On May 21, a new Sun/Mercury cycle commences when they form their Inferior Conjunction at 0° Gemini. Mercury never travels very far from the Sun, (maximum of 28°) and when they cross paths at the midpoint of the Mercury retrograde period, it marks the significant “New Moon” phase when seed ideas form that will be developed over the course of the four-month cycle.
Mercury relates to our way of perceiving the world, our intellectual process of gathering and analyzing information, and communicating our thoughts and experiences. Symbolically the Sun is the force of our will, the radiating heart at the core of our being which makes us shine in the world. The Inferior Conjunction often correlates to times of intense clarity as we distill to its essence what we’ve learned from the previous cycle. It also represents a process of releasing what is no longer needed so the old cycle can end and the new one begins.
Potent in the sign it rules, Mercury’s archetypal penchant for exchanging data can easily descend into a mental habit of circulating information with little regard for purpose or meaning. The transpersonal approach to astrology asks us to consider the possibility that Mercury, as the Messenger of the Gods, can also be a conduit for information originating beyond the mind. Mercury in Gemini asks us to wait in open stillness to receive information from the cosmos and allow divine wisdom to flow through us, guiding our every thought and word with higher quality information. How we develop them over the course of the next four months could meaningfully alter our trajectory into the future.
In synchronicity with the Sun/Mercury conjunction, the Moon and Sun align on May 22 in a third quarter “crisis of consciousness” square at 1° Pisces/Gemini. This initiates the challenging closing phase of the lunar cycle where we are asked to begin the process of contemplating that which we’ve learned over the past few weeks since the New Moon and Full Moon eclipses unfolded along the Taurus/Scorpio axis. Eclipses often correlate to a powerful release of energy that has the potential to break down entrenched positions. The eclipses of this Lunar Phase have occurred in fixed signs where this part of the phase is in mutable Gemini and Pisces. Our task now is to integrate realizations from both the Full Moon Lunar Eclipse and the Sun-Mercury Inferior Conjunction. Further, Gemini encourages open communication and flexible thinking, while Pisces emphasizes compassion and becoming attuned to the sensitivities of others.
Together, this combination of transits heightens the imperative to let go of the past so we can avoid remaining in a state of stagnancy. We could be asking, what might these eclipses have triggered to the surface of our consciousness? Where are we feeling a need to let go? How might we begin to develop any new seed ideas forming in the coming days so we can better align with our life’s purpose line? By willingly entering the cyclic death/rebirth transitional portal, we may feel the Pisces Moon’s gentle yet powerful force of unconditional love and compassion transporting us through it at new level.
By Jim Sher and Kimberly Maxwell
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