The Gemini new moon is exact on Thursday May 25th, 2017 at 12:44PM Pacific Time. This is a new moon that brings lots of interesting angles with it. In this week’s podcast I discuss aspects the new moon is forming with Neptune and Jupiter, and how these aspects are reflected in communication patterns we’re experiencing currently with the U.S. President as well as interpersonally and internally. Both these aspects have a strong potential to reveal, heal and help us understand each other. Because we’re dealing with Gemini though, and because astrology presents a spectrum of possibility, on the other hand we have strong potential to misinterpret, get more confused and make damaging judgments.

One thing that will help anyone who’s trying to get better at communicating is to develop the ability to maintain mental steadiness in the midst of sensory stimulation. In this week’s guided meditation I focus on working directly with the nervous system to develop a strong mental/psychic protective layer as well as an internal anchor for staying centered. These meditations are meant to align your body with the high vibrations for healing, growth and evolution in our current astrology.

Other aspects I don’t discuss in the podcast include a square between Venus and Pluto on the day of the new moon. Given the week’s theme of communication, this is a time to be very intent on communicating with the utmost truth. Venus is currently in Aries, approaching conjunct with Uranus. If you’ve been holding information back that has to do with your authentic desires or needs for freedom, the next two weeks may include some surprising turns of events that spur you into revealing what you haven’t been.

The square to Pluto brings our deepest, darkest most childish selves to the front. So when I say communicate with the utmost truth, I mean that you will be better off considering how to present your concerns with care then being forced into a corner and pushed into reactive communication styles that are filled up with illogical insecurities or misguided interpretations of need. Stay ahead of the astrology by having loving, open conversations now and doing your best to practice stable attachment styles with yourself and others.

Your new moon horoscopes and affirmations are below. xo- Renee

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ARIES
How to focus your attention, in four parts:
Part 1: Let the people you care about be anchors for your mind. When you feel distracted by things you’d rather not be distracted by focus instead on what you appreciate about someone, what they’re currently teaching you, mannerisms they have that you admire, or a particular trait you find pleasing.

Part 2: Stress caused by unseen and unknown, confusion or mysterious elements is best dealt with through art-making. Since the creative process draws upon invisible forces, let those forces work through you rather than against you. Instead of worrying about what you can’t see, pick up a pen and do a free-write about it or doodle its portrait, sing it a song, choreograph a dance. Don’t let your fears stay silent in the background, instead, give them ample room through non-harmful expressions.

Part 3: Eat healthy, whole and nourishing foods. Go outside and breathe deep breaths. Be grateful to your body.

Part 4: Practice beginner’s mind. Always value the role of being a student and don’t strive for hierarchical success. Appreciate what you can learn and dwell in enthusiasm for what you haven’t yet learned. Treat everyone, including yourself, as a loved and respected teacher.

Your new moon affirmation is, “I am delighted and in awe.”

TAURUS
Please enjoy this new moon’s horoscope as an affirmation of your value and worth.

The future is an unknown dream that takes shape in response to my healing.
I will be cared for.
When I am pressed to produce or compete with the fantasies of others I choose to focus on the pleasure of my own creativity and only respond when I am truly inspired.
I am unswayed by my perceptions of others critique or approval.
My mind is full of treasure and each day I discover new gems of curiosity and intelligence.
I am smart and adept. I am competent and capable.
My thought processes and all that they provoke are fertile ground for cultivating discernment. I enjoy observing my thoughts and noticing how my capacity for discernment grows.
I trust in my discernment.
There will be times when intimacy is luscious and times when it is bare. The space between myself and others is a space of learning more fully who I am, by also learning who I am not.
I cultivate maturity through examining my bias and beliefs.
Expressing intangibility is the gift of art, poetry and love. The gesture and shape of bodies and nature is often much more powerful than any words can hope to be.
I easily bring wealth and resource into my life by using my communicative abilities.
Words however have the power to shape thoughts and thoughts can be valuable currency or distracting debt.
I use words with elegance and clarity.
There is nothing and no one around me who doesn’t have something to teach or give.
I arrive every day to graciously receive from whatever and whomever I encounter.
The pure enjoyment and enthusiasm of learning something new is enough to make it all worth it.
I learn easily.

GEMINI
May’s new moon (in your sign!!!) is brought to you by the letter I.
When you say “I” you are giving thanks to the resources you consume, the elements you’re comprised of, and the people who helped you grow. When you say “I” you are referring to a collection of ideas, gestures, images and desires that have accumulated around the center of your being. When you say “I” you are referring to that center of being which you might call spirit or soul which no one really knows what it is, so “I” is, in fact, a mystery.

