JUNE 2, 2015
11:49 SAGITTARIUS-Gemini 12:19pm EDT, 9:19am PDT, 5:19pm GDT
Image: Tulip Mandala, photo by author.
ALTERED STATES REVOLVE LIKE A REALITY-SHIFTING KALEIDOSCOPE, GENERATED BY THE DIZZYING INTERFACE BETWEEN RETROGRADE MERCURY’S TRICKSTERISM AND NEPTUNE’S DRIFTING DREAMTIME.
MERCURY RETROGRADE in its own quicksilver sign of Gemini has been spinning us on a merry-go-round of news, mental chatter and activities that elicit a variety of responses. Life at times can feel like a beat-the-buzzer game show. Pluck out the most appealing ideas and options to stitch together in the patchwork quilt of your life, even as some sections unravel under the loose ends of retrograde Mercury. Many variables confront us with limiting belief systems and biases—our own or those of others. Ultimate truth is elusive until intuition sings in your heart. Seek thoughts and experiences that delight you and put those shiny nuggets in your mental pocket. Some nagging thoughts persist that we can’t disregard. A detached, inquiring approach yields interesting realizations that ring true and resolve doubts, inconsistencies and contradictions.
NEPTUNE in PISCES is like a mermaid playing elusive music, just beyond our normal sound range. Many of us feel the vibrations. Earth is also feeling these vibrations and responding accordingly. Whatever season and weather you are experiencing, appreciation the nuances of Nature’s extraordinary creative power. The heart and spirit are longing for something soul stirring and spiritually enriching.
BLACK MOON LILITH in Virgo may answer this longing, if we pay attention. This invisible yet potent subtext is a key reference point in the Moon’s elliptical orbit around the Sun. On another level it refers to a deep desire that brings the soul into embodiment. Through unorthodox and disconcerting encounters, Black Moon holds a space for the soul to seek its freedom, rather like a black hole, or a whale’s blowhole that blows rationality out of the water. Black Moon Lilith makes a square dance of this Full Moon, signaling across the sky to Neptune, both infusing our senses with superfine energies, supernatural wavelengths beyond the visible. We can “see” the flowers smile, “hear” the stars singing, and drink in the sun and wind through our skin. Pay special attention to your skin, the living “cloth” of your body that soaks in the environment. Find more organic ways to soothe the stress. Look at labels. Beware the amount of toxic petrochemicals you may be putting on your skin, which gum up its capacity to breathe naturally. I’ve been checking in with the consumer guides page on the www.ewg.org website of the Environmental Working Group that researches all kinds of products that affect our health. The cosmetics section is a revelation. On another level, in such busy bee times, we need to pay attention to the social interactions we engage in daily, taking time apart to wash away all the impressions that don’t belong to us. We feel more than ever that we are all fish swimming in the same sea. At the same time we need to clarify our unique drop of the ocean, keep shining with the light of our “bright particular star.” [That’s such a lovely phrase from Shakespeare.]
Here is a suggestions about Black Moon in Virgo from my book, BLACK MOON LILITH:
What is inside of you is what is outside of you
And what you see outside of you, you see inside of you;
It is visible and it is your garment. —Gnostic Gospels
With Black Moon in Virgo, the body responds strongly to telluric energies, the rhythms and pulses of Earth. The connection to nature in general is strong, but there may be a deep resonance with specific realms, be it flora or fauna, weather patterns or the elements. Certain of the body’s animal senses can be acute, i.e., smell or hearing. The skin may be especially sensitive to psycho-sensory currents. The body can be quite particular in its requirements, so that one’s physical vehicle—temple of spirit—remains fine-tuned. The veil between the inner and outer worlds is like a filtering membrane that can be quite thin. One can experience acute or chronic environmental sensitivities that necessitate the filtering activity, so one learns to monitor what one allows in. This placement offers specialized talents that seek appropriate circumstances in which to manifest.”
