True Tarot Tales

Royalty and Innocence: The Lion and The Dog Days of Summer

Leo Season 2025

Jul 22, 2025

On July 22 we entered the zodiac domain of Cancer the Crab; the zenith of the summer in the northern hemisphere, and moved into the sun sign territory of Leo until 22 August. But what’s the ancient story behind the zodiac sun sign of The Lion, and what is the astrological mood-board this Leo Season, 2025?

Settle in for another long one….

Traditional Associations

Ruler: The Sun Lucky Day: Sunday

Symbol: Lion Element: Fire Quality: Fixed

Hebrew letter: Av (father, regal) Tet (coiled serpent) Tov (goodness)

Astrological House: The Fifth House of joy, vitality, self-expression, life passions, children and childhood.

Metal: Gold

Body: Heart, aorta, circulation, blood pressure, spine

Constitutional salt: Magnesium Phosphate (Mag Phos) Leo rules the heart and this salt is a cardiac tonic. Magnesium Phosphate is a muscle and motor nerve nutrient, helping to empower the muscles, or to relax them, helpful for all types of cramp or spasm, whether induced by physical exertion or by the menstrual cycle. May be beneficial dissolved in warm water for cramps in the stomach, or for colic in babies, crushed and rubbed onto the gums

Trees: Palm trees, laurel, walnuts, olive trees, lemon and orange trees.

Plants: Marigolds, sunflowers, dandelions, (dents- de- lion =”lion’s teeth”) celandines, passion flowers

Gemstones: peridot, sapphire

Key phrase: I love/I desire (The Strength card of Leo is called Lust in the Thoth Tarot deck)

Norse rune: Sol/Sowilo/Sigel: meaning Sun, signifying or invoking happiness, health, success, victory

Tarot cards: Strength, Sun, 5, 6, 7 Wands. The Strength card (Major Arcana 8- in the Thoth Tarot, it is Major Arcana 11) signifies health, vitality, power, physical courage and moral fortitude

Astronomy

Leo is the 12^th largest constellation in the zodiac, one of the most recognizable in the skies of the northern hemisphere due to its many bright stars, and its distinctive shape suggesting a crouching lion facing to the right, located between the constellations of Cancer to the west and Virgo to the east. The bright planet beneath Leo is Jupiter.

The best time to see the Leo constellation is in Spring in the northern hemisphere, from around the March equinox, and in the fall/autumn in the southern hemisphere where it can be seen in the northern skies, but is seen as if upside down. By late July and into early August, the Lion is fading into the sunset before disappearing, and by late September into October it is visible again, reappearing in the east before dawn, below the Big Dipper or as it is also known in the UK, The Plough, which is visible all year.

Archaeological evidence suggests that Mesopotamians recognized the star grouping we later came to know as Leo as early as 4000 BC. The Persians knew this constellation as Shir or Ser. The Babylonians called it UR.GU.LA (“the great lion.”) The Syrians knew it as Aryo. The Turks called it Artan, or, and most famously Aslan, as in Aslan the Lion in The Chronicles of Narnia by CS Lewis. The Greeks associated Leo with the story of the Labours of Herakles/Hercules, and the slaying of the man- eating lion of Nemea.

The Lions of The Nile

and the Dog Days of Summer

a plowed field in front of a body of water — *Photo by Mohamad Sameh on Unsplash*

Leo season includes the so-called Dog Days of summer, July 3 to August 11, is the window of the warmest days in the Northern Hemisphere. The ancient Egyptians and later the Romans, had noticed that Sirius, “The Scorching One,” aka The Dog Star, aka, Canis Major, reappeared in the sky, rising just before the sun, rising in the east 21- 23 July when the sun entered the zodiac sky territory of Leo. Sirius is pictured at the bottom, below Orion.

This was immediately prior to the annual flooding of the Nile River which started around August 15 for two weeks every year. The Nile floods, while potentially massively destructive, replenished the soil, bringing forth new life, renewing the lifeblood of their agriculture- and the nation entire. New life. This is the almighty power of the Sun in Leo.

adult lioness lying on ground — *Photo by Chris Rhoads on Unsplash*

Lions were once a common sight in Egypt, roaming the semi-desert regions either side of the Nile Valley, with surviving depictions of pharaohs hunting lions. But that was long, long ago. The lions began to disappear during the New Kingdom (c. 1550-1070 B.C.) until eventually they became extinct in Egypt as the climate and environment became drier and the human population increased. But not before they had become an eternal part of the zodiac story.

By August the desert lions were becoming increasingly desperate after weeks of drought, coming ever closer in sight of the walls of the cities in their search for water. But this lowest ebb in the lives of the desert lions was a welcome sign that the Nile floods were now due, the tributaries far upriver massively swollen by tropical storms over the highlands of Ethiopia and southern Sudan, and in their joy, the people honoured the lion with festivals. Statues of lions can still be seen along the course of the Nile River, while the lion-headed fountains so popular with later Greek and Roman architects was a legacy of this great story of the zodiac, symbolizing the life-giving waters released by the sun in the season of Leo.

Lion statues on a water fountain — *Public Domain, photograph Petr Kratochvil*

The Zodiac Archetype

Leo is ruled by the Sun, bestowing radiance, warmth and vitality. Leo is energetic, decisive and pro-active. The major arcana cards in the Tarot representing Leo are The Sun card and Strength, denoting not only physical strength vitality and courage, but moral courage; resilience, stamina, discipline and fortitude in the face of adversity. Leo acts on instinct, sometimes on impulse. Sometimes in haste. To be effective, is a message of this card, strength must be wisely directed. There is no Strength without the inner strength of self-control, self mastery. The figure in this card, the Lady Una, has the lion on a loose chain. But it is on a chain all the same. The lion represents her own inner fire, passions and impulses, and she has them under control.

Strength from The Illuminati Tarot, The Sun and King of Wands from The Gilded Tarot Royale

The charismatic King of Wands represents Leo, regardless of the sex of the individual Leo native. This card represents communication, travel, sports, entrepreneurship, exports, estate agents, higher education. He is both visionary and warrior.

There is of course no such thing in reality as THE Leo personality, and this applies to all zodiac signs. You are a unique personality. Your zodiac sign (sun sign) is a major keynote of your natal chart, but it’s nothing like the whole story. These archetypes are based on thousands of years of observation, however, and your decan, which depends on where your birthday falls within your zodiac sign, digs a little deeper.

Tarot Cards

First Decan Leo: 23 July-1 August

Proud, passionate, purposeful.

Tarot card: Five of Wands: ambition, test of strength, contest, competition, stress, conflict, honest intention, summer thunderstorms

This Leo born native, ruled by the Sun twice over, does not just enter the room. It makes an entrance. Lively, confident, warm, talkative. Others who are quieter, or who are less confident or energetic may find these Leo divas loud, overpowering, or even arrogant. And Leo may be any of these things, but the chances are, it is just a natural exuberance. First decan Leo will finish what it starts, and they set themselves exceedingly high standards and targets, though they tend to be fair minded and realistic in their dealings with others, asking only that others do their best.

Second Decan Leo: 2 August-11 August

Name, fame, reputation

Tarot card- Six Wands: victory, progress, vehicle, travel, pride in success, team, determined effort

Subjects of this decan may be literally taller and bigger than other Leo decans, and (apparently) with a collective tendency for having rather noticeable neat, square white teeth. The influence of its sub-ruler, cheerful, outgoing Sagittarius makes this Leo the life and soul of the party when they are in the mood, but this smoothest-talking decan is somewhat restless, for travel, for adventure – or learning. This is Leo on a quest of some kind, hungrier and less settled in temperament than the other two decans. This Leo in general tends to be more of a cat walks alone. Yes, it loves people, but still retains a certain aloofness. Its sub-ruler Sagittarius however, is about groups and communities, and it is this, somewhat more communal spirit, which sets the second decan Leo slightly apart from the other decans. But second decan Leo is something of a philosopher.

Third Decan Leo: 12 August -22 August

Fire, focus and curiosity.

Tarot card- Seven of Wands: courage, moral courage, stamina, endurance, outnumbered but fighting your own corner, defeating the odds

This decan is sub-ruled by fiery Mars- Leo with a double-dose of warrior energy. Third decan Leo is confident, competitive or combative. Driven, ambitious, sometimes this Leo decan loses patience and may not finish what it starts, due to restlessness, but it operates on its own terms, and is an excellent planner and problem-solver, finding failure almost intolerable. This decan needs peace and quiet when its mind is working on something, to figure things out in its own way. It has the usual Leo warmth but with, possibly, an explosive temper at times. Leo in general is quick to forgive and forget, and is not known for bearing grudges, though others may not necessarily be so forgiving in return. Third decan Leo is particularly curious about other people.

A few dates to watch this Leo season 2025

July 24: New Moon in Leo Perhaps not an easy New Moon, this one. Emotionally demanding. Tensions close to the heart. We think we can see a way ahead. Others do not agree. Mercury is retrograde this Leo Season until August 11, and this new moon symbolically suggests dusting something off and shining it up again, perhaps a passion project and now you know how to give it a new lease of life supported by Neptune (vision) and Saturn (focus and attention to detail)

July 31-August 25: Venus goes into Cancer. Tarot card: the 2 of Cups. Cheers! Sociable, romantic, collaborative. Ah, now that is nice. AND the Sun is conjunct Mercury. You may be acting as a messenger. You may be someone’s very angel.

August 8-10 Mars opposite Saturn and Neptune: a mood board that says stay calm, do less, avoid arguments with older family members or senior staff at work. Travel over water could be bumpy, metaphorically or literally, or beware picking up a tummy bug. The so-called Lion’s Gate, August the Eighth, the 8 of the 8th, is a mythical portal said to represent a peak of intensity in human affairs. As if we need any more intensity. But anyway, here is a bit of the background story, The Lions’ Gate Portal via Forbes.

August 9: Full Moon in Aquarius: A dash of inspiration, vim and vigour, doing our own thing, away from the crowd.

August 12: Mercury goes direct in Leo. The lion is still in shadow until August 26. But now he is waking and stretching, the lionesses are mustering again, ready to go hunting.

lion and lioness on brown rock during daytime — Photo by Jonathan Cooper on Unsplash

Happy Birthday and Happy Hunting, Leo 2025.

