This week, there’s quite an exciting development: during the Gemini New Moon, which happens Saturday, June 4 (the 5th in the U.K. and Europe), we will have an event known as a mutable grand cross. This means that planets will be present at around the same degrees in each of the mutable signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces.

The mutable grand cross might be a mentally challenging aspect. Most of it is well in place now, by the way — it’s merely being emphasized by the New Moon.

The challenges this pattern seems to present are mostly on the level of the mind. Remember that this aspect describes the environment, which will influence everyone. How you tap into or relate with your surroundings is your choice. Mainly, “environment” means your fellow people, but also the thought waves conducted through the collective mind, even if we’re talking about your office mates, your housemates or your drinking mates.

However, the power of choice is moderated by past conditioning. To the extent that you can free yourself from tendencies that limit your flexibility to choose, you will free yourself in general. The idea is to respond to what is actually happening rather than what your previous scripts misinform you is happening.

This is also known as stopping and thinking, something different from emotionally reacting. In fact it’s so different it might seem totally weird, when your conscious, reasoning human mind comes to life and says, so what’s happening here?

Beware of the battle of words, much ado about nothing and not really believing in what you might argue for. That’s when to pause and do something like stop speaking and listen, and find something more productive or entertaining to do.

This New Moon could come with some drama, but if that’s true, it’s time for you to become a playwright. I love that word, because the “wright” part means to construct or build, though it’s a also pun on write.

Our forthcoming grand cross New Moon in Gemini is an ideal opportunity to step from the role of actor in your own drama to author of the text. This is the big leap that anyone seeking growth is really longing for. I realize this often gets cloaked in wanting a ‘higher power’ to come in, though your higher power is the fully sentient, connected-to-spirit aspect of you that understands this whole setup perfectly well.

The Sun is moving through the last five degrees of Taurus this week. With the Sun at the end of a sign, there can be some “let’s get this wrapped up” tension, and I would encourage you to take your time and reach for completion. The Sun’s trip through a sign is a journey. Taurus is a deep sign. Every day counts.

You’ll get there. Photo by eswendel.

When the Sun changes signs on Friday, May 20, the Moon is nearly at opposition — and the Full Moon takes place on Saturday, May 21. So, as the Sun moves through the late degrees of Taurus, the Moon is waxing toward full phase, and that will be an adventure.

Pay attention, and do your best to defuse negative tension rather than feed it. Alternately, you have the option to play with tension in a positive way (conversation, friendly debate, actual exploration of ideas, role play and so on).

The heat of this event is described by the Full Moon closely conjunct Mars retrograde in Sagittarius. This will bring to the forefront the many questions of Mars retrograde, which we’ve been covering week by week all throughout Planet Waves.

You can reasonably expect some previously hidden feelings, ideas, necessities or underlying issues to rise to the surface. Here is the thing to remember: How you handle them is up to you.

The action in the sky is about to shift in the direction of what are, in theory anyway, the most flexible signs: Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces. This is a reminder that your mind is flexible. You have the ability to see options and to make decisions. You have the ability to change, which is a necessity of growth. Said another way, growth IS change. And the wave that is rapidly approaching is encouraging you to embrace this basic fact of existence.

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Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. — Vincent van Gogh

Monday sees the rare transit of Mercury across the face of the Sun. Astrologically, the precise conjunction takes place at 11:12 am EDT (15:12:02 UTC).

“The Sower” by Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890)

The Moon is on the Atlantis degree, 28+ Gemini, in that chart, and is aspected by the asteroid Atlantis itself, among others. Many of us have experienced a relatively rough ride in the past week; or at the least, one or two bumps in the road.

It’s well known that Mercury retrograde can be a royal pain in the backside. Yet for many it’s actually a source of relief, rest or inspiration — particularly if one flows with the proverbial tide. If you have experienced a less than ideal phase, this week’s conjunction may be of use. There might be a moment of sudden clarity or realization, in which the path ahead becomes straighter and possibly easier. If you’re going one step at a time, knowing where to put your feet next can be like liberation.

This week’s astrology suggests that the thing to do is to persist in spite of any apparent obstacles; those barriers are unlikely to be as big as they seem, and you are stronger than you know.

That doesn’t mean you have to write a novel or paint a masterpiece every day. If persistence means getting out of bed, that’s all that’s needed. Chances are you’ll feel stronger for the effort, and all the better once Mercury swings around and starts heading forward once more.

This week ushers in the astrological Beltane, which is the moment the Sun reaches the midpoint of Taurus, on May 4 at 9:42 pm EDT (01:41 UTC May 5). The Taurus New Moon takes place shortly after that, on May 6 at 3:29 pm EDT (19:29:27 UTC). The last days before the New Moon, coupled with two inner planet retrogrades, make the first few days of this week the ideal slow-down-and-review moment.