Right now the letter I stands for Inspiration. Inspiration comes from the Latin root words In (as in into) and spirare, which means breath. Inhalation and inspiration can potentially mean the same thing. Consider what defines “I” and breath certainly is important! From your first to your last, “I” depends on the inhale.
Do you remember biology basics? The flora and the fauna are siblings. Animals (of which humans are one variety) are inspired by the exhale of our plantlife friends. The flora in turn receive the emittance of our animal exhales and are inspired to grow. If you’re ever worried about sustenance or equal exchange see if you can stop for a minute and appreciate how much you’ve already been taken care of.

An important lesson when referring to yourself as “I” is that “I” is the same name others will use when referring to themselves. The tension between two I’s who both believe in their own self-reference can sometimes result in feelings of frustration and/or reduction. If you find yourself in this situation it might help to remember that there are now almost 8 billion I’s alive and The Population Reference Bureau estimates that there have been at least 107 billion I’s that have ever lived. Keep that in perspective and the “I” you call yourself will always have access to a good sense of humor about the “I” you’re dealing with who’s maybe being kind of a self-absorbed jerk.

Finally, since “I” means a mystery, inspiration, interdependence and independence all at the same time there can sometimes be anxiety about who “I” will be in the future. Right now is prime time for paying attention to all of the above. What you’re doing with your life and how it’s going to feed into the future of all other I’s isn’t really up to you to decide, as much as it is up to you to respond to what you’ve been given and will continue to receive. Your new moon affirmation is, “I am. Inspired.”

CANCER
The first two lessons in the Yoga Sutra state atha yoganusasanam: yogas chitta vritti nirodha. The translation is roughly: yoga is now: yoga is the stilling of fluctuations of the mind.

These first two lines are a perfect thesis. They contain pretty much all the information you need to know about what a yoga practice is.

First, whatever is now is the practice. Whatever is arising, whatever is worrying you, whatever you’re distracted by, whatever you feel like a failure or success in. This moment, this breath, this word. Is yoga. Second, all the things that are pulling you from this moment and pushing your mind into different directions, including all the things you think about this moment or are using to identify it… are not yoga. Yoga arises when your mind unites with the present experience and stops separating itself into alternate stories.

Any teacher worth their salt will tell you that yoga cannot be attained. It’s nothing you can get or take home. It’s not in the right outfit and certainly doesn’t belong to anyone. Yoga is a practice. It is an intention and a prayer. To “do yoga” is to recognize yourself, moment-by-moment, responding to life in the midst of life swirling around you. Yoga is not letting yourself get confused or swayed into identifying with impermanence, which means you are not your possessions, you are not your successes, you are not your failures.

Thursday’s new moon is an invitation to begin a yoga practice if you haven’t already done so. You’re in a special moment of your life right now that is begging for liberation and revolution in your heart. This is what yoga is for. It’s for when we’ve realized that our limited beliefs have become limiting lifestyles. It’s for when we decide we want relationships that transform us into our higher selves rather than put us to sleep. It’s for when trusting the unknown is a much smarter bet than putting stock in anything you can plan for. Your new moon affirmation is, “The moment is now.”

LEO
Don’t let yourself get sidetracked by confusion about what you mean to anyone else, or by what you do or do not receive from them. Don’t let yourself get lost by giving away your intuitive sense of direction. Don’t spend your confidence trying to gain anyone else’s approval. Don’t let yourself get distracted by giving your all to anyone who hasn’t asked for it, or isn’t up for actual reciprocity.

Focus on what you know. Focus on the folks who are close by and giving you feedback from their own free will. Focus on how you’ve learned to use your mind. Focus on giving less fucks. Focus on being clear and diplomatic, and focus on being undramatic. Focus on your jobs and tasks, of which there are plenty, and focus on getting them done efficiently and effectively.

You don’t have time now to mess around with misguided beliefs about who you are or what you’re good at. Trust in what you know. Follow your bliss… seriously. Follow what makes you feel good in an authentic, lasting way. Follow what you love to do and how you love to be.

Listen deeper for your own guidance and don’t agree to things if you know they will cause you resentment. But do be willing to examine your resentment and see how much you’re attached to it. And do be willing to admit to your own childishness when you behave with less maturity than you probably should have.

Because you want to grow up to be someone you’re proud to know. Because you don’t have time to be anything less than absolutely responsible for your own happiness, and that’s probably the single most important thing you can do for the future. Because the weird imbalances that get created by your insecurity end up creating more insecurity for everyone. Because you’re strong enough now to bear your own weight fully and set a good example for that. Because the world won’t wait but the world is out there and you can step right up and into it. Your affirmation is, “We are equal.”

