May 30, 2022 at 6:30am San Miguel de Allende—If I were to pair this New Moon in Gemini with a quote, it would be this one by Henry David Thoreau: “The cost of a thing is the amount of what I will call life which is required to be exchanged for it, immediately or in the long run.”
The fence of indecision
The cost of a thing… it almost sounds like a mantra, doesn’t it? “The thing” refers to more than a new coffee table, plane tickets or a handbag. The thing can very well be life decisions we all face at some point: Should I leave him? Should I have a child? Should I quit this job? Should I take that one? Should I enter this romance? Should I come out with the truth? And there are many others. Tomorrow’s New Moon speaks to being in the crosshairs of a choice and for a moment, being uncomfortably suspended as we sit on the disquieted fence of indecision.
Eight of Swords
The first decan of Gemini—where the New Moon occurs—is associated with the Eight of Swords. In the card, we see a woman loosely bound, blindfolded and surrounded by eight swords. At her feet we see the tide beginning to come in. Water symbolizes our subconscious and innermost desires. Here, she is connected to her private feelings, yet unable to move forward. She’s constricted by the bindings of any number of things: self consciousness, honor, responsibility, commitment and expectations not only of others, but of herself. The swords symbolize perceptions. These are the thoughts whirring in her mind keeping her on that fence of indecision. Her perceptions, formed by conditioning, is what binds her, even though at any moment, the cloth could easily be removed. It’s the same with our perceptions: when we allow ourselves to see our plight with compassion and understanding, our paralyzing indecision begins to remove its grip on us.
Signatures
The lunation is ruled by Mercury, currently retrograde in Taurus. Like a cow chewing its cud, there’s a mental agitation present. Some of us are reviewing past events, imagining future case scenarios while attempting to honor our values. There are paths opening and closing now, asking us to commit to one of them. The question is: can we be true to ourselves?
Mercury also squares Saturn, another indication of reevaluating responsibilities especially in terms of long term obligations. Do we want to put in the time and shoulder the responsibility of a commitment? Or should we free ourselves for something else? The relationship between Saturn and Mercury would have us look at the long term viability of a certain undertaking we’re in relationship to. We can expect a shift to arise in the level of commitment the first week of June when Mercury turns direct (3rd) and Saturn stations retrograde (4th).
Mars will till the field of Gemini
One final consideration: Mars. The warrior planet turns retrograde about every two years. This year, Mars will retrograde in Gemini spending a total of seven months in diurnal domicile of Mercury! Here are the dates:
—Mars enters Gemini August 21st
—Mars turns retrograde October 30th at 25°36′ Gemini
—Mars stations direct on January 12th at 8°18′ Gemini, less than 1° from tomorrow’s New Moon
—Mars enters Cancer March 26 2023
Whatever seeds we plant at this new moon will certainly be tilled, hoed and invigorated the end of the year and the beginning of 2023. We might very well be reminded of the cost of a thing at that time.
Patience with the unresolved
I started with a quote and I’ll end with one that speaks to the Eight of Swords and this uncertain Moon in Gemini: “Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.” By the beloved Rilke.
Perhaps the cost of a thing, “the amount of life required in its exchange”, can be offset by the answers we finally live into. 💛