At Home in Your Own Mind

Dear Friend and Reader:

During the past three days, the Sun changed signs to Gemini, the Moon reached full phase from Sagittarius and Mercury stationed direct in Taurus.

Photo by Joe King.

All of that is likely to feel supportive. Even something so simple as the Sun changing signs can have a sense of relief and reset.

The Full Moon can release a feeling of nervous tension (though sleeping well may still take a little extra focus for the next few nights).

Mercury stationing direct can release some pressure and help things become unstuck, and is a cue to resume or implement certain plans you’ve been developing or delaying. That said, take it slow this week. Build momentum carefully and consciously, adding one ingredient or one project at a time.

Note that each of these events involves Gemini: the first of two Full Moons with the Sun in Gemini, and Mercury (associated with both Gem and Virgo) making a helpful move. Gemini is a sign strongly associated with the mind, with ideas and with communications.

In the background of all this, the asteroid Vesta entered Gemini. Vesta is the representative of the hearth fire, of devotion, of service and of young women. It’s the slowest-moving factor of everything I’ve mentioned so far; it will remain in Gemini for about two months, until July 25.

Vesta represents some beautiful, helpful ideas. Consistency and devotion are things the world could use a lot more of lately, especially with communicating. We tend to have scattered minds, as a result of many scattered channels of thought. Vesta is saying draw all of that into a circle, and concentrate on a few tangible ideas while you’re doing everything else.

In a word, focus. In a phrase, focus and devote yourself to what you’re thinking. We also live in a culture that obsesses over the images of young women. You might take a moment or two to listen to what young women are thinking and saying, and if you consider yourself one, to be bolder than you might ordinarily be and speak up. Get the attention of the people around you and engage others in a real dialog: take turns speaking and listening.

I have more to say in the new Planet Waves TV, and will be back with Planet Waves FM on Tuesday evening.

With love,

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Aries (March 20-April 19) — Slow down the conversation, whatever conversation you’re having. Set a specific place and time, to ensure you increase the odds that you hear one another. There is plenty of room for miscommunication, and there’s also an unusual opportunity to discover and resolve an issue that was lurking under the surface. That thing lurking is something that appears to be an unspoken priority of yours, one that you’re finally going to bring up. You will help your own cause if you set the time, place and feeling of the conversation. First, you want to avoid any feeling of a showdown. As you’ve seen, confrontation has been in the air, and it will be up to you to defuse this feeling. Be aware when you’re clinging to a belief or an opinion. It won’t be long before you either figure out you didn’t have it right, or question your motives and realize you don’t need to be so attached to your point of view. Keep the floor open for any discussion.

Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Mercury just changed to direct motion in your sign. This is the perfect image of self-discovery, likely to come with the feeling of something you knew all along and somehow did not notice. You might take this as a cue to notice all the other things that have eluded your attention. You’re in a position now where you can admit things to yourself that you might not ordinarily want to own up to. Take this as good news, because the more of yourself you’ve claimed, the more energy you can concentrate; therefore, the more of your own power you have. Don’t be deceived by what seem to be dilemmas with no resolution. You know enough about yourself to make a fairly easy decision every time you’re faced with a choice. If you find yourself wondering what to do, ask yourself what really matters. Be bold and put the question in those exact terms. You can use this as often as you like. It will save you plenty of debate and confusion.

Gemini (May 20-June 21) — The Sun recently entered your sign, with an unusual traveling companion: the brightest asteroid, Vesta. Associated with devotion, with young women and — most of all — with the use of physical space, Vesta is a reminder to make room for yourself in your own life. We tend to have crowded existences these days; our time is stuffed, we often share living spaces, and our minds are crowded by a dozen different inputs going off night and day. Your astrology is urging you to make quiet space for yourself, especially here in your birthday season. What you’re seeking is the sensation of returning to your inner sanctuary. Warm up that space. Get the fire going. Make sure you have what you need: your notebook, music or a musical instrument, your sketching pencils, your tarot cards. Come home to yourself, and get to know yourself again. Vesta was last in your sign four years ago, in the summer of 2012. Tell yourself the story of what has happened since then, and read it back carefully. You’ll be impressed.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — It’s true that life is a journey of self-discovery, though you are poised to have many unusual revelations about yourself. It would appear that emotions, choices and observations that seem to have made no sense are about to come into focus. You will see, I believe, not the folly of your ways, but rather their wisdom. This is likely to come with a well-needed shift in your social environment. Here’s how the astrology reads: the more honest you are with yourself, and the deeper peace you make with your inner truth, the more you will attract to you people who actually get you. If there is a risk, it’s about living close to the surface of who you are. You are not your own representative. You are your one self, even as you iron out your inner contradictions. What you’re likely to discover is that you’re not really at odds with yourself. To feel how that is, take a chance and set aside that very fear: the fear of being seen as a contradiction.

Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — It looks like some professional issue, a hitch or delay of some kind, has come unstuck – or is about to. If you are planning any sort of career move, the next few weeks are a good time to aim for. You must, though, be aware of a rapidly shifting environment, and certain developing matters that are likely to come to a head between now and early June. That means keep an open mind, and listen more than you speak. If you do, you will learn many things that influence your decisions, and reveal the best strategy to use. Meanwhile you would be wise to keep your plans under wraps, while making any necessary moves behind the scenes. With the current emphasis on what are called mutable signs – Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces – be prepared to adapt and pivot, and to take advantage of unplanned-for opportunities. Most of all, work with the state of flux and keep your mind wide open to the possibilities.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — This is an unusual phase of learning and growth for you. It’s as if every factor in your mind, emotions and surroundings is calling on you to be yourself. You are being pulled by some invisible magnetic force to grow into who you are, to learn about everything you can, and to understand others. However, this may be drawing you out of your comfort zone. Growth and learning mean change. Most of all, you are being summoned to make friends with what is unfamiliar. You are too young to be set in your ways, or to have made your mind up about everything. You might therefore approach life from the viewpoint of being open to all possibilities. Make friends with the unknown and it will make friends with you. You are well into a process of genuine personal evolution. There is no turning back at this point, nor can I imagine a reason why you would want to.

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Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Spirituality is organic, if you love and respect life. Apart from that, there’s nothing to teach, or to learn. This basic honoring of existence is now opening up for you in a new way. All you need to do is make room for it – and to recognize opposing influences that might get you to do otherwise. Our culture may finally be coming out of a long phase where selfishness was revered as the highest virtue. In a world that depends on nothing more or less than cooperation, that cannot possibly be true. I suggest you question everything you hear, and ask yourself whether it’s coming from a place that is respectful of life and human worth. You might apply the same question to your own thoughts and ideas, and guide yourself in the direction of faith and trust. I recognize that not everyone around you is on board with this, but you will still provide an important example to those who care.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Self-esteem is based on another idea: self. It’s impossible to have one without the other. Yet one’s concept of self and the actual, underlying reality are often two different things. The story of your astrology is about penetrating through your notions and concepts of who you are and experiencing your actual inner existence. It may be necessary for you to betray – which really means to reveal – the people who taught you falsely about yourself. You are under no obligation to accept some other person’s untrue idea of who you are. This takes less courage than it may seem. Once you have made contact with your own essence, that has a way of becoming the dominant force in your psyche. Be bold about letting go of what is not true. Celebrate every time you discover an old self-deception you can rid yourself of. Feel the beauty of remembering who you truly are.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Mars has been retrograde in your sign since mid-April. This process is about to take a new turn: Mars will leave your sign and enter Scorpio this week. This is going to challenge your confidence, in the form of pushing you to rise above your fears. It’s true that Sagittarius has a reputation as being all courage and daring, though you’re human like the rest of us. We all must rise above insecurities and some lurking sense that existence is pointless; that is, we must if we ever want to find courage and meaning. You might call this the journey to your deeper humanity, and at this stage, you are being invited to face your fears, your insecurities and any lingering darkness from your past. The healing potential of this astrology is rare and beautiful, and nothing like it will repeat for many, many years. Summon your courage, and remember you are bigger than any fear.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) — Remember that integrity is not a concept, nor is it an appearance. It’s from a Latin root that means “soundness, wholeness, completeness.” This implies that the main action connected to this word is inclusion of all that you are. You might, therefore, ask what you are afraid others might find out about you. What, specifically? And what would the presumed result of that be? The results of this thought experiment will give you a good idea where you’re holding back; what you might be leaving out of completeness. You would go a long way toward explaining certain recent struggles by identifying those elements of yourself, and inviting them back into the fold. It’s the cast-off aspects that tend to wreak havoc. Once you embrace and take ownership of who you are, you will have far more strength, and your life will be easier. So pay attention and notice what you try to give away or pretend doesn’t exist – they hold the key to your liberation.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Much of your existence right now is centered on the wellbeing of others. How is that for a perfectly Aquarian theme? I suggest you not go halfway with this; give yourself the honor and the pleasure of going the whole distance. The hard thing to get over at this point of history is that it’s not all about you. But once you make contact with that, you might catch glimpses of how the whole world, and the whole life you are living, and all that you perceive, is a reflection of you. As you offer your loving support and assistance to people, it’s as if you are reconnecting with scattered aspects of your soul. In a very real sense, you’re being called upon to be submissive to your own existence, as a gesture of respect. As you do this, you will get to know yourself in new ways. You will become personal witness to how every facet of life relates to every other.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — If there’s such a thing as ‘sacred space’, it would be your home. You might think of this as the space that you recognize and accept as an extension of yourself. It’s not where you are; rather, it’s who you are. This is a vital principle of inclusion that, in the end, welcomes you anywhere in the world, and allows you to feel comfortable with anyone. There’s some beautiful astrology developing in the home angle of your chart. The Sun has just entered Gemini, which describes where you live and how you like your home to feel: in a few words, sunny, breezy and light. So push open the windows and let in the spring air. Tidy up and reclaim your inner space. More than anything, stretch out your awareness, relax and feel at home in the world. Speak your mind. You might do something else: if you’ve had a writing project you’ve wanted to get to, it’s beckoning you right now.