Till next time.

The Devil walks abroad: The Tarot’s Own Psychic Whiff of Sulphur

We entered strange times in 2020. Strange times. The news all over the world right now is almost a perfect storm. Where to focus? What good news to be guaranteed via divination? Great change is here and it is unavoidable. There will be turmoil for quite some time to come, above what we have been used to for a long time. This is not a short term cycle, and we are all affected.

Imagine being a cottage industry weaver, at the time of the Industrial revolution. The enclosure of the land, the decline of the villages, the rise of the cities and the giant satanic mills, that grew the power of the British Empire. Entrepreneurs grew rich, the rural poor got poorer. The urban poor exploded in numbers as people left the land, looking for work in the cities. How to calculate the human cost? The Luddites resisted and were hanged or transported for life.

This is broadly the kind of place we are at again, collectively, living in the early days of the so-called fourth Industrial Revolution, (and some might say, the WEF, and the person who coined this term, Klaus Schwab, are inimical, not friends of humanity, agents of the Devil.)

All this, even without adding in the inextricably interconnected red-hot state of global politics. I will leave this with the mundane astrologers, at least for today, but, unsurprisingly, the Devil card is showing up a lot right now.

The Devil card is not necessarily bad news at all when it turns up in a reading. It may be neutral and entirely benign in a card interpretation. The Devil corresponds with Nature and with Saturn, Old Father Time. He may stand for Pan, The God of all wild creatures, “The Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” in The Wind In The Willows.

The Devil may be neutral and entirely benign in a card interpretation. But the Tarot addresses everything known in the totality of human experience and it has only 78 bits of cardstock with which to do it. This cannot be all sweetness and light. The Devil card also has the job of addressing Desire, Hunger, Rage. Fear. Frustration. Power and powerlessness. Dependency. Addiction. Prison and how to break free. How to respond to unwelcome change.

“Change is like death. You don’t know what it looks like till you’re standing at the gates.” – ‘Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’, 2018

a view of a city through a chain link fence — Photo by Vadim Koza on Unsplash

A true Tarot story from 14 July, 2015.

I was away from home, my younger daughter’s graduation in Carlisle and I was unsettled at what I saw in my cards. My question to the Tarot was a run of the mill question, almost idle, really. A general day-ahead reading. What kind of day could we expect the following day? We had another long drive next day, stopping off to see my parents on the way home again.

I drew three cards. The Devil, The Chariot and The Wheel of Fortune. But while I am showing these cards the right way up, the better to display them, I had actually drawn two of these cards, The Chariot and The Wheel of Fortune reversed, that is to say, upside-down or ill-dignified. Not in their positive dignity.

The Devil card may be referring to Capricorn timing. It may be flagging up Tenth house matters (professional life, public life) or it may be pointing at a Capricorn sun sign native. When it turns up as a problem, it may mean passion, wild nature, the wild god Pan. It can mean obsession, addiction, entrapment, fear, rage, loss of control, imprisonment. I have known it to mean manslaughter and a prison sentence. One time the Devil card came up with the Ten of Swords, The Tower and the Ten of Pentacles, prompting me to ask, somewhat diffidently as you will imagine, if a man in this lady’s life had knocked someone down? (The Devil and Tower). Yes, she said. In a fight. And the other man died? I asked. (Ten of Swords) Yes, she said. A fatal head injury. And he had received a 10 year prison sentence? (Ten of Pentacles) Yes.

The Chariot can mean the summer solstice, Cancer season. It can mean parents (most usually the mother) It is the home, or the homeland. It can mean teamwork, success. It can also mean exactly what it looks like. It can be saying car, road, travel, journey, garage, driving test, motorbike, horse, etc.

The Wheel of Fortune in general, means sudden changes and events beyond our direct personal control. Luck, Fate, a gamble for good or for ill. It can mean a Thursday.

I did not like this card combination. I felt it spelled bad news for a vehicle, or a journey. Fear, anger or violence might be attached. I felt a lurch in my tummy, thinking of our drive over the moors next day, and the M6.

I am not an all-seeing psychic with reliable remote viewing capabilities. I do have those experiences. Usually via dreams over which there is no direct control, or not usually. It has happened that I have requested a dream asking a certain question, and received an answer in dream form. But using cards, one asks a question and gets an answer, or at least a response on demand.

So now, looping back to this row of cards above, The Devil, The Chariot (Reversed) and The Wheel of Fortune (Reversed) I considered the cards first and foremost in terms of my general question, what to expect next day, thinking primarily of immediate events in my own situation.

‘We’ll need to be extra cautious on the road tomorrow,’ I said to Il Matrimonio. ‘There’s something here I’m really not liking, something to do with wheels. And that parking space is tight. Why are wheels jumping out at me? I’m seeing tyres. Maybe we’ve got a flat tyre?’

He went and checked the tyres, and everything seemed fine. Ok. Well then, I would just have to wait and see, and learn what this was all about with the benefit of hindsight. But I knew I didn’t like it.

Next morning, Friday the 15th (and The Devil is the Tarot’s fifteenth major arcana card) we woke to this appalling news from Nice…

“On the evening of 14 July 2016, a 19-tonne cargo truck was deliberately driven into crowds of people celebrating Bastille Day on the Promenade des Anglais in Nice, France, resulting in the deaths of 86 people and injuring 434 others. The driver was Mohamed Lahouaiej-Bouhlel, a Tunisian living in France. The attack ended following an exchange of gunfire, during which he was shot and killed by police.

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, saying Lahouaiej-Bouhlel answered its “calls to target citizens of coalition nations that fight the Islamic State.“

So now I understood that I had drawn The Devil, The Chariot Reversed, and The Wheel of Fortune Reversed only about an hour ahead of the horrible real-time events in Nice.

This had not been an instance of prediction. I had formulated no such prediction. But this had been a clear and terrible instance of psychic foreshadowing. I had “seen”, I had been “shown” Tyres. Rage. Terror.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/m6YDhVeW5Kc?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

By now I am left in little doubt there is such a thing as the collective mind. The hive mind. We communicate telepathically en-masse more than we usually get the chance to notice, and we are not constrained in our perceptions by linear time. We, for all our individuality and separateness, and sometimes, loneliness, are more like bees or starlings than we might think. Sleep easy, les pauvres. Vive la France.

Could the Tarot be used to avert such horrors and disasters as this Nice attack? A reading may help an individual to avoid trouble if they heed a warning, and is able to act upon it. I have witnessed this happening, just as I have known of warnings that went unheeded, and the consequences. We have personal agency at all times.

But for an event on a public scale, this would need such precise intel, reporting a detected risk of (event X)-happening at (location Y)- on this day around that time (Z)

And that person in receipt of that intel would need to have the authority and the resources to take action based on that feedback. What happens in maximum security outfits, military and other, who knows. Dowsers are employed by councils to find hidden water pipes underground. I have seen them at work myself, in a field behind my parents house, and dowsing is a form of divination (finding what is hidden)

It was attempted once before, after the tragedy in Aberfan, when a giant coal heap collapsed slipped and crushed a school in a mining village.

“The British Premonitions Bureau was formed in 1966 by psychiatrist John Barker after the Aberfan mining disaster in which 144 people, including 116 children, died when 500,000 tons of debris smashed through the Welsh town and buried the primary school. Reports of precognitive dreams foretelling of the catastrophe prompted Barker to form the bureau in the hope of predicting and avoiding future tragedies.

In the 18 months the Premonitions Bureau was open, nearly 1000 reports of premonitions were collected, and while a few seemed to foretell disasters, over 90 percent failed to predict future events and none prevented any disasters.”

Pitifully, there was more than one story of people experiencing a psychic foreshadowing of this horrific tragedy. One was a little girl, saying she was scared to go to school that day, asking not to go to school that day, and she went and died that day. You can read more about this on my old blog HERE.

A foreboding, like other psychically sourced data, is rarely sufficiently detailed, specific and precise to be treated as directly actionable. This is the meaning of the so-called “Curse of Cassandra”. To feel that something is badly wrong, to know vaguely what this bad thing might will look like, but to be powerless to prevent it, like the seeress Cassandra at the Fall of Troy. She told them not to bring that giant wooden horse in through the Gates. They just thought she was a nutcase. But you would tear your hair out, wouldn’t you?

cassandra troy princess prophetess — Cassandra, Evelyn de Morgan

This is the challenge with divination. One takes soundings. One expects to get it at least broadly right far more often that not. If we can only do 50:50, then a guess is just as good. Only time will tell. But if you ever get a particularly strong whiff of that old sulphur, call on Michael to come and kick ass. And he will roll up his sleeves, buckle up and sigh, “ffs, here we go again.”

Archangel Michael binding Lucifer, Jacob Epstein, Coventry Cathedral

Another tragic and dramatic instance of the Devil card hit the news that same year, in May 2015. A tarot reader had called the police after her client told her he had killed someone. He had told her this by way of feedback after she had drawn The Devil, followed by the Death card and The Emperor Reversed.

The tarot reader, with his permission (!) called 999, and was advised to call the non-emergency number, which she did, going outside to make the call with the client still sitting at the table in her front room. The Police arrived 52 minutes later, arrested him and it soon emerged the man was telling the truth. The Emperor Reversed was the victim, another man, found lying in a pool of blood.

But, asking my brother, who was at that time a serving police sergeant in Wiltshire, what he made of this news story, he was horrified that the tarot reader’s call had not immediately been treated as an emergency. The tarot reader should have been assessed as being at immediate risk. The man could have changed his mind about wanting to confess, and then done her in. BBC interview here

This of course, is The Devil at its most violently extreme. All the Major Arcana cards have extremes of polarity. When The Devil turns up drawn reversed, it tends to indicate that the worst is over, whatever that was, and now order is restored.

The Devil card in its guise as Capricorn embodies the very best of Saturn, and our natural instincts. There is a good reason some artists have depicted him in the tarot as one heck of a sexy beast. “That ole Devil called Love”.

