Let’s set the Astro stage…
This New Moon is happening in the mutable (meaning prone to change or variety) Air sign of Gemini. Quick recap of New Moon energy for anyone who’s new and/or learning, New Moons initiate the new lunar cycle, and therefore signify fresh starts and a time for embarking on new plans, projects, intentions, or adventures.
Gemini is the sign of The Twins and, when we examine its significance through a developmental psychology + astrology lens, we’re offered opportunities to consider where we’re indulging dualistic thinking - meaning black-and-white, either/or perspectives which are often limiting and can create false ultimatums.
Gemini is also a deeply reflective sign. Twins are often defined by one another, whether by the ways in which they are alike or stand apart, and many twins struggle with a sense of individualized identity because they are so frequently in persistent relation to their sibling. And so another theme that Gemini offers is how to we experience ourselves independently, and how do we identify ourselves through our closest, most direct relationships?
As an Air sign ruled by Mercury, which is currently in retrograde in Gemini, other important qualities to reference are communication, information, connection through words and ideas, and mental clarity/focus. With the planet Mercury being retrograde in its home sign, there’s a powerful invitation to reflect on and reassess how we engage these qualities, the supportive ways in which we employ them, and the patterns we’ve accepted or adopted but don’t agree or align with.
How can you use this New Moon for your own expansion and evolution?
The Oracle Card spread I use for New Moon readings takes inspiration from the agricultural implications of New Moons, when seeds were traditionally planted.
The first card represents the Dark Moon, which directly precedes the New Moon and is when the sky is in complete darkness. In moon magick, this is a time of release - where the proverbial soil is cleared of debris and detritus so the seeds of intentions have clear ground to take root in. So this card represents clearing out stale energy, dusty thoughts, or played out practices - which I call the Weed It Card.
The second card is the Seed It Card - what are you best served by planting, initiating, forging a fresh start on? Sometimes the card will affirm for you what you want, and sometimes it’ll reveal to you what you need. The New Moon always carries the power of what is not yet revealed to us (because the moon’s face is hidden and the part that is illuminated is the part we cannot see, but will gradually be revealed as the moon moves from New to Full).
The third card is the Feed It Card. How can you nourish the seed(s) you’ve planted so it grows deep, strong roots and is able to develop into a healthy, harvestable bloom? Your healing and development isn’t a “set it and forget it” process. You have to be present with yourself, tend to yourself, and ask for what you need to ensure your wellbeing.
That doesn’t mean be hypervigilant - standing over a plant and constantly monitoring if it’s grown today compared to yesterday doesn’t support the growth process, doesn’t make the plant grow faster or healthier, it just drains your energy and time.
You have your own pace, and it’s perfectly timed to foster everything you need along this zany and often equally exhilarating and exhausting experience of life. There’s nothing to catch up to, to compare yourself to, or to compete with. Society, however, sends us a very different message, and the cards are shepherding you to get curious about this and connect with your needs, your values, and ways your internal intentions are (or aren’t) being reflected by your external environment.
The Reveal!
Weed It: Follow Me
It’s great - and necessary - to be inspired and influenced by the sources that lead you into deeper connection with yourself. But in our current culture of being over-stimulated, spread too thin, and constantly chasing a fabricated sense of enough-ness that we’re never meant to reach but instead continue to purchase and consume our way closer to, who you follow matters.
Are you being led down your path from a place of direct experience, personal inquiry, self-connection, and values-aligned action? Or are you following the highly-marketable promises of someone else’s ready-made solution for success?
Listen - I get it. As individuals, we are burdened with solving or being accountable to so many issues that can only be solved at the collective/societal level - climate change, reproductive rights, the list often feels endless.
This is by design.
The more tired, underpaid, overwhelmed, scattered, hopeless, and dysregulated you are, the more reliant you are on quick fixes you can buy and the less time, space, or energy you have to disrupt or dismember those systems.
It’s not your fault that you need a break, that you need a helping hand or some short cuts. You’re not failing or falling behind. You’re being held down and held back.
So what’s the solution? Discernment.
