The Meaning of the Sun in Gemini

Transcript:

0:00
Hi everyone this is Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology and today we are going to take a look at the meaning of the Sun in the sign of Gemini. We're going to do this because there is a big lineup of planets coming in the sign of Gemini. We've got Venus in Gemini, Mercury's in Gemini about to turn retrograde, the Sun is in the sign of Gemini as of tomorrow, and then we're going to get a solar eclipse in the sign of Gemini in on June 10. So big lineup of planets coming through this sign and I've also done a video on the meaning of the Sun through all of the signs except for Gemini so for whatever reason Gemini got left out so I've been meaning to go back and kind of revisit this this series and take a look at the meaning of the Sun and Gemini for a while. Before I do that, I want to remind everybody that my new class ancient astrology for the modern mystic is beginning in June it's coming right up now. We've got people registering every day now getting really excited for it. You can go to my website nightlight astrology.com click on the first year course page, and then scroll down. You can learn all about it if you have any questions. It's a great programme. It's a about a year long, about 100 hours worth of classroom experience. You can participate remotely or live, you can be there live for the webinars. You can also follow along remotely if your time zone doesn't allow all the recordings are there for you. There's also guided homework, quizzes, optional, you know reading assignments throughout the class tonnes of bonus lectures, there's breakout study sessions with my staff, you can reach out to me with questions about the material at any point in time. So lots of good stuff there. starts on June 13. There is an early bird payment if you want to save $500 off there is a payment plan. There's also tuition assistance. I'd love to see some of you in class soon. If you have any questions feel free to email me info at nightlight astrology.com.

1:45
Alright, so that being said, let's dive into the meaning of the Sun in Gemini first, again, just take a look at the real time clock and look at how much is lining up in the sign of Gemini right now. So you can see that it's tomorrow, May 20, that the Sun will Ingress into Gemini and then you're going to have Mercury Venus, the north node and the Sun all in the sign of Gemini solar eclipse coming on June 10, Mercury Retrograde coming at the end of May, Venus still there until the beginning of June. So a lot happening in this sign and it's a good time to just kind of refresh on the meaning of this sign. Where does the meaning come from? How did it ever come to mean what it means? So we have some pretty good ideas about this, although it's an ongoing study, because we in the past 20 years are just rediscovering a huge amount of our ancient source text material from the Hellenistic tradition, which is part of what got me so interested in all of this in the first place was realising, Wow, there's this huge astrological Renaissance happening where we're starting to understand our roots better than we have in hundreds of years. So at any rate, let's talk about Gemini a little bit Gemini is a double body masculine air sign the temple of Hermes Mercury, depending on if you're going Greek or Roman with the god name, the constellation of the twins Castor and Pollux in the Greek tradition, or also sometimes called the Dioscuri. I may be mispronouncing that, but that's the name you may also hear referring to Castor and Pollux.

3:21
One of the most important things to understand is that Gemini is a double bodied sign that comes at the end of zodiacal spring. And now I say Zodiacal because these seasons are considered to be emanations whether you're in the northern and the southern hemisphere, they are archetypal, the seasons are archetypal expressions of the underlying exchange between light and dark, which is itself eternal. So they're like, these metaphysical principles that have to do with the exchange between light and dark, masculine, feminine, Yin or Yang, and the seasons are an expression or a reflection of them. The Zodiac is not rooted in the literalness of the seasons, the literalness of the seasons are an emanation or reflection of the zodiac. And so their relative and this, this means that I always tell people like if you wanted to, you could flip the Zodiac reoriented backward in the southern hemisphere, and you'd probably still get really great results. But you can also use the symbolic orientation of the Northern Hemisphere Zodiac wherever you are, because it's not meant to be taken so literally as to say, well, it was the literal influences of the season that made the Zodiac what it what it was. That's not at all the case. Remember, this is divinity very symbolic language. So you could have a planet in any seasonal sign of the zodiac being born in a totally different season of the year. And that planet will still take on the characteristics of that mythos and archetypal quality of the season even though it's not at that season of the year at all. So this is I always just preface this kind of conversation by saying, don't take the the literalness of the seasons. Don't take the seasons literally when doing astrology because you'll get real, start banging your head against walls that make it really complicated.

