When the zodiac speaks, it does so in symbols. Sometimes they are bold, somethings cryptic, sometimes clever and sometimes they point out the obvious. The zodiac starts when the Sun is at equinox with the image of a ram, the sign Aries. It continues with the image of a cow or a bull. We must wait fully 60 days into the year until we see the image of a person. When we do, it’s two people, and they are children. The zodiac is so often depicted and the symbols so familiar even in modern industrial society that we take them for granted, kind of like the letters of the alphabet. Yet even the most basic images and how they appear are worth considering. Not one human appears but two; not adults, but children. That they are young makes sense; we’re at the beginning of the zodiac. But why two? Traditional occultism would say it’s a comment on dualism, or how everything in our reality presents itself in the context of its opposite. Mythology of a civilization from which we’re descended says that the twins represent Castor and Pollux — the mortal son and the immortal one, respectively. These represent the (perhaps constructed, perhaps organic) notion that in each person, there is an ego with a transient life and there is a soul with an eternal life. I would propose that the first human image or concept in the zodiac is presented in a pair because it represents self-awareness. It is the human consciousness aware of itself as the other. If you talk to yourself, who is doing the talking and who is doing the listening? When you have the feeling of observing yourself, who exactly is doing that observing, if it’s you? There is a quality of reflexivity to the human mind, and that is Gemini.
If you’re born under the sign of the twins, happy birthday. I’ve prepared a free audio preview of your 2014 reading. It describes something about the way the planets are influencing you for the next four seasons of your life.
Thank you Jere and Lizzy, for your kind support and insights. She has been a wonderful gift to me, no doubt about that. I think like all good relationships, she is allowing me the opportunity to grow an evolve. And she laughs at my jokes! 😉
I apologize for the perhaps unrelated post. It just seemed to happen during the switch over to the “thinking” Gemini energy.
Ah Jere – your reply to Daniel’s comment is so beautiful. Thank you. And loved your comment, Daniel – which I was led to this am, thanks to Jere. Would like to say so much – but have to get on with my work – just that, as you know, I have lots of Scorpio in my chart, and I too grapple with this question when it comes to a relationship. if I have any advice to give it’s, just relax and enjoy the beautiful ride with your woman – keep meditating and don’t pay too much attention to all those thoughts you have…
Castor and Pollux, together, are known as the Dioscuri (or Dioskouri). According to the Greek myth and as you mentioned, Castor was mortal and Pollux immortal. Castor was killed on one of the twin’s many adventures. Pollux pleaded with Zeus to bring Castor back, at the expense of his own immortality. To quote John Lash, in his book, Quest for the Zodiac:
“By a clever arrangement, Zeus ordained that Castor would indeed be revivified through the gift of his immortal counterpart, but then Pollux would not die: he would simply become mortal, capable of death. So Pollux retained a share of his immortal life-force, living now as a mortal, and Castor drew from his brother’s immortality to find new life as a semi-immortal. Thereafter, the pair were known to shift back and forth from the realm of the dead (Underworld) to the realm of the gods (Afterworld). All the while, the force of superlife surged between them like an alternating current. After their transformation, the Dioscuri embodied what the Vietnamese Buddhist, Tich Nat Hahn, calls “interbeing”, the living, loving interpenetration of Form and Void”.
While John’s intention was to add meaning to the actual constellation of Gemini (as seen in the sky), not the tropical sign, I think this adds a much deeper dimension to the tropical Gemini, via its archetypal association with the myth of Castor and Pollux. As a Gemini myself, I find this to be quite true: I am a resident of two worlds, seen and unseen. Though of course, I’m a fourth house Gemini, but still…..
Daniel, been tryin’ to stay my mouth these days but,.. (alas, it aint happenin’).
Love,…. Love is internal, it’s Eternally internal, which is just a reflection of the external. The connections we feel are no less internal than they are external.
Self, in self-sacrifice, I would draw your attention to. Denial is selfish.
There are an infinite amount of soul’s in this Multiverse to Love.
Words, conveyance, conception,.. this is what makes the difference in one’s own perception.
