New Moon of Gemini – Crossing the Desert With Your Twin

We all have an instinct for what Gemini means, and some of you (looking at my single female friends now who consistently swipe left on Geminis) think it’s all bad news.

There is a duality that pervades the energy of this New Moon that is exciting and useful, and that bifurcation is something I very much enjoy diving into this time each year. I hope that these New Moon writings gain as much traction as my other blogs and posts, as I believe that the more people who participate and put effort toward something outside of ourselves, the more we can manifest creative energy.

Let’s start with desire and effort. Flip sides of the same coin. These two concepts, melded together, contain a prerequisite for drawing Light, blessings, and available opportunities. As the kabbalists teach, these times we mark by moons and holy days are inextricably bound to times in which revelations were made in the distant past. And if you hold to the teachings of the Bible or simply love a good calendar, this is the time when the Jews fled Egypt and entered the desert.

I dislike the desert and have since childhood. If camped in one for a few days, a sense of worry and unease falls over me. I used to question this feeling and possibly judge it a little. Most people love the desert, and as an outdoor-loving, sporty person, I wondered why I felt so uneasy. Imagine my delight when I discovered the Zohar backs me up on this. It asks why things don’t grow in the desert and answers by saying it is the place where negativity reigns. You get the feeling that this is a place the Light would flee from you… well, I do anyway.

But the opposite is true. Just as the revelation at Sinai happened in the middle of the desert, many of our greatest shifts and changes happen smack dab in the midst of our own proverbial deserts.

If we desire the greenest oases in our lives (a perfect partner, a career we love, enlightenment…), we must cross years of hard, blistering sand to reach them. The desert is a metaphorical representation of the low points of our lives. The desert is a lonely, hard-scrabble place we do not want to be, but it is a necessity. So, the first question of this New Moon is, obviously, how much time am I willing to spend in my own desert? The Zohar tells us that the Israelites couldn’t have received the Light they did anywhere else in the world, save a place devoid of Light and life; the most difficult place. So, each time we turn away from the places, people, and things that make us the most uncomfortable, those are the moments we potentially give up on our desires and ultimately our growth.

Since we’re in the New Moon of Gemini, let’s talk about the second gift of this month. Hint: it’s tied to the zodiac sign of Gemini itself: two equal beings. You and the you that you want to be. You and your lover or friend. You and the Creator. The Zohar says that a person doing the spiritual work, transforming, helping, and sharing, is in effect creating the Creator. By entering the desert and putting in the effort to evolve, you are actually manifesting the Light that you wish to receive.

That’s the secret of the twins of Gemini. We are the imperfect creature clawing our way toward perfection and the perfected self, waiting with open arms. Our relationship with God, the Universe, or if you prefer, the Great North Wind that made the Vikings, is a relationship of twins. We are not merely connecting to the Light; we are helping to create it.

Back to the desert. We often don’t focus on being an active participant in creating the Light when things are going our way. We have a tendency (after all, we’re only human) to think that when we need that boost from the universal source that we will simply up our game. It doesn’t work like that, and our occasional sojourns in the deserts of our lives can remind us of that. Simply being kind for a day or holding your tongue in an argument may seem like a great deal of work for some, but when you are trying to fill a wellspring in an arid world, it’s clear that so much more is required. We shouldn’t wait to fill that reservoir of Light until we need it. Think of it as finding a dress for a party you haven’t been invited to yet.

My son, David, was driving through a literal desert on his way from Los Angeles to Arizona when he, unfortunately, received an object lesson in this abstract idea. Cruising along the highways (at the speed limit, I’m sure), a rock suddenly smashed through the windshield of his car, showering him in glass. In shock, his first thought was that someone had aimed at him from the side of the road. One could assume that filled him with a mixture of anger and fear, the classic sense of “why me…what did I do to deserve this?” But his next thought, in his own words, was: “this is a wake-up call.” He realized he needed a full reservoir to handle unforeseen situations like this.

The twins of Gemini remind us of the duality that exists in each of us; the want and the wanting to simply partake without the effort. But the twins also remind us that we are partners in making the world – and the life that we live – better than we found it. Hopefully, Gemini will help you feel a little less lonely on that journey.

RETHINK MOMENT: Using your twinship with your Source, how can you double down on your efforts to achieve a life worth living and make your desert bloom?