VIRGO
When it comes to doing what you want to do the question of whether to stick with tradition or forge your own path is something to spend some time with. Most of us find ourselves at some point grappling with what seems to be a binary choice, and then find our decisions tend to be dissatisfying or even “bad” when we have to choose between one or the other.

It seems that right now there could be a similar feeling in the realm of your work and career. On the one hand there are the things you already know. The things that feel comfortable, protective and trustworthy. On the other hand there’s the desire to to do something different, and to expand into values that you have been learning recently through your intimate relationships, but which could also be applicable to your work and mission.

It’s possible right now that you can find a balanced middle path. It’s entirely probably that you can apply the skills and perspectives you’ve gained through past experiences and now apply them to your new ventures with success. However, what you must realize is that the deciding factor won’t be your audience, publics or boss. The deciding factor will be you: your interests, your curiosity, your bravery and willingness to face a creative unknown, your passion and desire, and your willingness to upend the limitations that you currently face – which, in essence, are nothing more than your perceptions of limiting factors.

Trust that the relationships you’re having right now are healing ones. Trust the ways in which they challenge you to examine and assert yourself, and claim what you want. And then do exactly that. Your new moon affirmation is, “I create the possibilities I imagine.”

LIBRA
There has always been the question of what to believe. As long as stories have been told humankind has attempted to make meaning out of meaninglessness, and to describe the supreme chaos of nature in ways that situate our experiences and give us something to hold onto. Even in the believing of emptiness there is belief. And you and I both probably know what kind of darkness and confusion comes when belief is lost.

How then to approach this moment? In some ways your belief in yourself is growing day by day, and you are expanding into someone that you weren’t able to know before. At the same time, and perhaps for the same reasons, daily life seems to be slippery and illusory, it’s not quite clear what there is to hold onto. What then to anchor in? What will make any sense? And perhaps, why bother?

Maybe an option is to believe that beliefs are meant to be shaken and disrupted. Maybe it’s best to welcome the not knowing with relief and fascination. After all, looking around at the world today we see that most suffering is caused by belief… belief in permanence, belief in identity, belief in ownership, belief in any kind of absolute.

What if, instead of believing, you anchored yourself in the absolute present, and refused to believe anything about the future or past? What if you decided to believe only in the sensations of love, or gratitude, or honest pleasure? What if instead of believing that you could do anything that made any kind of impact for anyone else, you decided to simply pay attention to each breath and the breath of anyone else who happens to be near you? Your new moon affirmation is, “It’s more comfortable to not know, then to know.”

SCORPIO
Currently, it seems that you are of two minds in regards to whether or not something should be revealed. An argument for revelation would be the ongoing process of authenticity that you strive for. On some level, being yourself, and being proud of who that person is, is something that has required nothing short of a total reconstruction of your identity and thought processes. To keep something hidden at this point might feel tantamount to failure when held up to the ideals that you have been committed to embodying. On the other hand… Information is rarely neutral, and sometimes revealing something creates more disturbance than is worth it.

The boundary between privacy and secrecy is a useful distinction at the moment because it comes down to intention, and honesty. The differentiating question I would ask is, what good, and whose good, is the information being revealed serving? Privacy would be the choice if you truly understand that transparency will cause unnecessary harm or disturbance. Secrecy would be the choice if on some level you know or feel that you should be transparent but you’re personally scared of the repercussions and what you think you’d have to deal with then.

Your new moon affirmation is, “I choose to grow my spiritual character through integrity and honesty with myself. I do not create illusions or fantasies for others without their enthusiastic consent.”

SAGITTARIUS
The last few years have pushed you to self-define and examine some theories you’ve been fostering about what love and partnership could mean. What you strive for has shifted from gratification of immediate needs that are based on future fantasies, to long-term relational growth that is cultivated by everyone attending to their own personal needs. In other words, you’ve become more self-reliant and sustainable in your emotional output, and less likely to expect others to play to a fantasy that they may not share. You’re also less willing to take things personally, especially if you know that it will leave you feeling emotionally depleted.

Whether you’re single, dating or partnered Thursday’s new moon highlights recent thoughts and instincts about relationships. You’re ready and inspired to move forward in intimacy and it seems that you’re much more capable now of owning your own desires and putting them forward with courage. Something to keep in mind though is that the creative process (which all relationships are on some level) can’t be planned or designed in advance. There will always be the need to respond to what’s arising in the moment and that can’t be known until the moment has arrived.

The lesson for you now is to hold the future gently. Let the possibilities of what could be exist without the need to concretize or define. Pay attention to what is around you right now and make sure that your mental efforts serve the physical health of your body and environment, rather than distract you from them. Finally, trust that the connection you want to feel at home is coming, and will arrive when you stop putting limits on what it will or won’t be. Your new moon affirmation is, “I express my love to the future by appreciating the now.”