The physical is never less than any other plane. There is the blend of now, which manifests all things at once.
Wake up my friend, you’re beautiful (your concepts are well, apply the balm to thine self).
..There’s a reason I attempt to stay silent.. (doesn’t work so well 🙂 ) ..But, Love is an internal manifestation, which can be conjured up from with out, and is always how we, ourselves, perceive through the filter of our beings, the world (universe, whatever) around us to be.
Love is dirt. Love is a plant. Love is an animal. Love is what one makes it.
Apologies if my take is off,.. felt a need to comment.
Love,
Jere
Thanks “be” to you for over the top info on Vesta and Venus in opposition. They are both at 16+ (Vesta in Gemini/Venus in Sag)in my natal chart. I watched the 1st occultation of Venus in the morning sky through a telescope with a special filter. I could not contain myself. I was literally jumping up and down. Thanks again for your tantalizing interpretations. ~ MaryT
Eric, have you ever been in love?
These days, I’m thinking about what Love is about. What is connection? The layers involved sometimes baffles me. A soul connection sometimes feels like there are lifetimes involved. And then there is the love that is about a deep caring that borders on self sacrifice. Is there a pattern linked to denial I wonder? There were two women I fell in love with, and I wonder why I did. If there was this elusive ingredient that was denying me what I most wanted, and that I was willing to sacrifice it. Right now, I’m not in love, and yet I care a lot about her. What’s the difference? I miss this feeling like I would do anything, that I cared that much! I wonder too if what I yearn for doesn’t exist, and only the yearning for it is the idea of “Love” it isn’t real on this physical plane. And then maybe I have something beautiful and real, and that somehow I need to let go of this concept. Let go of the desire to be so in love. I sound like a school boy and yet I am not. The women I fell in love with and went after treated me like shit, and yet the gal I’m with and went after me treats me so well. I feel like I’ve been in an emotional coma for the last six months…
There you have it, raw and honest, this Scorp under a Piscean Moon……
Quicksilver. As soon as you think you’ve got it, that blob of Mercury squirts out in another direction, avoiding attempts to ensnare and encapsulate. The airy function of consciousness, touching all, moving about, never lingering- do the twins represent a pace so fast that there appears to be more than one of them?
Sides of the brain yes, but also the shoulders, arms and hands (all of which grow out of the heart)- Gemini is about action, whether tending the Spring garden north of the equator, or bringing our profuse thoughts into the world through where we lend a hand.
I am happy the Sun is back in my home sign, lighting up the myriad possibilities and possible futures.
When you have the experience of observing yourself, who exactly is doing that observing, if it’s you?
This statement brings me back to a discussion I had early in my astrology life. With a packed 3rd house – mars, saturn, moon, sun, mercury I was looking for a way to avoid the duality of my thought processes, the right/wrong, good/evil, yes/no….. My teacher at the time suggested that I get off the horizontal plane and go vertical,be more “spiritual” (yes that word is overused) with my curious nature. I discovered meditation, and yes, that still voice within IS me grounded into form in my body.
Alphintern, perhaps you have such a good rapport (balance) between your natal Venus and Vesta they seem as one. Transiting Venus and Vesta were opposed this past Saturday and like as not, few noticed any sharp divides in their relationships (Venus in Aries, Vesta in Libra) because of it, although Jupiter in Cancer t-squared them both, and Mars was stationing to go direct. Vesta isn’t one to hog the stage, especially in Libra and probably not in Gemini either. She would though, have facts (data) warming on the stove ready to feed a hungry Sagittarian Venus with Jupitarian (uh, is that a word?) concepts that WOULD get noticed.
