New Moons, as I have said in most of my New Moon articles, are times of beginnings, when the Sun and Moon occupy the same degree of a particular zodiac sign. This June 1st New Moon occurs at12 degrees of Gemini . When two planets occupy the same degree there is a blending of the energies of each planet. The Sun is our conscious awareness and the Moon is our subconscious or habitual reactions to life. In a natal chart a person’s Sun sign is the way they integrate their life experiences, while the Moon sign is the way they react and respond to life.

All conjunctions (when planets share a degree or are within 8 degrees of each other) imbue power. So New Moons are powerful times because the two major luminaries, the Sun and Moon are conjoined (conjunct), or on the same page, so to speak. This New Moon is particularly potent because it is also occurring on the nodal axis of the Moon. The nodal axis is a pair of points where the orbit of the Moon around the Earth and the orbit of the Earth around the Sun (the elliptic) intersect. These points are 180 degrees apart (as in all axes) and are called the North Node of the Moon and the South Node of the Moon. As the Earth travels around the Sun, this axis travels with it, so that there are two times a year that the nodal axis aligns with the Sun. It as this time when eclipses can occur.

Eclipses occur when the Sun , the Moon and the Earth are in alignment. There are two types of eclipses, Solar, when the Moon is located between the Sun and the Earth and the light of the Sun is blocked out by the Moon. (Figure 1) And the Lunar Eclipse, when the earth is sandwiched between the Sun and the Moon and the Earth blocks the light of the Sun and the Moon’s refected light is blocked. (Figure 2) Solar eclipses can only occur and New Moons, and Lunar Eclipses can only occur at Full Moons.

Figure 1 Solar Eclipse

Figure 2 Lunar Eclipse

There are two eclipse seasons a year, when the eclipse happens at the North Node of the Moon and when the eclipse happens at the South Node of the Moon. These seasons are 6 months apart from each other. Each year we can have 3-6 eclipses. Eclipses are historically harbingers of change. In ancient times primitive man watched eclipses with a mixture of awe and dread, as the life giving Sun suddenly became blotted out as seen in a solar eclipse, or the face of the Full Moon turned blood red, as seen in a lunar eclipse. Today, with our understanding of planetary orbits and geometry, much of the awe and dread has been replaced with passing curiosity. However, these times can be utilized for modern man, to come to terms with where we are going as a species, and where we have been.

Modern Astrologers have come to understand what Ancient Hindu Astrologers have always know, that the Nodes of the moon are some of the most important factors & points of power in a chart. The North Node is the point where our destiny lies, the South Node is where we have come from. The North Node is our growing edge, something that will bring us much success as long as we put in the effort. Because it is the growing edge of our evolution it is often difficult going because as part of the journey to the North Node we must move out of our comfort zones. The South Node is our comfort zone, it is where we find our talents and abilities, as well as our habitual patterns of being. We can utilize the strengths we have accrued in the South Node, but we cannot ‘live there’. If we stay within the familiarity of our South Nodes we stunt our own evolutionary growth. And in many cases our “comfort zone” is not a pleasant place. It is the habitual patterns that ultimately hurt us. The phrase “it’s better to stay with the devil you know, then the devil you don’t”, is something someone stuck in their South Node might say. There is also the sense of being a victim of your circumstances in your South Node, while the North Node is a place of being the captain of your own ship, choosing differently so that we can move onward and upward.

This New Moon Solar Eclipse in Gemini is the start of the eclipse season of the South Node. South Node eclipses are about release. Gemini is about communication, the lower mind, duality and the media. Mercury the ruler of Gemini is the way we take in information. In mythology Mercury was the messenger of the gods, he was also a trickster god, ‘patron god’ of thieves and liars. One of the most insidious and, dare I say, dangerous tendencies of air signs in general and Gemini in specific, is their ability to rationalize. The ability to mentalize situations without accessing the spirit (the opposite polarity of air which is fire) which resides in our heart. Gemini is also the ability to separate out life into disparate parts, in an attempt to understand the whole by slicing it up into bite size information. This is necessary for us to come to an understanding of our environment, yet to only see things as separate is the very definition of duality. It is either this, or it is that. When in truth it is all part of a interconnected whole. And there is the opposite pole of Gemini which is Sagittarius, the sign of the transiting North Node. It is the balance of these two polarities that help us to understand our world from a detailed and holistic view.

So with the South Node in Gemini this New Moon eclipse asks us to look at what mental constructs we need to let go of. What lies do we tell ourselves so that we can stay in our comfort zones? Where in our life are we rationalizing ourselves out of moving in the direction of our destiny? Where the New Moon falls in your natal chart will give you clues as to what area of life there themes will play out.

If we look at the New Moon chart drawn for Washington D.C., the New Moon falls in the 8th house of shared resources and debt. Mecury the natural ruler of Gemini is in the sign of Taurus money, values and resources on the cusp of the 7th and 8th houses (7th house is one to one partnerships and open enemies & the 8th house is sex, death, legacies, taxes and shared resources) Issues of money , how it is spent, what it is spent on are all up for review. In the US, Republicans are dead set on cutting entitlements and safety nets for those who are most vulnerable yet not wanting to tax the richest 1% and not cutting back on military spending. Companies like GE, the designer of many nuclear power plants including the Fukishima Daiichi plant in Japan are paying no taxes at all, while the quickly shrinking middle class is asked to make sacrifices. All these policies are up for review.

The Sun and Moon of the New Moon chart has one only one major aspect, a trine to Saturn in Libra. Trines give support to the process of the Sun/Moon conjunction. Saturn in Libra is located in the 12th house in the eclipse chart. This can be seen as help from the unseen as Libra is the sign of the Higher Self. However, the 12th house is also the house of hidden enemies and under handed dealings. The powers that be, the military industrial complex, big pharma, will be exerting it’s own pressure from the shadows as the country reviews who will get to share in it‘s resources.

Fourteen days after this new Moon on June 15th there is a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse, the second Eclipse of this active eclipse season. Full Moons are times of awareness, when the Sun (the conscious mind) and the Moon (the subconscious mind) are at their furthest point from each other, giving us the best perspective of how our unconscious drives line up with our conscious mind. Whatever still needs to be let go of, will be evident and another opportunity will present itself to let go of what must go.

This is shaping up as another summer fraught with change, as our emotional and mental makeup is tested. Be willing to look in the mirror with honesty and compassion. The direction of our mutual evolution is in the direction of an understanding of our place in nature, and finding a place that is mutually beneficial to humankind and the rest of creation.