Advice

I’m flashing on this time of year and all the memories I have of summer.

Laying in the lush green grass of my childhood home in Denver on a warm summer evening – in shorts and a tank top - watching brilliant Venus glimmer and glow in turquoise twilight, kissing a slender crescent Moon and calling to me above the deep blue silhouette of the majestic Rocky Mountains – the distinctive shape of Mount Evans and the twinkling lights of the city below…

I can remember dreaming of handsome boys and romantic possibilities. So young and full of hope, the world before me and my life an open road. And, yes, there were young men and sweet embraces, porch swings and midnight kisses, ’56 Chevys and hours of sunbathing in the backyard with my two sisters, working on our tans. Tennis and swimming, laughing and lounging, loving every minute of the long, hot summer.

It’s Bluegrass in Telluride and that means summer. I can remember the first fledgling festivals, Fred Shellman and the old stage. I had a boutique on Colorado Avenue back then, called the Ritzy Gypsy, and my partner, Ginette Petrie, and I designed and hand-screened T-shirts in our garage to capitalize on the summer’s biggest event. It was just as wild and crazy back then as it is today, just a lot smaller and a lot less people. The days were just as hot, the music just as awesome and the food just as tasty.

We have a very special place here in the San Juans, its magic and mystique will never die, no matter what goes on in the world outside. The oil gushing in the Gulf is daunting, but, then, so is the water gushing over Bridal Veil and Ingram Falls. I am always blown away by the stunning magnificence of the Telluride Valley and Box Canyon at Bluegrass. The Mother Earth pours forth her summer season with a power and grace that erases memory, changes the channel and tunes us in to the very, upfront here and now of nature’s dazzling beauty and endless bounty. The verdant, swaying aspen, the crystalline blue skies and the rosy glow of sunset followed by turquoise twilight make these days days of blessing and peace. May you walk in the beauty and swim in the bounty. And don’t forget to celebrate Summer Solstice – the longest day of the year - on Monday, June 21st – when the Sun crosses the zero point of Cancer and the sizzling season of summer officially begins. In the meantime, may Merlin and the Witches - high up above in the couloirs of Bear Creek - watch over you. Happy summer!

The June 12th Gemini New Moon gives all of us a chance to re-frame the ways in which we perceive, process and define our world. Whether we’re talking personal, social, national, global or universal, it’s all about what we see and how we experience it. Take a room of people and expose them all to the same exact scene and situation, action and activity, and the descriptions of what happened will vary from one individual to another. Perception is colored by experience, education and exposure. A lot of what we see is what we have learned to see, what we have been “told” to see. Reality is relative to what we believe is “real.”

 Gemini follows Taurus, where we learned about finite, physical reality.  Taurus provides for, nurtures and sustains life. Gemini thinks and questions, talks and listens. It is here we gather information, explore ideas, communicate our thoughts and travel around the block to find out what’s going on outside our door. Gemini is curious and clever, loves to laugh and play. Ruled by Mercury, this multi-faceted, multi-talented sign is forever changing, shape-shifting and morphing into whatever or whomever seems to be most appealing, popular or current at the time. Motion oriented, mobile and mutable, it’s difficult to capture or keep Gemini energy still for very long. It is inherently restless, coming and going like the wind.

The big news this week*** is the “superfund” conjunction of expansive Jupiter and explosive Uranus in impulsive, “it’s all about me” Aries. The exact conjunction of these two planets takes place on June 8th @ 0º18’ Aries, but the buildup to this big event has been happening over the last couple months in god-of-the–sea, Neptune-ruled Pisces.

As I take a look at myself, my world and my neighborhood, I find threads of this dancing duet everywhere. From the exploded oil rig and its gushing black geyser in the oceanic depths of the Gulf of Mexico to the cyberspace invasion of my personal email account last weekend, I see patterns of Uranian shock and Jupiterian excess woven into the fabric and fiber of each event and experience in our recent past and current present. Of course, I’m an astrologer and I “see” the world that way. I know I’m perceiving reality through an astrological lens, and that my view is “tainted” by years of practice, but, it blows my mind anyway – which is a totally Uranus/Jupiter thing to say.

I’ve run in to several people lately who’ve asked me if I know what’s going on. “Is this stuff astrological?” and “What’s happening with the planets?” are two questions that I've heard recently. As usual, astrologers always have explanations for “what’s going on.” Real or unreal, virtual or actual, relevant or irrelevant, astrology contains an inherent alchemy that correlates naturally occurring celestial phenomena with events and experiences taking place right here, right now. As above, so below – the ancient esoteric dictum of Hermes Trismegistus, father of medicine and magic, author of antiquity’s fabled Emerald Tablet – says it all.

Of course, everyone’s referring to these wild and crazy times. From the global economic whack-job to the oil rig tragedy in the Gulf of Mexico to the apparent ineptitude of big business and the stagnation, red tape and partisanship of government, we are held hostage in a multi-faceted, multi-national war of power and special interest. As synthetic and natural worlds crash and collide, the inevitability of our effect upon the Earth’s ecosystems is everywhere. Shrinking polar ice caps, vanishing wildlife, polluted oceans and disappearing habitats are just a few examples of humanity’s grasp upon the planet. Not even Superman or Wonder Woman can save us from ourselves.

Gemini energy is restless, inquisitive and eager for knowledge. Its mutable modality is flexible and adaptable while the air element breathes in thinking, perception and all things born of the mental plane. It is here we encounter the curious, inquiring mind, the talker, the reader and the gossip, the student, the classroom and the teacher. Writers, professors, editors and professional speakers are often born under the sign of Gemini or have Gemini planets placed prominently in their natal charts. But Gemini also rules medicine and magic, actors and acting, travel, transportation, comedy and laughter, tricksters and thieves, information, communication and commerce. And because this energy is so multi-dimensional, multi-faceted and multi-talented, we find a great variety of personalities, professions and pursuits popping up whenever and wherever Gemini is involved.

On May 13th at 7:06 pm MDT, the Sun and Moon came together in the conjunction aspect of a fresh New Moon @ 23º09’ Taurus and initiated one of the most fertile lunar cycles of the year. It’s a perfect time to plant gardens, nurture life and create beauty in your personal and private worlds. Take a look around your yard and neighborhood; discover the innate feminine, maternal power in the ground beneath your feet. Embrace the goddess, bless the bounty and surrender to the sensational season of spring. It’s time to touch and feel, love and heal…