For more on this Full Moon, I looked in Lynda Hill’s, THE SABIAN SYMBOLS AS AN ORACLE, for further fodder for intuitive interpretation. It’s powerful. I like the related quotes she includes. Read this:
12 GEMINI (Sun placement)—A BLACK SLAVE GIRL DEMANDS HER RIGHTS OF HER MISTRESS. There are so many levels of slavery. The meaning of this moment is an opportunity to stand up and take back our power. Listen to Bob Marley’s musical advice: “Emancipate yourself from mental slavery. None but ourselves can free our minds.” This is SUCH a good reminder for anything in Gemini, especially now that the Sun is flanked by Mercury retrograde AND Mars. Mental activity is the battlefield for spiritual warriors. Be vibrant, open-minded, welcoming all viewpoints. Turn negative thinking around, and “by turning and turning it comes out right” (from the famous Shaker song).
12 SAGITTARIUS (Moon placement)—A FLAG TURNS INTO AN EAGLE; THE EAGLE INTO A CHANTICLEER SALUTING THE DAWN
Transformation and shapeshifting. Old symbols take on new life. A new day dawns. This image echoes the theme of standing up and speaking our truth. As our higher minds open (and we lose some data from our lower minds—don’t worry about it!), we see things from a keener perspective, through our eagle eye. We declare and act upon our clear vision, for the highest good of all—without compromising individual rights, as indicated in the Sun’s Sabian Symbol above. This image smacks with political reference. Watch for news from Mexico, a country with an eagle on its flag. According to legend, the gods had advised the Aztecs that they should establish their city where they saw an eagle, perched on a prickly pear tree, devouring a serpent. That place is now Mexico City. Other countries that have an eagle on their flags include Albania, Austria (sometimes), Egypt, Montenegro and Zambia. The eagle is also a significant national symbol of the United States. The flag of the U.S. Virgin Islands features an eagle.
To amplify this Sabian image, Lynda Hill quotes Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954), American civil rights and suffrage activist, one of the first African-American women to earn a college degree, and first president of the National Association of Colored Women [another reference to the above Sabian Symbol]. She wrote, “The chasm between the principles upon which this Government was founded, in which it still professes to believe, and those which are daily practiced under the protection of the flag, yawn wide and deep.”
Her words still ring true. Is this Full Moon going to burst some bubbles? The gulf between truth and lies is inherent in the polarity between Sagittarius, the Truth Seeker, and Gemini, the Trickster.
This JUNE FULL MOON ushers in a new month. The first half, during the waning Moon, features a series of significant planetary shifts:
June 5— Venus into Leo offers roses, beauty and demonstrations of affection, a promising alignment for this classic wedding month. Venus will be in Leo for extra time, like a movie that has been held over by popular demand. It isn’t until October that Venus exits her Leo stage. As the season moves into summer, some emotional drama will accompany this goddess of love, as she makes a retrograde loop in July-August. Along the way she has multiple dance partners. I’ll be giving more Venus dates for you to put on your calendar. Let’s first feel our way into the creative, heartbeat of Venus in this expressive sign.
June 11-12—Mercury turns forward, while Neptune turns backward. Mercury stays in its own sign, strong in Gemini well into July. Neptune in Pisces is in its own sign as well, sending surges and strong waves of vibrational influx. Neptune continues to have a strong impact on this kaleidoscopic, intellect-boggling, reality-shifting merry-go-round Mercury retrograde. Neptune’s retrograde turn suggests a turning of the tide that sweeps sand castles of our current reality off the beach.
June 15—Neptune’s dreamtime may be elusive and illusive (I’ve made up a word here, do you like it?) but Saturn is real situations on the ground. This “get-it-together” planet returns to Scorpio, instructing us to finish up some old business and resolve outstanding issues from last year. Think back particularly to December.
June 16—A Martian NEW MOON in GEMINI. Breathe deeply and fully from now to then. And don’t forget to exhale!
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