Tag: Gemini

Eclipses & Metonic Cycles

Eclipses & Metonic Cycles

Are you ready for new adventures — ready to get back out in the world?  We find ourselves in the middle of Eclipse Season and the eclipses are happening on the Sagittarius/9th house and Gemini/3rd house axis.  The axis represents the quest for knowledge and the ability to expand our horizons by having the freedom to explore the world and the people living in it.

Eclipses are big leaps forward in consciousness and can impact you for many months after they happen.  They occur in conjunction with the nodes of the Moon. The Moon’s nodes are the two points where the lunar orbit passes through the plane of the ecliptic (the plane of the earth’s orbit round the Sun). These points determine where and when the eclipses happen.  The North Node of the Moon represents our collective future destiny, or our dharma.  The South Node represents our collective past, or our karma.  We spend a good deal of time dealing with the past, so karma is a term that most of us are familiar with… but it is your dharma that you are here to pursue.

The nodes spend about 18 months in each of the six axes: Aries/Libra, Taurus/Scorpio, Gemini/Sagittarius, Cancer/Capricorn, and Leo/Aquarius. Like most things in life, there is a cycle that governs the eclipses called the Metonic Cycle, which takes approximately 18-19 years. 

The last time the Lunar Nodes were in the Gemini/Sagittarius axis in the same combination (North Node/Gemini and South Node/Sagittarius) was October 2001 to April 2003. Think back to this time and see how events then mirror what is happening in your life now.  Usually there are echoes of the past.  If you moved during this time, started a new job, recovered from an accident or illness… chances are you are experiencing similar events, or comparable energy.  You can even go back a further 18-19 years — March 1983 to September 1984 — and look for parallels from that period when the nodes were also in Gemini and Sagittarius.

The Full Moon, Total Lunar Eclipse that happened on 5/26 (at 5 degrees of Sagittarius) was a huge release. As we prepare for the 6/10 New Moon, Annular, Solar Eclipse we have an opportunity to use the power of this Gemini/Sagittarius axis to create some superpowered, new intentions as we move forward. 

We will have another series of eclipses towards the end of this year (Nov/Dec 2021); the Lunar Eclipse in November will be in Taurus, which will indicate that the nodes are getting ready to shift in early January 2022 into the Taurus/Scorpio axis. The last eclipse of the year is a Solar Eclipse in Sagittarius happening in December. As the nodes shift into a new axis, our collective focus will shift to 2nd house (Taurus)/8th house (Scorpio) matters. These are all about personal vs. shared resources — tangible (money, food, shelter) and intangible (resilience, perseverance, kindness).

These cycles can help us to see how we are coming along in our path of evolution.  It gives us an opportunity to use our life experience to make better decisions by evaluating our dharma/karma — in other words, where we are coming from and where we want to go.  Look and see where these axes are in your chart.  Knowing this information will help you to recognize the areas of your life where you have extra opportunities to work with the energies of the universe to reflect/release the past (karma) and embrace/navigate your future (dharma).

Psyche conjunct the North Node of the Moon – March 2021

Psyche conjunct the North Node of the Moon – March 2021

Once upon a time…there was an asteroid named Psyche and she was exactly conjunct the future destiny of the universe.  Hold-up! That isn’t just a story, it is actually happening.  Psyche and the North Node are about to exactly conjunct in Gemini, but they will be conjunct most of March 2021. 

Psyche means “soul” in Greek and in astrology she represents not just our soul, but our perceived needs, particularly in the relationship department. When she is conjunct the North Node of the Moon it is time to take inventory of your soul’s journey and what — and maybe who — you need for the road ahead.

One of the things that I love about Psyche is that her mythology is the basis for several fairy tales: Sleeping Beauty, Beauty and the Beast, and Cinderella. Even though Psyche struggles with experiences that are frightening and heart-breaking, they allow her to mature and undergo great personal transformation; leading to the discovery of her authentic self. The asteroid Psyche was discovered in on March 17, 1852, during Pisces Season.  Is it any wonder that Pisces rules the 12th House, and relates to the mind and the deep connection to the soul?  I am sure Carl Jung’s reply would be, “Duh!”

The Nodes of the Moon are elliptical points, not actual celestial objects.  The North Node represents our dharma (future destiny), and the South Node represents our karma (past/past life).  They always travel retrograde, and they are always exactly opposite in a chart.  You have your own nodes in your natal chart, but the nodes in the main chart, the collective chart, impacts all our lives.

Currently, the North Node in the main chart is in Gemini and the South Node is in Sagittarius.  The Gemini/Sagittarius axis deals with gathering information/needing to find meaning in our lives. With Psyche conjunct our collective future destiny in Gemini (the sign of the Twins) it could be time to consider the duality of the world.  Remember, there are two sides to every story, and then there’s the truth.

The  Psyche/North Node conjunction goes on most of this month but will be exact on Saturday, March 6 at 15 degrees and 21 minutes of Gemini. If you plot Psyche in your chart (she is asteroid #16) you can find your true soul’s desire.

  • If you have anything between 13 – 17 degrees of any of the Mutable signs (Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, Pisces) you could really feel this challenge to your perception or understanding of your future path and who you might be taking, or not taking, with you.
  • If you have anything between those same degrees in Libra, or especially Aquarius, you could experience this as a huge personal breakthrough.  Right now, Jupiter is conjunct Mercury in the around that 17 – 18 degree mark of Aquarius so this could be hugely inspirational for everyone but especially folks with major aspect at those degrees.

