Hélio Oiticica at Inhotim in Brumadinho/Brazil By régine debatty – P1080580, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15856978

The ideas are golden, clear and crisp, and very exciting–but somehow, if we were to materialize them just as we are imagining, they would conflict with our ambitions (or at least, the goals we’ve set) and undermine our personal authority. That’s no fun. We prevent Self-sabotage and get our ideas on the map in three ways: we don’t do anything that chips away at our health: physical, spiritual, financial, emotional; we accept reality, and the current authorities, even if they are wrong and we don’t like them, because we don’t have to like them to see What Is; and, we can use the social sphere as a handy measure: what they revere, we reject, what they say we can’t do (in the ‘you’ll never succeed’ sense), we see the possibilities and see how we can pursue the goal or solve the problem. We won’t change the world today, but we’re building the structures, mechanisms, and alliances that will.

(Jupiter sq Neptune, Mars sxt Hygeia, Mercury sq Zeus, sesq Ceres, trine Neptune, qnx Jupiter, and opp Saturn)

By Anthony26130 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=54972509

Today’s word image is a beautiful, full lavender plant that curls in upon itself–is it dead, you wonder?–but that then unfurls as soon as it’s planted. This is about understanding how important the right environment is, and it’s also about not being upset with ourselves if we’re not in full bloom–we just aren’t at the right spot, we haven’t created the optimum environment, yet. Look to your Earth in the natal chart (it’s always, always, always located directly opposite the Sun) for clues as to what environment you need to help you become the fullest, highest, and best expression of who you are.

For those born with the Sun at 25 Gemini. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). Your strongest ally this solar year, through to your next birthday, dear Gemini, may be your own very clear sense of what’s right, your instinctual knowledge, and your willingness to call out destruction and even evil for what it is. Accepting that ability in yourself makes your way forward evident, and consistently gives you both the power to change things and opens up choice, no matter the circumstances. In some sense this may be a ‘heavy’ year, but it’s also an empowering one, and could lead to bringing some ideals to reality, and to some truly creative, imaginative, and inspired actions and thinking. Good luck!

‘Pond with Willow Tree and Ducks’ By Peter DeWint c1820 {{PD}}

Outrage, anger, aggression, speaking (or more likely showing) Truth to Power, making a point–we’ve all got something we’re trying to impress upon others or the environment, and the more unconscious we are, the more angry and out-of-control we’ll be. A few pointers: don’t ignore realities–work with them, instead; obstacles may be in place for your protection, as they could prevent regrettable, in-the-moment choices; don’t try a two-birds-with-one-stone approach, specifically if you’re trying to further ambitions–it won’t work and may bleed valuable energy from other matters; if you’re going in the wrong direction, the facts may point that out to you–ignore at your peril; beliefs are going to be challenged–bend, willow, don’t break; and finally, engaging in power struggles will cost you assets, including relationships–so make your point and walk away–you’re not the idiot whisperer, and you’ve not been charged with changing others’ minds, with ‘educating’ them, no matter how it may feel.

‘Little Green Willow’ By Helen Hyde 1905 {{PD}}

This energy will put us at odds with the social sphere no matter what, but what’s really important is that we’re okay with ourselves, with who we are. Be clear on that, and refuse to wrassle for power, and you can convert that outward-pushing energy into productive, focused effort.

(Mars sesq Ceres, opp Saturn, sq Zeus, and qnx Jupiter, Venus sesq Pluto, Sun parallel Mars)

Today’s word image isn’t a word or phrase or described image, it’s instead something the Universe has been especially persistent in showing lately, and that is that it’s not speaking in symbols and complex language, it’s shouting at us pretty directly.We’re seeing all around us clear signals about what is happening with each of us, and with all larger entities. Two examples: a particular business entity was scheduled to have their yearly ice cream social today, but the freezer went on the fritz and all of it melted–and this entity is indeed in a state of crisis, in the midst of a slow-motion melt down. My other example comes from a chat I had with someone last week. This person was telling me about someone who runs a particular promotional business, and how she had come to other shop owners, trying to work a deal where she would get her name on their business productions and a cut of the profits, in exchange for . . . what? Her good will? She offered them nothing. The name of her company is supposed to be clever and playful, but it quite literally states that she wants to rob anyone she does business with! Obviously, I can’t name it for liability reasons, but it’s something along the lines of ‘Sneaky Thieves’! So, I think the point is that we need to be alert, look around, because not much is actually hidden, anymore. People are showing us who they are–believe them. And, I’d add to this, that if you’re receiving aggression because you’re showing firm boundaries, first you have my sympathy, and second, as the handmaids say, Latinesque style, “nolite te bastardes carborundorum”

Happy Birthday, you. ‘Cakes’ 1963 By Pplachigo Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported

For those born with the Sun at 23 Gemini. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). Gemini, you may be highly introspective this solar year, through to your next birthday, and that’s a good thing–it’s time for you to excavate what has over time come closer and closer to the surface. What results could be unsettling, to the point of re-writing your current reality scenario, but no matter what, it will help you shed what you no longer need, what’s holding you back, and in so doing open the way for new experience, and a fresh new emotional scene. Expect renewal in many ways; expect, too, for emotional perceptions and intuitions to lead you toward some of the most creative times of your life. Good luck!

Unlikely you’ll find a baby, but you will find something important to you today. ‘The Finding of Moses’ By Giovanni Francesco Romanelli c1656 {{PD}}

Today we can draw power from what’s hidden in the past, especially from the nuances of relationships, the vagaries or just-now-understood factors within our finances, and/ or things avoided or denied altogether that we are reminded of. The value is in seeing how we could’ve modified our expression so that what we did, or our response, would’ve been a better fit to who we are at a Soul level than what we did choose to express. This review helps us skirt, in our current situation, something that might’ve been disastrous in relationship interaction or in financial decision-making if we had followed through on our initial impulse. Accessing this memory and learning from it ultimately allows us to be more unique, more ourselves, than we would without contemplation of that insight hidden in the past.

(Ceres sq Black Moon Lilith, Venus sesq SN, Mercury semi-sq Sedna, Sun semi-sq Uranus)

©JGDemboski 1991

Today’s word image is a much older woman who encounters hopscotch squares in chalk on the sidewalk, and stops to hop through to the end. This may say we’re never too old to play–or is it a statement on human nature, that we are ‘game players’, or just ‘players’, to the end? Maybe it’s about recognizing the eternal spirit in all of us, that willingness to encounter the world that’s so prominent when we’re young. In any case, it’s a reminder to us that we should respond in the way that feels right to us to what we encounter in our environment, even (or maybe especially) if social convention or judgmental others might frown on our activity, tell us we’re ‘too old’, or in some other way judge us to be inadequate.

‘Cakes, 1963’ Photo By Pplachigo – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=28954794

For those born with the Sun at 21 Gemini. Check your natal chart for the correct Sun degree (you may want to read both the degree number and the one that follows, if you have minutes on your Sun position–together these offer a more complete picture of your year ahead). Dear Gemini, this coming solar year, through to your next birthday, what you can count on is change, more change, and a little change, and much of it coming in surprising ways, through accident, revelation, group decisions, or through your own inner stance of rebellion or need to express as a singular, original individual. It’s a tumultuous time, no doubt, but you have excellent emotional perceptions and intuitions during this period and these facilitate ambition and desire fulfillment in a significant way–so listen to what your feelings tell you, and trust them, and as well, trust yourself–you can handle what comes at you, and may gain significant power because of it. Good luck!