Gemini, the last sign of the Spring season, is a complex and often contradictory sign producing both the virtue of versatility, and the vices of two-facedness and flightiness. Gemini is a mutable, Air sign and is therefore masculine in nature.

Gemini is curious, communicative and popular with others as long as it does not allow its skepticism and sarcasm to isolate it. Its mental agility and energy allow it to easily grasp any subject requiring analytical skills though it may avoid the labor of memorization and practice. If the value of discipline and attention to detail are not learned early in life, Gemini may be seen as unreliable and evasive as it flits from one interest to another always searching for variety and becoming a dilettante, dabbling in so many interests that it is unable to develop any one of them. It is fond of travel and changes of atmosphere. Gemini needs to learn that not only cooperation but also actual involvement with others is necessary to fulfillment in this life. Mercury, the ruler of Gemini, is the only god not assigned a particular place of worship. You will find him at all the crossroads of your life.

The monthly installment of The Great Astrological Light Bulb Joke:

Q. How many Geminis does it take to change a light bulb?

A. Two, but the job never gets done-they just keep discussing who is supposed to do it and how it's supposed to be done!  

Note: I have no idea who originally wrote this. Erika sent it to me years ago and I still think it’s as funny as it is insightful!

May 21^st - The Sun enters Gemini: ‘Tis the season for great festivals at the Seattle Center, Participatory Folk dancing, Ethnic Celebrations, or borrow a kid and try one of the imagination festivals.

Click here for information and a schedule of events: http://www.seattlecenter.com/

May 22^nd is a New Moon coinciding with a solar eclipse. The Moon and Sun are conjunct in the sky. The moon is dark and gradually increases to a crescent. This is the time to begin a ritual involving a new project, to ask for new vision.

May 26^th is Memorial Day

June 6^th is another Duncan & Thornell Open House and get together. Click here to see more details below.

June 6^th 1944 was D Day, the day the allied forces landed on the beaches of Normandy.

The official site tells the story here: http://www.dday.org/

Listen to the original radio broadcasts here: http://www.antique-radio.org/sounds/events/normandy.htm

Click here to take the D Day quiz: http://www.rain.org/~hickman/quiz-novice.html

It took me 3 tries to get them all. The first time through I only scored 6 out of 10, which goes to show that watching war movies doesn’t constitute a history education.

June 14^th is a Full Moon. The Moon and Sun are opposite each other in the sky. The Moon reflects all of the Sun's light. This is the time to perform rituals for protection, clarity of vision and consecration.

June 15^th is Father’s Day in the US. 

A beautiful and useful stone, quartz crystals are the most widely distributed form of quartz. The names quartz and crystal both derive from the Greek krustallos meaning ice. It is used industrially for glassware and optical lenses. The fact that quartz or rock crystal is so incredibly common on this planet indicates to me that communication and adaptability to ever-changing situations are the critical issues we are all working on here on Earth. 

Clear Quartz will help you to clarify your goals and see through your issues so that you do not get lost in minutiae. Gazing into a crystal ball, or scrying, is a traditional way of getting answers from your unconscious mind. Most people think a perfect, clear globe is what is used for this but that is only in the movies. The inclusions, bubbles etc are where your brain makes the images form. Try it with a crystal point or ball and see what you see. I’ll have some clear quartz and calcite points at the get-together so we can play with them.  

Click here to learn more about purchasing Inga's Earth Magic Jewelry.

Freya is home! We have lots of commands to practice with her, in German, no less. The best part is that it is now a joy to walk with her. She will “heel” on leash and on my left side. This means she now can go almost everywhere and be exposed to all sorts of different experiences with us. We will be keeping up with her training and I highly recommend the program to anyone who wants more enjoyment from the time they spend with their dog. I will make Freya a crystal pendant to wear to enhance her communication and creativity. Some of you may have noticed that our cats all wear stones. Out of necessity, most of them wear rose quartz to enhance their peacefulness and ability to play well with others!

