by Robert Wilkinson
Today we explore specifics of the Inferior Conjunction of June 10 at 21 Gemini. This “fusion of life and mind” will impact the rest of the retrograde period, and many weeks after.
As I offered in earlier articles, an Inferior Conjunction is when Mercury (mind) conjuncts the Sun (life) while retrograde. This indicates that signals, messages, and ideas from either outer sources or subconscious sources will fuse with the life principle, setting the tone for the lessons involving how our minds are relating to our lives during the next four months.
Mind is now reconsidering territory it’s already seen. This “fusion of Mind and Life” allows Mind to see where the Light has already been, and thereby written in our Book of Light/Life. Mercury, Guide of Souls, now has slowed down enough that the Sun has caught up and they come together for a brief moment. That also means Mercury again leads the Sun, showing Mercury is again the Gatekeeper to the Light.
We now enter a phase of looking back at Life to see how certain things in the past impacted how we got to where we are today. This is “Illuminated Mind looking back at inward, outward, and collective processes which have shaped our Life. As Mercury is retrograde, the degree of the inferior conjunction shows how our perceptions will merge with our Life and bring forth a new understanding of our Light.
It is important that this Inferior Conjunction happens just hours after the Solar Eclipse at 20 Gemini. Because the conjunction is still forming, it is a powerful influence in how the eclipse effects will manifest. That means during the 5 years the eclipse will be shutting down parts of our late Gemini sector, we’ll constantly be reminded of old views and ideas, old interactions, old attitudes, all with an eye to replacing many of them with new material.
The Sabian Symbol for the Inferior Conjunction
This Inferior Conjunction falls at 21 Gemini. It is said that the third third (decan) of any sign deals with the individual, mental, and spiritual levels of life, and being the Aquarius decan of that sign, invokes a sub-influence of Aquarius with an extra dose of the Sun.
The Sabian Symbol we’ve been given for the 21st degree of Gemini is “A labor demonstration.” In The Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, 21 Gemini is said to be a symbol of "the impetuous onsurge of natural instincts within the field of the conscious ego,” “blind struggle,” and “the compelling power of fate.”
InThe Astrological Mandala he says the keynote for this degree is "the revolutionary impact of mental concepts upon the collective emotions and desires of humanity.” He states this process works at “the level of collective responses,” where mental images have aroused the mass, and for individuals, for whom “contrasting spheres of activity have taken shape as the result of the mid-based individualizing process.”
He offers this degree is one in which “the organic functions make their collective demands upon the lordly intellect,” setting the stage for some sort of revolution. He says it “sets the stage for a tumultuous process, which may lead to a new approach to the problems resulting from individualization,” where our “repressed instincts stage an emotional outburst.” Rudhyar says it falls in the Span of Restlessness, and it’s the first degree in the emotional and social level of the Scene of Exteriorization in the Act of Differentiation.
According to Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, we find this degree symbolizes our “unimpeachably universal spirit” and the realization “that the lines of property and private rights which (we) find entrenched all around (us) are limitations without validity” except in cases of “social stewardship.” He states “right and justice only prevail to the exact extent a conscious effort is made to establish and maintain them.”
He continues “individuals and groups will prosper as they dramatize their own justification effectively,” and offers us the keyword REPRESENTATION. He says when working in a positive manner, this degree is a consistent courage in attacking major problems at any cost of minor well-being or inconvenience.”
So we enter a time where Life is moving forward as Mind looks back on how a) our repressed instincts burst out in the past, and/or b) how current outbursts are related to past repressions. This gives us a new look at how emotions may need to be managed within a social setup, and if we are “stewards” of some social expression, we need to stand for justice and the ability for all to prosper according to their effort. We’ll certainly have experience some things bursting out in the next few weeks which will help us understand some problems “related to individualization” and have a clearer sense of what’s expressing itself after Mercury makes its final pass through its shadow zone after it goes direct.
We may get flashes or recollection about old interactions where we or others burst forth with something which had been repressed up to that point, or perhaps remember how slogans and propaganda created dramatic releases in others. Through our ability to see the past in ways that feed our understanding of the need to honor our feelings as well as our ideas, we can find new ways to externalize what we or others need or value.
Because it’s a retrograde conjunction in the Air sign of greater ideas in social and/or emotional experience, take a new look at ways to remember and review how you became clearer in the past through interactions where people got to express themselves spontaneously. Because Gemini represents our ability to explore all the ideas there are to explore, if you want guidance, look within to see what needs to be cleared out to create the space for better things to come.
Just remember that all Mercury RX phenomena take a while to unfold, often during a subsequent RX period. Things that happen during a retrograde seem to have a way of moving forward at future retrograde. This Inferior Conjunction will bring echoes of past eras when Jupiter and Saturn were in this sector of Gemini, as well as a foreshadowing of what will come when Jupiter and Saturn transit this degree. It may also bring flashes of insight or returns related to past Eclipses near this Inferior Conjunction. The current one will certainly figure prominently in how this Inferior Conjunction expresses itself in the next few weeks.
