Hey Cosmic Friends,
How are you all feeling after the past few days of electrifying planetary activity?
I just got back to Santa Fe after spending a month traveling through the raw beauty and elemental wildness of Costa Rica and Panama, and my arrival home couldn't have lined up with more electric astrology.
On Saturday (May 17) the Sun met Uranus in Taurus, and honestly, it felt like coming back down to Earth with a jolt of clarity and a bit of cosmic static still buzzing in my system. Sun-Uranus conjunctions always brings some sort of breakthrough or lightning bolt of surprise, and this is the last one in earthy Taurus for the rest of our lifetimes! For me, it showed up as this deep inner knowing that something in my values has shifted. After being immersed in so much lush, living nature, I can feel that my relationship to time, creativity, and resourcefulness is different now…more in tune with the slow intelligence of the wise and interdependent Earth.
Uranus takes around 7 years to travel through each sign, and the sun has made an annual conjunction over the past 7 years to add a little spark of innovation and change to the Taurus house in your chart. This sun/uranus conjunction was at 27 degrees Taurus, so it’s the last time the sun will activate Uranus in that house house for the rest of our lifetimes.
This was my final activation in my 10th house of career and public image, and I was kept up all night on Saturday with downloads on how my past 7 years of career change has culminated. When Uranus entered Taurus 7 years ago in 2018, I had a baby and (gradually) left the nonprofit fundraising company that I had founded to be present as a parent as well as deepen into the worlds of astrology, somatics, and beyond. At this last Uranus/Sun conjunction in my 10th house, a cathartic, sudden awareness came to me about what it is I’m truly wanting to offer to the world. It involves a few changes and pivots here at Astrosomatics/Cycles of Time, so stay tuned for some announcements in that arena in the next few weeks!
At the same time as this grand career-centered expose, over the weekend, Jupiter in Gemini squared the lunar nodes, which are currently sitting along the Pisces and Virgo axis. That square felt like a crossroads moment, a question echoing in the air: Can I trust my intuition and higher vision even when it doesn't line up with what I’ve known before?
It felt like the universe was asking me to integrate the dreamier, more intuitive wisdom I picked up during my travels with the grounded practicality I tend to lean on at home. I’m feeling the tension between wanting to map everything out and just letting life unfold more poetically, more messily, more real.
How did the weekend’s energies show up in your world?
This week in the Wheel of the Year:
MEDICINE WHEEL Direction: SOUTH
WUXING Element: FIRE
PAGAN Season: BELTANE (Mayday)
ZODIAC Season: GEMINI (May 20-June 20)
I’CHING Hexagram/HUMAN DESIGN Gate: Mon-Tues: 8 » Wed-Mon: 20
8 = Water over Earth: Holding Together (Union), aka The Gate of CONTRIBUTION
20 = Wind over Earth: Contemplation (Seeing), aka The Gate of THE NOW
MOON Phase: Waning
PLANETARY TRANSITS:
May 24: Saturn enters Aries
Solar Buzz: Gemini Season Begins, with a focus on Breath, Bees, and Becoming
As the Sun moves into Gemini on Tuesday, May 20, the energy shifts from the grounded, earthy slow dance of Taurus into something lighter, quicker, and more curious. Gemini is associated with childhood in the cycle of human development, that time in life when we're just starting to name the world around us and make sense of it all through language, imitation, and experimentation. There's a kind of open wonder in Gemini, a desire to explore just for the sake of learning something new, and that spirit is very much in the air this week.
In the body, Gemini rules the lungs, and there's something really beautiful about that connection. The lungs are where we exchange with life around us, where we take in the world and release what we no longer need, moment by moment. This season is an invitation to breathe more deeply, to let curiosity be the breath of your mind, and to engage in more of those light-touch connections that keep life feeling fresh and alive.
Gemini always makes me think of bees, who flit from flower to flower, cross-pollinating as they go, carrying life between spaces just by following their instincts. It's such a beautiful metaphor for how we communicate, how we share ideas, and how little sparks of connection can ripple outward and create whole ecosystems of possibility.
Human Design Gates of the Week: Gate 8 into Gate 20
At the beginning of the week, on Monday and Tuesday, the Sun continues to move through Gate 8 in the Human Design mandala. It is located in the throat center and known as the Gate of Contribution. This gate invites us to ask, how am I offering my unique voice and gifts to the world? Gate 8 isn’t about trying to fit in or doing what’s popular; it’s about style in the most authentic sense—expressing who you are in a way that feels true and aligned, no matter who’s watching.
In the I’Ching, Gate 8 corresponds with Hexagram 8, called "Holding Together," and it speaks to the power of unity and shared purpose. The lower trigram is Earth, which brings groundedness and support to the collective, and the upper trigram is Water, representing depth and emotion. Together they remind us that real connection happens when we bring our depth forward in grounded, practical ways. In the Gene Keys, this gate moves from the shadow of Mediocrity to the Siddhi of Exquisiteness, with the gift being Style. That tells me this is a good time to step out and let your essence shine, not to attract attention but to offer something beautiful from your voice to the collective.
On Wednesday the 21st, the Sun enters Gate 20, where it transits through until Monday, May 26. Gate 20 is such a powerful gate, especially for me personally because it's where my natal Chiron sits in my chart. Gate 20 is also in the throat center and is often called the Gate of the Now. It carries the energy of spontaneous, embodied presence. It’s not about what you think you should say or do—it’s about what arises when you're fully rooted in the moment. This gate emphasizes the importance of living in the now and speaking from a place of inner stillness. It encourages conscious awareness in every moment, allowing you to communicate and respond in alignment with the present energy.