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/D7KypAf0iac?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

Here is artist Ciro Marchetti’s take on The Devil in The Gilded Tarot Royale. If the force we refer to as The Devil was such a plug-ugly turnoff as he is generally painted, where would be his power of attraction and temptation?

We are not in Nature. We are of Nature. When the Devil strikes and sears our soul, we turn for a salve to the wild god Pan, and rest ourselves, go feed some birds, water some plants, watch a bee, sit out under the moon, get up to greet the dawn. Nature is often cruel, but absent of malice.

My mother once said if she ever met Old Nick she would say, fuck off you. She said, we know he hates us, so why we would we give him the time of day? One of my sisters, a lawyer, said she would ask him in for a coffee and ask him to tell her his side of the story. And no doubt she would be royally entertained. He is a great story teller. The best. But a filthy liar. And nothing wastes precious time like a liar.

Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth– Buddha

Thank you for reading.

Back again soon!

Pisces Season 2025: Part 2

Each zodiac sign contains three decans, blocks of ten days or so, each with a different planetary ruler. “If you’ve ever wondered why people born in the same sign seem different, the decans can help answer this puzzle,” – astrologer Rachel Lang.

The decans or decanates were in use by astrologers in Egypt 2100 BCE, as evidenced carved on coffin lids. But they may be far older in astrological usage, and have been described as ‘the thirty-six faces of astrology.’ Each of the 12 signs of the zodiac (Wheel of Life) represents 30 degrees of the 360-degree wheel of the zodiac, tracking the course of the Sun over a year.

Each sign is subdivided into three parts of ten degrees each. These are the decans from the Greek word “deka” meaning ten. The decans are not considered particularly significant by astrologers in general, but do supply further clues, nuance and texture and for divinatory purposes, may help a reader narrow down a timeframe to a ten day window, while supplying extra insights in respect of situation, stakes, character and potential destiny.

First Decan Pisces

Pisces- Pisces

Dates: 19 Feb-29 Feb

Planetary rulers: Jupiter/Saturn

Tarot card: Eight of Cups

*Smith Waite Centennial deck © U.S. Games Systems, Inc.*

Card meanings: Moving on, cutting ones losses, leaving something behind, but not in anger. Reversed: disillusionment, regret

The first decan of any sign is considered the most typical. Pisces makes for versatility and adaptability, while Neptune presents a soft or gentle manner or appearance. This Pisces decan is rarely aggressive or confrontational.

But there is a sense of a push and pull going on here. Jupiter means Pisces thinks big and steps forward. Neptune means Pisces swims in circles or hides in the weeds. This Pisces native connects with other people on an unconscious level, almost hearing what they are thinking. Maybe they haven’t noticed this about themselves yet, or they take their telepathy for granted, but if this is you, watch out for the signs.

While quiet, this Pisces has deep passions and their love life can be tempestuous. Their ideal partner will be lively and communicative with a can-do approach but the first decan Pisces tends to go on a lot of detours before arriving or settling in their happy place or rightful destination.

They often look younger than their age, but they need to be especially aware of their dietary and other habits in order to protect their health; mood, and the chest, lungs and feet in particular. Pisces is extra-sensitive to the effects of overindulgence of alcohol or mind altering drugs.

Second Decan Pisces

Pisces-Cancer

Dates: 1-10 March (approx.)

Planetary ruler: Jupiter/Moon

Tarot card: Nine of Cups

Card Meanings: the wish card, dreams come true, food and drink, the hospitality industry. Reversed: overindulgence, complacency, self-satisfaction

The sub-influence for this decan is Cancer, ruled by The Moon. Cancer is the natural ruler of the fourth house of home, family and security. These Pisces subjects typically stay close to birth family members. This Pisces may struggle to loosen parental ties, becoming fully independent, but must do so if they want to progress and develop and become the adult in the room (Saturn in Pisces

The zone of the sky from March 1 –10 houses the stars of the water of Aquarius, Eridanus the river and the western fish of Pisces. These are the faintest, most elusive stars. Now you see them, now you don’t.

These Pisceans blend in anywhere. Sensitive and psychic, this decan absorbs like moss. For the same reason these highly empathic people need to choose their company with care, and form healthy habits early on in life. These subjects are supremely susceptible to the influence of others in their environment, and this can work positively or negatively.

Third Decan Pisces

Pisces-Scorpio

Dates: 11 March-20 March

Planetary rulers: Mars/Pluto

Tarot card– Ten of Cups

Card Meanings: contentment, completion, arrival, family life, stability, safety and security, team effort, a happy home Reversed: losses, family conflicts, break-ups, unhappiness

The sub-influences for this decan are Scorpio and its rulers, traditional Mars or modern Pluto. Energetic Mars and Scorpio – natural ruler of the eighth house of desire, willpower, drive and determination – bestows extra charisma, and the drive and determination to push forward. This Pisces native has the artistic creativity of Pisces/Neptune with extra sticking power to turn dreams into realities.

Pluto brings depth. Mars brings speed and energy of attack. This Pisces native needs to keep busy, with plenty of energy outlets. Pisces marks the completion of the zodiac wheel. This final decan marks the point at which we move into Aries, the cycle starts over again and Aries too, is ruled by energetic Mars. What these Pisces natives start, they finish.

These Pisces natives, like the other decans, are enormously attuned to their environment, but they tend to stay more aloof and watchful, less likely to blend in. They are highly observant, natural detectives, well suited to police work or other kinds of investigative work. Pisces-Scorpio listens between the lines and notices what is not being said.

The Cusps of Pisces

Aquarius-Pisces: February 15-21

Aquarius-Pisces: This is a Pisces native with Aquarius tendencies; a person of high principles, quiet, refined, and with strong likes and dislikes. This Pisces native is likely to do a lot of travelling. They have executive capabilities and can earn or make a lot of money, but tend to become bored quite easily. This native needs to be careful not to get trapped, committing too soon in a relationship that doesn’t suit them, simply out of a fear of being left on their own.

Pisces-Aries: March 17-23

Born on the Pisces-Aries cusp, this native is especially instinctive and brave. This mix of energy combines physical and moral courage with compassion for others which can make this Pisces individual a successful leader. This person is loyal to friends and colleagues and they are also generous, and eager to see others do well.

Famous Pisces subjects

Michelangelo, Copernicus, George 111, Albert Einstein, Neville Chamberlain, Sidney Poitier, Elizabeth Taylor, Yuri Gagarin, Michael Gorbachev, Osama Bin Laden, Steve Irwin, Steve Jobs, President Erdogan of Turkey

Key Astrology Dates in Pisces Season 2025

I touched upon the broader Pisces weather in Pisces Season 2025 Part 1. This weather starts to break when Mars goes stationary in Cancer 23 February after a retrograde lasting two and a half months, beginning December 6.

Feb. 18 Sun enters Pisces.

Feb. 20 Mercury at 12 degrees Pisces square Jupiter at 12 Gemini. Information spreads. Discussions and options are explored. Be wary of something or writing something you might later regret. Beware thieves and scammers.

Feb. 23 Mercury at 17 Pisces trine Mars at 17 Cancer. A great time for home improvements, new kitchen or bathroom

Feb. 23 Mars stationary direct, finally, a change of pace after two and a half months of retrograde. Energy ramps up. Forward motion.

Feb. 24 – 25 Mercury conjunct Saturn at 20 degrees of Pisces. Wet weather, snow, ice, cold conditions, and grey skies figure in to all plans and outlooks. Hard cold realities demand attention, but a focus on details and duties will bring good results.

Feb. 26 – 27 Mercury at 24 Pisces sextile Uranus at 24 Taurus. Clever ideas appear in mind. Sudden solutions fall into place. Intuition and practicality converge. Understanding ignites grand perceptions even in regard to abstruse matters.

Feb. 28 New Moon, 10 degrees of Pisces Square Jupiter. Tarot card 8 Cups. Closing a door perhaps, more in a spirit of acceptance than in anger. A good time for starting photography, yoga, swimming, meditation, poetry. This Jupiter square warns against overdoing things.

March 1 Venus stationary retrograde at 11 Aries. Strong passions, not the best day for a wedding, major purchase or legal action. Patience is needed.

March 2 Mercury conjunct Neptune at 29 degrees of Pisces. Imagination and intuition get a big boost. Dream images register strongly.

March 2 Sun at 12 Pisces square Jupiter at 12 Gemini. Big events, big moods, possible insomnia.

March 3 Mercury enters Aries to stay through March 28. Venus goes retrograde until April 14. Not the best window for weddings or major expenses.

March 4–6 Mercury at 3 degrees of Aries sextile Pluto at 3 degrees of Aquarius. Keep communications short, clear and to the point.

March 7–8 Sun at 18 degrees Pisces trine Mars at 18 degrees of Cancer. Emotional healing unfolds with little effort. Physical healing/improvements. Kind gestures bring relief and help close to home.

March 11–12 Mercury conjunct retrograde Venus at 9 degrees of Aries. Odd coincidences. Chance meetings bring important information. New insights into past events. Freak natural events or weather events possible.

March 11–12 Sun conjunct Saturn at 22 degrees of Pisces. Sadness in the picture. Losses must be faced, relinquishments made. Rest is needed.

March 14 Sun at 24 degrees of Pisces sextile Uranus at 24 degrees of Taurus.

March 14 Full Moon, Sun at 24 degrees of Pisces, Moon at 24 degrees of Virgo. A lunar eclipse intensifies feelings, intuitions, sensations and perceptions. A push and pull of psychic Pisces and analytical Virgo, accentuated risk of respiratory illnesses

March 15 Mercury stationary retrograde, 10 degrees Aries. Here we go again for the next 3 weeks, stalls, delays or other complications in comms, contracts and exchanges

March 19–20 Sun conjunct Neptune at 29 degrees Pisces. Light is thrown on the nature of the subconscious and the images dwelling there.

March 20 Sun enters Aries, Spring equinox in the northern hemisphere, Autumn/Fall equinox in the southern hemisphere.

