When the Sun enters Gemini sunlight becomes the undisputed protagonist of the season. In the previous air sign of Aquarius, we experience the dawn of the year, celebrated at Imbolc or Candlemas. There, the pale white light of winter breaks through the expanses of snow and ice.
Gemini instead announces the return of the light in all its power and glory, leading us little by little towards the summer. The sunlight begins to hurt the gaze here, or at least that’s what usually happens.
Here in Europe, we are living a kind of second autumn. Temperatures are still very low, and when the sun pierces through the rainy clouds it feels like having an epiphany of sort. They all complain about the weather, that’s able to change the mood even to not weather-affected people. We all need more sunlight, we all want spring to come back.
A lot of things are happening during the Sun’s stay in Gemini. As we discussed in previous articles, Jupiter has recently entered Pisces. On top of that we are already in the shadow zone of the second Mercury Retrograde period of the year, happening right in Gemini. And lastly Eclipses first season is going to open with a Total Lunar Eclipse in Sagittarius, taking place on May 26th during Vesak, a Buddhist festival.
In this article we are going to continue our journey through the Virtues of the Zodiac as described by Rudolf Steiner, talking about the qualities of Gemini.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
Relationships are difficult, confusing and ambiguous. They force us to feel weak, needy and vulnerable—and who likes to feel that way? Love is a mystery, the other person a whole, new and frightening Universe to explore. Is it going to swallow us in a black hole? Or is it perhaps a shimmering galaxy full of wonders? Most of the times it can be both, because there is no black or white when it comes to romance.
Astrology is often consulted for love questions. Does he love me? Is he going to come back? Does she want to have kids? The uncertainty brought by this mysterious dimension makes us shiver like autumn leaves. And if it doesn’t, you might have built up very good defenses. But protecting yourself from love is like trying to live by fasting as long as you can. Is it worth it?
Venus. The ruler of the fifth house. The lord of the seventh house. His Moon. Her Sun. We can look at the charts and get a very neat analysis of the situation. And sometimes a synastry—that’s how we call it—definitely helps. We can better understand the situation, so we can at least figure out what to expect. But does it change the way we feel?
Love is Not Power
Love never hurts. Never. You might be rolling your eyes replying that not only love does hurt, but it hurts a lot. Unrequited love, a break up, cheating are just some of the countless examples of painful love. My take on this, is that it’s not love that hurts. It is something else, something that always comes with it. In a word, it’s about Power.
Love is not power. Even though I can’t deny that love always comes with power, they are not the same thing. In this article I am going through some astrological examples to show you how power is always getting in the way. There are in fact many forms of power, and we can analyze them according to the planets.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
A noble heart burning with passion, shining like gold upon the sea of chaos. The wise king, the good father, the Savior. The Sun enters his sign, reaching again the maximum of light and heat. The Star is at home.
Balance and openness belong to the heart. Not to the cold and bright head, enclosed in the skull. Not even to the dark and hot limbs, radiating from the body. They belong to the heart region—to the center—where the head opens down into the spine and the ribs curve into a protective embrace.
Anthroposophy says that the figure of man is threefold. We find the nerve-sense system in the head region, represented by the Eagle. The motor-metabolic system in the limb region, represented by the Bull. And the rhythmic system in the respiratory and circulatory organs in the chest region, represented by the Lion.
Leo, the Lion, the sign of the Heart, celestial house of the Sun.
Abundance, Compassion and Freedom
“Our mind is enriched by what we receive, our heart by what we give” said Victor Hugo. Even in times of crisis Nature gives herself abundantly as August approaches. In the time of the first harvest festival we are surrounded by the riches that flow from the horn of plenty.
And when our material needs and worries are unburdened by all this generosity we are blessed with the opportunity to stop looking at us. Me, me, me.. the chattering of the ego subsides and casually we find ourselves walking in other people’s shoes. Leaving out for a moment our struggles, we perceive those of others. And Compassion arises in us.
COMPASSION becomes FREEDOM —Virtues of Leo by R. Steiner and H.P. Blavatsky—
Compassion becomes Freedom. But it is us what we mainly free ourselves from. By diving deep with all our being in the image of others, letting it live as it is inside of us. Dwelling in this central space is getting to know a dimension free from judgment and power.
After all, we are human beings next to other human beings. We walk together through this life learning from trial and error. Do we really need to judge? And if we do it, to what end?
Jupiter sextile Neptune: An Idealistic Impulse
On July 27th we are going to assist to the first sextile between Jupiter and Neptune retrograde. As we were saying in a previous article, these events are precious windows than enables us to reconnect to higher ideals. No doubt Compassion is one of them.