Important Dispositors
Because the Inferior Conjunction is in Gemini, it is ruled by Mercury at 21 Gemini. This makes Mercury the major player on stage related to this conjunction and the Eclipse. This promises a new look at how repressed contents may burst out in roundabout forms, or forms which will take a while to put into play. This promises us a “look back” or new insights into how different outbursts indicated our need for “right and justice” can be found and maintained through constant effort. The good news is that this Inferior Conjunction is tredecile Jupiter and biquintile Pluto, showing a lot of interactive gifts and blessings for those who stop stuffing it down and choose to let it out! This show blessings after a period of delay, or roundabout blessings to come off and on for months to come.
Because this fusion of backward and inward looking Mind with Life is ruled by Mercury, we can reconnect with those inner parts of our personality which need to be revisited so they can express those repressed parts of us. This will help us get insights into what we need to release and/or make manifest so we can “speak our truth” to the world.
This Inferior Conjunction can fuse hindsight and life experience to see how new forms of light, life, and perspectives are coming forth as we eliminate all which could hinder our future, freed of old ideas which no longer apply. Because of the emphasis on Gemini, the next four months are a time to be open to exploring how to exchange information, noting what brings forth dramatic outbursts.
A benefit of Inferior Conjunctions is they offer us views of how we prepared in the past for current attitudes and ideals, or conversely, through the retrograde lens see how past attitudes and ideals led us to where we’re at right now. When Mercury gives us a backward look or alternative view and understanding of something from the past, it also in a strange way prepares the ground for the future when other planets cross this degree.
While we’ll see actions related to these themes on in July when Mercury transits this degree for the third time, it is setting patterns which will explode outward when Jupiter transits this degree three times between September 2023 and April 2024. We can expect tremendous openings when Jupiter crosses this degree, with implications for when Saturn crosses this degree 3 times between August 2031 and May 2032.
Aspects in Play
Remember that in any celestial event, forming aspects show the future and closely partile separating aspects show what’s activated now. In an Inferior Conjunction, the Sun and Mercury conspire to bring separating aspects back into play, with forming aspects activated now and in the future when Mercury goes direct.
Because I covered all the major and minor aspects in the third part of the New Moon Solar Eclipse series of article, please refer to that post if you want to know more about the aspects in play, including the squares to Neptune, tredeciles to Juptiter, and other powerful configurations in play at present.
Elements and the Jones Pattern
This was also covered in the New Moon Eclipse articles. The chart of the Inferior Conjunction brings us no planet in Fire, 2 in Earth, 4 in Air, and 4 in Water. This continues the dominance of “cool,” since Earth and Air are “cool” elements. That makes this coming period very mental and emotional, even if we many things require a sense of humor and irony as we bust “ego pomposities” as we reach out to new potential fields of self-expression.
This continues the Bowl Jones pattern explained in the Eclipse article, since all the planets are contained within half the zodiac. Pluto in Capricorn opens the span of experience, while Mars in Cancer closes it. Overcome fear when entering any given experience, and close it with being a good “Spiritual Warrior,” using Soul power to combat dense material energies refusing to yield.
This Inferior Conjunction will help us clear out a lot of old discouraging tapes which reside in our mind. If something demands expression, keep it fair and just, compassionate and integrative, and keep growing into “new vistas of conscious and concrete expression.” We’re glimpsing our indestructible elements of Being, and so preserve what you feel you need to as you stand on the threshold of repressed things coming up and out as you glimpse visions of the future yet to happen.
This is all an educational exercise to keep the mind receptive to “impressions of understanding” how your Life is leading you to Divine Mind, and your mind is leading you to the Divine Life. As the conjunction is in Gemini, it makes this fusion of Life and Mind operate in a Mutable, distributive interactive exchange of ideas mode.
So What’s Been Going On, and What Will Happen From Here?
I’ve explained this “two-step” process of Inferior Conjunctions followed by Superior Conjunctions alternating with each other in previous articles. The last few weeks we’ve been under the influence of the last Superior Conjunction at 30 Aries in April with its theme of finding essential happiness by accepting a limited focused field of expression. Now, at the Inferior Conjunction, we’ve reached the end of the direct influence of that conjunction, and now will go into a process where we will take a new look at many things, including the need to take a new look at our subconscious mind and what it’s trying to express. Because it’s the first degree of the Aquarius part of Gemini with an additional dose of the Sun due to the decan, this one will take us through recalibrating our perspective of our hidden feelings within our social setup, whether through memories linking past and present, or past, present, and future.
While Mercury is still slow in speed, from here it gradually speeds up, and will go stationary direct at 17 Gemini on June 22. It will continue to speed up until it outraces the Sun at the next Superior Conjunction at 10 Leo on August 1. That Superior Conjunction ushers in several weeks of transfiguration, knowing we’ve “made it through the night.”
So while up to now, Life has been catching up to Mind, it will now outpace it for weeks to come. Once Mercury goes direct and hits its maximum speed, we’ll get the next Superior Conjunction, after which Mind will again outraces Life, exploring ideas and perceptions of experiences yet to occur.
