June Tarotscopes with Brandon Alter
By Brandon Alter:
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having trouble getting out of bed in the morning. I’ve been struggling with the basics. And no, I haven’t done all the things I’m supposed to do right now: like put on regular clothes when I wake up or commit to some sort of routine—so maybe this is all my fault. But I’m curious if there isn’t a deeper existential crisis sweeping through all of us at this time. And nobody, I mean nobody, corners the market in existential angst like Gemini.
I mean this as a complement. Gemini is the sign of the question. It wants to know why. It wants to understand. It is the first Air sign of the Zodiac, after all. And it will follow any thought stream, any conversation, no matter how bizarre, just to find their why. As Gemini season approaches (and Venus really lingers in this sign), we all become honorary Geminis, which allows us all to seek out the deeper meaning in our lives. No longer can we stave off the nagging curiosities of our soul. No longer will the status quo or surface answers satisfy us—now we are being invited into our why, the one that really matters.
The question I’m grappling with right now (and maybe you are too) is: Why bother? And this is such a perfect question to be asking as we approach the Gemini New Moon. Because the truth is, there are a lot of things in our lives that we shouldn’t be bothering with anymore. Remember that a New Moon is when the Sun and the Moon meet up in the sky. It’s essentially when your ego and your heart are in alignment, and they can have a conversation without interference. So the conversation your ego and your heart are having is about what things in your life are worth waking up for in the morning.
What people, places, activities, and endeavors actually mean something to you? It may be uncomfortable at first, but it’s ultimately liberating to explore the deeper motivation of our lives. If we were doing things for money and just money, what did we think we needed all that money for? If we were doing things for fame or prestige or status, why did we feel the need for all that? If we were doing things to impress certain people, why did we feel we needed their approval? The time has come to question everything about yourself, and in this relentless questioning we begin to find ways to get free.
There are four planets retrograde in the sky right now (Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto, and our girl Venus), and this sort of major cosmic slowdown is asking us to get still and find our center. Working with planets when they are moving direct is like trying to have a serious conversation while jogging—it’s hard AF. So the retrograde parade happening right now allows us to meditate with these planets, to experience them in their stillness. And stillness is where we can begin to notice that a lot of the things we’ve been chasing no longer hold their allure. And that, babies, is when the spell gets broken. That’s when we reclaim our power. When we remember that we can choose the story of our life. We can choose what we want to commit to. We get to choose the why behind everything. That’s why we have to question everything in the first place.
Gemini is the sign of the twins, meaning duality. And isn’t that exactly what good questions do? Don’t they open up multiple possibilities? Now, multiple possibilities can create anxiety because we just want the answer, and we want it now. But I’m suggesting that there are many answers available. And perhaps Gemini season can be our opportunity to stand squarely in these in-between states, letting all the possibilities swirl around us without feeling the need to choose any particular one.
Lay down your certainty and pick up a magnifying glass; you are a detective on the trail of what still holds deep meaning for you. Don’t feel the need to solve the case immediately. Enjoy the twists and turns of each clue you find. Life is still here, and it is still worth living; but you must determine for yourself why that is so. And no one can do that for you and, frankly, no one should. Be brave, courageous, and compassionate as you take these next few weeks to have conversations with yourself and others that help illuminate and expose what still holds meaning for you and what no longer does.
Gemini Season also contains our first eclipse of our Summer Eclipse Season. It’s not just a Full Moon come June 5th, it’s a Lunar Eclipse. Eclipse Season will straddle Gemini and Cancer Seasons this summer; and let me remind you, Eclipses are cosmic course correctors. They take things away to put us back on path; sometimes they bestow gifts, sometimes they change things so fundamentally that there’s no going back. Either way, look to this New Moon in Gemini to prepare us for the intensity of Eclipse Season. Once you’ve discovered your new why, you’ll be more willing to release anything that doesn’t serve it.