As we experience soul growth our story continues to change and evolve. Studying your natal chart can help you understand how you have changed, and where you are evolving to.  If you are over 35 years of age you might want to consider getting a progressed chart done; it can be quite enlightening since it tracks the evolution of your chart placements, which progress as you live your life.  So, for example, a Capricorn could eventually become more like a Pisces as time goes on. I don’t know about you — but after climbing up all those mountains — taking a nice long swim could be the best happily-ever-after.

Mars in Gemini – March 3 – April 23, 2021

Mars in Gemini – March 3 – April 23, 2021

Get ready for bright ideas and brilliant conversations. Communication will be speeding up and flying free as Mars moves into Gemini. The last time that the warrior traveled through Gemini was in 2019.

Most recently, this passionate, feisty warrior spent six months transiting in his rulership of Aries (8/16/20 – 1/6/21). So, with his move into Taurus (fixed Earth) at the beginning of the year, we all may have gotten a bit bogged down with overindulgence. With Mars in the sign of the bull we sleep more, we eat more; we take our time.  But Mars is about passion, volatility, and urgency. So now that Mars is moving into Gemini (mutable air), get ready to fly.

Mars in mutable air is the passionate, chatty, social butterfly.  After all of this time in lockdown we can feel the winds of change. We want to get out and communicate and be in the world. Most likely, we will start to see the virus begin to ebb, and this will allow us the opportunity to get out there. It’s time for the discussions and interactions that we have put off or haven’t been able to get to for the last year. 

There are some pitfalls to this new-found desire for interaction…you might actually have to shut up and listen. The need for you to get your point across could be so intense that you might forget that listening, understanding, and acknowledging is part of a conversation — probably the most important part. 

Things will be coming at you fast and furiously; it is vital that you don’t forget to breathe. If you meet this energy with that same volatility…misunderstanding, anger, and hurt feelings could knock you off course.  Keep it light and don’t forget to listen to your heart… and to others’ words and intentions.

Below I have noted some important dates and aspects that might help you maneuver your way through the next month and a half.  If you want to fly, you need to know what you are about to navigate:

Dates of note:

  • 3/3 – Mars enters Gemini until April 23
  • 3/13 – 3/17 – Mars sextile Chiron in Aries – Desire to make some progress on healing that old wound.
  • 3/17 – 3/21 – Mars trine Saturn in Aquarius Time to revisit your boundaries.
  • 3/24 – 3/28 – Mars conjunct the North Node in Gemini – Get inspired to move you forward in life.
  • 4/5 – 4/9 – Mars square Neptune in Pisces – Easily distracted, prone to gossip, watch out for infections and viruses.
  • 4/12 – 4/14 – Mars semi-square Uranus in Taurus – Be on alert! Watch where you step and what you say.
  • 4/15 – 4/17 – Mars trine Jupiter in Aquarius– Time to vibe with you tribe; getting the itch to plan a trip.
  • 4/17 – 4/18 – Mars inconjunct Pluto in Capricorn – Awkward!  Need to transform; be the butterfly.
Neptune square the Nodes of the Moon  – January 26, 2021

Neptune square the Nodes of the Moon – January 26, 2021

A long-running configuration of Neptune — squaring the Nodes of the Moon and creating a t-square — will perfect on January 26, 2021.  Now is the time to understand that our past (South Node in Sagittarius) is just a reference point that can inform our journey ahead (North Node in Gemini) as we continuously consult our imagination (Neptune in Pisces), and navigate our path to the future.

Neptune is in his rulership of Pisces at 18 degrees. Neptune went retrograde at 20 degrees of Pisces at the end June 2020 and stayed retrograde for almost five months. He retrograded all the way back to 18 degrees, where he has remained since early October 2020.  On January 26, Neptune will move into the 19th degree of Pisces and exactly square both the North Node in Gemini (our collective destiny) and the South Node in Sagittarius (our collective karma) — both at 19 degrees of the Gemini/Sagittarius axis, which is about information and freedom.

This is a very important time for us individually, and collectively for humanity, but it all begins with what’s going on inside of you. Neptune rules the 12th house, where your emotions, compassion, and imagination reside. This t-square invites you to consider your thoughts, hopes, and dreams for yourself and for the world.

What is a T-Square?

Basically, the t-square configuration is an isosceles triangle, which is simply a triangle with two sides that are the same length.  So, you have a 90 degree angle, another 90 degree angle, both known as “squares,” and a 180 degree opposition connecting them. 

Squares indicate inner conflict and oppositions reflect outer conflict. If you apply this to Neptune squaring both of the Nodes — who are always in opposition — then this t-square is about releasing the collective past in order to envision a new collective future.  The question is: how do we do that when Neptune keeps fogging up the road ahead?

The Challenge

Envisioning a new collective future can be difficult when we are so divided from our past, but let’s look at the houses and signs associated with this t-square.

  • Our future (North Node) lies in Gemini/3rd house, ruled by Mercury, who dictates how we communicate and perceive.
  • Our past (South Node) lies in Sagittarius/9th house, ruled by Jupiter, who expands our knowledge, our experiences, and our beliefs.
  • Our reality (Neptune) lies in Pisces/12th house, ruled by Neptune, who can cloud our judgment, hide the truth of our reality, but also allow us to create new worlds.

The 3rd, 9th, and 12th houses are to do with the mind, higher wisdom, and the psyche.  Basically, we are all “tripping” through the universe of our imagined reality at the moment, but it’s time to get serious.  We have an opportunity to effect tremendous change by shifting our focus.

The Shift

Remember, your focus determines your reality. Instead of looking in that rearview mirror all the time…keep your eyes on the road ahead so you can better navigate the journey before you.  This will require inner focus, discernment, and imagination working in harmony to shift from the narrative of the past to the potential of the future.