Updated: Jul 28, 2020
Eclipses! Retrogrades! Oh My! These are the themes for June 2020. With so much unrest, uncertainty, and fear permeating the world, I am sitting quietly and listening deeply to how I might best deliver the energetic and astrological messages for this month. My goal is to speak with clarity and integrity, while also contributing to the hope, light, and positivity that still exists. In true Gemini fashion, I am going to offer both sides of the coin to what we have to work with…both light and shadow. Continuing to work with integration versus negation someone recently asked me “How could fear or worry really become a tool?” The answer that came to me at that time was, “If it sends you into prayer, being of service to yourself and others, and brings your attention back to your practices or faith, I would say it has become a tool.” We cannot pretend these negative emotions or negativity simply does not exist. What we can do is choose how we want to use them.
In ancient times, eclipses were considered negative omens and harbingers of evil times upon the civilizations. In today’s modern astrological world, we tend to work with eclipse energy from a psychological and spiritual level versus fatalistic. We often categorize eclipses as new or full moons on steroids, and energy and actions we normally work with on a monthly occurrence becomes more intense, more profound, or more final. Each eclipse carries its own expression based on its sign and placement within the sky, and each eclipse comes in pairs. As many of you have heard me say, “We are made of Earth and Earth is part of the greater cosmos. Everything and No-thing is in a symbiotic relationship with one another.” We too are in a symbiotic relationship with the changes in the sky.
At the beginning of May, the true nodes of the moon began their shift out of Cancer (North Node)/Capricorn (South Node) and into Gemini (North Node) and Sagittarius (South Node). On June 5th, we will officially welcome the Gemini/Sagittarius eclipse season, which will last for the next 18 months. We may be seeking ways we can let go of old, outdated beliefs and dogma that may have been heavy, restrictive or used as tools for manipulation. In that letting go process, we open our minds to receive the understanding and perception of truth that comes from the heart instead of the intellect alone. We begin to teach the things we have learned through direct experience, and allow ourselves to be the student when interacting with others. Instead of the fixed view of the world or our opinions, we engage in connection with information and others with open-mindedness and willingness to hold another’s view in equanimity.
The challenge of this eclipse season comes through our communication, connections, siblings, education, lightness, adventure, travel, and faith. Clearly what is happening on the planet has us either questioning our faith or clinging harder to it. We may have a feeling of existential crisis when we experience or gather too many opinions, or focus too narrowly on the negative in any given situation. Eclipses bring finality, and often whatever is activated that we have to deal with appears to come out of nowhere. In reality, whatever surfaces has been there all along. We were focused on other things or didn’t have what we needed at that time to deal with it, that we will now have. Our practices, life experiences, lessons learned, and belief systems can serve as tools that help us work with whatever shows up. A couple of things to pay attention to for the next 18 months:
- Offer as much communication as possible. Be careful of thinking assumptions are truths or that everyone else knows what you are thinking.
- Share opinions and ideas with the intention of connecting, playfulness, and forming stronger bonds with others. Be careful of sharing out of the need to be right, justified, or wooing someone else to your side.
- Accepting duality in yourself, others, and this 3-D reality can bring a sense of peace, commonality, empathy, and connection. Be careful of abandoning the parts of yourself or avoiding the shadows that are seeking integration. Integration doesn’t mean approving bad behaviors, but invites choices to respond.
- Being optimistic and hopeful helps to release stressful situations and see the best in yourself and others. Be careful not to blind yourself with false hope or blind optimism that could lead you to jump into things before checking out the facts, or purposely cheering people up when what they may need is to be witnessed and supported.
- Practice active and deep listening to thought processes, and provide yourself and others with an expanded view of a particular problem or situation. Be careful of attaching yourself too much to a teaching or truth and isolating or cutting yourself off from others.
Our first eclipse in Gemini/Sagittarius will be at the full moon (lunar eclipse) in Sagittarius on June 5th and the second eclipse (new moon solar eclipse) in this pair will be December 14th. We finish up the Cancer/Capricorn eclipse season June 20th and July 4th. The June 5th eclipse will be squaring off with our Mars in Pisces who is canoodling with Neptune and squaring off with Venus in Gemini. Needless to say, the intensity of this eclipse is already being felt within our society as Mars in Pisces can become the Spiritual Warrior standing up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. Consider Mars standing in front of Neptune and ripping off the rose-colored glasses to say, “No more deceptive or artsy ways of dealing with subject matters that have imprisoned others. Do you see what is really happening? We must stand up for the people and things we value most!” We can no longer be silent. The shadow side of this eclipse and all these squares can point towards more violence and protests that turn into riots, strikes, and at its worst a civil war, dividing ourselves, our families, and our country even more. This is indicated even more by the final Cancer/Capricorn eclipses at the end of the month as Cancer energy embodies family, patriotism, history, where and how we feel safe, and home environment.
Keep in mind that we can see and feel the effects of eclipses a month before or after. For those who enjoy looking at cycles and patterns, the last time we had the North Node in Gemini and South Node in Sagittarius was October 2001- April 2003, and the set reversed itself (South Node in Gemini/ North Node in Sagittarius) March 2011- September 2012. Similar themes may arise. If you want to know how this upcoming eclipse season may affect you personally, look at where Gemini/Sagittarius sit in your birth chart. You can also get weekly updates on my YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2yTISaM
This is a perfect segway into the retrograde energy for June. The big shift in the retrograde energy is Venus (note she is in Gemini which is where the North Node will be for the next 18 months), followed by Mercury. These two planets are the closest to the Sun and the closest personal planets we have. Mars changes signs soon after, which adds more dynamic energy. For those who are tracking, Mars will move into its home sign of Aries at the end of this month and retrograde in September this year. We will talk more about this in the months ahead.
