Gemini. The most derided sign of the Zodiac. The sign everyone loves to hate. But is this really deserved? It is part of us all, so maybe we should peel back the layers and understand what drives and defines...
Ah, Gemini. The most polarizing of signs. So many haters. There are literally entire websites, social media accounts, pages and boards dedicated to how much everyone hates Gemini.
I don’t get it. I actually love people with strong Gemini influences. My wife - my favorite single thing in this universe - has her Third House Moon in Gemini. One of our sons has his Sun in Gemini. Maybe it is because I have Jupiter in Libra (fellow air sign) in the Third House. Some Astrologers believe Jupiter’s position can determine who you are naturally drawn to when it comes to friends and attractions. Who knows? Whatever the case, I am fascinated by people who demonstrate this archetype strongly.
The glyph for the Sign of Gemini
Symbol for the Planet Mercury
Gemini is the third sign of the Zodiac and its season occurs from May 21 through June 20. This is a time of seasonal change as spring is in its final days as it gives way to summer, beginning with the Summer Solstice on June 21, marking the beginning of the cardinal sign of summer, Cancer. This is in line with Gemini’s mutable nature (read more about that here), adaptable and chameleon-like.
Gemini is ruled by the planet Mercury which represents the psychological functions of Intellect and Communication. While Virgo (also ruled by Mercury) reflects the analyzing, skilled, diligent worker part of Mercury, Gemini reflects the quickness of mind, information processing, communicative nature of Mercury. This is the god of trade guilds, workers, travelers, traders and merchants, but also the god of tricksters, reporters, conmen, and comedians.
Castor and Pollux - The Twins - just, um, hanging out I guess
Gemini is symbolized by The Twins and is usually depicted by a pair of pillars, or the Roman numeral II depending on your perspective. The association with The Twins comes from the Roman myth of Castor and Pollux, two brothers with a very strange birth story. Zeus (Jupiter) was super into a human woman named Leda. She was married to the King of Sparta, so Zeus transformed himself into a swan and was able to seduce her into having sex with him, while he was still a swan. Damn girl. Anyway, the result was Leda having two eggs fall out of her, and out of those eggs popped two pairs of twins. Boys named Castor and Pollux, and girls named Helen (the “of Troy” one) and Clytemnestra, who went on to kill her husband in the bathtub. The question was, who’s kids were whose? The most circulated myth has Pollux and Helen as the immortal children of Zeus (Jupiter), with Castor and Clytemnestra sired by the mortal husband whose wife cheated on him with a bird. Castor and Pollux were inseparable and got into all kinds of adventures until one day, Castor is killed. Zeus chucks a thunderbolt at the guy who did it and tries to console Pollux who is lost without his other half. Zeus offers Pollux the option to just hang out in Olympus with the gods for all time, or share his immortality (which, again, he got from his Mom fucking a swan), allowing his brother to live while they switch places back and forth between planes. He chose to share his immortality and Zeus placed them both in the sky as the constellation Gemini. Together, inseparable, forever. You can see some ideas here reflected in Gemini’s two-faced reputation and association with siblings.
Leda getting busy with Zeus in the form of a swan - dude ?
When it comes to the archetypal model associated with Gemini, we need to get a feel for more of the traits, characteristics and motivations that define the sign. We often associate intelligence with Gemini. That is totally fair, and generally true, but it is also woefully simplified. There are all kinds of intelligences represented all over the Zodiac. Maybe a better way to phrase it would be quick-minded. Mercury is the swiftest of planets (and gods). Our word “mercurial” is used to describe someone with quickly changing minds and moods, and it is tough to describe this sign better.
Gemini can take in data like no other sign, the mind racing from one bit of information to the next. Gemini always seems to be one step ahead. Sifting, sorting, and grinding data is how it idles and rests. While listening to someone else talk, its mind is whirling with a million connections to other data it has collected, coming up with dozens of different configurations of it all at a moments notice. Try saying or doing something stupid around someone with strong Gemini influences, you will immediately be met with the sharpest and cleverest of verbal darts. Gemini’s cleverness seems to know no bounds.
Don’t confuse this with synthesizing data and information. Gemini’s goal is not the formation of philosophy, religion or other teachable subject or system. That is the role of Gemini’s opposite sign, Sagittarius. Gemini isn’t on a search for meaning, it is on a search for stuff to observe and report. Pure perception. Gathering and organization information, then passing it along through whatever means available.
This is the archetype of The Journalist.
There is detachment here, or, at least there should be. Bogging info-driven Gemini down with having to develop meaning and nuance will only result in another of their famous traits, anxiety. This is mutable air, it is the realm of the mind, constantly on the move, always shifting, gusting this way only to immediately switch course and head a different direction. It isn’t attached to “truth” or passion, like its wildfire of a counterpart. To try and contain Gemini’s brand of airy energy is as pointless as expecting it to stay focused on one thing.
When pressed into situations that load their minds with nervous energy, Gemini needs to employ its other super-power, communication. No other sign can come up with words as quickly as Gemini, whether it be talking or writing. There is always so much coming in, it has to come out. Mercury would be the patron god of podcasters, news anchors, reporters, bloggers, poets, magazine columnists and other communicative arts if we worshiped him today, and strong Gemini placements produce these types of personalities. The astrological Age of Gemini last occurred from about 6000 BCE to 4000 BCE. During this period, writing was invented, sparking a revolution in communication, technology that exponentially grew the amount of information we shared and acquired, leading to the world of data we live in today. Communication is equally important to Gemini as info gathering. Simply taking in everything without an outlet creates a wild storm. When the storm of Gemini’s mind is overwhelmed due to under-expression, this influence needs a relaxed and insightful conversation. Not a battle of wits or debate, but a calm and easy opportunity to listen and share.
What drives Gemini, though? Curiosity, plain and simple. When everything is just bits of information and data, you aren’t afraid of any of it, so you look at all of it. That comedian on stage making audiences roar with laughter as they tell culturally taboo jokes, unafraid to expose the breadth of realities we all exist in, that is Gemini. “What will people think if I say this? Let’s find out!” The reason some people can get away with such, typically, rage-inducing communication, is that we can get the sense that they don’t buy in to what they are saying, they are simply stating information that they’ve observed and perceived out there in a way that confronts everyone with the data. A certain kind of brilliance, untethered from emotional or social concerns. Gemini tells it to you straight, with a straight face, and, usually, a dry and hilarious comment. How can you not love that shit?!
The Journalist, like all of the archetypes, has its shadowy side too. The thing is, when all you do is observe and gather information, you have a lot of source material to weave stories out of. Remember, Gemini needs to remain detached from meaning and unencumbered by making sense of it all. However, life includes facing uncomfortable truths and situations, and when they come around, The Journalist can quickly assemble a story that makes them feel better or allows them to avoid facing facts. This sign is a fantastic and convincing storyteller. Which is amazing, except when dodging responsibility or facing themselves. Gemini understands that its just information, and you can emphasize and re-order it however you want, “and in this version I am the hero, not the villain.” Again, a conversation partner who can calmly help them disassemble they labyrinth of words they can put together, helping them face the issue, goes a long way towards dissipating the nervous energy these types of situations create in Gemini.
Gemini, The Journalist, is energy that we all enjoy, and even rely upon, all the time. Without this influence there would be no consumer advocates, stand up comedians, news anchors bringing us stories from around the world, podcasts delivering compelling stories and info, or Netflix original series. Observing the world and communicating what they see through all kinds of media and styles, this is Gemini’s groove.
So, maybe we should stop hating on this sign so much.
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