We can follow this astral stream to tap in a world of creative imagination to rethink the world. We had enough bad omens for 2020. Now we need new strengths of inspiration to make the world a better place.
A world where the forces of the heart are not going to be mocked or looked down at as naive. Or poetry seen as useless and mawkish. As Novalis provocatively said, reality is poetic and poetry is reality. And doesn’t ingenuity consist in denying one aspect of reality?
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I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
Yesterday, Venus entered Aquarius. This transit is all about Love and Freedom: two topics that I hold dearly, especially when they go hand in hand. There are many ways you can combine these concepts. To name a few: freedom of love, loving someone unconditionally, being free by loving what you do, and so on.
As a gay man, the most important in my life has obviously been freedom of love. As you may know I’m Italian, and my country has approved a law for same-sex civil unions only this year. Alas, we are far behind many European countries when it comes to civil rights for the LGBTQ community. Just consider for example that Spain introduced same sex marriage ten years (!) ago.
We still have much to do to fight homophobia in this country. For most of the people freedom of love comes free—they take it for granted—but for us it still has a price.
For example, in Italy is quite rare to see same-sex couples walking hand in hand on the street—even in big cities. It may seem an insignificant detail, but freedom is also expressed through small, spontaneous gestures. Most of us still feel uncomfortable to do so.
That’s why this law has been a revolution for us, perfectly attuned with the energies of [ictt-tweet-inline]freedom and progress flowing from the Aquarius[/ictt-tweet-inline].
Free Love and Poliamory
Regarding love and progress, have you ever heard of Polyamory? It is the modern reinterpretation of the free love concept of the 60s-70s. According to wikipedia:
Polyamory(from Greek πολύpoly, “many, several”, and Latin amor, “love”) is the practice of, or desire for, intimate relationships where individuals may have more than one partner, with the knowledge and consent of all partners. It has been described as “consensual, ethical, and responsible non-monogamy”.
What do you think about it? Personally I think that the idea behind polyamory is perfectly understandable, so I don’t have any problem with that. Nevertheless, I have to say that in my opinion it requires a high level of personal development—on both sides—to be put it into practice in a honest way.
Let’s face it: [ictt-tweet-inline]people have the tendency to hide their weakness behind high ideals[/ictt-tweet-inline]. Poliamory could just be one of them. And I’m not saying that all people embracing this lifestyle are lying to themselves. I’m saying that sometimes people don’t want to face what’s wrong in their relationship, so they label it in a fancy way pretending that everything’s alright.
So, is monogamy over? I don’t think so. I think we are going towards a motley society made—as a mosaic—by pieces of many colors. But I think Monogamy is more likely going to remain the main one. This because monogamous relationships are already hard—imagine how complex they could be just introducing a third person! You definitely need more than a good reason to do so.
And please don’t think that if you have Venus in Aquarius in your Natal Chart you can’t be monogamous! It just means that you love progress and modernity, and your relationship is going to reflect that, somehow. On top of that, you also need to put in the equation at least your fifth, seventh and eighth house to get the whole picture.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
Reading Time : 3minutesOur society is drenched in Materialism. If we were true to ourselves we would say that we are all materialists. And I’m not talking about that shallow accusation of “not being spiritual”. I am talking about the materialistic mindset we have all been raised with.
Please be aware that [ictt-tweet-inline]you can call yourself spiritual, being nevertheless a materialist to the core[/ictt-tweet-inline]. In fact if you approach to spirituality without changing the way you approach to things in general you are missing the whole point.
The point is that Materialism is an insidious, subtle way of thinking that makes you focus mainly on results and outcomes rather than on the process, whatever it is. So the real question here is not “are you a materialist?” but rather “are you focusing mainly on results?”.
Let’s say you are. So, what’s wrong with that? Please note that I am not trying to demonize Materialism: I believe everything comes with pros and cons. Actually, I think that if you want to achieve something concrete you should definitely embrace that perspective. Nevertheless, it comes with a price and I believe you should at least know if it’s worth it.
Let’s take an example. Let’s say that Jessica loves painting. She likes it so much she doesn’t actually care about the final outcome—in this case, paintings. Loving what she is doing is what really makes her spiritual here. And yes, [ictt-tweet-inline]you don’t need to talk about spirit to be spiritual[/ictt-tweet-inline]. She is free, because she is completely focusing on the process, she is enjoying it, and she has no other reason for doing that than painting itself.