Happy Birthday Pisces. The Taskmaster planet Saturn is still in Pisces in 2025. Fresh starts and new ventures will pay off but these will demand a sustained effort of concentration and headedness. A reminder of the dates Saturn is in Pisces, from 7 march 2023- 24 May 2025 and again from Sep 1 2025 until Feb 13 2026

Tarot for Pisces Season 2025

Cards from The Legacy of The Divine Tarot

I could see two storylines in this line of cards. One is to do with my own family right now, and the personalities and events were completely obvious to me in real time. The other storyline, I saw as holding up a mirror on Donald Trump’s negotiations with Russia. Why did I think so?

Justice. Legalities. Libra. Diplomacy. Summit. Due Process. And Vladimir Putin is a Libra Sun sign subject.

King of Swords. An Air Sign king. Donald Trump (Gemini), Volodymyr Zelenskyy (Aquarius) and Vladimir Putin (Libra) are all Air sign subjects, liable to turn up in a Tarot reading represented by the King of Swords, Knight of Swords or Queen of Swords, I knew Donald Trump was a Gemini sun sign subject. Volodymyr Zelenskyy is also a King of Swords, another Air Sign King. NB There are questions as to actual birth dates and times of DT and VP, which is a consideration for astrologers. But in my cards Vladimir Putin has always turned up as a King or Queen of Swords, while Donald Trump invariably shows up as the King of Swords, and that is what I work with.)

The Hanged Man. This card signifies Neptune, the modern ruler of Pisces. But I also associate it with president Zelenskyy. This card has been appearing in readings ever since February 2022 when my mother anxiously asked, did I see Putin being successful in his attempts to have Zelenskyy assassinated and I said no, I did not see that. But though I have a tendency to lean to over-optimism, I did feel that Zelenskyy would be betrayed or at least, experience bitter disappointment, not least that the Budapest Memorandum would not be honoured as promised. I did not see a military defeat as such for Ukraine, nor an overt victory for Putin. But would Ukraine feel it had received justice from those who had required it to relinquish nuclear weapons in return for protection in case of attack(The Hanged Man)? It seemed highly probable in 2022 that Putin would consolidate at least some territorial gains in the Donbas, as well as consolidating the 2014 re-annexation of Crimea.

Queen of Swords I read this card as showing President Putin, with President Zelenskyy/Ukraine shown as something of a sacrificial figure, caught in-between Putin and President Trump (and Europe of course)

The King of Cups I immediately thought that the King of Cups must be referring to Erdogan, but I needed to go and check. Sure enough. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a Pisces zodiac sign, born 26 February 1954. I had wondered if it might be referring to Xi Xin-ping of China, another mighty player in this terrifying power play, but he is a Cancer sun sign subject, born 15 June 1953

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is NOT happy that he has been bypassed by President Trump, and that Ankara was not consulted about hosting, let alone attending the recent negotiations. Turkey backs Ukraine’s full territorial integrity. It controls the Black Sea and NATO’s southern flank. He sees Putin’s control of Crimea, annexed in 2014, as an abiding challenge to shipping security in the Black Sea in particular Black Sea Grains.

“Considering the active diplomacy we have followed in the last three years, our country (Turkey) will be an ideal host for the possible talks between Russia, Ukraine and the United States in the coming period. During my meeting with Mr. Zelensky, I expressed Turkey’s strong support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence…. We will provide all kinds of support to conclude the negotiation process with a lasting peace. Despite all the difficulties brought about by the war, we want to take firm steps towards the target of 10 billion dollars in our bilateral trade. I would like to express my appreciation for the courageous steps taken by my dear friend Zelensky regarding the rights of our Crimean Tatar compatriots who are fighting for the territorial integrity of Ukraine, and I hope that additional steps will follow.”

Source https://x.com/RTErdogan

The Devil card, the last in this line of cards is a pretty dire warning of unwanted consequences going down the route as mapped out in the recent negotiations. It is also the major arcana card of Capricorn. It talks about money. Lots of money. Apparently $300bn, according to former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

“Trump’s statements are not intended to be historically accurate but to shock Europeans into action. In particular the US can see $300bn of frozen Russian assets – mainly in Belgium. That is cash that could and should be used to pay Ukraine and compensate the US for its support. Why is Europe preventing the unfreezing of Putin’s cash? The US believes Belgium, France and other countries are blocking…”

Now Emmanuel Macron has called a second emergency summit. When he shows up, I will be interested to see if Tarot will present him as a King of Pentacles, date of birth 21 December 1977.

“France calls second urgent meeting of EU leaders in 3 days to discuss security issues in Ukraine and Europe, — Reuters Another meeting is expected tomorrow. Among the invited countries are Norway, Canada, the Baltic states, the Czech, Greece, Finland, Romania, Sweden and Belgium.”

None of this is to express an opinion, and clearly, nothing will be resolved in Pisces Season 2025. But it does appear that Pisces 2025 is acting as a crucible. With further Neptunian shockwaves to come.

Back soon. Thank you for reading.

Further reading

Astrologer Marjorie Orr

BBC

MilitaryNewsUA

Pisces Season 2025

The work of John Flamsteed the first Astronomer Royal. *Image from the Atlas Coelestis, posthumously published by John Flamsteed, 1729, illustrator John Thornhill.*caption…

Most of us know our zodiac sun sign. But what are its stars, what do they look like in the night sky, and what’s the ancient story behind it all? Time to go fishing with Pisces.

Traditional Associations

Dates: 18/19 Feb to 20/21 March. Variable cusp depending on the leap year cycle

Ruling planets: Jupiter and Neptune (before Neptune’s official discovery in 1846, it was Jupiter)

Zodiac House 12. Endings, Resurrections, the Unknown, all that is hidden.

Element: Water Quality: Mutable – versatility, changeability, the ending of one season and the beginning of another Energy: Yin -receptive

Key phrase: I believe

Body: Feet, eyes, bladder

Birth Stone: Aquamarine (‘the water of the sea’) A blue variety of beryl (Emerald is a green beryl.) The aquamarine is a hexagonal crystal structure, sometimes confused with blue topaz, believed to enhance foresight and clairvoyance.

Tarot card: The Moon

Meanings: The Moon, Mondays, tides, cycles, ebb and flow, feminine cycles, fertility, instinct, wildlife, walking on the wild side, hunting, fishing, psychics, ghosts, visions, dreams, delusions, madness, contamination, fever, food poisoning, uncertainty, danger, confusions with documentation, risks in travel.

Astronomy

Pisces, the Latin plural of fish, is the 14th largest constellation overall, covering a large V- shaped region in the part of the sky known as The Sea or The Water. Its stars are faint —hard to see with the naked eye.

The fish of Pisces are depicted as freshwater fish, koi carp, swimming at right angles to each other, one to the north and one to the west, attached by a cord. Its brightest star, Eta Piscium, also known as Alpherg or Kullat Nunu, is a bright giant star (G class) 294 light-years from Earth and has a luminosity 316 times greater that of the sun. Kullat Nunu is its Babylonian name. ‘Nunu’ means ‘fish’ and ‘kullat’ is a bucket.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.comcaption…

The vernal equinox currently occurs during Pisces, 19-21 March, the astronomical marker of the start of spring in the northern hemisphere.

History and Mythology

Pisces is the sign of the thaw, the freshwater melt and the first spawning of the freshwater fishes, though depending on latitude and therefore temperature, some species may spawn sooner. Fish may rise again to the top to feed. Frogs and Toads will spawn. The fish of Pisces are attached by a cord of stars, just as life and death are conjoined and cannot be separated. Pisces is not only the last sign of winter, moving into spring; it is the last sign of the whole zodiac year, the culmination of all the signs that came before it.

Egypt

“It (Pisces) is one of the earliest zodiac signs on record, with the two fish appearing as far back as c. 2300 BC on an Egyptian coffin lid ” -(Wiki) The two fish of the constellation Pisces were the offspring of the Great Fish. In Egyptian mythology, this fish saved the life of the Egyptian goddess Isis, and she placed this fish and its descendants into the heavens as a star constellation.

India

In Hindu mythology Matsya is an manifestation or avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu the Preserver who rescued the first man, Manu from a great deluge. (…and here we are again, back to the great flood stories of Aquarius) The Matsya may be depicted as a giant golden fish or as a merman, half- fish half humanoid Lord Vishnu. Vishnu is the second god in the Hindu holy trinity (Trimurti) Brahma was the Maker, god of creation and passion, Vishnu, the face of light and preservation, and Shiva, the face of the dark, and destruction.

Greece

To the ancient Greeks, the fish were the goddess Aphrodite and her son, Eros, who were out walking by the Euphrates one day when a terrible monster rose up out of the water. This monster, Typhon, had been terrorizing the gods of Olympus ever since the war with the Titans. Typhon was a Titan, a son of Gaia, and he hated the gods of Olympus as invaders and upstarts who had overthrown and dispossessed his own, more ancient race of Titans. He was as tall as the heavens and his eyes shot flames. Instead of fingers, he had 100 dragon’s heads sprouting from his hands -for which one could read ‘flames,’ or magma.

Not one of the Olympian gods had the power to destroy Typhon, not alone. All they could do was avoid him or flee for their lives, which they often did by transforming themselves into animals. Aphrodite and Eros now transformed themselves into two fish (koi) and swam away. Ultimately, Zeus imprisoned Typhon beneath Mount Etna, but Typhon is still very much alive down there. As of February 2021 there was much talk about such seismic activity as a potentially major global influence in 2021. We are seeing again, warnings of a potential volcanic eruption in Santorini and beyond in the Aegean, in Aquarius and Pisces season in 2025.

Rome and Early Christianity

Early Christians used the Fish as a symbol of their faith and called the TWELVE apostles of Christ the Fishers of Men (Pisces as the twelfth sign.) The secret code name for Jesus, Yeshua Ben Joseph- was Ichthys from the Greek meaning fish, it was an acronym Jesus- Christ- God- Son- Saviour.

The so-called Age of Pisces began 1 AD and- depending on your source, will end in 2150 when we enter the so-called Age of Aquarius, though some astrologers say we are already in that Age. Read more about the astrological ages HERE

The Age of Pisces saw the rise of the Monotheistic religions, Christianity and Islam. This current, much discussed brand new mini Age of Aquarius, 2024-2043, is supposedly a secular age, all about technology and collectivism. But religion shows no sign of going away. Islam is fast on the rise in the west, Christianity on the wane, with vacuums filled by socio-political ideological transmutations of the religious instinct. Identity politics.

