Astro Notes for Gemini Season 2023
On Tuesday (May 16) Jupiter entered Taurus, where it will stay for the next 12 months or so. Taurus is ruled by Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Jupiter and Venus are considered the two ‘benefic’ planets in astrology, ones that bestow grace and good fortune. Thus when Jupiter is in Venus-ruled Taurus, it’s fair to say that sweet opportunity is likely to come knocking in some area of our lives. Furthermore, when Jupiter aligns with Uranus (which it will do in April 2024, though we will start to feel its effects as early as this northern hemisphere summer), we could find ourselves very pleasantly surprised by an unexpected breakthrough that will open a big channel of creative energy propelling us toward the future. Jupiter-Uranus has been called by some the “Praise the Lord” transit. After everything we’ve been through over the last few years, Lord knows we could use a little relief.
But before we open to these more expansive possibilities, we have to make it through a very sharp test.
Gemini season (May 20-June 20) actually began this year on the heels of a beautiful new moon in Taurus (May 19) that made only harmonious aspects — a sextile with both Neptune and Mars and a trine with Pluto. The harmonic energy of the new moon carried the promise to deliver a Taurean gift of relaxation and abundance.
But we might not have perceived this pleasant note amidst the overpowering clang of an extremely tense T-square taking place between Pluto, Mars, and Jupiter. On Saturday May 19, Pluto at 0 degrees Aquarius was exactly opposite Mars at 0 degrees Leo, with both in an exact square to Jupiter at 0 degrees Taurus. We'll feel this transit intensely until the end of the month at least.
Phew. Pluto opposite Mars is as feisty and confrontational an energy as it gets. With Jupiter squaring both planets, the energy is likely to be magnified. Be mindful of the high potential for volatility. Treat it as a spiritual test of your ability to master the wild forces within you, rather than lashing out at others.
Yet every transit has its purpose. The universe is asking us to take decisive action in some area of our lives to bring it into alignment with our true values. (With Jupiter in Taurus, this may well involve our relationship with money or resources.) We can’t simply sit on these energies. We have to ‘win’ the peace promised by the new moon. Do whatever you can to keep your vibration high over the next 10-14 days. Let your sincerity guide you to take the action you need to bring your life into greater integrity. Arm yourself with courage to meet the challenge of this T-square with the fullness of your life-force, knowing that there’s a sweet reward if you do.
This T-square action takes place against the backdrop of our shift into Gemini season. Sun in Gemini provides the base note, while the other planets provide the flourishes. Taurus is fixed Earth, while Gemini is Mutable Air. So the baseline mood or rhythm becomes significantly lighter, faster, and more mental. In developmental terms, Gemini corresponds to the phase of an infant’s life when language first emerges. Along with language comes an innocent curiosity that expresses itself through endless questioning. The function of Gemini season is to return us to that state of beginner’s mind. We cooperate with Sun in Gemini by being in the aliveness of the question. As the zen saying goes, “not knowing is the most intimate”. If we allow a true question to pop the bubble of our certainty, we become immediate to the mystery of existence again. What assumptions about yourself or the world are you willing to question this month to make space for new possibilities to come in?
Mars and Venus both move into Leo during Gemini season. Mars enters Leo May 20 and Venus follows on June 5. Mars and Venus in Leo can turn up the razzle dazzle factor by a few welcome notches. Having the archetypal masculine and feminine personal planets together in the extroverted sign of Leo is likely to invite us all into a more sexy, playful, expressive mood. Creative or artistic activities in particular should receive a spunky boost of energy.
On May 30, Jupiter is conjunct the North Node in Taurus. If we have navigated well the challenge of the T-square, this transit could coincide with real opportunities for increased prosperity and abundance in a particular area of our lives (depending on where Taurus falls in our charts). It also favors building solid foundations — both internally and externally — for our long-term aspirations and the enjoyment of the simple pleasures of life on Earth.
Finally Pluto moves back into Capricorn on June 11, where it will stay for the remainder of 2023. Awwwwah! (Not sure if I’ve spelled that correctly.) If you’re like me, you’ve been enjoying this little taste of the fresh new energies of Aquarius since mid-March. But Pluto still has an important job to do in Capricorn. We are in the intense final clean-up operation over the next 18 months or so as Pluto dredges up all the old patterns and structures in ourselves and society that will not survive our transition into the Aquarian Age. It’s still an intense time of purging, personally and collectively. It’s definitely no walk in the park, yet it presents an extraordinary opportunity for rapid spiritual purification for those of us willing to examine our shadows.