Moon into Gemini

Thursday morning through Saturday afternoon

monarch butterflies

Early Thursday (7:21am EDT), the Moon skips into butterfly Gemini, the sign that loves to connect. And connecting is what the Moon does during this crowded transit! After three very quiet days in peaceful Taurus, the Moon wants to talk to everyone.

Her first stop is a square to Neptune, newly arrived in Pisces. Where Pisces wants to bliss out on emotions, Gemini is all about ideas ... let's talk, Gemini says, tell me all about it! ... while Pisces happily floats on waves of pure experience. The Moon will also square Chiron, and then Ceres, in Pisces.

The potential here is for clear, innovative thinking and communication (Gemini) about emotional issues (Moon) supported by deep insights (Pisces) that lead to nurturing (Ceres) and healing (Chiron). If the issues being surfaced feel too threatening, though, the Gemini Moon might retreat into the nearest light-hearted distraction.

Later, come flowing sextiles to Uranus and Mars in Aries, which could show up as a bright burst of wonderful ideas you can barely record fast enough, or as an unstoppable torrent of words you might regret later. If in doubt, reach for the pen or the keyboard before going public.

Venus in Pisces reaches her exact inconjunct angle-of-adjustment with Saturn in Libra. This aspect brings focus to where relationships are out of balance, or where we're deluding ourselves ... which could provide the context for what the Moon is either exploring or avoiding during this Gemini transit.

Friday morning, the Moon emphasizes the awkward angle between Venus and Saturn by trining Saturn (supporting clear thinking), and squaring Venus (asking that anything vague or confusing be articulated).

network connections

Friday afternoon, the Moon rejoins the Aries excitement with sextiles to Jupiter, the Sun, and Mercury. The Sun-Moon sextile marks the point in the waxing lunar cycle when the emerging shape of our New Moon wishes becomes clear. The Aries Sun and Gemini Moon certainly support clarity!

Jupiter, as always, makes everything bigger and more enthusiastic. Everything may seem wonderful and exciting now, so it's important to connect also with Mercury's retrograde energy, creating small moments of thoughtfulness in the midst of apparently blazing potential.

Early Saturday morning, Pluto turns direct, rather like having a very large, very powerful earthmover slow down, turn, and reverse itself. This is happening at 7 Capricorn; if anything in your chart is being aspected by Pluto now, you're likely to feel it. Pluto will head back to 4 Capricorn, reaching there in mid September, before turning direct again.

The Moon's final aspect in Gemini is a conjunction with the South Node of the Moon, and opposition to the North Node, a chance to look at, think about, and communicate about where we are on our life path. At 5:02pm EDT Saturday, the Moon steps through her own front door into her home sign, Cancer. Depending on how difficult the Gemini transit felt, she may lock the door behind her and hide for a few days.

Moon into Taurus

Monday evening through Thursday morning

Reach out your intuitive sense today. There's a shift in the cosmic winds, as Neptune puts her toes into the Piscean ocean. This planet of dreams and visions, glamour and delusion, poetry and spiritual connection, will swim in Pisces until August, when a retrograde takes her back into Aquarius. She returns in February 2012 for a fourteen year swim through these waters.

dolphin riding the waves

As if to mark the change, the Moon leaves fiery Aries for peaceful Taurus this evening. An early morning conjunction with Mercury retrograde in Aries (6:04am EDT) initiated the Moon's void of course time, which ends with her entry into Taurus at 7:46pm EDT. One minute later, the Moon flows energy in sextile with Neptune, waving across the water.

Water and Earth are the receptive, yin elements, patient and calm. Yang, the active, thrusting, fiery energy of Aries, shifts into yin. This is a natural flow, if we are prepared to sense it and allow it. Yes, there are still five planets in Aries, and yet we feel a new balance emerging. The Taurus Moon will nurture the seeds we planted at the Aries New Moon, making sure they have what they need to take root and grow strong.

Tuesday, the Moon flows energy in trine with Pluto in Capricorn. While Aries squares off with Capricorn, challenging the power of Earth, the Taurus Moon says to Pluto, we can work together. What is it that needs to grow here? What needs to be nurtured? I can do that.

The Moon will sextile Chiron in Pisces overnight, offering gentle support for healing. Tuesday morning, the Moon sextiles the asteroid Ceres, the Grain Mother, offering support to bring Spring growth. Tuesday night, the Moon sextiles Venus in Pisces, flowing peace into our relationships and perhaps quiet and sensuous inspiration from our muse.

