Mercury Cazimi in Gemini: Seize the Moment of Clarity Amidst Confusion

Five years ago, I began a process to reeducate my neruomuscular system, to take it out of habitual movement patterns.

One odd thing I’ve experienced often in this journey is that the way I perceive my body’s posture or movement is often not aligned with what is actually happening.

In his book Somatics, Thomas Hanna explains how “sensory-motor amnesia” creates a distorted body image that can lead us to perceive our posture differently from what it actually is.

Even though you may believe you are sitting “straight,” you may actually be sitting with a swayback. And when the back muscles have released enough to allow you to sit truly straight, you will, at first, feel as if you are slumped forward! At this point you will realize that …. your body is actually reorganizing its posture. — Thomas Hanna, Somatics

Essentially, our habitual patterns can become so entrenched that they feel normal. Then when we try to undo those patterns it can feel “wrong” — because it’s unfamiliar.

To undo this habituation, it helps to be able to “see” what we are actually doing, either through video recording or having other people around who can physically adjust our posture and help us find alignment.

When I teach yoga classes, I offer my students hands-on adjustments to help them feel the difference between what they think is aligned and what is actually aligned.

Those adjustments often result in a brief moment of clarity, as they are surprised to discover that what they thought was “even” was really a big imbalance.

The mind works the same way.

Have you ever heard something repeated so often that you believed it to be true, even when presented with concrete evidence to the contrary?

Maybe you were even the unwitting propagator of the falsehoods. This is common — we repeat what we believe about the world or about ourselves, without pausing to check whether what we are saying is actually, verifiably true.

We habituate to certain thought patterns.

Mercury Cazimi: Clarity Amidst Confusion

As Mercury and the Sun come together in Gemini (June 14 12:32 pm at 24º06’) for a “cazimi,” it serves like a hands-on adjustment for the mind, offering us a brief moment of clarity or insights about the workings of our minds.

Mercury represents our mind and thoughts.

A Mercury Cazimi is when Mercury and the Sun appear to be in the same part of the sky from our perspective on Earth. As planets meet up with the Sun, they are infused with the light of the Sun. Like a new moon, this is a restart of Mercury’s cycle.

Mercury and the Sun meet up several times a year, but each one has a different “flavor.”

This time, Mercury its home sign of Gemini. It is curious and eager to learn. It loves facts and figures. A Mercury Cazimi often brings moments of clarity and insight, which can help us see our thoughts better from that outside perspective.

That said, Mercury and the Sun are both applying to a square to Neptune in Pisces.

Neptune is the planet of illusion and delusion. It obfuscates. As the Mercury gets closer to the square with Neptune, facts and data can become blurry, leading to confusion.

Undoing Habitual Patterns

This is actually quite symbolic of our process of undoing habitual patterns in the body and the mind. It usually takes multiple hands-on adjustments before we can begin to find the correct physical alignment on our own.

In the same way, one moment of clarity about unhelpful or false beliefs doesn’t create a permanent change. Often, clarity is followed by confusion.

Still, that doesn’t mean we are doomed.

How To Preserve Your Moments of Clarity

We can take advantage of the clarity when it comes.

Record your insights and revelations as they arise; seize the moments of clarity to get your thoughts in alignment and make note of them. When confusion strikes again, go back to your notes and remind yourself of what is true.

Remember that just because a thought “feels” “normal” doesn’t mean it’s true. Sometimes what feels “strange” is actually true.