Lastly, as an attempt to help ya’ll blow off some steam, channel your grief, and shake up your energy, we are hosting a series of Healing Breathwork Circles every other Saturday for the foreseeable future. Breathwork is an incredibly powerful tool to plug you back into the electrical socket of spirit and help you shift the old, stuck, stagnant shit that everyone carries around all the time. It’s an active meditation that will truly bring much-needed healing and release. It’s safe and effective, and it’s practically free. Breathwork basically saved my life when I discovered it, and it’s truly part of my life’s work to be able to hold space for you to experience it.
Don’t forget to reach out for help at this time. You aren’t supposed to go through this alone, even if literally you are at home, all alone. Readings and healings are still happening at this time, and we are working extra hard to make our podcasts not just entertaining but uplifting, empowering, and full of useful spiritual tools to help you fully accept the invitation of these batshit crazy times. Our last episode was all about using the numerology of your birthday to explore your soul-path through the Tarot. Do you know your life card or your year card? Find out by tuning in.
Below you’ll find your individual Tarotscopes. Read for your Sun Sign this month. For those of you who follow my weekly Cosmic Tarot Forecasts on the Spiritual Gayz IGTV, you’ll know that I’ve pulled the Sun card three weeks in a row—which is pretty bonkers. Clearly the star at the center of our solar system wants our attention, so who am I to direct your attention anywhere else?
GEMINI
Two of Wands
This is such a perfect card for you this moonth, Gemini. You see, the Twos in the Tarot are inherently Geminoid because they present us with options, and they ask us to make choices. And the Two of Wands is a choice about action. Essentially, will you stay or will you go? The card itself depicts a figure looking out over the landscape from the safety of their fortress. One wand is held in hand, encouraging new exploration; the other wand is securely chained to the wall.
Part of you is nervous to leave the familiar terrain of your old life, but adventure is calling you. A new world wants you to be a part of it. You have what it takes to make some serious moves this moonth, but you must summon your courage and make friends with the unknown. You know exactly what will happen if you keep at it the way you’ve been keeping at it: your hustle will beget more hustle. Why not shake it all up? Try something new. Reignite your passion and bravely step out into the wilderness. You’re too smart to play it so safe and too clever to waste your charm on people, projects, and dreams you don’t really give a flying leap about in the first place.
CANCER
Knight of Swords (Reversed)
The Knight of Swords shows up when we need to change our minds. Let me remind you that you don’t have to believe everything you think. As human beings, we get so attached to our thoughts. But even more detrimental than getting attached to thoughts is getting attached to patterns and habits, especially when we’ve outgrown them. The Knight of Swords is you when you blow a great wind through your mind. Give yourself permission to think about things in another way. Look at your life from a different perspective, that’s where the freedom lies.
The reversal of this card may indicate how addicted you are to your old ways of thinking. Remember that Swords are also stories. Perhaps you have more of your identity wrapped up in these thought patterns than you are willing to admit. All the more reason to let hem go. You might be feeling afraid to release these old, stale opinions or beliefs because you’re not sure who you might be without them. But isn’t that when life gets interesting? You could be anyone! Release what’s no longer working and let yourself be surprised by who you really are.
LEO
Knight of Cups
The Knight of Cups is one cool customer. They are not easily triggered, nor do they react emotionally to even the most seductive of triggers. Rather, they stand their ground and maintain a neutral curiosity about all situations, both internally and externally. The Knight of Cups is you when you are willing to observe your emotional life without feeling the need to take action because of it. Essentially this card signifies a time in your life when you need to hold large amounts of space for your impressively wide range of emotions. But don’t you dare get swept up in a single one. In this way, you begin to unstick yourself from the most entrenched sticking posts of your heart.
The function of the Knights in the Tarot is to move energy. The energy of Cups is fluid, feeling-based, creative, and deeply relational. So how do we shift our relationships, our deepest emotional wounds and our creativity? By allowing all of it to move through us unencumbered. It’s like when your best friend comes over to vent about their boyfriend: they say they want advice, but really all they want is someone to listen. Just listening allows the energy to emerge, shapeshift as it will, and be released. Be that friend to yourself this moonth, and you’re sure to clear the waters of your own turbulent emotional ocean.
VIRGO
Nine of Cups (Reversed)