The Archetype

In Tarot, whether the subject of any inquiry is male or female, Pisces is embodied as The Knight of Cups. In Arthurian legend this would be Sir Percival, or in later versions of the legend, Sir Galahad. This knight is a champion of the underdog, a protector, a lover, a bearer of grace. The healing chalice. This card generally translates as good news, a happy situation, recovery from illness, a new friend, an admirer, possibly a marriage proposal, news of a baby on the way, “my cup runneth over”.

Pisces combines imagination with the determination and self-sacrifice of a salmon fighting upriver to spawn, even at the cost of its life. New life must come, says Pisces, even if the death of the self is the price. Paradoxically, there may be a certain passivity, even inertia. This serves Pisces well at times, but may, in some cases, degenerate into the shadow side of Pisces, depression, alcohol or other substance misuse.

These individuals are natural artists, writers or musicians. Compassionate and sensitive. But while their steel may be hidden, all the same, it is there. Not much is said about this scaly Pisces steel. They can be tough, even hard in a quiet way. They don’t say much but watch the eyes harden. Cross the line once too often, you are gone. That is it.

Pisces needs variety. Structure must allow them room for a degree of autonomy. Desk-based work, although Pisces can certainly do it, and with considerable efficiency, it is not really their thing. They like to be on their feet, which are ruled by Pisces. They make excellent and approachable team leaders. Passing the buck is not their style. They will take on injustice, taking on those senior to themselves in status. But Pisces, unlike, say Aquarius, acts on an individual basis. Group actions, campaigns or crusades do not sit naturally with their temperament, except just possibly for early Pisces, born on the Aquarius cusp. Later born subjects especially, born close to the Aries cusp 20/21 April, are especially the ‘doers’ of Pisces, and Pisces is brave. Very brave indeed. But these watery denizens need to guard their physical energy. It can be erratic, and their reserves once depleted, are not so easily restored as other signs. If they become prone to headaches at the back of the head, there may be related bladder infections or other issues.

Famous Pisces in history

Michelangelo, Amerigo Vespucci, Copernicus, Vivaldi, Handel, George Washington, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Albert Einstein, Nat King Cole, Elizabeth Taylor, Nina Simone, Harold Wilson, Yuri Gagarin, Sidney Poitier, Steve Irwin.

silhouette of man on boat during golden hour — Photo by Inu Etc on Unsplash

‘No man is an island,’ wrote John Donne. Yes and no. We are both the ocean and the land. Islands in archipelagos. But there are bridges. There are boats. Sometimes we are islands. Sometimes we are the bridges and the boats.

Pisces Season 2025

Neptune is another name for the god Poseidon, known as The Earth-Shaker, associated with earthquakes in not only the literal sense, but also the metaphorical sense. We have been navigating fathomless Pisces waters for quite some time now. Uneasy times. Borders and boundaries dissolved. Norms overturned. Our instincts are increasingly on edge. Right now we have got…

Saturn in Pisces (from March 7, 2023, to May 24, 2025; and then again from September 1, 2025, to February 13, 2026) After February 13 next year, Saturn will not be back until January 10, 2053 to March 22, 2055. Saturn periods are intense. Demanding. Life-changing. Character building. Giving structure to what is shapeless. In infrastructure terms, building a dam to contain a reservoir.

Neptune in Pisces (from April 4, 2011 until 2026 but with a break May 2025) Last time Neptune was in Pisces (in the mid-19th century) marked a time of many European revolutions, the Civil War, and a resurgence of mysticism. Neptune in Pisces this time round has marked a time around a global pandemic and lockdown, binge-watching on devices, addiction to escapism via non material digital routes. Fewer physical books, fewer actual cinema seats. In infrastructure terms, removing a dam.

North lunar Node in Pisces (from January 11, 2025, to July 26, 2026.) Dreams and visions. Going deep. Thinking and acting in terms of the big picture. Letting it be. Letting go.

Mercury in Pisces (February 14-March 3, 2025 and again, March 29-April 16.) Intuition first, explanations second. Feelings work faster than thinking. Dreams are vivid, speaking in metaphors.

There is a deeply uneasy, foggy lull for the time being, but we know big things are stirring, churning beneath the surface. Back channels on overdrive. We all know it, we can feel it. Putin is looking ever more highly likely to consolidate his unlawful annexation of Crimea, plus Luhansk and or Donetsk.

Attitudes, if not policies, could start to shift from the end of next month when Neptune leaves Pisces and enters Aries, aka The Emperor, the Ram. This is young energy, new starts, masculine energy, potentially war energy. Potentially War at sea. “Emperors” rise, and new Empires. Emperors do action. Unilaterally. They incur risks for sure, above all betrayal, and they may accept advice, but they operate in relative freedom of the constraints of bulky process consensus. Action is the only way to meet the Ram, should it decide to charge head down. Meanwhile, Saturn and Neptune in Pisces demand we cut out the deadwood, look a problem squarely in the eye and call things by their “proper” names.

This is all due to heat up, not quite yet, but soon, possibly for worse on the world stage, but also for better, Mars going direct again at last February 23 will start burning off the fog. Physical energy starts picking up soon, we can get more done, sort out stuff that has been hanging over us since at least early December 2024.

Neptune is associated with The Hanged Man in the Tarot deck. I have had a feeling about the Pope since Christmas, about his health come early spring. Hope to be wrong but it comes to us all. The Hanged man is about taking time out. Sacrificing something for a greater good, or accepting great losses as a necessity. Looking at things from a new and different perspective. Hard won wisdom. Swan’s feet working furiously beneath the surface. Extraordinary times requiring extraordinary measures.

March is looking pretty extraordinary.

The old order is fast disappearing. On an everyday level, old ways of doing things are not working like they used to do. We need new tools and new methods. The new order is not yet quite here, but we are getting an ever clearer sense of what it looks like.

The Story of The Star Lion Leo

Stories of our Seasons in the Stars

Most of us know something about our zodiac sun sign. But what’s the ancient story behind it? This month it is Leo’s star turn under the spotlight.

lion in close up shot — Photo by Luke Tanis on Unsplash

On July 22 we left the zodiac domain of Cancer; the zenith of the summer in the northern hemisphere, and moved into the sun sign territory of Leo until 22 August.

Traditional Associations

Ruler: The Sun Lucky Day: Sunday

Symbol: Lion

Element: Fire Quality: Fixed

Hebrew letter: Av (father, regal) Tet (coiled serpent) Tov (goodness)

Metal: Gold

Body: Heart, aorta, circulation, blood pressure, spine

Constitutional salt: Magnesium Phosphate (Mag Phos) Leo rules the heart and this salt is a cardiac tonic. Mag Phos is a muscle and motor nerve nutrient, helping to empower the muscles, or to relax them, helpful for all types of cramp or spasm, whether induced by physical exertion or by the menstrual cycle. May be beneficial dissolved in warm water for cramps in the stomach, or for colic in babies, crushed and rubbed onto the gums

Trees: Palm trees, laurel, walnuts, olive trees, lemon and orange trees.

Plants: Marigolds, sunflowers, dandelions, (dents- de- lion =”lion’s teeth”) celandines, passion flowers

Gemstones: peridot, sapphire

Key phrase: I love/I desire

Tarot cards: Strength, Sun, 5, 6, 7 Wands

Astronomy

Leo has since ancient times been associated with the sun and royalty, ruled by the sun in astrology, and is one of the oldest constellations collectively recognized as a lion. Archaeological evidence suggests that Mesopotamians recognized the star grouping we later came to know as Leo as early as 4000 BC. The Persians knew this constellation as Shir or Ser. The Babylonians called it UR.GU.LA (“the great lion.”) The Syrians knew it as Aryo and the Turks as Artan, while the Greeks associated Leo with the story of the Labours of Herakles/Hercules, and the slaying of the man- eating lion of Nemea.

Leo is the 12^th largest constellation in the zodiac, and one of the most recognizable in the skies of the northern hemisphere due to its many bright stars, and its distinctive shape suggesting a crouching lion facing to the right, located between the constellations of Cancer to the west and Virgo to the east. The bright planet pictured beneath Leo is Jupiter.

The best time to see the Leo constellation is in Spring in the northern hemisphere, from around the March equinox, and in the fall/autumn in the southern hemisphere where it can be seen in the northern skies, but is seen as if upside down. In early April, the constellation Leo reaches its high point for the night around 10 p.m. By around May 1, Leo reaches its highest point for the night around 8 p.m. local time.

In early May, Leo is beginning to set in the west around 2 a.m. local time, and by June it is descending in the west in the evening, drifting ever further westward. By late July and into early August, the Lion is fading into the sunset before disappearing, and by late September into October it is visible again, reappearing in the east before dawn, below the Big Dipper or as it is perhaps better known in the UK, The Plough.

The Lions of The Nile and the Dog Days of Summer

Leo season includes the so-called Dog Days of summer, July 3 to August 11, the window of the warmest days in the Northern Hemisphere.

The ancient Egyptians and later the Romans noticed that the brightest star Sirius “the scorching one,” aka The Dog Star, aka, Canis Major, reappeared in the sky, rising in the east just before the sun each year 21- 23 July when the sun entered Leo. See more here on You Tube:

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/PFtCuw9VP5Y?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

New life, such is the symbolic meaning of the Sun in Leo, correlating with the Sun card and Strength in the tarot deck, and also the 5, 6 and 7 of Wands.

Lions were once upon a time a common sight in Egypt, roaming the semi-desert regions on either side of the Nile Valley, and there are surviving depictions of pharaohs hunting lions. The lions began to disappear during the New Kingdom (c. 1550-1070 B.C.) until eventually they became extinct in Egypt as the climate and environment became drier and the human population increased. But not before they had become an eternal part of the zodiac story.

By August in Egypt, the desert lions were becoming increasingly desperate for water after weeks of drought, coming ever closer in sight of the city walls in their search. But this lowest ebb in the lives of the desert lions was a welcome sign that the Nile floods were shortly on their way, the tributaries far upriver massively swollen by tropical storms over the highlands of Ethiopia and southern Sudan, and in their joy, the people honoured the lion with festivals.