In the spirit of the retrograde energy, let’s turn our attention back to Venus who is becoming our “morning star” when she crosses over the Sun and will be seen from the East around mid-June. The last time Venus was retrograde in Gemini was May through June 2012, and Mercury had its first retrograde motion of 2020 back in February and March in fellow water sign Pisces. The biggest theme right now is communication and connection within home, family, the people and things that help us feel “at home” and a sense of belonging. Our conversations, connections, studies, travels and what we place value upon may be more about with whom we spend our time, money and energy. A sense of “who’s who” and “people know they are important to me because I am spending my resources on them. There is also a big emphasis on quality not quantity.
Mercury moved into Cancer late in May and will retrograde on June 17th at 14 degrees Cancer. Neptune will also retrograde in Pisces this month a few days before Venus stations direct. We still have Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto all in retrograde motion as well. Retrograde energy invites us back into ourselves and to revisit certain areas and subjects in both our personal and collective lives. Consider the areas of life that have been swept under the rug for another day or that we haven’t wanted to deal with. This is a big month that can bring back relationships from the past to be healed, dealt with, or finally let go of. We may revisit family issues or reconnect with family members, especially siblings. We may face some financial decisions that need to be addressed, but require time and fact finding. Some of us may be re-evaluating where and with whom we call “home” or where we belong. We may find ourselves traveling again and going back to places that once felt familiar, feel more foreign as the landscape both internally and externally has changed. We have been through a MAJOR shift in energy, consciousness, and physical upheaval. We will never be the same. We will not view ourselves and the world the same way again. As they say, we cannot unlearn or unsee something we have seen or learned. Many times this can be a good thing, especially if we are able to use our long range visions and past experiences to make wiser present moment decisions.
I couldn’t let this month’s report go by without addressing the Summer Solstice on June 20th as it occurs at the time of our new moon solar eclipse. The thing I find so fascinating is that this particular Solstice feels like a double dose of eclipse energy. The Sun, Moon and the North Node of the Moon will be in Gemini for part of the day before the Sun and Moon move into Cancer late on the 20th (Pacific Coast) or early on the 21st (GMT). I feel intuitively that we will feel the energy of both Gemini/Sagittarius and Cancer/Capricorn eclipse more than ever. I believe we will feel as though we are walking between worlds, either super heightened or super discombobulated. There may be a sense from many high-sensitives that there is powerful energy afoot, but not quite sure what to do with it. YET…I emphasize yet because timing is everything and could reveal itself as soon as June 27th when Mars moves into Aries. I say this because Mars in Pisces will be sextile Pluto in Capricorn at the time of the Solstice stirring up the creative, fierce and powerful energy that needs to be manifested into some sort of form, but with Saturn in retrograde motion it may take more time. We need Saturn’s long-lasting stabilizing energy to compliment our desires.
The Solstice will be a great time for dancing, laughing, having fun for the sake of having fun, and engaging in flirtatious and silly behaviors. Just be responsible with how you use this energy as some of you reading this could end up with a “baby” that you were prepared for. This could be literally or metaphorically. Remember that our words create worlds as well so watch out for over commitment or over promising and under delivering later. This is a great time to say “That is so interesting, let me see where this goes.” or “Let’s talk in a week or so.” Being considered non-committal to something that you don’t have all the facts for right then and there can actually be a gift in the long run.
A few days after the Solstice on the 22nd, we will have a second Jupiter/Pluto conjunction in Capricorn. The first one on April 4th when we saw the largest spike in COVID-19 here in the USA. It would venture to say that we will see a culmination of the last few months’ energy around this time. As I am writing this, we are currently in the middle of the major shadow energy being brought to light by George Floyd’s senseless death. The abuse of power, racism, and now riots that have been living in the shadows are brought to light to be dealt with. We cannot turn a blind eye to the injustices that need to be addressed. I would venture to say that around this time we will be presented with opportunities to deal with these issues as a collective and put some clear boundaries, laws, and structures forward that can protect and unify us as a society and collective.
I would venture to say that while we are in the middle of the COVID-19 energy that we may also find some new ideas, ways of dealing with it, and interacting with others to come to light by the end of the month. Keep in mind that not everything is as it appears to be and try not to get swept away by the fear mongering, or attaching ourselves to false facts or believing whatever anyone else says because we are too lazy to research for ourselves. AND..I will leave you with this. Keep remembering that you have your own inner wisdom and power of choice. When in doubt and before making major decisions or statements, come back to your breath. Check in with your body and inner wisdom and TRUST what your own inner authority is telling you. This is a time where being LIKE HEARTED, not like minded is crucial.
We are creating a new world, a new reality and more than ever we are being asked to create consciously by making a moment-by-moment decisions about how we want to respond and show up for ourselves and one another. The invitation I am practicing is really looking at what I am willing to stand up FOR, not against. If I am standing up FOR love, compassion and kindness then how do I embody these things? What actions and mindset do I take that allows me to become the essence of the things I am standing up for? This perspective also invites me to set and communicate boundaries and beliefs in a way that doesn’t separate me from you, but invites equanimity and education. Shall we try it a few times and see where it leads?
