dying into the light: tarot for the new moon in Gemini

The sun just moved into Gemini season last week, and today is the new moon in Gemini (new moons are always in the same sign as the sun, while the full moon is always in the polar sign, and so the full moon on June 11th will be in Sagittarius)

Gemini is ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication, and the archetype of Gemini is silver-tongued and lightening fast. The more superficial stories of this archetype say that Gemini is two-faced, but a more generous version of that story is that Gemini, being represented by Twins, represents our own multiplicity. We’re more than just an individual, we are a constellation of parts. Of course we would have multiple faces and facets we show to others, and even to ourselves.

I pulled the Death card from The Somatic Tarot this morning, almost knowing it would be that card before I pulled it. Because in thinking about Gemini as an archetype, I have been thinking about death, specifically in the dying of one version of ourselves, and how we carry those selves with us.

I am not who I was a year ago, and my life looks quite radically different than it did in May 2024. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to parse out where the changes in circumstances have made me different, and where me being different has changed my circumstances, and maybe there’s no need to try. Stretching back farther, I am certainly not the same person I was 5 springs ago, or 15. We change, even as we stay the same. Old versions of who we are die, and new versions come forward. Old cells die, new cells are born. This process of cellular change is essential to life - without being able to constantly die, just a little, life is impossible.

Below is the Death card and description from The Somatic Tarot, a deck I wrote and illustrated. I’ll type out the description as well to make it easier. Below, for paying subscribers only, is a simple somatic practice to find the release at the exhale of the breath. It’s a good practice for the new moon in Gemini, perhaps with a journal nearby so you can write down what you find. Being ruled by Mercury, the planet of communication, a ritual for the new moon in Gemini could include writing. Perhaps about who you are, and how you have died and will continue to die so many countless times in the process of your becoming.

Death: If there’s no end, there can be no beginning.

Right now, the cells in your body are dying so you may live. Life requires Death. And so Death cannot be feared. If one fears Death, all choices will be made to attempt to avoid death, our one inevitability. If one no longer fears Death, life becomes possible. Let the inevitability of Death urge you toward relishing all of life, and all of the transformations life must include. For when Death appears, it signals a transformation, which will always include a release of what has been. Death is here to remind you: you, and everyone you love will die. Can you hold the immensity of this? Death is here to remind you: to move into the future will require the loss of who you currently are. Let this add gravity to your movement. These are not threats. They are reminders. Death wants you to learn the difference. You can find Death at the very bottom of the exhale, in the space of nothingness that is in fact everything. To hold Death, exhale completely, gently and without force, without agenda. Hold the space, that empty fullness. Meet life by holding Death close.

The Somatic Tarot is available to purchase, with a very limited supply remaining. Learn more here

For paid subscribers, I’m sharing an audio practice on finding the release of the exhale of the breath. Listen to that practice here.