Gemini New Moon: Do you have a dirty mind?

No, I’m not talking about sex. Sex isn’t dirty.  I’m talking about those thoughts in your head that mess you up.  Those thoughts that blind you to your beauty and innocence.  Those thoughts that stress you out.  Today’s Gemini New Moon can help clean up and clear out your dirty thoughts. Let’s move into the new lunar cycle with our minds open wide, letting the spring breeze blow through!

Gemini relates to how we think, how we get our information, and how we communicate.  This New Moon in Gemini is soaring through the sky with Hygeia, goddess of health maintenance.  When you put these two together, you get mental (Gemini) hygiene (Hygeia).  Like I said, it’s time to clean up your mind!

In its essence, the mind is like empty space, and Gemini, an air sign, is also spacious. Our thoughts are like clouds that pass through the wide, open space of the mind.  Thoughts arise and pass away. As my friend and teacher Fred Davis likes to say, “We don’t suffer from what we think. We suffer from what we believe.”  That’s because thoughts have a natural fluidity and lightness. If allowed their natural flow, they simply pass through us. But when we believe a thought, that thought becomes fixed, solidified, and it narrows our view  The vast open space of the natural mind gets closed down.  Solidified thoughts get stuck.  They can’t move on through.

We suffer the most when we believe our untrue thoughts.  How can you tell if your thoughts are not true?  One way to tell is if the thought involves shouldas, wouldas, or couldas.  Every “should” is an argument with reality.  Here’s an example: My car died in the middle of an intersection. It was a dark and frigid night, and I was ravenously hungry.  That’s why I was on my way to the store.  But my car died. I had the thought, “This shouldn’t be happening.”  But you know what?  It was happening. I didn’t know why.  I didn’t know how it fit into some Divine plan, but one thing was for sure: I was indeed stuck in the intersection with a dead battery.  When I let go of the thought that it “shouldn’t” be happening, I was able to simply be with the experience, do what needed to be done, and feel more at peace.  Then the cops came, gave my battery a jump, and escorted me home.  It shouldn’t have happened?  It should have happened?  All I know is that it did happen.

Any thought that creates stress, discomfort, or inner conflict is suspect. Any judgment about someone else is worth investigating.  Start by simply asking yourself, “Is the thought really true?”  For example, “Betty Sue is wasting my time.”  Is it true?  Maybe I’m wasting my own time, and that’s why I’m getting pissed at Betty Sue.  “Billy Bob needs to be nicer to me.”  Maybe I need to be more kind to Billy Bob, or maybe I need to be more kind to myself.

If you’re judging and criticizing yourself, those are dirty thoughts, too.  Thoughts like, “I’m not good enough, I’m not smart enough, I’m not _____ enough.” “I should be… getting more done, making more money, being more loving, taking better care of myself…”  If you’re shoulding on yourself, you’ve got a dirty mind.  Our dirty thoughts are not bad, they just cloud our awareness and put us at odds with reality. And when we argue with reality, we lose every time.

Open the doors and windows of your mind.  Welcome in the Gemini New Moon and Hygeia.  Let them help you sweep out your untrue thoughts.  At its best, the Gemini mind is open and curious.  It takes itself lightly and has a great sense of humor. It is like the mind of a curious four-year-old.  Everything is fresh, new, and full of possibility. Things aren’t limited by labels and explanations.  The clean and clear Gemini mind allows thoughts to flow in and out like puffs of cloud moving across a bright blue sky.  The mind is free and can move quickly, like a small bird flitting through the branches.  Let your mind fly beyond the clouds, expanding into the vast, open, unconditioned space that is the mind’s natural state.