May 18.2015
New Moon in Gemini
12:13am
Mercury Retrograde
May 18 @ 9:50pm – June 11
Speak!
The Moon waxed New in the early hours of the morning in the astrological sign of Gemini. Gemini is the sign of mind and communication. So, this New Moon brings with it the opportunity to re-craft how we communicate and more importantly build in a waxing effort the creative expression of that communication. As the New Moon also announces the soon to be transition of Sun into the same sign, beginnings and fresh starts are additionally enhanced when the Sun spends a complete solar cycle in that sign’s energy giving it the strengthening and support that began as the gentle flow of Mother Moon’s caress.
In this cycle, the Moon arrives at Gemini prior to the Sun moving into place. This means that Father Sun is in its last burst of the fertile and firmly anchored Taurean energy before it transits into its astrological Temple of Gemini on Thursday, May 1st. This energy lights the way for a more structured and manifest foundation and forging the connection between heaven’s ebb and flow and earth’s cradle of solidarity.
Gemini is ruled by the planet Mercury and the deft hand and agility in moving from one expression to the other typically opens the way for interactions and the sharing of thoughts, ideas and creative efforts is in peak form. The day’s energy began that way, but the Mercury Retrograde that will take hold tonight will slow things down and make clarity a bit more tenuous to achieve.
The general feeling for this Moon and the next few weeks ahead will be one something like the conversation that occurs when bits of information randomly slip out and the speaker catches themselves quickly and abruptly shutting up so as not to spill more details that should remain in unsaid. This is largely because of the Mercury Retrograde that tends to slow down the normally rapid processing of Gemini’s style of communication and it is this slowing down that is the caution of communications being misunderstood and left to shoddy translation.
Speak Not!
Mercury Retrograde
Astrologically, when a planet changes direction in its normal path of progression through the zodiac, this is called a “station”. The planet’s progress slows down in is orbit until it appears to pause in its motion giving the appearance of moving backwards. The Retrograde Station occurs when the planet begins this slowing down and seeming movement backwards. The Direct Station occurs when the forward motion of the planet begins again.
Whatever astrological sign the planet retrogrades in gives added emphasis and more intensity to how the planet expresses its own energy now given a full and prolonged dose of the sign’s own specificities. These highly potent effects can be building or waning (depending on which end of the station you find yourself) for days prior or after. Much like, the concentrated effort needed in slowing down to come to a traffic light, pausing, and then having to carefully and incrementally apply enough gas to reach your top speed again.
Mercury remains retrograde through June 11th. which is approx. half of the Solar cycle of Gemini. The usual ability to strengthen and give more clarity to communication in all of its styles will be dimmed a bit by the focus on reiteration and further digesting of what has already been said and done. And, although many bemoan the dreaded Mercury Retrograde, this can be a truly rewarding time to give more attention to what is being presented to you.
We live in a highly active society where barely a second can pass before that text is answered and another is on its way. We are bombarded with video and audio stimuli continually and even in the quiet of our rest at night, if there is reliance on the cell phone for a waking alarm, the subtle waves of technology are communicating with sleep cycles and more. With these statements being made, I will also suggest that a mercury Retrograde is exactly the hiatus much needed to re-tune us to a place of greater observation and deeper connection simply by listening more intently to what is being said, communicated or otherwise expressed.
So, as we enter this ebb and flow of waxing moon kicking us off in the direction of “speak not-unless it be profoundly filled with attention and presence in the moment” I will honor this New Moon as one that allows me to breathe into my communications in preparation for the lessons to be learned in the space of silence created y Mercury’s pause.
Other Readings:
Temple of the Cosmic Spheres 