5:16
So, at any rate, I've done, literally probably at least 1000 or 2000 clients in my life from the southern hemisphere whose readings have been outstandingly accurate even though I might talk about they were born, say an Aries Sun, of course that's going to be that's not necessarily the spring in the southern hemisphere, right? That doesn't mean that their life is going to conform to a Libra, Libran symbolism, the polar opposite sign. So in my experience, again, the seasonal orientation is relative and mythic slash archetypal. Anyway, we can chew on that debate another time. I'm saying that now so that I don't get a million comments and questions because it always happens when I do this kind of video. Anyway, double bodied masculine air sign place of Hermes/Mercury. The double bodied nature means that it's of two natures, one comes off from the season before it and the other side of the double bodied sign starts feeding into the season that comes after it. So participates in the fluctuation between two seasons. Those seasons have to be understood not in terms of weather, right, but in terms of the quality of light, the exchange or relation between light and dark as metaphysical principles. So when you look at Gemini, for example, one of the things that's happening is the the light is about to peak, and then the darkness is about to start returning. So Gemini represents the cusp between the the end of the ascent of light and the beginning of the descent of the light or the return of darkness. Similarly, the other Mercury ruled sign, Virgo comes at the end of summer, when the summer is ending an autumn is beginning and so once again we have light handing over to darkness, one as the light is peaking and the dark just starts returning the other as the darkness is about to fully take over at the autumn equinox. So Mercury rules the double bodied signs where darkness comes back, or darkness is returning somehow. That's very important because the polar opposite double bodied signs are ruled by Jupiter, Sagittarius and Pisces. Sagittarius at the end of the autumn season. When we hit Capricorn right after Sagittarius the light starts returning when you hit Aries right after the spring transitional period of Pisces the light takes over. So the Jupiter ruled signs have to do with the young or the masculine or the light principle, rising or taking over. Mercury ruled signs have to do with the darkness, returning or taking over. So why would Mercury be associated with darkness the return of darkness of the takeover of darkness?

8:07
And this is because well, if you think about it like this, Jupiter plays the role of constructing meaningful holes and unifying things into a cohesive sense of order of like, for example, when you go to church, or when you go to school, or when you enter members, in the seventh grade, I took a trip to Washington DC and like got to see, you know, all the monuments and and I had this feeling of like, I live in a democracy and I was really like a like a little kid you know, but it was like this feeling of this Jupiterian unified system of government. And those things exist in our lives, whether it's how you order your life on the day to day what kinds of principles or ethics or practices that give you a sense that life is meaningful in a whole. And there's a lot of idealism behind Jupiter, there has to be an ideal image toward which Jupiter is aimed and around which Jupiter can build a meaningful whole for example, the system of astrology itself is in a sense, solar, because it it is about an an ideal image of a divine cosmos and Jupiter is sort of the chief demigod you could say that holds the whole system around that ideal together. So but in nature and in life, as many great avatars and wisdom traditions have taught us things fall apart and the centre cannot hold. We talked about that yesterday in a talk that I was doing. With Venus and Saturn, Saturn often being another principle that is related to disintegration and disintegration and decay. Interestingly, Saturn is another planet that's talked about like Mercury is a planet that can switch between masculine and feminine fluidly. There's some talk of that in the tradition. Anyway. So Mercury comes in as a planet that is going to question and pull things apart, and deconstruct and analyse or scrutinise. And as it does that, as it pulls things apart, that the net natural cycle of life continues, we build things up. And then they are taken apart. As they're taken apart, the need for unity returns, and we build things back up, things get strong and built up and maybe inflated, and then they get picked apart. I was thinking of the study that was done on the wolf and moose population, on Isle Royal, which is between northern Michigan and Canada. It's a place that I've loved to go backpacking. And there was this study that was done. And it was basically showing and this is actually very similar to a book that it was written, I think, by a guy named like Farley Milliwatt, or something was called never cry, Wolf, I don't think I've ever saw that movie was a Disney movie back in the day. But anyway, he wrote about this, too, I think I can't quite remember if it was him or not, but where there's going to be when when one population is in total surplus than the other one will, you know, naturally kind of call it down or like or like trim the fat, so to speak, and it might get, the more excess there is the more disease there might be as well. And so then the, you know, the animals sort of the wolves will take down the population. And so there's this symbiotic relationship between access and scarcity, that the two are always in this dynamic relationship with one another. And another way of looking at this would be that when things are built up in this material world, in this material dimension of life, you can you can bet that wherever there's gain, eventually there's going to be deflation constriction, loss diminishment. So within the exchange of the light and dark principle throughout the year, the yin and the yang, the the ideal toward which something moves, and then the eventual chaos and disintegration that that tears it apart. That there are two gods that essentially that almost quintessentially represent the building up and the unification of light, and the disintegration or deterioration of light, and those are Jupiter and Mercury.

