G
emini is attuned to the element of Air, and is a mutable sign. The Sun is in Gemini from May 20th through June 19th. Gemini is the 3rd sign in the zodiacal wheel, marking the transition from deep Spring into early Summer in the Northern Hemisphere and deep Autumn into early Winter in the Southern. Represented by the Twins, Gemini speaks to communication, connection, ideas, writing, and speech. As the sign of the cosmic Twins, Gemini also inspires us in all of our deep friendships and in the fellowships we hold and keep with one another.
The Twins as Gemini
Twins show up around the world in story. Usually they are identical twins, and though often one is male and the other is female, in many cases they are depicted as two brothers or two sisters. Anytime we see twins show up in story it is an indication that we are working with the themes of double-ness and mirrors – for a twin is, after all, a mirror image made flesh. It is for this reason that in many stories one Twin descends or lives in the Underworld (whatever that world looks like for the culture telling the story), while the other Twin lives up on the topside world or in the heavens. The Twins oppose each other but in their relationship we also learn that a necessary tension must be in place for growth and development to occur.
This is one of the core teachings of the sign of Gemini. There is an old saying “don’t rely on a Gemini,” which Gemini folks of course don’t appreciate, but the truth is more nuanced. For Gemini can appear fickle or unfocused (and sometimes, like all of us, is), but more often Gemini is doing the work of uncovering opposing forces and listening to the tension between them. This is why you will find that wherever you find Gemini in your chart, you are encouraged to do one thing only to turn around and then seek out its opposite. And that process, of identifying opposites and sitting with the tensions they create, is part of what allows us to learn – one of the primary gifts of Gemini.
It all begins with an egg, appropriate for this deep Spring sign. For it is from the egg that the twins Castor and Pollux sprang forth, for Zeus had turned into a Swan to seduce their mother, Leda. Now while in many tales the twins are separated and inhabiting different realms, this was not the story for Castor and Pollux; they were brothers in everything, always together, and rarely apart. And yet, there was an aspect of their relationship that they did not fully comprehend which was that only one of them had been fathered by Zeus and was therefore immortal; the other had a human father and so could be killed.
Of course we see the presence of Gemini in the fact that as the story unfolds the twins are going to discover who they really are, they will learn, but we also see it in the realm of partnerships. Who are the people and what are the activities that you are engaged with and in throughout the course of your life? What and who are you closest to and what matters most about your friendship? Gemini is interested in getting to the essence and communicating that essence out into the world.
As the story goes, Castor and Pollux end up in a lethal fight to the death where Castor is slain and Pollux is rescued by Zeus at the last possible minute. Pollux is so devastated by his brother’s death that he decides he cannot go on living without his boon companion and so requests that Zeus turn both he and his brother into stars that can shine out forever, side by side. Zeus acquiesces to this and so the brothers are able to remain together, albeit in changed form.
This gives us another clue to Gemini, for Gemini is not afraid of change but rather welcomes it. This goes hand in hand with Gemini’s love of learning – we learn something new and it changes us, sometimes in small ways and sometimes in a much more significant manner. But it also shows us another essential element to Gemini which is that Gemini is very relationship driven – siblings, friends that are like sister or brother, and the tight relationships that Geminis form matter deeply to them. They may not always express that in words, but Geminis care deeply and they will sacrifice themselves and their own happiness if they see clearly how that sacrifice is needed by the relationship as a whole. This need for connection, deep and solid connection, is another strong feature of the Twins.
While the story of Castor and Pollux is relatively minor compared with many of the other Greek dramas, these two brothers have a habit of showing up, in the star forms, to light the way for other heroines and heroes, sometimes they show up just in the nick of time to protect someone that they especially love, sometimes it is simply their presence in the sky that gives hope and guidance. As such, they have a strong association with both sailing and horsemanship – both skills that require a strong sense of navigation, control, and another supremely Gemini trait: optimism.
For that is the real beauty of Gemini – it does not need to solve mysteries, rather it is willing to learn from them, let what it learns create the needed changes, and then from those changes find direction and share a message that brings hope and inspiration to all who are willing to listen
The Twins as Animal: By Sara Magnuson
The Twins of Gemini ask us to revisit the fact that humans are also animals and to examine what seems to set us apart. Gemini focuses on our unique intellect and the duality of our human-animal nature. We know that humans are not the only species of animal that have self-awareness, a highly developed intelligence, the ability to communicate, or express feelings and empathy. These traits in general do not make human animals unique; many other species possess these characteristics to varying degrees. What makes the human animal unique from other animals is the same thing that makes all creatures unique from each other – how we develop and use those traits.