One day, someone tells her she’s very good at it and she could definitely earn some money by selling her paintings. Let’s say she accepts the deal. Now, this is crucial: what once was an end in itself (painting) has now become the means to another end which—in this case—is making money. This is when Materialism kicks in, and no—money doesn’t have necessarily anything to do with it.
The point is her focus has changed. She is not focusing anymore on what she loves to do: she is now focusing on the result which comes from it. Do you realize how tricky is that? Apparently nothing has changed—she is still going to paint anyway—but the fire of the spirit is lost!
In order to be aware of the consequences, take this definition of Materialism I found online:
1. preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of spiritual, intellectual, or cultural values.
…
and replace the word “spiritual” with “what you love to do”:
Materialism is preoccupation with or emphasis on material objects, comforts, and considerations, with a disinterest in or rejection of what you love to do.
This is the price: a materialistic mindset is always going to deceive you confusing the ends with the means. It is in its nature. You want to achieve A but you must get B and C first. This because you want to achieve something rather than focusing on what you love to do. And there is always a strategy, a procedure, a series of steps to be taken in order to get what you want. But eventually this can only take you away from what you really love. On the contrary, [ictt-tweet-inline]when you love what you do you the reward is in the action itself[/ictt-tweet-inline].
“The fundamental maxim of free men is to live in love towards our actions, and to let live in the understanding of the other person’s will” — Rudolf Steiner (Philosophy of Freedom, Chapter 9).
This may sound very odd for us, considering that we have been educated to always think we need to do something to get something else. But this is what being free—and spiritual—is all about.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
Friendship is a form of love—the most free and lasting, they say. It may have some ups and downs—like most of relationships—but time and distance will never prevail against this precious bond, right?
Well, as I write this sentence my mind is going back to all the friendships that ended in my life for the most different reasons: stupid little fights followed by pride; hurt feelings that you (or they) never wanted to talk about; others that just faded away—swallowed by the abovementioned time and distance (here we go).
Bonds are living creatures. They are just like plants: they may sprout naturally in the beginning, but if you don’t nurture them winter is going to take them away. Nothing thrives in your life if you don’t put some effort into it, andthe same applies to friendship. But shouldn’t it come naturally? Shouldn’t it be something simple?
Personally, I don’t believe people are simple. I believe we are all made of several parts that most of times want different things. So no, to me friendship isn’t simple—as well as any form of love. Sometimes I need someone to open up to, others I just want to hang out and have fun. The truth is we all experience different types and levels of friendship. And it really depends on who we are relating with and what we expect from other people.
Ah! Expectations! You shouldn’t have any, they say. But how can you possibly trust someone without having expectations? I would rather say to not have unrealisticexpectations, and honestly expecting a text reply is not one of them—especially from people who basically live on their phone.
So, what do you expect from your friends? I believe it’s an important thing to figure out.
Friendship according to Astrology
Everybody has their own idea about friendship, and that’s fine. There are indeed many ways to consider it. But now let’s have a closer look to what astrology has to say about this topic. To me, the most interesting aspect of it is that according to astrology the energy of friendship is based on freedom and equality (which fall under the eleventh house, strictly related to the sign of Aquarius).
This literally means that we can’t be friends if we are—somehow—forcing each other; nor if the relationship isn’t based on an equal exchange. And in my opinion, this is also what usually stresses out an actual friendship. Just think about how many times your friends’ expectations went against your personal sense of freedom (and vice versa); or when the relationship is unbalanced because “I’m the one who always has to call”. There can be no friendship without equal exchange.
This exchange can occur on many levels, but we can boil them down to four (the elements):
Physical—Earth Element: “you can count on me”
Emotional—Water Element: “I’m here for you”
Mental—Air Element: “let’s have some fun”
Spiritual—Fire Element: “we can evolve together”
Obviously these levels can intertwine—there is no strict rule. Through your Natal Chart we are also able to see what specific planetary energy is triggered in you when it comes to friendship.
In conclusion, here’s some tips:
Be aware about what you expect from each one of your friends. In other words, pay attention on which level you are living the relationship: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.
Are they living it on the same level? It can be frustrating if you are trying to confide (water) to a gossip (air), or rely (earth) on a fickle person (air). You both need to be on the same wavelength.
Try to better understand how your friends are limiting your personal sense of freedom. This is perfectly normal to happen, especially in long-lasting friendships. Basically you need to be aware of your friends’ expectations and simply talk about it. Don’t let a simple misunderstanding ruin a special bond.
I consider myself a free researcher in western spiritual disciplines, in particular Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy and the Neoplatonic Hermetic tradition. I have a three-year training in Astrology at the CIDA delegation of Trieste, the Italian Center for Astrological Disciplines. I graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Trieste.