12:32
So in Gemini, you have a sign that is moving up towards the peak of light. And then right at the peak, what happens immediate turnaround and the the light starts coming down again, the sun start stepping down its arc in the 24 hour period. So that metaphysically or symbolically, I should say that what that stands for is the initiation of the descent of spirit into matter, or the initiation of the beginning of death or moving back toward the underworld. So that that happens at that time. And there's something about that, that Gemini is often going to embody and you know how it shows up, it shows up in the stereotypes that we have for Gemini, for example, we say that Gemini is changeable, highly changeable, why would that be the case, because you have a sign that is associated with the turning point between light and dark, you're moving in Gemini in the late part of spring toward this ideal, you're reaching toward it, it's kind of a youthful sign, it's still in the spring section of the zodiac, right. So you're moving towards some kind of youthful ideal, but as soon as you reach it, you're turning away from it and then moving into some kind of disintegration or release or disappointment of that ideal. And that plays out very interestingly in the sign of Cancer, which has to do with the, the process and a sense of being mothered into the world. And also separating from the cosmic womb a lot of what cancer ends up being about is how to feel safe and secure. For example, while gradually distancing oneself from some sense of nuclear, you know, fusion there's there's some sense of at homeness that Cancer is constantly trying to remember recall, restore, stay close to while also separate from and that has to do with the fact that the sun is separating from its its high point, it's starting to go downward into the darkness and there's a there's a need to midwife the soul into a new body.

14:44
So Cancer was called the gateway of mankind and it was associated with birth and the descent of the spirit into matter. And there's a mothering a need for as souls come into bodies to be mothered and guided along into individuation that the The actual is the sign that represents the the movement from sort of youthful idealism into the beginning of the descent back into darkness and and so forth is Gemini and that sign. If you think about it, you as if you've ever known like some people with strong Gemini energy, I have a bunch of close friends in my life who are Geminis. As soon as you get something, as soon as you're, there's like, oh, let's go do this, this will be really fun. As soon as you know, oftentimes Geminis will do something or achieve something or taste something or try something, they'll go, Oh, that was interesting. But there's an immediate ability to let go of it. And or to move on from it or to let go of being enamoured or fascinated by something and to quickly become almost disillusioned and say, like, you know, it was fine, what's next? Where does that come from? It's not just well, Mercury's changeable. Mercury's changeable, it's true, but we're talking about the specific way in which an ideal image starts falling apart, as soon as you reach the pinnacle of, relating to or striving for that ideal image, once you reach it, then it starts falling apart. That is somehow, like, natural to what Geminis experience or what people with a lot of sight, you know, psychological Gemini light qualities will experience. So that's why we say older changeable? Well, the downside of that would be duplicitous, which means that the same quality of saying one thing, but then maybe meaning another or, you know, kind of having some way of you know delivering to other people the experience of like, Well, here's one thing and then that thing that I'm telling you or saying that I am or convincing you of ends up to be not so substantive, it tends to fall apart or disintegrate. Now that quality can be related to the trickster archetype to the changeable mind to people who have the ability to think about things from multiple perspectives simultaneously, or to change the way that they're thinking very quickly, to be very adaptable to be very open minded. People often really love hanging out with Geminis For this reason, as it's very stimulating. And it makes you feel like I'm as flexible and fun and interesting as the person I'm with. And often it's the Gemini who's like kind of giving people that social flexibility and ease that makes Gemini people very sparkly and like fun to be around.