Training Freya has really brought home to me how important discipline is in life. When I tell Freya to “heel” and then tell her “good heel” she looks happy and eager to try the next new thing. She also learns what I am rewarding her for so that she can try other variations and get more praise (and treats, of course). We were walking down some stairs in the yard and she quickly determined that if she sat on each step (right at the moment when I would pause with my feet together) and looked up at me, I’d give her a reward, sometimes a treat, sometimes praise…smart girl! Then she tried sitting mid way down the block but that didn’t get a treat, nor did continuing walking after I stopped. Sitting at the end of the block when I stopped did, though.

Moc, the trainer, refers to humans as treat dispensers. She says “At the end of every training or play session, leave your dog wanting more, more, more and enthusiastically looking to you to provide it!”  This is in contrast to negative training, which consists of waiting for the dog (or person) to do something you don’t like and then correcting them.

I’ve noticed that most of us use negative training techniques on ourselves. When is the last time you praised yourself or treated yourself? When I give myself a challenge like completing a task or beginning a new routine, and then I accomplish the task; I give myself some positive reward. This helps me to feel even better about having done it and more enthusiastic about achieving the next goal I set for myself.

The discipline of setting and achieving goals can help us to find our creativity in a way that living impulsively or brooding on what we haven’t accomplished, cannot. This is why movies, poetry and symphonies are written from formulas or forms. The constraint itself can help to release creativity.  What is more emotionally evocative, free verse or a sonnet? Generally speaking, it is the structured form.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Here is an exchange that I thought was indicative of the comments typically brought up by “transit reports.” People tend to read them as what will happen. I recommend looking at the transit report as a map showing the constraints that you have to creatively get around. 

Katherine: “My report is looking a bit scary for me. I'm reading the next three months to be frustrating and confrontational. I hope it changes and I have something to look forward to this summer.” 

Many of you have asked how our kitties are coping with the new dog..... As you can see, they are taking it the same way they take everything and that's lying down.

We think of this newsletter as a community forum. You, our friends and clients, are welcome to participate. We celebrate diversity and we'll print whatever you send in be it Wiccan, Christian, Pagan, New Age, etc., as long as it reflects Love. You may choose a one-time holiday to write about or have a regular column. We'll give you space and a byline! Please send in your own book reviews, ideas for rituals, ideas about stones, your journal excerpts, your experiences and most of all, ask us questions. We love answering questions!

Scott sent this in: 

The Starling coin thieves....

I know you are going to think this is not possible so I'm sending you the link to the Urban Legends page so you can read the story and their analysis of it:

http://www.snopes.com/photos/carwash.asp  

From Trev:

A Tale...

Once upon a time in the Kingdom of Heaven, God went missing for six days. Eventually, Michael the archangel found him, resting on the seventh day. He inquired of God, "Where have you been?" God sighed a deep sigh of satisfaction and proudly pointed downwards through the clouds, "Look Michael, look what I've made."

Archangel Michael looked puzzled and said, "What is it?"

"It's a planet," replied God, "and I've put LIFE on it. I'm going to call it Earth and it's going to be a place of great balance."

"Balance?" inquired Michael, still confused.

God explained, pointing to different parts of Earth, "For example, Europe will be a place of great opportunity and wealth while Africa is going to be poor; the Middle East over there will be a hot spot. Over there I've placed a continent of light skinned people and over there is a continent of darker skinned people," God continued, pointing to different countries. "This one will be extremely hot and arid while this one will be very cold and covered in ice."

The Archangel, impressed by Gods work, then pointed to a large landmass in the top corner and asked, "What's that one?"

"Ah," said God. "That's Canada, the most glorious place on Earth. There are beautiful mountains, lakes, rivers, streams and an exquisite coastline. The people from Canada are going to be modest, intelligent and humorous and they're going to be found traveling the world. They'll be extremely sociable, hard working and high achieving, and they will be known throughout the world as diplomats and carriers of peace. I'm also going to give them super-human, undefeatable ice hockey players who will be admired and feared by all who come across them."

Michael gasped in wonder and admiration but then proclaimed; "What about balance, God? You said there will be BALANCE!"

God replied wisely. "Wait until you see the loud-mouth bastards I'm putting next to them...."  

