Growing In Love
From Gemini to Cancer, From Wit to Feeling
We’re at the tail end of Gemini Season, and here in the Northern Hemisphere, Spring. Jupiter, planet of expansion and growth, left Gemini for Cancer on June 9th. On the evening of June 20th, the Sun moves into Cancer and we experience the longest day of the year, the Solstice. On June 24th, the Sun and Jupiter meet in Cancer, giving us what many considered “the luckiest day” of the year. The following day we have a New Moon in Cancer.
The Air Signs (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius) each precede the Water Signs (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces, respectively). Air Signs rule communication, transmissions, conversation, atmospheric energy, connection. Gemini, the first of the three Air Signs, is also a Mutable Sign: versatile, multifaceted, adaptable. Jupiter had actually been in its detriment in the sign these last thirteen months. Too many options, too many choices. The Saturn square added more tension, the Neptune square confusion. We’ve hit peak cynicism. But that is changing. The square has changed hands, from Mutable to Cardinal. From Pisces to Aries and Gemini to Cancer. Primal. Alive. Present. Anew.
Back to Gemini. Gemini is often reduced to a parody (although which of the signs aren’t?), but there’s a levity to its energy, if unaspected: it’s both interested and interesting. It’s the dance before the intimacy. Not quite committed, not quite invested, but investigating the potential.
Gemini’s wit and curiosity, in other words, makes way for Cancer’s bonding.
Linger too long in the former, we become bored, distracted and dissatisfied. No one - and nothing - is ever enough. Something - or someone - could always offer more. More what, though?
What’s the more we’re actually looking for?
It took me too long to realize that I had mistaken intellectual compatibility and banter (I have a Third House Stellium) for emotional connection, too long to recognize what my body, heart and soul had known all along: what I had really needed was a safe place to fall.
I saw The Materialists in the theater this weekend, a romantic dramedy from the director Celine Song. A meditation on dating and love. It’s incredibly prescient, given the current cultural conversations regarding relationships.
Do we date to find our “list,” or do we date to fall in love?
Attachment theory, astrological compatibility, psychological wounding and disorder abounds on social media. Sometimes this information is helpful, but sometimes it’s not. Sometimes it increases our fears, our cynicism, walls off our hearts, keeps us locked in our heads, trying to figure it all out, waiting for someone to tick all the boxes.
But here’s the truth: love can heal. It can change us, grow us, evolve us, soften and strengthen.
The shift into Cardinal from Mutable is an initiation, and from Air to Water an emotional opening. Will we take it?
Some announcements:
On July 11th, I’ll be giving a talk and doing a Q+A at The Blue Room in Nashville, 8pm. Tickets here
On July 26th, Emmalea Russo and I will be teaching an online class on Cardinal Signs. 11am -12:30pm EST. Reserve your spot here
Calendar up here