Statues of lions can still be seen along the course of the Nile River, while the lion-headed fountains so popular with later Greek and Roman architects was a direct legacy of this great story of the zodiac, symbolizing the life-giving waters released by the sun in the season of Leo.

August the Eighth, the 8 of the 8th, is known as the Lions Gate, a mythical portal said to represent a peak of intensity in human affairs. 2024 is a number 8 year and we already know we are living in a time of new and increasing intensities.

Thank you for reading. Back again soon with more on Leo in the Tarot, the decans, and the astrology of this Leo season 2024.

In the glass Darkly. The India Elections 2024

flag hanging on pole — Photo by Naveed Ahmed on Unsplash

We had the results yesterday of the India election, greatest democratic election on earth, the Lok Sabha, held once every five years. I saw the news and was reminded of a reading I did back in April, in a conversation on twitter with a friend, journalist, author, and previous client who shall, for reasons of her personal privacy, remain anonymous for the purposes of this post. I’ll call her D.

Apr 24

D. “Elections have just begun here. We’re hoping against hope, I wonder if your cards had anything to say?”

I said I would be taking a look.

D. “That would be great. Re astrologer X’s post, I don’t see the bit about women rising happening anytime soon. Not this election certainly…”

I looked into this over the next few days and drew the cards illustrated below. The reply went as follows:

Apr 28

My REPLY You may not like this, my friend. Treat it as an exercise in Tarot-style analysis. The question as stated to the Tarot was, do we see a third term as PM for Narendra Modi?

See that 3 Cups tarot card and the 3 Hearts at the end of the 2 rows? Two threes are indicative of a third term for Modi and he draws a victory card on the future timeline (6 Wands). But there are “buts.”

That King Wands card drawn reversed/upside down is talking about Modi’s ambition to win the south. (King Wands = “king of the south” and the suit of Wands is the suit of politics) But, though he may gain more seats, even in Kerala, this does not look likely to go his way. Though nor does it suggest a victory for Rahul Gandhi. He may still do well in the south but as a prospective PM, it seems the global times are not favourable to his proposed reforms, however excellent in intention. Women’s issues may not be a priority at this election. 2029 might be different. But, see that central Queen of Pentacles? Women/a woman politician may emerge more powerfully from this process. Working against Modi -agriculture issues (7 Pentacles) unemployment-jobs for young people (Jack Diamonds) Why will he win, if he wins? Strength card. National security on the international stage. Lack of confidence in cohesion of other parties. Dangerous times globally, Modi may currently be seen as India’s strongest arm and best bet should there be confrontation with, say, China or Russia. (Despite govt failures to stop/contain the horrors in Manipur.) But as ever, only time will tell.

Apr 29

D. Thank you for taking a look. Disappointing to me for sure because if he has his way, elections don’t seem to be in his plans at all in 2029 and too much damage may have been done by then.

Apr 29

REPLY He doesn’t seem to be getting things all his way, even if he does win a third term. And winning it and completing it are not the same thing. But the cards that are drawn, I share without fear or favour. Another poss scenario…at least as shown here in this card spread – 3 party coalition. Re Astrologer X and the rise of women’s issues. That Queen of Pentacles, who is she? As a principle this card says the critical issue is the India economy. Tis Queen reps Capricorn. India’s future is looking increasingly strong overall. Despite economic demographic challenges. But this “queen” is also likely a real person, rising on the political scene.

Let’s wait and see. Not very long to go now. Again, thank you for reading.

5 June 2024: What has the Tarot reader seen/interpreted correctly?

The reader has correctly forecast the overall outcome in answer to the question as stated. Modi seems likely to secure that third term. But, also as detected in the cards, Modi is indeed weakened, and he and the BJP will not be having things all is/their own way. Continue reading HERE

Re: women’s issues

D. “Re: astrologer X, I don’t see the bit about women rising happening anytime soon. Not this election certainly…”

REPLY “Women’s issues may not be a priority at this election. 2029 might be different. But, see that central Queen of Pentacles? Women in India /a woman politician may emerge more powerfully from this process.”

My understanding via the cards was somewhat ambivalent on this point, indicating both a yes and a no answer. One thing is clear. That Capricornian Queen of Pentacles card is clearly NOT depicting Mayawati of The Bahujan Samaj Party.

The BSP, “which contested 424 seats across the country and 79 in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, could not win a single seat.”

More HERE

As to the value of the BJP manifesto pledges for women in India, I do not feel qualified to judge. Their pledges as follows:

1/ “The BJP will extend the “lakhpati Didi” scheme that empowers women to have an income of more than Rs 1 lakh per annum. “We have empowered one crore rural women to become Lakhpati Didis (prosperous sisters). We will now empower three crore rural women to become Lakhpati Didis” (Is this a big enough deal? What is the current baseline? )

2/”We will empower women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) with the skills and tools in key service sectors like IT, healthcare, education, retail and tourism with an aim to increase their income.”

3/”We will integrate women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) with ongoing initiatives such as One District One Product (ODOP), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), Ekta Mall, ONDC, GEM, One Station One Product, enhancing better market access for their products.”

4/ “The BJP will also facilitate participation of women in the workforce through various means. “We will ensure development of infrastructure such as working women’s hostels, creches etc. with the specific focus on locations near industrial and commercial centres to facilitate increased participation of women in the workforce.”

5/ “Our women sports persons have brought honours to our country. We will encourage greater participation of women in sports by launching women sportsperson focused programmes and facilities.”

6/ Public toilets for women (OMG, this requires a manifesto pledge?) “We have provided dignified lives to women by constructing public and individual toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission. We are further committed to upholding the dignity of women by continuing to construct and maintain public toilets.”

7/”We will expand the existing health services focussed on the prevention and reduction of Anaemia, Breast Cancer, Cervical Cancer and Osteoporosis, ensuring a healthy life for women. We will launch a focussed initiative to eliminate cervical cancer.”

8/ Low down the list-Women in Parliament—to constitute 1/3 The Nari Shakti Vandan Adhiniyam seeks to reserve one-third of the total number of seats for women in Lok Sabha, State Legislative Assemblies and Delhi Assembly.

9/ Shakti desk. Women help desks at police stations “for their safety”.

These pledges, which may seem conservative or long overdue to many readers outside India ARE personified in that central Queen of Pentacles. Is it enough, soon enough?

But that powerful, grounded, fiscal card; te Queen of Pentacles is followed by the Six Wands. This is undeniably a card of progress…and it is fast moving.

I surmise the next 5 years will show that Astrologer X (Jessica Adams) was not wrong.

“India will be truly successful only when women occupy equal space in our society. They must take their rightful place in politics and shape India’s destiny.”

-Rahul Gandhi

What has the Tarot reader not seen/interpreted correctly?

The identity of the powerful female politician represented by the Queen of Pentacles card remains unclear. I surmise she is Sonia Gandhi, although she did not stand for election herself.

“Sonia Gandhi‘s sharpest weapon, it is often said, has been her silence. It was so this election as well when the once reluctant politician and Congress leader helped forge the opposition INDIA bloc, speaking little and seldom in public but wielding enormous power. The 77-year-old didn’t campaign this time, possibly because she has been unwell, and chose her words and moments carefully.” – Economic Times of India

I understated the success of her son, Rahul Gandi in this election.

“Though nor does it (Tarot) suggest a victory for Rahul Gandhi. He may still do well in the south but as a prospective PM, it seems the global times are not favourable to his proposed reforms, however excellent in intention.”

The prediction was correct both in respect of saying Rahul would not be PM and the rising strength of the opposition. But still, I, the reader, underestimated the strength of his performance in this election. He has done WELL. The opposition overall has done much better than Modi seems to have anticipated.

“NEW DELHI, June 4 (Reuters) – Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, mocked by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his supporters for a decade as an entitled dynast, marked a stunning comeback on Tuesday, emerging at the centre of an alliance that made deep inroads into ruling party strongholds.

The scion of India’s fabled Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty, he embarked on two cross-country marches against what he called Modi’s politics of hate and fear, giving a jolt of enthusiasm to his Congress party and rehabilitating his own image.”

More HERE

UPDATE

Since I started writing up this tarot reading, the opposition has conceded defeat, but with defiance. This from Al- Jazeera…

“Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in his opening remarks at the continuing opposition INDIA alliance meeting says the coalition “fought well, fought unitedly, fought resolutely. The mandate is decisively against Mr. Modi, against him and the substance and style of his politics,” he said in a post on X. “It is a huge political loss for him personally apart from being a clear moral defeat as well.”

Ouch.

blue peacock in close up photography — Photo by Michaela Filipcikova on Unsplash

And this from US President Joe Biden:-

“Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the National Democratic Alliance on their victory, and the nearly 650 million voters in this historic election. The friendship between our nations is only growing as we unlock a shared future of unlimited potential.” 3:40 PM · Jun 5, 2024

In Summary

Psychic Tarot Card LED light — Photo by Sean Hudson on Unsplash

“Looking in the glass darkly”. That’s what the reader is doing. The act of divination is one thing. It can take us a long, long way, far extending our reach, and it is a mystery how this happens. But context is key when delving deeper. Having either a clear brief or instruction, or having access to at least some basic knowledge of the situation under investigation is what enables a deeper analysis of the cards.

Thank you for reading. Until next time.

Fiery Sagittarius Saturday-Sunday

A Tarot Snapshot in Time

KATIE-ELLEN HAZELDINE

MAY 26, 2024

Weekend #Tarot #astrology 3 Wands and 8 Wands. Snapshot in time. Whatever deck you’re using, it’s a study exercise. Draw cards in the morning, review in the evening, personal level and in the news.

Author’s own cards: Thoth Tarot

3 Wands or 8 Wands stand alone as positive cards, but combinations count. Here we are looking at a double dose of FIRE energy in airy Gemini season= solar flares, electric storms or combustion, literally or metaphorically. The cards are showing Aries action + Sagittarius long reach and long range. At home, you may have been a busy bee-or a bit stressed. News/comms travelling fast. But these cards say you get unstuck. Forward momentum.