Take your short cuts! Follow someone else’s example! But choose wisely and with intention. Find the sources that speak to your values, that align with your ethics, that reflect your truth.
To paraphrase one of my favorite chefs, Alton Brown, “Quality and convenience are rarely packaged together.” Which is to say, choose what you’re willing to cut out when you need to cut a corner.
Mindfully meet yourself where you’re at. And if someone is selling you an “All you need to do is follow my framework and you’ll get everything you want” or they focus on your mindset or your lack of effort as being the reason you’re struggling and they position themselves as the rescuer who knows how to fix you, fucking run. That’s not a healer or a coach, that’s a capitalist predator.
Look for these kinds of connections in your social media, on your bookshelves, even in your Netflix queue, and decide if you’re authentically and honorably being served by them.
On the other hand, if someone is offering you space to examine your experience and cultivate conscious self-connection so you can understand your needs, your challenges, and how you can accept yourself more fully, that person is probably a way healthier and humanistic fit for you to consider.
Seed It: Scared to Fly
When you’re influenced by guides, teachers, and mentors with integrity and pure intentions, you’re not forced to move faster than you’re ready for. Your pace, however slow and small your steps may need to be, is honored, respected, and integrated into your process.
This card is encouraging you to embrace your own pace, to tune into it and let it reveal what you need in order to feel safe, stable, and resourced.
Fear is not your enemy, it’s your fiercest protector. And yes, sometimes it can be a bit overbearing and actually being to obstruct you. But it’s not something to overcome, it’s something to listen to and learn from so you can make conscious choices that support you.
When fear is faced as a dragon to be slain or a weakness to be pushed aside, you’re bullying yourself to “suck it up,” “stop being a wimp,” and “just get over” something that is a genuine concern for you.
Whether or not that perceived threat is real, it feels real to you and your brain doesn’t distinguish between an external threat or a mentally conjured one. The fear is real regardless, and it’s doing its job by making you doubt or hesitate.
How can you show your fear compassionate curiosity?
How can you enter into conversation with your fear so you can find your footing and determine the pace of change, action, or growth that feels right for you?
Where are you perhaps forcing yourself to move faster or further than you’re really ready to?
Can you accept who you are, where you are, and trust that you are capable of getting where you want to go in a way that is supportive and gentle and kind to you?
Society says rush. Hustle. Compare and compete. But your body says slow down. Stabilize. Soften. Listen to and move with your own unique rhythm.
Feed It: Barnabus and the Prince
This card is all about the (gender neutral) Hero’s Journey, which is the path of uncovering your potential, your purpose, and the legacy you leave. That can be as localized as healing a generational pattern of codependency and breaking a family cycle of pain, or resourcing yourself in such a way that you’re able to be a source of support to your community.
Whether it’s an intimate version of heroism, or the grandiose examples we’re familiar with, the journey itself requires the same components:
Getting out of your comfort zone
Shedding part or all of the identity you were given
Meeting a trusted mentor (like Yoda in Star Wars, or Virgil in Dante’s Inferno)
Exploring the Unknown
Connecting with your truth
Confronting a darkness/Shedding light on the Shadow Self
Returning “home” to share the fruits of your journey
Reading this card alongside the two that come before it, this is the where the fresh start begins for you.
The messages offered in the first two cards are preparing you for a new adventure - one that will ultimately bring you into close connection with something you’ve been looking for for a while now - You. The raw, real, You who’s been laying under layers of other people’s expectations, rules, definitions of what’s appropriate, and all the ways you were told you should be, act, think, look, work, succeed, and aspire to.
Sure, there will be trials and challenges along the journey. But they may just be opportunities for you to get to know what you’re really capable of, as well as experience what you don’t want so you can be clearer about what you do want. With the challenges will come fulfillment, meaning, excitement, expansion, and connection to something really powerful that you can share with others so they too can heal and grow.
If this feels like a lot, remember the main message: go at your own pace. If you need personalized support or want to dive deeper into what this means for you specifically, book an Oracle Card reading with me and together we can explore your story and equip you to navigate the experience with clarity and confidence.
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