Tuesday night's sextile with Venus begins a long void of course time that lasts until the Moon enters bright Gemini early Thursday (7:21am EDT). Wednesday's key aspect is a conjunction between the Sun and Jupiter in Aries, expanding Aries fire and bringing exuberant vitality. The Moon holding her breath, and Mercury retrograde, remind us to embrace the joy and avoid the temptation to overextend.

For those working with anger issues at this time: The ongoing strong Aries signature, and especially the Mars-Uranus conjunction, will continue to offer challenges to our ability to stay calm in the face of provocation. Don't mistake Taurus' patience for weakness, or its quiet for acceptance. When it comes to standing up for what we believe, moving from Aries to Taurus is the shift from the irresistible force to the immovable object. As Taurus energy increases over the next weeks, explore these new ways to work with difficult circumstances.

Moon in Aries for the New Moon!

Saturday morning through Monday evening

The Moon moved into fiery Aries early yesterday morning, and her first action was joining with Mars, Aries' ruler, followed swiftly by a conjunction with Mars and a square to Pluto. Normally, I would have posted to this blog yesterday morning, but instead I spent the day wrapping my head around news that dropped the final curtain on a series of traumatic events in my life.

My Sun at 0 Libra is opposed by the Moon-Mars-Uranus gang, and I'll admit to feeling stunned, crushed and isolated ... one possible manifestation of the Moon, Mars and Uranus in Aries squaring Pluto. It's not the only one, though, and I hope some of you experienced an energetic clearing away of what you're more than ready to get rid of, or (and) an inrushing sense of power, purpose and focus.

Yesterday's square set the stage for this morning's New Moon, an intense all-Aries-all-the-time experience. With six planets in Aries today––Mars, Uranus, the Sun, the Moon, Jupiter and Mercury––we might feel tossed into the fire, but we know nothing will be the same when we walk through to the other side.

This New Moon invites wishes and intentions for new beginnings of all kinds. How we act, our process of embracing who we uniquely are, our light in the world, our emotional selves and connection to tradition, our philosophy, generosity, and liberality, our thought and communication, are all together at the bright Aries birthing today.

Aries is the sign of new, wild things. This is the Fool in the Tarot, stepping off into the unknown without a care in the world, confident the road will unfold before him. This is the New Moon when we reconnect with the desires in our hearts. Not what the media, society, family, or friends tell us we want. Not the grasping after the things of the world that somehow never satisfy. And not, on the other hand, the shunning of desire, the wish to be small and leave no footprint because we're not worthy.

At this New Moon, we're invited to experience ourselves as originals. What lights us up? What turns us on? What ignites our passions? What are we living for? There is a spark in each of us, a shining that is ours alone. This is the time to remove whatever is blocking our light, and rediscover what fuel it is that keeps our fires burning long and steadily.

With no other influences, this large an Aries bonfire could blaze out of control, expressing itself in anger, rashness, and too much risk taking. Mercury is retrograde now, and the oft-dreaded retrograde can become a chance to rethink, reconsider and reconnect. While Mercury heading backwards is likely to be a source of frustration to all that forward rushing Aries, we can embrace the moments when things become a little unclear to say, wait a minute ... let me think this through.

Saturn in Libra stands alone opposing the New Moon and Jupiter. He also wants to put on the brakes, but might get trampled instead. Either way, he remains a bastion of diplomacy, elegance, and consideration for others, as he counsels patience and reminds us that hard work is needed. Ignoring Saturn's cautionary messages now, no matter how much we want to rush ahead, will leave a larger reckoning for later.

Today, Sunday, the aspects all reflect the New Moon's dance. The Sun and Moon will soon reach their conjunction (10:32am EDT) and we're down the rabbit hole of this powerful waxing cycle. Then the Moon opposes Saturn (11:22am EDT) and joins Jupiter (3:08pm EDT).

Today, Mars and Uranus reach their exact conjunction (4:52pm EDT), and the Sun reaches an exact opposition to Saturn (7:56pm EDT). In a way, this is having the New Moon all day, as the planets dance so close to each other, touching exactly and moving on.

Overnight, the Moon joins Mercury, then moved into a void-of-course phase. Meanwhile, an astrological event long awaited occurs as Neptune steps into her home sign of Pisces. It's fitting the Moon should be in a time-between-times when this happens, holding her breath as the planet of dreams, visions, glamour and spirituality sails into home waters.

The Moon steps into calm, patient Taurus at 7:46pm EDT Monday, and one minute later, sextiles Neptune, new in Pisces. Monday night will be a wonderful night for dreams.