Globally 3 Wands = trade, exports. 8 Wands=swift actions, sudden developments.

AND the moon was in Sagittarius Saturday. Now moved into Capricorn until tomorrow night (Monday in the UK.)

-China will doubtless be bombarding Taiwan with many more sweet talking “messages.”

-Terrible tragic landslide in Papua New Guinea. 670+ dead/missing

-Air turbulence. 12 (?) hurt Qatar Airways. (solar flares?)

-In Pozzuoli: Super volcano Campi Flegrei is awake and growling. A 4.4 earthquake last Monday night drove people out of their houses in terror. (Solar flares again?) I associate the Knight Wands with eruptions (like the 8 Wands, this card is also Sagittarius.)

Last time Campi Flegrei erupted (1538) the ash cloud reached Russia- which yesterday bombed a DIY store in Kharkiv. Bravo Putin. A 12 year old girl and her mother were among the dead. Four fragments of bodies to be identified. Oh well done, Mr Putin. The heroes of Stalingrad would be so proud.

Sweden and the UK are allowing Ukraine to use weaponry against Russia, that has been supplied to Ukraine by UK and Sweden, if it is used in compliance with international law. The US is *said* to be reconsidering its position.

-Hamas has fired missiles into Tel Aviv and alleges it has captured Israeli soldiers, which Israel denies. The Israeli army has responded, bombing a displacement camp in NW Rafah, 30 Palestinians reported killed.

UK election pending, and I will be looking again but the signs in the cards are it will indeed be a Labour win, and it is going to be a rough ride, while we hope for the best. What is Keir Starmer going to do about his proposed deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner? Here comes the election campaign. She is quiet.

US Election, the cards are mighty peculiar. Biden looks weak at home and overseas. Eight Swords. Hamstrung. Democrat voters deeply divided re US policy in Gaza. Republicans unhappy re US support of Ukraine, however conservatively it is being managed. Trump is also weak, Five of Pentacles (disappointment) Mr Trump is not to be written off, however, says the surging, go- ahead Knight of Wands (a card which also says July/Aug and November/December in timing issues) However, This Knight -which CAN mean a new government- is not in the critical position in the spread, and could signify another episode of civil unrest in the event of an electoral defeat for Trump, and this would be happening Nov/Dec . But a win for Mr Biden, or at least a Democrat win, is still more clearly indicated, picking up more campaign points after mid-summer. The appearance of The Empress suggests the added significance of the women’s vote this coming election, due at least in part, likely, to the overturning of Roe v Wade

We are in a year of the Dragon. OK, it is the Wood Dragon. It is somewhat more open to reason than other Dragons in the Chinese zodiac. But still, it is a dragon. Dragons gonna do what dragons do.

blue orange and white abstract painting — Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

Context is key for getting at specifics, aside from when reading the cards purely for meditation purposes. Here, the reader is simply “looking in the glass dimly”, not working to any particular brief, just drawing cards at random, taking the temperature, so to speak, and noting any significant real-time, real world synchronicities.

Thank you for reading.

Back soon.

Or you can also find me on Substack.

The Story of the Star Twins Gemini

Gemini, the Decans and Tarot: Gemini Season 2024

This year the sun is in the sign of Gemini from May 20- June 19, 2024. The dates for the sun signs can vary by a day or two from year to year for astronomical reasons. This year the sun leaves Gemini and enters Cancer on the day of the summer solstice, June 20.

The word ‘zodiac’ comes from the Greek meaning ‘circle of animals.’ The only zodiac sign that is non-representative of a living creature is Libra, the sign of the Scales. But in astronomy, even the Scales of Libra are borrowed from the stars of Scorpio and the claws of the giant scorpion in the heavens next door.

Gemini is the third sign of the Western Tropical Zodiac, and represents the end of spring and beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere.

Gemini associations

Symbol:

The Roman numeral for 2 is joined top and bottom in representation of the unity of duality

Hebrew letter: Zain, meaning, sword, weapon.

Ruling planet: Mercury

Affirmation: ‘I think, I inquire.’

Body: shoulders, arms and hands, lungs, autonomous central nervous system. The cell salt for Gemini is Kali Mur- potassium chloride, which builds fibrin in the blood, organs, and tissues of the body. Gemini is vulnerable to upper respiratory infections, bronchitis, and asthma (pollen season).

Birth Stone: If born in May, Emerald. If born in June, Pearl (although it is not a stone, it is thought to be ruled by Mercury)

Lucky stone: Tiger’s Eye. Why? The Tiger’s Eye is made of silicon dioxide with bands of iron. Grounds ‘flighty’ Gemini energy. Brings focus.

Colour: Yellow

Tree: all kinds of nut trees

Flower: Lily of the Valley, Lavender

Tarot cards: Major Arcana: The Lovers (love, choices, decision-making) For some readers The Magician, associated with the Norse god Odin/Woden/ruler of Wednesday and the rune OS/ANSUZ (mouth, speech, oratory, answers.) Court card: The Knight of Swords. Minor Arcana cards: 8, 9 and 10 Swords.

Astronomy of Gemini

Gemini is the northernmost constellation in the zodiac, and the thirtieth largest in size, appearing high in the winter sky in the northern hemisphere looking north east of the constellation of Orion between the Taurus and Cancer constellations. The best time to view Gemini is in February, and then by April and May, we’ll get the best views looking west soon after sunset.

Gemini was recorded by the Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century as “The Star of Apollo” (Castor) and “The Star of Heracles” (Pollux).

The two brightest stars in the constellation are the “twins” themselves – Castor and Pollux, representing the heads of the twins from Greek mythology, while fainter stars outline their bodies. Pollux, the westerly twin, is a red giant star 33 light-years from Earth and Castor is about 51 light-years away. A light-year is the distance that light travels in a year – about 6 trillion miles/9.6 trillion kilometres.

Pollux is the brighter of the two stars with a massive planet orbiting it; Genorium Beta, 1.6 times bigger than Jupiter (and Jupiter is so massive Earth could fit inside it x 1,300 times.)

Castor is actually not a single star, but a star system made of up six stars not visible to the naked eye.

History and Mythology

The concept of twins in mythology goes back at least as far as the so-called Age of Gemini, during the Palaeolithic, 6, 500 BCE, arising from our understanding of the duality fundamental to the nature of reality. There are male and female twins in world myth, but there are many twin brothers in particular standing for night and day, light and dark, heat and cold, male and female, war and peace, good and bad, life and death. The creation myths of ancient cultures reflect this eternal battle of seeming opposites. Many surviving objects feature twin gods and goddesses; a major theme across all cultures.

The ‘twin stars’ have been recognised as representing twins across all cultures, each with their own names and stories. In Arabic astronomy the twins were seen as peacocks. In Egyptian astrology they were twin goats, or else the two gods, Horus the Elder and Horus the Younger, while classical Greek mythology identified them as the twin brothers, Castor and Pollux, aka The Gemini, from the Latin word for twins. The name Castor comes from the Greek Καστωρ (Kastor) and means “to excel, to shine.” The name Pollux comes from the Roman form of the Greek Πολυδευκης (Polydeukes) meaning “very sweet.”

The circumstances of their birth were unusual to say the least. Queen Leda of Sparta was seduced by Zeus though seduced is putting it too politely. She was bathing in the river when he glided up, disguised as a swan, preening his feathers, and then pounced.

Later that evening, notwithstanding the undoubted trauma of this shocking event, Leda slept with her husband, King Tyndareus, and went on to produce four children all in one go; Castor, Pollux and their sisters Helen (later Helen of Troy) and Clytemnestra (later married to Agamemnon as queen of Mycenae.) Pollux and Helen were immortal, fathered by Zeus but Castor and Clytemnestra were mortal, fathered by Tyndareus.

*Public Domain, the young Castor and Pollux (Meissen)*

The mortal Castor was renowned as a horseman and a master at fencing, while the immortal Pollux was known for his great strength and skill at boxing. They went everywhere together. But then Castor was killed in a quarrel, in a disagreement over dividing the spoils after a cattle raid, and the sorrow of Pollux was so great he told Zeus he didn’t want his immortality, not if it meant eternal separation from his twin brother. Zeus scratched his head, wondering how to fix this, and then decided to place them both in the stars, to be together forever as the constellation Gemini.

The Greeks worshipped the twins as gods who helped shipwrecked sailors while the Romans later developed a cult around Castor and Pollux dating back to 484 B.C. building a temple to the twins in the Roman Forum in 414 BC in thanks for their help in defeating their old enemy, the Latins, in the battle of Regillus. Castor and Pollux were the patron gods of horses and the Roman cavalry, the equites, appearing as such on early Roman coins.

Gemini Zodiac Archetype

Mercury by Hendrick Goltzius, 1611, Public Domain

All the zodiac signs represent archetypes; meaning something that is considered to be a perfect or typical example of a particular kind of person or thing. The natal zodiac sun sign in western astrology paints a poetic portrait of a person born at a particular time of year, in a particular season as experienced in the northern hemisphere, in a tradition originating at the thirty sixth latitude (Sumeria, modern day Iraq).

The planetary ruler of Gemini is Mercury, the planet nearest the Sun, representing the winged god Mercury or Hermes; patron deity of all forms of communication, media, trade, global commerce and travel, medicine, research and analytics. Hermes was the son of the goddess Maia, one of the seven sisters of The Pleiades who gave her name to the month of May.

Mercury has a lesser known role as a psychopomp; one who can go between the realms of the living and the dead, a go-between and safe escort to the dead. It was Mercury/Hermes who escorted the souls of the newly dead to the banks of the Acheron or The Styx, where they waited for Charon to come in this boat and ferry them across to the Underworld. It was Hermes who escorted Persephone out of the dominion of Hades to be reunited with her mother Demeter.

Gemini is a mutable sign, ruling the borderline between late spring and early summer. The other mutable signs are Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces. The mutable signs are considered the most changeable and agile of the signs; inquiring, agile, adaptable, talented, cerebral, analytical, logical and restless.

