Sun into Gemini 2011: Flying with the Gods

Those affable, talkative Twins of Gemini arrive on May 21st at 2:21 A.M. PST when the Sun enters the mutable air sign associated with broadcasting, technology, socializing and travel. True to form, their speedy ruler Mercury will move from Taurus, through Gemini and into Cancer during this solar cycle. Neptune and Chiron will turn retrograde, Jupiter will enter Taurus, Mercury and the Sun will make conjunctions with the South Node and two eclipses will occur. Meanwhile Saturn, now traveling through judicious Libra, will trine the planets in Gemini and emerge from its annual retrograde. Such a hotbed of astrological activity seems only fitting for our hyper-chatty, multi-tasking Twins. Any less and they would be bored senseless. That being said, during the Gemini journey ahead, our inquisitive, adaptable Twins may find themselves wanting to abandon life’s uncomfortable headlines for its crossword puzzles. The planets however, will ask them to read the entire Sunday edition, thoroughly.

Mercury is Gemini’s ruling planet and the Messenger of the Gods. In astrological shorthand, Mercury represents mental activity and the Sun represents the ego. Glimpse at any chart and the two will not be far apart. That is because Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun. At any given moment, the amount of information coming at us is staggering and simply impossible to fully comprehend. It is Mercury’s job is to instantaneously mine the massive and exhaustive databanks of the past and present to cull the material vital for decision-making. With such a close alliance with the ego however, the danger lies in Mercury becoming our “yes man.” Under its unconscious influence, we selectively choose the facts that support “our story” and conveniently dismiss the irrelevant rest. Positioned in Libra, the sign concerned with balance, truth and fairness, is stern, astute Saturn. If the Sun and Mercury are like two eager young journalists intent on breaking a dramatic news story, then discerning Saturn is their old-school newspaper editor. He will put these brash upstarts through the rigors of solid journalism, like extensive fact and source background checking. Old Saturn knows the damage one faulty variable can do to an entire equation and the painful consequences for us from acting on erroneous information. In noble Libra he is diligently working to insure that we do not allow our minds to play unhealthy tricks on us.

Assisting us with a much more subtle and subterranean sort of review, will be Neptune and Chiron beginning retrogrades in holistic Pisces on June 2nd and 8th respectively. Their influence takes place far beneath the surface of our endless streams of thought. From their deeper vantage point, we can get in touch with the emotional sources and motives behind our stories and the passages and narratives of it needing revision and healing. Pisces assimilates, integrates and completes and Neptune and Chiron further compassion and healing. This June they embark on a five-month-long process that ends in November when Neptune turns direct on the 9th and Chiron on the 10th. Note how closely they are traveling.

Please join Elizabeth on the debut of the Hay House Book Club on Friday, May 27th at 11:00 A.M. PST on Hay House Radio when she will be a guest blogger talking about "Married to Bhutan" by Linda Leaming.

Another large-planet, big-picture concept that will give our lovable Twins food for thought is expansive Jupiter’s journey into earthy Taurus on June 4th. With it perhaps an old phrase from the national lexicon will be amended. Can you say “rational exuberance”? The happy-go-lucky planet of plenty has been in fiery, impulsive Aires since late January. On March 11th quirky, inventive Uranus joined it there, and the two very likely bestowed some truly brilliant flashes of insight and inspiration, as well as some golden new opportunities. The calm, stabilizing presence of the bull will ground us long enough to give those Aries-born ideas form, and the bull’s patient disposition welcomes the hard work most meaningful endeavors require. With a favorable trine from truthful Pluto in pragmatic, disciplined Capricorn, Jupiter’s year-long run with the bull is likely to produce long-lasting success where we employ its energies consistently.

Then there’s the business of those Nodes. Presently the South Node is in Gemini and the North in Sagittarius. On June 13th Mercury will connect with the South Node and the Sun will make its South Node conjunction on the 14th. The South Node represents the resources we bring into this lifetime. Via genetics or reincarnation, its placement in our birth or natal chart often describes our natural gifts and abilities. The North Node suggests our growth challenge this time around.

