“Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something.” -Plato (427 BC – 347 BC)
An important tip to remember when negotiating is to make your point and then keep quiet. Good negotiators know when to stop talking and, generally, the party who can’t keep quiet will be the one who ends up compromising the most.
The new moon occurs on May 24, 2009 at 8:11 AM (EDT) at 3 degrees of Gemini. In astrology, Gemini is an air sign with a focus on communication, learning, and dexterity. Gemini is ruled by the planet Mercury who, in mythology, was the
winged messenger. He was also the only one of the gods who was able to traverse the heavens and the underworld in order to keep communication flowing.
The energy mix for this month has four planets in mutable signs and four planets in air signs, which translates to the sign of Gemini. Mutable means changeable and easily influenced. With Gemini there are always two sides of the story to consider and mutability makes it easy to flip flop between them.
Gemini represents the twins- two worlds, two ideas, a dialog. It bridges the inner world of the mind and outer world of reality. I’ve often observed Gemini’s making a statement only to repond to themselves with the opposite statement (“I’m fat. No, I’m not fat!”). Thoughts need to be expressed to be fully realized, considered, and addressed.
That in itself isn’t problematic. But looking at the chart for this new moon (May New Moon Chart) we find the Sun and Moon in Gemini is challenged by Jupiter and Neptune in Aquarius. Generally in astrology when planets are in the same element (in this case air) they get along. However, in this case the new moon is at the beginning of Gemini while the Jupiter-Neptune pair is at the end of Aquarius putting them close to 90 degrees apart.
Neptune is the force for idealism and wishful thinking. Jupiter wants opportunity, expansion and more of it. Together in Aquarius, the sign of progress and brotherhood, they describe a desire to heal the collective, make social change, and dream big.
The challenging aspect among the new moon and Jupiter-Neptune means that our words may overinflate the truth, our ideas may be too pie-in-the-sky, and ideas may not reflect reality. This month beware of fast talkers, offers that sound too good to be true, and downright lies. Likewise, it’s important that we each exercise integrity in our communication with others. In his wonderful book, “The Four Agreements,” Don Miguel Ruiz suggests that we be “impeccable with our word,” reminding us that we have immeasurable power with what we say.
And, to top it all off Mercury, the ruler of Gemini, is retrograde until May 31, 2009. When Mercury is retrograde it’s time to be more mindful and reflective. This, taken in light of the Jupiter-Neptune square, suggests that we need to be honest and realistic with ourselves. It’s also a good idea to wait until after May 31st to move ahead with ideas or plans.
As we transition from spring into summer my wish for you is to find inspiration in what you think, discernment in what you hear, and truth in what you say. Namaste’