CAPRICORN
Your nervous system is a stunningly complex and beautiful web of relationship that gives you the capacity to sense and respond to your environment, others and self. It is the regulatory system of energetic exchange. It stimulates your ability to rest and receive in order to support your capacity for giving and exertion. It balances input (sensing/perceiving) and output (action/thinking.)

Thursday’s new moon is a call for you to attend to your mental health. It is a request from your nervous system for more balance. It is a reminder that you can’t take in stimulation without an outlet for discharge; that you can only give as much as you’re able to receive.

The battle with invisible forces of gargantuan proportions is about to change. In just a few months you will be able to start building, but for now there’s still a little more excavation to do. However, it doesn’t need to be as violent or dramatic anymore. There can be less output, less trying, less stress. There can be more surrender, more release, more acceptance.

A few things will help you very much right now. The first is your creativity. It’s something you know you need to attend to, and probably also something you can find multiple reasons to ignore. It will be good if you can drop any expectations of a finished product, or need to “be good” at whatever it is you might want to do. Pick up a paintbrush or whatever instrument might be close at hand and give yourself a few hours of uninterrupted, unedited creative time.

The second thing is your pleasure. Let go of all the ideas of who, what, where. Let go of all the shoulds. Get yourself off in whatever consensual ways that appeals and let yourself luxuriate in the release. What you need is basically a brain drain. You’ve been trying to figure out too much for too long. Let your thinking mind take the back seat and get into a receptive and intuitive state. You may just find that the answers you’ve been so desperately searching for are easy to find when you ease up on the intensity.
Your affirmation is, “My brain is relaxed and at ease.”

AQUARIUS
The growth of design culture and the internet has had many repercussions in society and how we think. One of the most significant changes has been immediate and easy access to creative tools which can allow basically anyone to manufacture documentation of their lives in shiny and sleek ways. Like anything, there are pros and cons to this kind of development.

One of the downsides is that creative culture is no longer something that takes time. People are generally quicker about their production and dissemination and have less attention span for in-depth developed content. Another downside (that of course also has an upside) is how easy it is to monetize, which means that the creative process can easily get co-opted by the idea of sales.

On the upside however, creativity and access to creative identity are much less precious and elitist than they once were. There are more people who are able to get their work “out there” and be seen, and therefore supported in what they do. Additionally, there’s more room to be playful and experiment if you know that someone’s attention span won’t accommodate memories of attempts that weren’t 100%.

Whether or not it pertains to an art or creative practice I don’t know, but it seems that currently you’re facing a dilemma that has this kind of flavor. You might be feeling some tension which appears to be a pull between the desire to produce and the need to absorb yourself in a process.

There has been a growing sense of spiritual awakening in regards to your finance and ways you earn money. It doesn’t seem to be a good idea to put anything out into the world that isn’t totally aligned with your deeper intentions, yet there might also be a real insecurity around resources that needs to be attended to.

Perhaps if you adopt the perspective of cyclical processes it will help. Think of everything you do as part of a longer unfolding and learning. If there are shorter terms needs or desires for expression that feel a little half-baked, put them out and call them experiments and be proud of them. But keep in mind the whole time what your end goal is and don’t let yourself get distracted from it by short-lived socials. Your new moon affirmation is, “I create with curiosity.”

PISCES
Any body needs a good balance between stability and mobility. Any brain needs a balance between possibility and certainty. The world we live in and the earth itself are in a constant state of flux between manifestation and deterioration. No matter what you look at there is equal value in both parts. If something is too flexible it can never define itself, but if something can’t change it becomes toxic to the larger system.

The word home in general connotes an idea of permanence and stability. It is the place or space of grounding, reorienting and returning. It is something we long for with the idea of how it feels when we are there: safe, steady, secure. Yet the adage that home is where the heart is implies that humans have, for a long time, faced the impermanence of physical structures and territories. On some level we know that while external circumstances can indeed provide safety and security, a true sense of belonging is an internal process which may or may not be facilitated by location.

Your current astrology points to some tension that seems to be manifesting at home. The balance between who you have been and who you are becoming has not yet been found. Trust in the unknown future is hinging on a sensation of being cared for in the present. How can you get to where you are going if you’re not certain where you’re starting from?

These questions are deep and very real. The answers to them will only come with the right timing. For now though remember that any feelings of placelessness in the present moment will not be assuaged by stress about the future. Instead, fill your attention with concreteness in the world around you and appreciate what you can touch, taste, smell and hear right now. The less your mind lingers on what you don’t know, the more you can appreciate, and find belonging, with what you have at hand. Your new moon affirmation is, “Home is where the adventure is.”