17:33
So Geminis are multifaceted. Sometimes Geminis will be called like a jack of all trades. Or they'll say that people will say that they have a hard time making up their mind about things that they want to do. And you just have to imagine that that's in there is this archetypal transition between the the glittery thing and then once you grab it and hold it and it starts to dim, and you go, Oh, well, that was interesting. Put it down. And then what what else is sparkling what else is? What else is calling to me with that that glimmer of solar potential and promise that at a day that ideal that something that we reach toward and then immediately starts to be called into question right away? People say that Geminis are mental. Well, what is mental mean? Well, mental the etymology of mental means, like the mind. But interestingly, you know, if you look up, the etymology also says, you know, mental means to think or what think mean. And this is actually a much more interesting word. People are like Geminis. They're always very mental. Well, that just means that they're thinking a lot. If we want to be a want to break it down a little bit more. What does thinking mean? Well, the etymology of thinking, imagine, conceive in the mind, consider meditate. Remember, intend, wish, desire, caught and also originally caused to appear to oneself, cause to appear to oneself Think about that for a little bit. The idea of being that Gemini is interested in appearances in appearances in the mind, that they're just like I couldn't, someone with Mars and Gemini I can honestly say that I don't feel like the things that show up mentally for Geminis or for myself when I feel like I'm in Mars and Gemini land are coming from me. They feel just as sparkly and interesting to look at as a stone might on a walk in the woods. Well look at that stone. That's a really interesting one like my daughter, you know, we're walking she sees something well could look at that. And I'm like, yeah, look at that, you know, what is that? So, just that that curiosity.

19:52
People will say it's mental but actually, in a sense, it's not like Geminis are walking around like, intentionally thinking a lot. It's more like there's a playful curiosity about the appearances to appear to oneself. And then, well, what does that have to do with me? What does that thought have to do with me? And then there's a contemplation or reflection, reflection upon reflections. And that why can Gemini do that, because there's this constant dynamic where you know, the ideal that sparks before you is an image like it comes in light, right, so it shows up in light. But then it has the ability to instantly turn over into darkness and the thing starts to fade and diminish. That's the turn that we're talking about the archetypal turn between the end of spring and the beginning of summer where everything sparkling up toward the peak of light, and then immediately turning like a shadow toward darkness. So you just have to play with that idea in your that image in your head to really get into Gemini territory. Remember, that Mercury is the guide of souls who takes the soul into Hades, the underworld upon death, has the power to move through the world, both visibly and invisibly. So there's, um, we need that because in this world, it life is a journey. Life is a journey that consists of many of us being possessed by images, cast in light, only to find out that there are appearances in this material world very flickering. So we need Mercury, we need Gemini as the guide of souls to guide us through these, these these appearances that speak and guide us along and that tempt us and that trick us. And we need Mercury to keep us honest, in a sense, with the fact that everything is very fleeting. Even the most grandiose joopa terian ideal, even the most, that, you know, the grandest sense of will everything's held together by these principles. And, you know, this, we put our faith in institutions in the world, whether it's the institution of family, or of religion, or of education, or of our political party, or we put our faith in people and whatever we put our faith in Grand ideas, ethical ideas, etc, etc. And in this world, eventually, all of those things will be called into question, eventually, they will take that turn, insofar as we literalized them or concretize them materially. And Mercury is always there to remind us that we're being tricked. We're being duped, you know, but that doesn't mean that Mercury is tricking you, or that Mercury is duping you. You know, sometimes the the guide of souls appears like a trickster, or appears like a deceiver. But really what what what we're seeing when a God appears to us that way is, is we're seeing a way in which we've tricked ourselves, we've been deceived, and almost always, it's by an image or an appearance that we've taken literally. And when we, we should have been aware of how fleeting and temporary it was. So the perfect balance in a sense between Mercury Jupiter is I need institutions in my life, I need order I need a sense of a coherent Cosmos or a coherent way in which I'm being educated, or which I'm following ethical norms or I need those things, but they're gonna they're they will fall apart. And so I keep that in mind, I keep the tension between the, the temporary service that these things provide me with as a soul who's journeying home to God. Remember, Mercury had love affairs with goddesses, mortals and nymphs. It's really interesting because, of course, nymphs are like almost like nature, spirits who belong to they don't live forever. nymphs don't live forever, they can be lived for a very long time, but they don't live forever. And they're often connected like goddesses, sort of, like feminine sort of semi divine goddess figures who are often connected to specific locations, like a waterfall, or a stream, or the beach or, you know, a clearing in the woods. This is magical little places that we become enamoured by. And in the same way our when we say that, you know, Hermes has love affairs with these nymphs, it's very similar to the idea of the little things, the little lights that catch our eye and that we get, we get, we sort of get wrapped up in for a while and we fall in love with them.