Depending on how “in the middle” of Gemini she is, your Vesta might be in service to Venus now because in 2012, transiting Venus was conjunct the transiting Sun at 15+ Gemini and it was a special conjunction called an occultation, since Venus passed in front of the Sun and was visible; something quite rare with a meaning all it’s own. Perhaps your natal Venus in mid-Sagittarius, as well as your Vesta mid-Gemini have a very special calling connected to that occultation (the 2nd of two, the 1st in 2008 as I recall) which is part of the Grand Scheme that includes the 7 squares between Uranus and Pluto. Keep your antennae tuned into the galaxy for further instructions and keep us posted!
be
Viewed as the progression of development of a child, the 3rd year would relate to Gemini. That is the year that the child first comprehends consciously that they are separate from others – that there is a “me” and a “you” and in a way they can talk about it. The three-year-old is well known for two words in particular: “No!” and “Why?” A beginning of conscious sorting of boundaries, who and how to relate and exploring understanding the world around them for the developing human being.
You make an excellent point, Eric. Self-awareness is one possible synonym for sentience. Hen’s Gemini’s place on the zodiac (and the time of year for solar Gemini in particular) might very well correspond with the place sentience holds in the scheme of things.
Two young children makes so much sense- Gemini’s love of information and words always seemed like childish delight to me. Not to mention that those with Gemini rising never seem to age!
This post allowed me to see a groundedness in Gemini! In my personal life, I tend to experience this Sun sign as fun and engaging, yet ephemeral, but the concept of reflexivity is core to human experience.
I like playing this out in overt ways, such as a conversation with myself where I am two people who are both me or as sex with myself where I am two people who are both me. I don’t mean an interaction of my contrasting opinions or diverse parts of myself (that’s something else), but literally my whole self interacting with my whole self in a purposeful way.
I’m not sure if that makes sense to someone who hasn’t done it, as some friends I’ve talked to about it find it strange; it involves experiencing oneself as the giver and receiver simultaneously, whether that be of thoughts, emotions or sensations. It also gives me a tiny glimpse into what it may feel like to receive something from my hands and words, albeit subjective to my experience.
I always thought Gemini was rather missing from my chart, until I just noticed that Vesta appears pretty much in the middle of it, opposite Venus in Sag to the degree. I wonder what that’s all about.
Reflexivity – and reflectiveness. That moment when we’re able to complete the transition from perception to thought to speech. I frickin’ love Gemini! Although it does seem to encompass so much of its opposite sign, Sagittarius. Almost as if the twins represent the right brain/left brain, wisdom/knowledge, intuition/logic polarity all on their own. Which confuses me sometimes – but I suppose that’s usually the point!
This reminded me of the Hero Twins of the Mayan Popol Vuh stories. The twins were reincarnations of their grand father and grand uncle who were sacrificed by the Lords of the Underworld. The hero twins first had to remove their older siblings who devolved into monkeys.
They were summoned to the Underworld like their grand father/uncle because the ball game they played made too much noise for the Underworld Lords.
After they defeated the Underworld Lords one twin became the sun, the other the moon. Thus darkness was overcome and the gods Plumed Serpent and Heart of the Sky could finally create humans.
I am experiencing synchronicity with your comments. As part of depth dream work training, I am starting to read Erich Neumann’s The History and Origins of Consciousness. It begins with the no beginning and no end–the circle and the move towards separation and distinctness. I started noticing the structures of the symbols for Aries and Taurus…and Aries took on the appearance of DNA unzipping for duplication–separating out from the 1 into two. Then Taurus has a more aware reaching out antennae over the circle–the head of consciousness developing.. I’m a Taurus with a Gemini Moon. I am a new subscriber, Eric, and intend to explore as much as I can with you and your community! I read someplace else where you said Gemini energy is powerfully important in our current history. I hope we can focus it….
I love your take on Gemini, Eric and really look forward to your Friday edition on this. I’ve always really hit it off with that sign, and confess that my Venus in Gemini is the bit a like most in my chart (though it can drive me round the bend at times…). I’ve pre-ordered a birthday reading for my Gemini brother – he’s not into astrology, but is open and sensitive and has a new woman who is – will be interesting to see how he reacts to it!
I like that– re the Gemini as “human consciousness aware of itself as the other ” … kind of reminds me of the symbol of the sun — the circumpunct — the circle knows itself by the point placed in its center ….. i.e. something which exists beyond ourselves allows us to become aware of ourselves as a separate entity.