In the I’Ching, this gate aligns with Hexagram 20, known as "Contemplation." The lower trigram is Earth again, and the upper trigram is Wind, suggesting a still, attentive perception where truth can emerge like a breeze through the trees. The Gene Key here travels from the shadow of Superficiality to the siddhi of Presence, with Self-Assurance as the gift.
Superficiality here refers to an overemphasis on the mind/intellect, as well as on appearances and external validation. In the shadow frequency, it is easy to detach, numb, and avoid the deeper workings of life, or else to stay way too busy and hectic on the surface of things, not allowing ourselves to get into a deeper relationship with life.
That really resonates with my Chiron wound in this gate—so much of my life has been about moving through layers of overexplaining or hiding behind intellect, and learning instead to simply show up, speak from the moment, and trust that it’s enough. Chiron is the wounded healer, who, similar to the Gene Keys, also moves through an evolution of energies, from the wound to the teacher to the alchemist. I’ve loved contemplating this gate in regards to my own evolution in my life from superficially focusing solely on the mental experience to finding self assurance through slowing down, embodiment and somatic practices. (For an entire year I practiced the Presence Process, a system created by Michael Brown, as part of my breathwork training- this was a huge alchemical leap away from my superficial mental patterns that had wounded me in the past.)
To evolve past this shadow into the gift of Self-Assurance is to recognize that, to quote Gene Keys creator Richard Rudd, “Your self-assurance is directly equivalent to your ability to escape being a victim of your mind.” This isn’t just about feeling confident, but about a profound inner certainty that what you are doing, saying, and being at any moment is exactly right. The siddhi, or spiritual accomplishment, of Gene Key 20 is presence, which is characterized by a deep and rhythmic breathing that brings awareness and clarity. Presence, here, is about being fully engaged and aware of every detail of the moment, not as a sequence but with simultaneous memory working backwards and forwards. Omnipresent may be a better word for this frequency.
What I find so compelling about Gate 20 is how it can also be understood through the image of insects buzzing in the spring air, which really resonates for this first Gate of Gemini Season, represented by pollinating bees and butterflies! This season as we enter Gemini and Gate 20 is seemingly chaotic, with many pollinating bugs darting around in their own little orbits, yet when you zoom out, they're actually performing essential roles in a larger harmony. Bees, flies, butterflies—each movement contributes to pollination, balance, and interdependence.
In the same way, this gate reminds us that our presence, our moment-to-moment expression, might seem small or unplanned, but it's actually weaving into something much bigger. We may not see the whole pattern, but we're part of it. Every word spoken from a place of truth, every authentic gesture, is like one of those tiny movements that ripples into the collective, strengthening the web of life and connection.
This week, Gate 20 asks all of us to practice that kind of radical presence. When we let go of scripting and just tune into what wants to move through us right now, we become clear channels for truth.
Saturn Enters Aries: The Long Fire Begins
The other huge shift this week happens on Saturday, May 25, when Saturn leaves Pisces after almost 3 years there and enters Aries, where it will stay for the next two and a half years. Saturn's shift into a new sign always initiates a new chapter of collective and personal responsibility, and Aries brings the spark of initiation. This is a time when we're being asked to mature in how we take action, how we lead ourselves, and how we respond to life directly and courageously.
What's really fascinating is that Saturn enters Aries in Gate 25, which is called the Gate of Innocence in Human Design and sits in the G center, the heart of identity and direction. This gate is all about unconditional love, not in the romantic sense, but as a pure state of being. It asks us to trust life, to return to our essential nature, and to act from a place of sincerity rather than strategy.
Saturn is also conjunct the asteroid Ceres as it enters Aries, adding a layer of nurturance, nourishment, and the cyclical rhythms of care. And not far from that point is Neptune, the planet of dreams and dissolving boundaries. Even though their exact conjunction won’t happen until early 2026, the presence of Neptune in the same neighborhood colors this transit with a sense of spiritual growth and the need to release illusions around who we think we have to be in order to belong or succeed.
This is a seed-planting moment, one that will take time to grow, but it's infused with the fire of Aries and the grace of surrender. Saturn takes around 29 years to orbit the sun, so this is the completion of a cycle that began 29 years ago- (if your Saturn is in Aries, welcome to your Saturn Return!) With Saturn in Aries, the first sign of the Zodiac, we are all being asked to begin again, in a more mature form than the last cycle, from a deeper place of knowing.
Bringing It All Together: Breath, Presence, and the Fire Within
So here we are, stepping into Gemini season with our lungs open, our minds curious, and our spirits a little bit more seasoned. The Sun's move into Gate 20 as we begin this new season reminds us that presence is power. Saturn's move into Aries reminds us that courage is a slow burn, not a quick flash.
As you move through the week, notice the conversations that light you up, the ideas that feel like pollination, the words that want to be spoken without being polished. Breathe into the moment and be self-assured that you are already enough.
Somatic Practice for the Week: Buzzing Breath and Listening In
Find a quiet moment to sit, close your eyes, and hum gently on each exhale. Let the sound vibrate through your chest, your skull, your whole being. This simple practice, sometimes called bee breath, helps to tone the vagus nerve and bring you into the here and now. After a few minutes, let the humming fade into silence and just sit. Place one hand on your throat and the other on your heart, and ask yourself gently, "What truth wants to come through me today?" Listen without rushing. Let it emerge like nectar.
All my very best this week,
Alison
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