Kim sent this in:

 My niece wore a dress made of Capri Sun juice containers to prom.  hee hee

And here's some springtime fun from Inga:

For all you  babe fans out there....it's time to try your hand, literally, at herding sheep. It really takes a lot of work and they are very stubborn. Personally, I'd make a bad sheep dog as I would bite them. Click below to play:

Sheep Game

We've always wondered what would happen if we got the friends we've made through Inga's Earth Magic (IEM) into a room together. Why? Because every one of us has a unique gift to offer to the world. And if we get enough of us in one place at the same time, something magical is bound to occur.

• When: The 1st Friday of every month. Please join us for dinner. We start eating around 7 PM. Or join us for dessert later on!
• Where: Our place (click on LIBRARY in the navigation bar at the top of the screen and then MAP ROOM for directions)
• What to bring: Just your enthusiasm and love! There's a big pot of pasta on the stove, salad, bread and plenty of microbrews and red wine. If you have specific preferences, please bring whatever you'd like.
• How long: Until the good conversation ends! If you'd like, you can spend the night on one of the couches with the kitties or bring your sleeping bag and mat and camp out on the floor of Inga's office.
• RSVP: Just let us know in advance via e-mail or phone if you are coming and if you are bringing guests so we don't run out of food or beer!

I've been recently discussing transits with a close friend as she's been enduring some trying times. She is a very optimistic person and I watch her enthusiastically scanning the transit report for any signs of support for what she wants to have happen in her life at this time. When she finds validation, and she does as synchronicity is at work here, she then proceeds to make plans and set a deadline. Invariably, she comes to see me to report her frustration that the plans did not come to fruition once again. I empathize with her. She wants good things to happen and bad things to stop. (Who doesn't?) She using a blend of her will, positive thinking, a sense of urgency, and a belief in luck or good karma and yet it isn't working they way she wants it to. I've struggled with how to counsel her but I finally said something that seemed to click for her. It occurred to me that scanning the transit report selectively for what we want to hear and disregarding anything else that doesn't fit our plans is like pouncing on a section that talks about how it's a good time to express your creativity by building sand castles on the beach while ignoring the next section that talks about the impending storm that going to whip up huge waves that will wipe out what we just built. It all needs to be considered and taken into account. Analogies are always tricky as they are often limiting but this one seems to have worked for my friend for now.

Isn't life all about what we do with the choices we are presented with? Can we joyfully create a magnificent sand castle knowing full well that the waves will soon claim it? Will knowing the waves are coming keep us from even trying and instead wait for better weather? I don't agree with the school of thought that seeks ignorance of the waves and then is victimized when the waves come. I value having the knowledge and the choice. I know that when I get a transit report from Inga, it rarely gets me enthused and usually is quite daunting. I work on grasping the nature of the complex energies swirling around me and start figuring out what my choices are. 

Yes, life is complex. The transit report certainly reflects that. And isn't our natural response to that to crave simplicity or a time when life seemed simpler? But I'm sure the transit reports back in the Seventies of my seemingly simpler childhood were just as complex. I was just ignorant of it although I certainly felt a lot going on around me. I didn't have the worldview to grasp it yet. As my worldview expands, the Universe around becomes increasingly complex and wondrous. At times like these, I remind myself of what I learned during my near death experience as a teen. When I left my body and I was held accountable for my actions of this lifetime up to that point by Father/Mother/God, the only ruler I was gauged by is whether I expressed Love or fear. That's it. No points for my accomplishments or credits for being victimized. Were my actions loving or demeaning? It was that simple. In this culture, we are often rewarded for what we successfully achieved even if it meant cheating, lying, pushing, shoving, scheming, deceiving, stealing, etc. None of that behavior sounds loving to me. Oops! And seeing how I've had a trial run, I'll certainly have no excuse next time around.

I'm going to get a fresh transit report from Inga as I head out the door for my annual motorcycle ride and I'll be thinking about building sand castles and weathering storms.  -- Scott Bruce Duncan */:-)

Click here to read what I wrote about transit reports, or what I call the "Oh shit!" report in Scorpio 2000.

Click hear to read about my near death experience in Aquarius 2000.

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