{Disclaimer: As we talk about what makes humans different from other animals, we must begin with the understanding that our knowledge of how other animals perceive the world is speculative. We have ways to study some of the cognitive abilities in other animals, but there are aspects of perception that we do not yet have the ability to uncover, therefore we think we know what makes humans unique. It can be argued that other animals do feel/sense/think all of the things we’re going to discuss, not just humans. So as you continue reading, please add “as far as we know” to the end of every sentence. I humbly ask you to remember that there are entire fields of study dedicated to the subjects discussed and I am only touching the surface of what is being explored.}
Gemini is associated with the element of Air and focuses on the mind and intellect of the human animal. A unique quality of the human mind is self-awareness and self-contemplation; we have a concept of inner self, inner identity, inner awareness that is distinctly human. We spend a lot of time considering ourselves, reflecting on our thoughts and actions, in ways that are not directly related to our immediate survival or reproduction. A benefit of this self-awareness is our capacity for compassion and empathy; we are able to consider how we affect the world around us. As we have seen in the stories above, the Twins teach us about cause and effect, about the invisible ties of meaningful relationships, and how to achieve the most appropriate balance.
The human mind can also do something called “mental time travel” that appears to be unmatched by any other in its degree of ability. Mental time travel is the awareness of your past and future; it is hindsight and foresight; it is the ability to reflect on what was and what will be. It is recently being discovered that other animals, especially birds, also possess this ability, but it is generally accepted that humans are able to mentally travel much further into the past and future than any other animal. For example, a seven year old child has ideas about what they want to be when they grow up, which is many years into the future, versus a bird’s ability to contemplate what may happen a few days from now. As we will see, this capacity for self-awareness and contemplation has its benefits and its challenges.
The Twins of Gemini present us with the concept of inner duality. We contemplate and often struggle intellectually with our ability to see both sides of the many aspects of ourselves, be it our child/adult sides, our masculine/feminine sides, our greedy/giving sides, our warrior/peace-keeper sides, what we believe is right or wrong in general, etc. The concept of morality appears to be uniquely human, especially the way in which we impose it on ourselves and the degree to which we judge others by it. The Twins ask us to look at how we impose our ideas of morality on our own circumstances, as well as those of others. Do we hold one to a higher standard than the other? Are we putting ourselves in the other person’s shoes, so to speak, while making sure our own voice is heard? Are we expressing ourselves in a way that feels true and fulfilling?
When my best friend and I talk about situations in life that we’re trying to navigate, we often reference “the committee” in our minds. Imagine a boardroom table and at each seat is a representative of the various aspects of your personality; there’s the five-year-old-you, the rebellious-you, the peaceful-you, the envious-you, the day-dreaming-you, the all-about-business-you, etc. Depending on the situation at hand, select members of “the committee” have something to say about it. These are the voices of our mind and our morality; the inner voices guiding us and working with us to make beneficial decisions.
The Twins of Gemini are like two of the most quick-minded voices on “the committee” talking out different sides of the issue. You can weigh out both sides of something forever, but in real life you are often faced with having to eventually make a choice or a decision. The Gemini mind is sharp and quick, but can get bogged down in the infinite possibilities of life. The work of the Gemini soul comes in finding a resolution to that inner monologue and is a process that is especially human.
Call on The Twins When…
- You need to see both sides of a situation with clarity.
- You want to tap into and express your inner duality.
- Clear communication is desired.
- Connection with others and the ability to listen is sought after.
- Learning, excelling in school, and cultivating one’s knowledge is needed.
- Making friends, restoring friendships or honoring current friends is your focus.
- You wish to draw new friends to you.
- There is a need to strengthen or cultivate relationships between you and your siblings – including the friends that are really like brother or sister.
- You wish to share your message, your insight, or your thoughts with many others and need the right words to do so.
- Publishing in any form is desired.
- Your writing/communication style needs to be honed.
- You have questions and are seeking out answers.
Be Wary Of
- Being Overly Non-committal – The desire and ability to see both sides of a situation or problem can lead to difficulty making choices and an inability to commit to things.
- Speaking Out of Both Sides of Your Mouth – Because Gemini is a natural communicator words often come easily to those who demonstrate this sign strongly; but the meaning behind the words may be less of a focus. What to others might be taken as “talking out of both sides of one’s mouth” related to the fickle behaviors described above, to a Gemini is simply choosing the right words for the right audience. As always discernment is key.
- Mental Exhaustion – Gemini loves to learn, to share, and to communicate, but sometimes these very things can also lead to significant burn out. Gemini does best when it slows down and fosters the connections that truly matter.
- Superficiality – Like all Air signs, Gemini can sometimes be too content to stay on the surface of things and not peer deeper into the waters. For the same reasons Gemini can be attracted by all bright and shiny objects and go off course easily; maintaining focus should be emphasized.
Questions to Ponder for Gemini:
- What do I want to learn?
