NEW MOON IN GEMINI
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
12:23 pm PDT / 3:23 pm EDT
The Gemini Moon arrives at 6 pm EST today. Hold on to your bonnets - you want to be careful not to get stung by all the buzzing bees inside of it! Mercury rules Gemini, and Merc is currently retrograde. Mercury goes direct on June 19th, just after the next Full Moon (Strawberry Moon), on June 18, at 1:31 pm EST. Stay tuned!
Gemini New Moon: Monkey Mind at Play
by Simone Butler
June is a good month to observe the antics of the Monkey Mind. Monkey Mind is a Buddhist term that describes the way our manic minds keep us from inner peace and happiness by distracting us with idle chatter, jumping to conclusions and swinging from one extreme to another. Retrograde Mercury in Gemini is the ideal time in which to rewind and hit “delete” on these old tapes.
Gemini New Moon Meditation:
Tuning in to Hermes - the God of Soul Talk
by Pythia Peay
Our spirit guide for this new moon journey is Hermes, the Greek counterpart of the Roman Mercury. The ancient god of occult magic who speaks the logos or “word of God,” Hermes’ sacred function is that of Psychopomp: the guide who conducts souls to the underworld and back. He is the ancient god of the crossroads, whose spirit appears to lost wayfarers and points them in the right direction.
Thanks to the ladies at Mooncircles!
In her monthly newsletter, Claudia, at Moonsurfing, writes:
- A Super New Moon in light-hearted social Gemini kicks off positive changes…BUT
- Almost half the sky is backing up pulling you inward and into the past, making it hard to focus.
- Venus and Mercury travel together in Gemini all month magnifying the magnetic power of your thoughts and words.
- Divine messenger Mercury rules reading, writing, and all forms of communication…lunar journaling is REALLY powerful now.
- A really intense Sagittarius Full Moon declares that a chapter of your life is over requiring you to take a leap of faith.
- The Summer Solstice caps it all off as the season changes and new light is shed on what’s being born now.”
FYI: Moonsurfing’s Gemini Lunar Journal is available HERE
SUMMER SOLSTICE:
The Summer Solstice is also known as: Alban Heflin, Alben Heruin, All-couples day, Feast of Epona, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Feill-Sheathain, Gathering Day, Johannistag, Litha, Midsummer, Sonnwend, Thing-Tide, Vestalia, etc.*
It’s never too early to get ready for the Summer Solstice, which marks the point when the Sun enters Cancer, and we enjoy the longest day of the year. It’s the traditional gathering of tribes for modern pagans, who light their bonfires at dusk on Midsummer’s Eve and stay up all night until the Sun rises to its Zenith on Midsummer Day.
While the solstice is popularly known as the beginning of summer, it is actually the MIDDLE of summer, the mid-point between the Vernal and Autumnal Equinoxes, also referred to as “High Summer.” In Shakespeare’s time, June 23rd was the set date for all night celebrations: bonfires, feasting, and magical journeys into the enchanted woods of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Since my birthday is the 23rd, you can probably imagine how the midsummer energies resonate with me. In my last post, I alluded to the changes coming up for me. I don’t yet know all of the details but I can feel it!
If you’re looking for mythology and seasonal lore please read: A Midsummer Celebration by Mike Nichols. He poses an interesting question about the waning and waxing year, as understood by Robert Graves and others. Nichols disagrees that the Sun God is symbolically slain at Midsummer. Instead, he points to Christian folk traditions that celebrate the births of Jesus (the Holly King) at the Winter Solstice and of John the Baptist (the Oak King) at the Summer Solstice. The question becomes: if the solstices symbolize birth, what time of year would symbolize death? Nichols posits that the equinoxes best represent the time when the forces of light/dark shift and one emerges to rule the rest of the year. Drawing upon The Mabinogion, and mythological references to the cauldron and the spear, Nichols’ essay makes for interesting reading!
LINKS:
*Religious Tolerance: Summer Solstice Celebrations
WATER: SACRALITY & LORE - WELLS, SPRINGS, POOLS, LAKES
by Kathleen Jenks, MythingLinks
Stonehenge and The Sequani Calendar
By Helen Benigni