24:30
So similarly, Mercury is a God who has lots of love affairs, with nymphs with the particular shiny things that take us into a little like a little zone of experience and sometimes a little obsessive obsession even. And we get sort of obsessed with little pockets of experience in our life little shows that we like or little places that we'd like to go or little things that we'd like to do and, and we have a little love affairs with these things. So Mercury also connected with those kinds of things is also why Gemini and Mercury are generally associated with things like polyamory, sort of ambiguous or very changeable sexual qualities or gender qualities or whatever. So, anyway, I think that it's safe to say that one of the best things that Gemini does for us is to remind us that we get caught, we get caught by these little. We get caught by shining images and ideals. And it's okay to be caught with them. As long as we also have that flexible ability to let go of them when it's time we're in. We're souls walking through life having lots of love affairs, lots of love affairs with little things, and they all end. And if we can keep that perspective, then the guide of souls will never be a trickster. Not not and not the kind anyway, that's deceiving us and really, you know, really like throwing us off our centre, more likely, that will experience the kind of the soul experience is the play of life, the Leela of life, there's a flirtation with life itself, that starts to come in with the sign of Gemini. And, you know, keeping that perspective in mind is so great, especially if you're going to be someone who also really likes Jupiterian things who likes know, like, for me, like my bhakti guru, my sacred scriptures, the system of astrology, the ethical sadhana of my life, you know, the the practices that I keep these things that keep kind of cosmic unity in my life, I have to hold that right next to this kind of flirtatious love affair with my experiences that come and go and that don't last. And I have to keep that perspective, if I'm to stay in my practice as a yogi, right, so there's not a religious tradition on earth that Hermes doesn't play a role in in some way in some in some teaching. So we just have to keep that in mind.

27:09
Virgo, by contrast, is a very interesting, it's another Mercurial sign that has a lot to say about the handover from light to dark as well. So that kind of the reminder that things are temporary, because in Virgo, we're going into Libra, where, which is where we enter the underworld. So there's, um, Virgo has a lot more to do with the reality of judgement, the reality of outcomes and consequences for actions. And, you know, if you go back actually into my videos, you can watch a video that I did on the meaning of the sun in Virgo and I kind of break that down a bit more. Anyway, all of these things are things that we unpack in a lot more depth in detail in my programme. So if you like this kind of thing, I'm just I'm just riffing. I just wrote down a few notes from one of my presentations and just decided to go off the top my head because we hadn't done a video on the sun and Gemini, we got a whole bunch of planets coming up in Gemini. So I hope you guys enjoyed this today. If you are a Gemini, how else would you describe the sign of Gemini? Please leave your comments in the chat box below. I'd love to hear from you. I like hearing people's stories about how they live with these archetypes and what they've noticed about them. There's a lot more that could be said about Hermes and Gemini, one of my favourite you know, Gemini peak individuals was Tupac who said he said something along the lines of life is like a game you got to try to go around the board as many times as you can. I was like that's such a Gemini thing to say. So anyway, you can look up if you find any other meaningful Gemini references or Gemini people leave those as well. I'd love to hear from you guys. I think I need to do a Mercury in Gemini video at some point too. So we'll probably do that. Alright, that's what I've got for today. I hope you guys have a great day and we'll see you again soon. Bye.