The lunar cycle ends and begins again tomorrow at 21 Taurus, where the Sun, Moon and Black Moon Lilith will be yoked together for the night in secret and sacred ritual marriage. In Taurus, our Moon is exalted and enthroned; but she is also a dark Moon, secluded and enshrouded. Reunited with her shadow self, she is both High Priestess and fallen angel. Ruled by Venus in Gemini, our Queen of the Night sits, sphinx-like, between the twin pillars of the Earth, bridging opposites, mediating the middle way.
The Moon in Taurus is hungry, and if well fed and properly satiated with pleasures and creature comforts, she will luxuriate in her surroundings and be a benevolent provider. But situated as she is, in the Saturn-ruled decan of the feminine earth sign, lacking in visibility, and under Lilith’s influence, she carries a maternal, mournful and macabre quality. Her story, for some, may be one of starvation, or deprivation, and this lunation may constellate memories of lack, separation or loss that live in the shadows of the family tree. In this case, the inner archetype of Mother wants to rest, in peace, and the inner child is wanting succor and safety.
Taurus, and its polarity, Scorpio, teach us about the complexity underlying all simple things and the simplicity underlying all of life’s complexity. With all the weight on the Taurus end of the seesaw this New Moon, we are being asked to lean into the simple things, the core truths; to feed our appetites and pause from our labors; to try and find the stillness in our center and feel the ground under our feet; to keep ourselves steady so that we may hear the voice of intuition. Inside the innermost temples of our hearts and minds there is both mystery and deep knowing. There is immanent power and nourishment to be found in that inner sanctum, but only if we can listen and receive. Under this New Moon, the divine feminine is calling, but she echoes in the sound of silence.
May 8 - June 2, 2021
Venus has moved into Gemini and now there’s a new girl in town. For the next 3 1/2 weeks, the mutable, Mercurial air of Gemini adds a dash of yang, and a splash of effervescence, to our style of relating and approach to situationships. The heart, tossed back and forth between the mischievous twins, or split between the two, has some distance from its emotions when in this sign, and rather than embodying them, forwards them up and out via the mind and mouth.
Venus in Gemini is a lover that loves to love love (to paraphrase James Joyce, who had Venus in airy Aquarius). She is Miss Congeniality in the streets and Miss Duality in the sheets, an enigmatic portrait of both innocence and knowing. Both Maiden and Mistress, she can play the bombshell or the girl next door, heartbreaker or homegirl. She is lively, free-spirited, and changeable as the wind. In her relationships, our gal values variety and novelty, charm and wit. She is looking for herself in her other half, and for her other half in herself.
Aristotle attempted to intellectualize love (à la Venus in Gemini), by classifying it into categories and expounding on the nature and value of each. Going by his rubric, Venus’s move from Taurus to Gemini is a move from “eros” toward “philia.” “Philia” can be found, he says, in “young lovers, lifelong friends, parents and children … fellow voyagers and fellow soldiers, members of the same religious society or of the same tribe.” He extols the virtues of this type of connection, believing it to be necessary for a happy life; and ultimately states that such love, in its highest form, can only exist when we feel it for ourselves first. It’s a 4th century BC idea not at all out of place within our 21st century notions of psycho-spiritual wellness, and it’s the message that I believe to be at the heart of Venus’s time in Gemini: that self-love is the basis upon which all true love for others grows and flourishes.
May 4 - July 11, 2021
Mercury, our friend and familiar, is now in rulership in Gemini, flying fleet-footed through the library of the mind, exploring the labyrinths of the brain, connecting neurons and laying down pathways for new information with the quickness. “Exuberant synaptogenesis”, I recently read, is the colorful term scientists call the period in infancy and early childhood when the brain is an unmitigated sponge. And if that’s not a perfect description of Mercury in Gemini, then I don’t know what is. Of course, we’re not children anymore, but the archetypal quality of this planet in its home sign is nonetheless that of a young and hungry mind.
Mercury is a busy body, and when it travels through Gemini, our lives and our world are abuzz with gathering data. This is a caffeinated, kinetic, cerebral transit; potentially a fidgety and flighty one too. When it’s in the groove, Mercury bestows upon us an appreciation for language; a delight in the beauty, magic and power of words.
Since their conjunction on April 18, Mercury has been skipping merrily along ahead of the Sun and Out of Bounds, as if in anticipation of his homecoming. Beckoned further by the North Node, and supported by Saturn in Aquarius, he can look forward to productivity, boundary-pushing and maturation for the next couple of weeks. But come mid-month, the planet enters his retrograde shadow, eventually stationing retrograde on May 29, and the messenger will be reined back in by Father Sol, like an adventurous toddler that knows he can’t stray beyond the imaginary tether to its parent, or a teenager that has to be reminded that, even though at home, he still lives under Dad’s roof. But more on that in a future post.
For now, the world is your encyclopedia. Use this time to call on Thoth, Hermes, Mercury or your divine scribe for assistance with translating your thoughts, for going between worlds, and for keeping the mind engaged. Start that writing project, that novel, that journal, that podcast; take that class or that trip, or find a way to work with your hands. Let yourself be curious and conversational, and whether you share it with the world or just one person, find the story that you want to tell.
