6:37 pm  AHST  6/17/2023
  9:37  pm    PDT  6/17/2023

 12:37  am    EDT  6/18/2023
  4:37  am   GMT 6/18/2023

Even though my Gemini Sun is happy to have the New Moon in my sign, a once-a-year, new beginning energy, the energy of this New Moon chart is not exactly aligned with what Gemini represents: linear thinking and information gathering. The only major aspects to this New Moon are a square to Neptune and an inconjunct to Pluto. Not exactly your typical Gemini New Moon beginning.

A square to Neptune means that both the Sun and Moon are at challenging right angles to the planet of illusion, unconscious energy, dreams and the great fog of the unknown. Watch out for what you think is “real” because there will be overtones (and undertones) of potential illusion or fantasy, thinking that you’re saying one thing while something else is being conveyed. This energy is best used to be creative, or meditative, or anything that involves going within. But definitely watch your dreams, both night and day dreams, as they may be particularly intense, slippery, or visionary even. Your left brain thinking can’t go into these realms.

Inconjuncts are angles of 150˚, one sign off from an opposition (180˚). They are a cautionary influence, asking us to really slow down and become aware of our relationship to our inner power. Are we feeling dominant, or dominated? This is Pluto’s realm. As Carolyn Myss says, everything in our lives is about the negotiation of power, how to get our needs met. But if we’re overly invested in a particular outcome, i.e. if our self image is wrapped up in it, then Pluto may remind us of what needs to be cleaned up in our approach. Again, trying to adjust your thinking about it won’t change this dynamic.

OK, so far, we’re kind of in a non-linear place with this New Moon. With no aspects (connecting angles) to the personal planets it feels a little it’s happening in the background. Looking at Mercury then, which is also in its home sign of Gemini, we have a tight sextile (60˚ angle) to Venus in Leo, which certainly accents the creativity of this lunar cycle, along with a sextile to Mars in Leo, so it’s through connecting with others that we feel the imaginative stimulation of this cycle. However, Mercury forms a square to Saturn, and so caution is advised that we may feel blocked in getting to this creativity that we sense is there. Looking around us at the state of the world may bring a sense of cynicism, or fears and worries. If we focus on the positive energy of Saturn, it involves lovingly disciplining our negative thinking, watching our self-talk, and looking outside of our heads and thoughts for the kinds of connections that enrich us.

And Mars, our take-action energy, now in a square to Uranus, means unpredictable actions, too much nervous energy, so again, the theme is to slow down and watch our movements with extra care and meditative focus. Our thoughts may be racing and too much all at once, which prevents us from listening, either to others to form good connections, or to our own inner insight, that guiding voice within all of us. Our inner guidance gets a busy signal if we’re on the line with our inner chatter of fears and worry.

Jupiter’s tight sextile to Saturn promises an energy this month of fulfilling work, that when we set about to do something, if we’re patient and careful, the energies are supportive of solid and grounding work (Jupiter in Taurus) such as gardening, studying, repairing items, and working on projects you’ve already started.

This is largely an internal New Moon cycle, one which favors using our intuition. There are possibilities of creativity that may involve writing, poetry, art, dance, or imaginative flights of fancy. Yet with Pluto backing into Capricorn for the rest of the year, we are facing karmic kickbacks, especially on the world stage of politics, but the US in particular is facing its shadow with its history of slavery and economic and political exploitation of other countries, as Pluto once again accents the country’s Pluto Return (1776-2022). Perhaps Neptune’s resources will help us to envision our way through to supporting the many kinds of healing that must take place.

Saturn is doing its yearly retrograde motion within hours of this New Moon, so there is that component happening also. From now till November 4th, it’s time to get more aligned and more motivated by our inner guidance system, as Saturn retro in Pisces guides us toward asking deeper questions of ourselves. What are our needs, and are we structuring our lives to make time for them, so that we can be more responsible to ourselves? And, where are we falling into old habits that really don’t meet our needs in the long run?

We are approaching Solstice, that time of year in the Earth’s orbit where its natural tilt faces in the most direct angle toward the Sun in the northern hemisphere. For about a week, the Sun is rising and setting in about the same most northerly place until it gradually begins to rise and set more toward the equator in September. There are ancient rituals in cultures around the globe that mark this important shifting time, a time to celebrate the power of the Sun in its longest day, to gather together in ritual celebration of our connection to each other and to honor all Life in all of its many various and wondrous forms.