and cultural issues.