- How do I best communicate with others?
- What kinds of communications am I most responsive to?
- How seriously do I take the words that I use?
- What is the role of friendship in my life?
- What am I willing to speak up for?
- How do I stay focused?
- What do I love to discover?
- What is the message I bring to the world?
Meditation/Active Imagination Journey:
Cultivate Calmness.
Ground, Center, and Anchor in the ways that feel good and right to you.
See, sense, touch, know, hear, and feel that you are standing in front of a shining mirror. The mirror may be in a building, it might be in a room that has special significance for you, it might be outside; note where your mirror shows up and how it appears to you.
Affirm and acknowledge that you have come to this place at this time to learn a new teaching about your life, one that is gifted to you from the stars; you have come to encounter the Twins of Gemini.
Acknowledge that it does not matter where Gemini occurs in your chart or whether you were born under this Sun sign or not – we all have this constellation present in some portion of our natal chart and so we can all learn from it.
As you are ready, close your eyes and take a deep breath in. Then, allowing your eyes to open, see, sense, touch, know, hear, and feel, your presence before the mirror and the reflection in the mirror looking back at you. Affirm and acknowledge that you have come face to face with your Twin, but this is the part of you that will live on through the legacy that you create and all of the many ways that your presence has, will, and can change the cosmos.
Breathe in a blessing on yourself and your Twin and exhale in gratitude.
Then, as you are ready, ask your reflection what message your legacy will carry forward.
Listen to the answers you receive.
Affirm and acknowledge the answers and, as you are ready, ask your Twin any other questions you have at this time.
Take time to listen with care.
Then, as you are ready, speak aloud the actions that you will take to the reflection in the mirror, affirming and acknowledging that this is a promise you make to your Twin and to yourself.
In the true spirit of Gemini, go out and live those actions!
Altar/Ritual
For this ritual we recommend completing the active imagination journey first. You will also need an altar space, which can be your existing altar or you can create a new one just for this. Gemini asks us to focus on duality – light and dark, earth and sky, etc. – so you will be working with pairs and “sides” of your altar space. This is an important exercise in harnessing the dual energy of the Twins and bringing a grounded balance to the constant mind-chatter.
Spend some time collecting pairs of objects – go through items you already own and find two that seem to go together; they can actually match, or they can just “go together” by their feeling to you. They should also have meaning to you, don’t just pick random things. Spend some time outdoors and/or looking around when you’re out doing things throughout the day. Collect any pairs of natural objects that match or feel like they go together for you.
Bring all of these objects near your altar space, as well as a favorite cloth or covering for the surface and any other items you consider necessities for a sacred space. The point is to have your altar-making supplies close at hand.
Sit at your bare altar space and reflect on the active imagination journey – reflect on your present self and the messages of legacy from your Twin, reflect on the actions you spoke aloud and the promises you made to your Twin/Yourself.
Choose two words or short phrases that represent each of the two sides of the mirror, the two sides of yourself that were shown. Write each word or phrase on its own piece of paper. It can be any kind of paper that feels right to you for the occasion and you can write it plainly or embellish as much as you want. There is no wrong way.
Divide your altar into two sections, either horizontally or vertically, and use whatever material or visual barrier you see fit. In a purposeful way, speak aloud what is written on one of the papers and give one side of your altar that name. Place the paper in the center of that area. Next, speak aloud what is written on the other paper and name the other side of your altar. Place that paper in the center of that area. Naming is a very sacred rite and this should be done with the same focus, force, and intention as any such ceremony would require.
Now look at the pairs of objects you have collected and, in your mind, focus on the two sides of your altar. What best represents the name of each side? What do they ask to have placed upon them? Listen to the objects themselves. Where do they feel called to go? Hold them in your hands and place the pairs on the side of your altar that feels most appropriate. Remember, the two sides do not have to have an equal number of items and you don’t have to use them all. Pay the most attention to your intuition.
When you feel each side is complete, turn your attention to one side in particular. Examine the objects that have been placed there and reflect on how they represent the name of this side of your altar, one side of the mirror. See how the pairs you have chosen are similar, but also how they are different. What do their similarities and their differences have to teach you about living into the actions you promised to take?
As you work with your Gemini altar, focus less on how the two sides (and the pairs upon them) are different, and work with the balance of energies that tie them together. Spending time at this altar, daily, weekly, or monthly, will guide you ever closer toward fulfilling the promises and living out the actions that you have promised to yourself.
About my Co-Author:
Sara Magnuson is a crafter of spiritual supplies, a reader of cards, a diviner of animals, and the co-founder of Candlesmoke Chapel. Her personal practice is eclectic, animistic, and ancestral. The guidance she provides is based in the messages of Nature and its role in how we move through this world.