The Beauty of a Butterfly Mind
By
Sarah Varcas
The Sun enters Gemini at 8:46 a.m. GMT. In doing so it forms an opposition to Saturn which defines its onward journey through the sign of the cosmic twins. This aspect speaks of ‘beginner’s mind’, a Zen reference to the quality of mind which enables deep enquiry of ever-present truth. In beginner’s mind there exist no preconceptions or assumptions, no knowledge or certainty, only openness to what is and a willing embrace of all that arises. As the Sun travels through Gemini this quality of mind will stand us in good stead, for by the end of its journey new perspectives will abound and old assumptions released if we allow the heavens to weave their magic in and all around us.
With the ruler of Gemini, Mercury, now retrograde, nothing is quite as it seems. What we thought we knew we didn’t. What once seemed clear is a fog of confusion and that person we thought we knew inside out is looking distinctly strange! Unwilling to play along with our need for clarity and control, Mercury retrograde is throwing things up in the air to see where they land and what they look like when they do. The Sun and Saturn become willing helpers in its trickster games, reminding us that whilst we may sometimes be the butt of a cosmic joke we can still learn to laugh along with it and see the funny side.
Mars also in Gemini helps us out with the sense of humour side of things (if we’ll loosen up and let him!). Forming a triangle with Neptune and the North Node he encourages us to marvel at misunderstandings, laugh at mishaps and generally lighten up when life conspires to bring us down. Balance, he reminds us, is found not in the control of things but in the acceptance of the way things are. Only then can we decide with any clarity, where to next and what needs to be done. Decisions made from a place of resistance are already limited. Those made from openness to what is contain all manner of possibilities otherwise unavailable. It is that possibility the Sun wants to unleash as it flits through Gemini, looking this way and that, exploring here, wondering there, and generally checking out the options with its beautiful butterfly mind.
Black Moon Lilith has her say too. In Virgo and trining the Sun as it changes signs, she reminds us that truth can liberate or imprison, confound or clarify. What we do with what we know is as important as whether or not we know it in the first place. If we simply collect knowledge like ornaments, placed on view for all to see but gathering dust in the process, knowledge itself will fail us when we need it the most. Truth is a living, breathing presence just like you and me. It ebbs and flows, wanders this way and that, found in the stars and soil, the sun and air. We do not own it like medals of war, hard fought for and a thing of pride. It belongs to itself and shares its essence with us when we respect and honour its integrity, knowing it as an aspect of sacred source. If we think we know the truth right now, we had best prepare for discovering we were wrong, or at least that there is an opposite but equally true truth, waiting just around the corner with its foot held out to trip us up. Another cosmic joke we had best chuckle about once we have picked ourselves up and brushed ourselves off!
The hubris that sometimes comes of being human creates defensive certainty, ignites ideological wars and causes us to exploit our planetary home and oppress her many creatures to ensure the world matches our ideas about it. The Sun in Gemini seeks horizontal connection not vertical superiority. If we fail to align ourselves as equals to each other and the world around us, the gathering of planets in Gemini will remind us in no uncertain terms that we are! And if it has cause to do so the advice is the same: take it on the chin, laugh at our own delusions of grandeur and get back on with living life in the best way we know how.
Sarah Varcas