The Gemini temperament is friendly yet watchful, generous but changeable -mercurial as personified by Hermes with his winged sandals and the caduceus- emblem of messages and trade. The well-known delivery company of the same name clearly chose its name for this same reason. At the same time, Gemini can also be surprisingly dogmatic, attaching themselves to causes, whether it is to do with religion or an entirely secular social or political manifesto, or to do with lifestyle; for example, exercise or diet choices. Gemini may become a born-again convert- or crusading missionary. Intellectually, Gemini is quick, but emotionally, can become fixated. Taurus is stubborn too, but Taurus doesn’t seek to convince or convert others to its own way of thinking.

Gemini can be, not insincere, at least, not in that moment, but quick to lose interest, fluttering like butterflies, looking for the next new thing, looking for some better, brighter flower. This can apply to the way they interact with other people, here today and gone tomorrow, even though once mature, and once committed, they make dutiful, devoted partners and parents.

Card Meanings: unity, duality, love, friendships, partnerships, agreements, correspondence, contracts, difficult choices, decisions

Every suit in the Tarot deck has its own court with a king, a queen, a knight and a page. The principle court card associated with Gemini is the super- fast moving Knight of Swords.

Card Meanings: news, sudden developments, strongly worded email, legal action, surgical procedure, dental procedure, shock, blow, attack, air strike, plane,missile, bird of prey, assertiveness, intelligence, calculation, a confident, forceful young person (aged about 25-40), injury, snow, hailstorm, windy weather, cold wind, east wind,

The Decans of Gemini

The word ‘Decan’ comes from the Latin meaning ‘ten.’ Each zodiac sign lasts about 30 days and is further divided into three blocks of roughly 10 days each. These are the decans or as they’re sometimes called, the ‘thirty-six faces of astrology,’ bringing added depth and nuance to the psychological profile associated with your natal sun sign. The minor arcana cards associated with Gemini; the Eight, Nine and Ten of Swords, correlate with the decans.

If you don’t feel like you are a ‘typical’ Gemini, well, we’re all unique, and our natal sun is the keynote in our natal chart but not the whole story. But it may be because you’re a second or third decan Gemini native, rather than a ‘most typical’ first decan Gemini. It’s all still equally Gemini, whatever the decan and this holds true for all the zodiac signs. But an early-born Gemini and a later-born Gemini are born under slightly different planetary influences.

First Decan Gemini (0-10 degrees)

21-31 May

Eight of Swords

Smith Waite Tarot

Card Meanings: Entrapment, uncertainty, helplessness, waiting for rescue. There is a way out if only you will open your eyes, look around and take a step forward. I have also come to associate this card with practical plumbing/drainage issues.

This decan gets a double dose of the planetary influence of inquisitive, rational, Mercury. This is an alert, perceptive, intellectual and forceful personality. The acumen is sharp. The negative side of this coin is a Gemini native who is just as inquisitive but careless, flighty, forgetful, restless and unreliable. First decan Gemini is a multi-talented juggler, light on their feet, graceful and agile. But at the same time they tend to develop a strong point of view on a wide range of subjects, and they have a clearly defined belief system. For all their apparent flightiness they are also tough and resilient-even stubborn, a quality more usually associated with Taurus, its next door neighbour and predecessor in the zodiac. Gemini make devoted partners, contrary to whatever people might assume. They will hang on in there when the going gets tough, though they are prone to boredom and quickly tire of routine. They have considerable charisma and sex appeal. But they also know when they’ve got a good thing, so long as there’s plenty of social interaction and sufficiently frequent short distance travel to keep their restlessness under control.

Second Decan Gemini (10-20 degrees)

June 1-10

Nine of Swords

Card Meanings: The so-called Nightmare card, also nicknamed “cruelty.” Worry, ‘the black dog,’ anxiety, stress, grief, insomnia, depression, the things that keep us awake at night.

The sub-ruler of this decan is Libra, ruled by Venus, planet of love, beauty- and money, while Libra is the natural ruler of the seventh house of marriage, partnerships, close associates, associations, and legal matters. This Gemini is more of a “me-too” person, rather than an “I-am” person compared with, say, a first decan Gemini. This Gemini native needs to be especially discriminating in their selection of companions/associates and to avoid making early decisions about a choice of partner. Gemini 2nd decan is often drawn to quiet, reserved people. Their reserve fascinates Gemini-Libra which matches up well with reliable, practical types who can get a job done with little fuss or excitement. This person will ground, refine and complement the Gemini-Libra.

People respond well to the Second Decan Gemini warm and effusive nature. They also have a sense of adventure, same as the other Gemini decans, and they enjoy travel for the sake of new experiences. Sharing is part of the Gemini-Libra life; they are generous with their time and friendship and also with possessions. Gemini-Libra is great company. Just don’t be surprised or upset if they disappear as suddenly as they appear, or if they go quiet on you without warning. It’s not personal. It’s just the way they are.

Third Decan Gemini (20-30 degrees)

11-20 June

Ten of Swords

Smith Waite Tarot

Card meanings: Destruction, despair, betrayal, stabbed in the back, ruin, dark night of the soul, and the darkness before dawn, the only way is up, illness, comatose, a fall, spinal injury, head injury.

The personal planets of the third decan Gemini are Saturn and Uranus, painting a portrait full of contradictions. Sometimes this person is ultra-careful, dutiful, responsible, serious, at other times carefree or even careless. Uranus combined with the planet Mercury suggests an unusually active or even brilliant mind possibly even verging on genius. This person may be a thinker who is ahead of their times. Or maybe they are just zany.

Aquarius – natural ruler of the eleventh house of friends, hopes, and wishes-makes this Gemini a social type, a friend-oriented individual interested in social causes. This Gemini is an optimist, always interested in trying out what is new, and never happier than when they are on the move.

Life is rarely dull with a cheerful Decan 3 Gemini around, but they are the most independent- natured Gemini decan. They need plenty of space and freedom, with a partner who makes few demands on their time and attention. They are very hard working when they put their mind to it. But keeping promises, fulfilling obligations and routines are not their strongest suit. It is a mistake for this Gemini native to marry early or settle too soon. Adventure, exploration and experimentation with ideas, people and places- this is what they are about. This is what makes them tick.

The Cusps of Gemini

Birthday May 21 through May 23

This is Gemini with Taurus tendencies. The ruling planets are Mercury and Venus. This is a strong and magnetic personality, often with talents in music, art and literature. They are lively and sociable, good conversationalists hospitable and fond of travel. They desire to excel but may suffer from a fear of rejection, and at times may worry overmuch about the opinion of others at the expense of their intellectual independence and the exercise of their personal agency.

Birthday June 18 through June 21

This is Gemini with Cancer tendencies, ruled by Mercury and the Moon. This native possesses foresight and analytical ability combined with idealism. They will do well so long as they stay practical and do not go in for speculation and risk taking. This birthday does not bring that particular kind of luck. They may at times be too sensitive for their own good, liable to take offence or be sorry for themselves. But, graceful in movement, tidy in appearance, affectionate in nature, this native is a good friend. If they say they will do something, they keep their word.

Famous Gemini natives

John F Kennedy, Donald Trump, Frank Lloyd Wright, Boris Johnson. Johnny Depp, Queen Victoria, Charles 11, George 111,George V, Muammar Gaddafi, Angelina Jolie, Bob Dylan, Paul McCartney, Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, Carl Linnaeus, Peter the Great, Adam Smith, Richard Wagner, Arthur Conan Doyle, John Maynard Keynes.

Keynote Astrology Dates in Gemini 2024

May 20: Sun enters Gemini ruler of the third house of intellect, communications, siblings and neighbours

May 23: Full Flower Moon in Sagittarius. Futurism, a breakthrough, foreign affairs, possible summit, visionaries, possible progress on a ceasefire

May 23-June 16: Venus enters Gemini coming together with Jupiter. Feeling good, looking good. Dating and socializing. Making Art. Writing. Just watch the spending.

May 25: THE astrological event of Gemini season 2024. Jupiter enters the sign of Gemini until June 9 2025. Here is an intense focus on fact-finding, fact-checking and the power and meaning of words. Here are big things in public discourse, deep fakes, AI and space tech and all things, welcome or otherwise, carried on the wind and in the air. We are witnessing the Fourth Industrial revolution. Last time we had Jupiter in Gemini, June 12, 2012-June 26, 2013, Voyager 1, launched September 5 1977 was the first man-made object to enter interstellar space. Just be aware, Jupiter in Gemini can mean disinformation and cults. It can mean the mob and witch hunts, especially when Pluto is in Aquarius (think too of the French Revolution and the guillotine). It’s best not to rely on any one single information or news source before arriving at our conclusions about anything.

May 31: Mercury conjunction with Uranus in Taurus. Sudden changes, surprises or breakthroughs to what we may have thought were insoluble problems.

June 6: New Moon in Gemini. This one falls at in the second decan of Gemini correlating with the Nine of Swords. On the plus side, it’s conjunct Venus. Fun times. We’re in demand. There is a real buzz of adrenaline and mental energy. But it’s also square Saturn. We may gallop about the place non-stop, spreading ourselves too thin, or struggling with issues or memories to do with a difficult parental relationship.

June 9: Mars in Taurus: our energy might hit a bit of a slump but it’s all good. We can adapt, go a walk, feed the birds, tend the flowers, take it easy, refuse to brood, and work on long term planning

July 20: Mars in Gemini. And the energy is back again. You’re taking charge and it shows, but prioritize your health, rest and relaxation, especially if you are a natal sun sign Gemini.

And finally….

To the witty, brilliant, charming and cheerful Gemini sun sign native, we say Happy Birthday! Pluto calls you to new learning, crafts and foreign travel, or even a permanent relocation over the next twenty years, while 2024 is the year to reassess your professional trajectory and your place in your chosen community. This is not the year for flightiness. This is a time to stand firm and concentrate. Tis is a time to dig and build. Or rebuild. Deep and emotional Pisces in Saturn, planet of duty, responsibility, or possibly even care for older relatives, in your tenth house of your public life and your career calls for a plan, for discipline and focus. Stand firm. August in particular may be a real roller-coaster ride or a turning point. This is your on-going challenge- and your great opportunity in 2024

Happy Birthday Gemini 2024!