the messy inspired chaos of Mars in Gemini

trust in your Self, the Universe, and the timing of your life

Pawel Czerwinski

i.

I won’t say that it felt like I owned the city—that cliched refrain of the young and wantonly invincible—because it didn’t. It was 2am: a time of night that’s always winked and flashed or else stretched out quiet as an animal in the grass, and it was something more adult than that. The lapsing into, the growing toward. It felt good to smoke a cigarette, a real cigarette with a real pop and fizzle meeting the lighter’s kiss. And it felt good to walk uphill with friends in the sideways melt of night, to feel its sinking warm grasp as it reached right back toward us.

I watched as a distant lighthouse sprayed its glow in large swathes across the water, cutting through the density of fog surrounding it. Even in what is San Francisco’s true summer,¹ Karl is ever familiar.

I’m a slow writer. I always have been; I think that the tendency arises from the need to edit as I go. The attempt at making perfect, homogenizing my chosen form of expression—my lens for both understanding the world and making it beautiful, my way of making it my own.

It makes continuing the work of my novel in progress slow-paced. I’ll be honest, because I am determined to be nothing but honest in this space, even when the vulnerability gives me a little pinch of pain: the going is far slower than I’d like. I went to bed angry about it earlier this week, something I haven’t done for a very long time, demanding of myself: Why am I not done yet?

And as I lay on my bed and wrote this on Wednesday evening, with the day’s lazy heat still dusting my skin, I watched the moon rise through my window. She was slowly ripening into this weekend’s full moon in Pisces, her own miraculous becoming, and I thought: So am I.

Just because we haven’t yet accomplished the things we want to achieve doesn’t mean they won’t happen for us—or that really, we won’t happen for them.

And all the time my dreams keep up a steady drumbeat in the back of my mind. With the metronome pulse of my heart. KeepgoingkeepgoingkeepgoingKEEPGOING.

So I will, and I am, and I hope you do, too, and if you need a reminder right about now, please read those words again.

The timing of my life continues, in perfect unison with the Universe. I watch it unfold with the same divine reverence I hold for the moon rising on the horizon.

Try saying that as part of your morning affirmations. Go on, I dare you. ✨ Bonus points if you say it to yourself in the mirror.

Kimia @kimiawrites

Unclear on what humans ever did to deserve her but I’m just so so glad we have the moon

ii.

Okay, now let’s talk about all things Mars in Gemini!

In last week’s newsletter, I wrote about how Mars entered Gemini on August 20, and about how we are in for a looong ride with this particular planetary transit. This is because the warrior planet, which typically parks itself in one sign for a period of one to two months, will be hanging out in Gemini for nearly 8 months this time around. It will turn retrograde on October 30—a retrograde which will continue into the new year. Finally stationing direct in January, Mars will nonetheless remain in Gemini until the the end of March 2023. Cool cool cool.

via Chris Brennan, host of the Astrology Podcast

Now that we’ve got the timeline straight, let’s talk about what that means.² Mars represents passion, drive (both sexual and otherwise), and of course—where it sits in your chart will affect how you react to situations of conflict or express feelings of anger and upset. (Mine’s in Cancer. Help.)

In Gemini, it will foster inspiration and creativity, a potent time for writers and creative projects—which I’m not not positively thrilled about. Think about those lightbulb moments you often find yourself having during or after a conversation with your zany Gemini friend. That may also mean that just like our favorite fast-talking (and moving!) Gems, we may get bored more quickly than usual. We might feel more easily distracted, and that singularity of focus is tough to come by (it certainly has been for me already).

One of my all-time favorite astrologers and social justice warriors, Chani Nicholas, writes that during this time, “You may notice curiosity is at an all-time high, communication is even more rapid or divisive than usual, or misinformation unspools at a dizzying speed.”

And, because Mercury is stationing retrograde in Libra today (!), September 9 until October 2, this will also factor prominently in our interpersonal relationships, platonic and otherwise—as well as on the global stage. The planet ruling communication and technology will backflip into Virgo, a sign that prefers an exacting approach, a “devil’s in the details” kind of perfectionism, after September 23.

I’ve never been one to buy into the doom and gloom that surrounds social media discourse on retrogrades, but you know the Mercury rx drill: Miscommunication will very likely abound, so it’s more important than ever to be discerning about the information we consume. Don’t believe everything you see on the internet!³

What is coming up for you with Mars in Gemini, Mercury retrograde, and the full moon in Pisces coming in hot? I’d love to know.

xx

Kimia

1. I simply cannot, in good and politically correct conscience, call it Indian summer anymore. I will now be referring to it as gossamer, crane summer, quince summer, and/or San Francisco summer—all delicious alternatives posited in this article.

2. Full disclosure: I am not a certified astrologer. I’m just one of those people who is always thinking about what the planets are doing. You know, just in case you couldn’t tell from the name and contents of this newsletter.

3. Especially as it’s been even weirder and more chaotic and more unhinged than usual these days. So it goes.