Beltane maypole antics. Photo by Paxus.

Eric has written plenty about the cross-quarter days and their relationship to the Aries Point (see here and here for example).

The astrology of this week treads the intersection between the personal and the collective in a decidedly Taurean way. It does so by emphasizing the logical path of our values.

What I mean by this is that when we subscribe to a particular set of morals, this can have consequences wider than ourselves. Note the effect of Christian morality imposed on, for example, sex education and birth control in public schools.

For you, this week, there is a calling to review your own values — to ask yourself searching questions about what you truly believe. The time to do this is when you find yourself in some sort of quandary or issue over what is important, or what decision to make. Values are not abstract. They are connected to choices and to action.

It helps to be real with yourself, and to not play games when it comes to admitting what you want. Yes, this is a process, though it’s true that well begun is halfway done. Give it a go. When you’re asked something, experiment with giving the real answer and see what happens.

You might not get the result you were expecting; you might get a better one, and you’re likely to shift the dialog. These kinds of changes in direction are part of what Mercury and Mars retrograde are about.

The Spring Reading is now published. Order all 12 signs here or choose your individual signs here for immediate access. You may listen to a free audio introduction here.

Thanks to Eric for helping me write this week’s piece and making sense of the astrology. Here is a thoroughly informative article from the PW archives on Mercury retrograde.

It’s that time of year again. As Mars wends its way back toward Scorpio, Mercury this week also turns retrograde. The station takes place on Thursday at 1:20 pm EDT (17:19:39 UTC).

The chart for this event is remarkable, and highlights a lot of points — including Mars, which contacts Eris all but precisely in a sesquiquadrate, or 135-degree angle. Also noteworthy is Vesta, which has accompanied Mercury on its passage through Taurus and is just a degree and a half away at the moment in question. This describes many forces of nature and of psyche acting on one another simultaneously. Friction has a way of making fire.

Don’t forget to leave yourself a little extra time.

Each Mercury station has its own nuances, but the themes tend to be broadly similar.

We know enough about Mercury retrograde, especially the first few days before, to remind you to use your head, slow down, and be alert and aware. This will save you time and trouble. Also, make backups, perform extra checks and avoid signing contracts.

Eric also suggests you leave yourself extra time to get places. Calculate accurately, including things like parking; and then add on 15 minutes as a buffer. That’s helpful any week, though it will save you inconvenience this week; and the Taurus influence will make itself felt most pleasantly if you make sure there is some ‘you time’ factored in.

Approached with calm and caution, Mercury retrogrades can be a restful and gentle moment. This is especially the case in mellow Taurus, with the mood already set by Mars. Plan, deliberate, think before you speak or act. Then, hopefully, all you’ll need to do is relax and enjoy.

A few thoughts on the retrograde connection between Mercury and Mars

While Mercury will be retrograde in Taurus, Mars — which is lit up like a beacon in Mercury’s station chart — is working its way toward Scorpio. Scorpio is the sign of Samhain, or Hallowe’en: the festival when the veil between the worlds thins out, and when the various Underworld descent myths are most vividly evoked.

Inanna performs the Dance of the Seven Veils (yes, really); Isis rebuilds Osiris; Herakles pops down for a visit (and to rescue Prometheus). Meanwhile, Persephone starts off as a carefree girl and, as we all know, ends up running the place.

Don’t forget your Spring Reading, either. Eric has created extended readings for all the signs that are excellent, informative and available right now.

Tartarus has a way of turning normal parameters upside-down, of causing miraculous transformations, and of playing host to lost or forgotten items that might just reveal themselves to be the most precious of all.

In the midst of the darkness, we often find what we were missing the most. In terms of the tantric nature of the quest, that might just be our animus or anima — the hidden other within ourselves that once claimed makes us whole unto ourselves, and therefore truly free.

Mars has invited you to participate in your own version of the descent-retrieval-emergence tale. I would suggest that Mercury’s own change of direction (exactly opposite, by the way, the degree in which Mars will eventually turn direct) adds an extra factor of consciousness and judgment to this process. If Mars has set the course, Mercury and Vesta are providing the tools you’ll need: sincerity, devotion and deliberation.

Be prepared to embrace all the facets of your being as you discover them — male, female, Goddess, God, the random fragment from Ganymede, and everything in between. Be patient with yourself, as well as determined, and listen to the wisdom (Mercury) of your body (Taurus).

What matters most of all in the weeks and months to come is that this process of growth and healing is both meaningful and beneficial to you. You deserve no less than to return whole and strengthened into the light, with that divine spark inside you blazing away. May you find all that you seek.

This week we get the build-up to Mars stationing retrograde in Sagittarius, which happens next Sunday, April 17, at 8:14 am EDT (12:13:47 UTC). The retrograde period lasts two months, and this forms the basis of Eric’s 2016 Spring Reading, which we’re publishing soon.

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