Wednesday is the Gemini New Moon and a partial eclipse of the Sun. This is the first of three eclipses: the next will be a total lunar eclipse in Sagittarius on June 15, followed by another partial solar eclipse, this time in Cancer, on July 1. Remember the pattern-setting quality of eclipses. Make sure you do something that you really deeply love to do, or want to do, on each of those three days.
As I write today’s issue, the Gemini Sun is moving into an exact square with Chiron, still in full effect Friday, and this has been stirring up a lot of hot air and tales of wounded men. Through today and into the weekend, the Sun then aspects Pluto (a quincunx from Gemini to Capricorn) and through the holiday weekend makes a trine to Saturn. That’s a lot of contact between the Sun and outer planets, nearly all of which are concentrated at the beginnings of astrological signs.
At the heart of the Western zodiac are the signs Cancer and Leo — which are not ruled by planets, but rather by the Moon and the Sun, respectively. In the Northern Hemisphere (where our Babylonian/Greek astrology was invented), those are the warmest months of the year, the richest part of the growing season and most places, a brief interval when we can draw some warmth from the outside, like a lizard sunning himself on a rock.
Traditionally, the Full Moon of May is sometimes called the Hare’s Moon. This is because May and Beltane mark the season of rebirth of life upon the Earth. With the hare’s reputation for being prolific, no creature seems more suited as this month’s symbol. Some other names for this Full Moon include the Milk Moon, Flower Moon, Corn Moon or Corn Planting Moon. There are many traditions, and they each give things their own name.
Neptune entered Pisces last month, joining Chiron in that sign. This is the full activation of Pisces, and combined, these transits are shifting the background of our lives. There may be other effects, which will be more or less subtle depending on your relationship to your intuition, your emotional body and your creativity.
