A Summer of Love by Lisa Karmen
June is the month when we energetically move from the mental curiosity and communication of the sign Gemini into the emotional safe harbor of home represented by the sign Cancer.
The approaching Full Moon in Sagittarius on June 9th will help to shed light on the illusions in our lives and encourage us to connect with our own truth. On the same day the planet Jupiter (wisdom, expansion, ideals, vision) changes direction in the sign of Libra (balance and relationships) indicating it is time to move forward after 5 months of interpersonal lessons. We can now expand and evolve with self-confidence in relationships. It is also a reminder to have faith that even though we may not know exactly where we are headed if we come from a place of personal truth and interpersonal kindness and love we will end up exactly where we are meant to be going. Sagittarius, the Archer says, “Draw your bow and let fly the arrow, then, when you find where it landed, draw the bull’s-eye!”
One of the challenges in the coming six weeks will be from the planet Mars (outward energy, aggression, passion, anger) being in the sign of Cancer (security, passivity, nurturing, family, and changing emotions). This isn’t a comfortable sign for Mars. Think elementally: Cancer, the water sign, puts out Mars, the fire planet or, conversely fire boils water… skirmishes at home or at work may happen under the influence of these energetic tensions… when positively directed, pent up emotions (steam!) can be channeled to support consciousness and wellbeing.
On June 21st the longest day of the year, the Summer Solstice occurs. The Solstice archetypally represents the triumph of light over dark. However, where there is the greatest light there is also the greatest shadow… unconscious complexes can arise as well as the potential for new consciousness and self-knowledge.
The Sun is our life force energy and represents the archetypal Hero. In mythology, the “Hero’s Journey” begins when a sudden event changes the status quo requiring an ordinary person to respond extraordinarily. One could say that the global current affairs we are all witnessing and experiencing these days are our “Hero’s Journey Events” requiring us to become extraordinary in our own lives. The existential question is how?
The answer isn’t crystal clear yet because we are in the midst of an enormous paradigm shift. However, guidance can be found in the cosmic truths that energy is constantly evolving and devolving from formless to forming to form and back again and true transformation doesn’t come from the top down; it comes from the bottom up, from within each of us. There are also astrological clues.
In 1967, the social phenomenon known as the Summer of Love took place. It was the summer when throngs of teenagers, otherwise known as hippies or flower children, converged on the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood in San Francisco rejecting conformist and materialistic values of modern life by celebrating and embracing a renaissance of consciousness that emphasized compassion, awareness, unity, and love.1 It was a significant energetic moment that reverberated across the globe.
At the same time, in the heavens, the outer planets Pluto (transformation and resurrection) and Uranus (evolution and revolution) combined their energies in the sign of Virgo (service, work, the body, health, healing and purification) to conceive a new consciousness. Given the slow movement of the outer planets in their orbits, the next phase of the cyclic interaction between Uranus and Pluto didn’t occur until recently: June 2012 through March 2015. It is still in effect today.
The present relationship between Pluto and Uranus is one of the drivers of the global breakdown and transformation currently happening. Pluto, now in Capricorn, represents the collapse of the status quo, the patriarchy, the establishment including structures and organizations like governments, banks, and corporations. Uranus, now in Aries, signifies the potential for new life, the individual, the adventurer, the leader, the initiator, the cosmic principal of Action and the “spark of life” as painted on the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel by Michelangelo in The Creation of Adam. When Pluto moves through a sign a major overhaul is on the agenda. When Uranus moves through a sign liberation is the result.
It is clear that the old paradigm is transforming. It is unclear what it is becoming. A hint as to what is manifesting is that, astrologically speaking, what was conceived in 1967 was born in 2012-2015. In other words, the new consciousness imagined and embodied by the Summer of Love is concretely established now! This is why so many themes of the Sixties are recurring. And, while it certainly does not feel like a flower power love-in these days, and we do have a great deal of work ahead of us, the unity consciousness seeded in the sixties is here to stay. It is no longer a nostalgic concept because the birthing energetically happened in 2012-2015. This means that the next phase of the astrological cycle has begun: we are all waking up to the reality of a metaphorical love child on our collective doorstep, a vulnerable infant in need of sustenance, nurturing, and love. The calling of the 21st Century, our Hero’s Journey, is to re-parent ourselves in order to raise this new unity consciousness into a healthy, thriving new paradigm.
Outer planet cycles are long. As you can see, in the case of Pluto and Uranus, it took fifty years from conception to birth. The next thirty years will bring the development, growth, and manifestation of this newly incarnate consciousness. The course of evolution happens on the macro level beyond our direct control. But we are not helpless. In our day-to-day lives we can pay attention to and align with the energetic themes of the planets as they move in the heavens. Each month we are given specific guidelines as the Moon waxes and wanes through the signs in the same way as the path of the Sun guides us on an annual basis. Evolutionary change is not like turning a light switch on and off, it is slow and cyclical and the lessons multi-layered. We may not tangibly see or experience how planetary energy is positively impacting our consciousness personally and collectively, but we can rest assured that life renews itself from what is hidden.
This June, as the Sun moves through Gemini, the sign representing the conscious mind and all forms of thought and communication, we have the capacity to dream the world anew. On the Summer Solstice, when the Sun moves into Cancer, the sign of family and hereditary links to the past, we have the responsibility to remember and acknowledge that we are all part of the human family. This Solstice we can consciously choose to take up the quest of our Hero’s Journey and start off down the path of learning how to relate to ourselves and each other through compassion, unity, and love. It’s time.
In the words of the great John Lennon:
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you
You may say I’m a dreamer
But I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Lisa Karmen is an astrologer, artist and teacher living in New York City. She has a lifelong interest in wellness and has studied Green Medicine at the NY Open Center, Bach Flower Remedies, and Homeopathy. Lisa is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts with a focus in Psychology, Mythology, and Ceramic Art.www.selketconsulting.com
Free 2017 Astrology & Wellness Lecture Series WEDNESDAY, JUNE 21, 2017 6 – 7 PM
Tournesol Wellness
26 East 36th Street, New York, NY 10016