Underscoring this activity will be this cycle’s forthcoming eclipses in Gemini on June 1st and Sagittarius on June 15th. Gemini gathers information and Sagittarius gives it context and meaning. For example, a well-functioning instrument panel with its precise and sophisticated measurements is essential for safely navigating an airplane. Who would want to fly without it? But an airplane flight is not merely a function of the math and science that make it possible. Through aspiring, philosophical Sagittarius, we begin to appreciate the magic of flying. In its awe-inspiring presence, we remember that sitting in a chair, perched thousands of miles above the earth, while hurling hundreds of miles for per hour through time and space, was once the sole domain of the gods. The new Gemini moon of June 1st will yield new data, and the Sagittarius full moon of June 15th will offer moments of enlightenment. So during the 2011 Gemini journey, if it feels like the planets are conspiring to encourage those adorable Twins and us to exchange old patterns, people and places for new adventures, concepts and horizons, they are.


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To the Soldiers

A few weeks ago I heard a beautiful Edwin McCain song called “Prayer For St. Peter” on Pandora. I really admire his work, probably because he writes, plays and sings so emotionally. Most of my regular readers know that I volunteer at my local USO a couple of weekends each month. Though it is a 90-minute drive from where I live, it is always a welcome opportunity to give back. There I see U.S. soldiers (and Marines lol) heading to and returning from their deployments. I meet family members and hang out with some of the nicest volunteers you would ever want to meet. So it is pretty understandable that Edwin McCain’s poignant song would stir my feelings.

I bookmarked it, (legally) downloaded it, read up on it and even found guitar chords for it, posted by a nice guy with an AOL email address. That was very cool of him, btw. This song has become the strongest candidate for the next one I’ll learn to play on my harp. Over and over I play Edwin’s recording, and over and over the tears well up and are released. When I looked up the video, I found tons of versions with the American flag and images of our soldiers. According to Edwin, the lyric is a prayer that was written on the side of a hospital in the Philippines during World War II. Indeed we owe much to our veterans and current service members. When I hear this song lately though, my mind veers to remote parts of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and in my mind’s eye I see the bodies of all soldiers who die in combat. And today as I read the story of the Queen of England’s historic visit to some of Ireland’s most staunchly Republican places, again I thought of fallen soldiers, this time British and Irish.

I don’t have any “answers” or statement to make, just an avalanche of feelings and deep gratitude to Edwin for putting the words of that prayer to such moving music.

Let Them In (A Prayer For St. Peter)

Let them in Peter, For they are very tired
Give them couches where the angels sleep, And light those fires
Let them wake whole again, To brand new dawns
Fired by the sun, Not wartime’s bloody guns

May their peace be deep, Remember where the broken bodies lie
God knows how young they were, To have to die
God knows how young they were, To have to die

Give them things they like, Let them make some noise
Give dance hall bands not golden harps, To these our boys
Let them love Peter, For they've had no time
They should have bird songs and trees, And hills to climb
The taste of summer, And a ripened pear
Girls sweet as meadow wind, And flowing hair
Tell them how they are missed, But say not to fear
It's gonna be all right, With us down here

Let them in Peter, For they are very tired
Give them couches where the angels sleep, And light those fires
Let them wake whole again, To brand new dawns
Fired by the sun, Not wartime’s bloody guns
May their peace be deep, Remember where the broken bodies lie
God knows how young they were, To have to die

Tell them how they are missed, But say not to fear
It's gonna be all right, With us down here


Ps: Since the original post I found out that a songwriter named John Gorka is actually the person who wrote the music to this poem/prayer. Edwin McCain recorded it.



Pps: And since then, I got the chance to record a video of the song. Thank you to John Gorka for granting permission for me to publish this song as part of a fund-raising video!! You're awesome!