So the Inferior Conjunction marks the point when Mind is being absorbed by Life, or Life takes on the results of subconscious or collective ideas returning to source. For the next short period, Mercury will still be slow in speed and retrograde as the Sun moves forward, putting distance between it and Mercury. Still, from this point on, Mercury gradually speeds up, so the slowest part of the retrograde process is now past!
Once Life gets as far from Mind as it can, then Mercury goes stationary direct, and continues to speed up through its shadow zone and beyond as it prepares to enter unknown zodiacal zones after leaving the shadow zone. The “pulses” of the Inferior and Superior conjunctions of the Sun and Mercury constitute an entire field of research unto themselves. I explain this process in greater detail in A New Look at Mercury Retrograde.
Mercury, or Hermes, the “Guide of Souls”
All Mercury retrograde periods teach us about how Mercury functions. As I explain in Chapter 2 of Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend, Mercury’s duality is Life/Death, so when the “Divine Trickster” slows down we can get a new look at how our consciousness and responses are either creative, destructive, or both, to cite the venerable Kabbalistic Arhat Paul Foster Case. Mercury is where we learn if our mental processes are creating chaos and disorganized scattered conditions through ambivalence, and thus come to see how to use discernment to coordinate various functions to bring forth perfect knowing how to do whatever needs to be done.
As we explore this new energy showing how our mind and life relate to each other, perhaps we can learn how to deal with Mercurial energies in ourselves or others from a different angle of view, organizing or reorganizing or ideas, perception, interpretations, and way of communicating. All in all, the coming 4 months will bring interesting returns, reflections, and rehearsals of how and what we’ve already dealt with in the realm of learning to use Gemini energy productively. This includes all the usual Aquarius themes mentioned earlier.
The new views, understandings, and reinterpretations shown by this Inferior Conjunction should be considered in the light of the house in which this retrograde inferior conjunction is happening. We can see our ideas from a different angle, find a new focus, and make progress in transformational regenerations that will be the source of much information and activity in the next few weeks. Wherever you have 21 Gemini will bring a fusion of Life and Mind, especially related to the houses where you have Gemini and Virgo.
Once the Inferior Conjunction happens, whatever has seemed delayed, postponed, or dragging along will move forward soon. This can bring forth a greater holistic vision of how events and people are connected, as well as why we must rethink some things, people, and plans.
Generally, the 11 days before the inferior conjunction (fusion) of mind and life is a good time to take a new look at how you can bring out your inner wisdom by adjusting to a future vision or broader perspective that's opening for you. It's also good for getting a new point of view regarding what your imagination is willing to consider and how to coordinate your life to reorganize it productively.
It's great for intuitive flashes, insights into the larger collective consciousness and unconsciousness, and seeing how you're being led to see elements of your Soul you may not have recognized before now. So think back on what's happened in the past couple of weeks, and find a new way to view how those things may symbolize the future somehow.
Just remember during retrogrades, especially Mercury retrograde, that often things that don't turn out one way lead directly or indirectly to other things somewhat related manifesting down the road. It's as though nothing should be taken at face value, and often what we do or think during Mercury retrograde creates odd echoes in the future that take different shapes, or different functions related to the original intention.
A New Look At Mercury Retrograde
Because we’ll still be dealing with Mercury retrograde through June 22 (and to some extent for the 2 weeks after that while Mercury is still in its shadow zone), if you haven’t already, you should get a copy of the 2nd edition of A New Look At Mercury Retrograde. It offers in-depth information about Mercury retrograde in the various signs and houses, and what the Mercury Retrograde phenomenon is about.
By knowing more about 2016’s Mercury retrograde periods in Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, the 2017 retrogrades in Capricorn and Sagittarius, Taurus and Aries, and Virgo and Leo, the 2018 retrogrades in Aries, Leo, Sag and Scorpio, the 2019 retrogrades in Pisces, Leo, Cancer, and Scorpio, and the 2020 retrogrades in Pisces, Aquarius, Cancer, Scorpio, and Libra, you may see patterns in what has been going on in your life, the different things you’ve been taking a new look at and why, and how this "looking back" has influenced your choices as you moved through past events. By taking a look at the qualities of the February 2021 RX in Aquarius, this May-June 2021 RX in Gemini, and the September-October 2021 RX in Libra, you’ll get important information about being guided to your Soul this year.
Here's the Amazon link to the page where you can purchase a paperback edition of A New Look at Mercury Retrograde. If you want an ebook, you can order one at the link, or go to Barnes & Noble and it's available through Nook. ((Again, if you’re going to purchase a copy, make sure it’s the award-winning second edition published in 2016 and not the 1997 edition!)
Previous articles in this series:
Mercury Retrograde in Gemini in May-June 2021 – Shaping Our Expression in Forms of Power
Mercury Retrograde in Gemini in May-June 2021 - An Overview
It’s Mercury Retrograde in February 2021 – Time for A New Look at the Guide of Souls
The Guide of Souls in May 2021 - Mercury Slowing Down, Preparing to go Retrograde at 25 Gemini
Copyright © 2021 Robert Wilkinson
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