We know fine well, we can see this for ourselves, astrology or no astrology, that 2026 will not be a quiet year, but yet another pivotal year, marking a seismic level shift in the respective status quos of global power in a cycle likely to run some while yet.
2020 opened up a seismic crack in the previous status quo of world affairs. A “thing”-I I saw on the night of 20 January 2020 -I later called it a “djinn” simply for want of a better word- meant that business would never again be as usual, whatever we mean by usual.
But the astrology that is tracking it, that is for sure, is clearly announcing this turbulent geo-political weather will continue at least till 2028. There is no way back to the way things were done in 2019. This will hinge to a fundamental extent upon the events surrounding the Saturn-Neptune conjunction at degrees of Aries 20/21 February. The last time Saturn was so closely conjunct Neptune was 1989, when the Berlin Wall came down and the World Wide Web was launched.
There are always things we can’t control, at home, in nature and in society. But we weather them by means of our individual competencies, skills, knowledge, know-how, and by community and collaboration.
We are currently in the second decan of Capricorn, associated with the Three of Pentacles or Coins in Tarot.
From The Gilded Tarot
This is a quiet, thoughtful but productive card of arts, crafts, heritage, the art making of making things beautiful. “Form follows function.” A functional object, well made, well able to perform its job, will de facto also be a thing of beauty.
The Three of Coins also denotes part-time work, restoration work and community activities. In this emergent world of Techno-globalism, here is a reminder of the roots of our creative, handy, self-reliant selves, and of exchange and barter with neighbours, my help, time and skills for yours. This is the very basis of social exchange, the cradle of society and of modern industry. It has never gone away, and we may decide to reclaim it more actively. We could say that the artisanal Three of Coins is right at work here in this online writing community, enabled by Techno-globalism.
January and Janus
We say Happy New Year based on the Gregorian calendar, and before that, the Julian calendar, both solar based calendars. One could argue that the new year does not begin today. That this is calendar date was devised as a solution to tackle that timing problem of astronomy we call the leap year, caused by the approximately 23 degree tilt of the planet on its axis as it rotates. It is this axial tilt that gives us the seasons.
Otherwise, the seasonal events of Nature as observed on the ground would say that the new year starts either just after the winter solstice, or else after the spring equinox. And once upon a time, over centuries, other dates marked the start of the calendar, including March 25 and December 25.
Heron on the nearby frozen pond, January 2024
January was named after Janus, the Roman god of beginnings, gates, transitions, time, duality, doorways, passages, frames, and endings. He is usually depicted as having a double-sided head, signifying that we can look both forwards and backwards in space and time.
Likewise Janus was a god of both war and peace, presiding over the beginning and ending of conflict. And as a god of transitions, he had functions pertaining to birth, and to journeys and exchange, and through his association with Portunus, another portal god, the guardian of harbours, Janus was also concerned with travelling, trading, and shipping with strong echoes here of the Mercurial Twins of Gemini. Seafarers used to ask the Gemini for protection on voyages.
Solar and Lunar calendars, different New Year dates
Other countries, signifying a quarter of the world’s population of 8.2 billion people, notably China and other countries in the Far East, calculate the date of their new year based on lunar cycles.
This year we will be entering the New Year of The Fire Horse, February 17.
Cute, eh? But the Fire Horse is fast and furious. One thinks of The Trojan Horse, or the terrible scenes in “Marco Polo,” when Kublai Khan ordered horses set alight and then stampeded them into enemy cities. All eyes on China, US and Taiwan, nothing new here except for a recent escalation of military threat displays following the signing of a trade deal between the US and Taiwan. Signs and portents etc etc.
Something or nothing. But the Fire Horse rides in so closely coinciding with The Saturn-Neptune conjunction in Aries, February 20, and additionally, Forbes tells us…
“Coincidentally, the Year of the Fire Horse begins and ends with a “ring of fire” annular solar eclipse, in Antarctica in 2026 and in South America and West Africa in 2027.”
This extra fiery Year of The Fire Horse brings great changes, challenges and opportunities. More so even than 2025, a year of the supposedly strategic, stealthy and self contained Wood Snake, and we are still in the year of the Wood Snake for another six weeks or so. The Fire Horse says that works best this year is to trust your first instinct, act on it pronto, going straight from A to B. It will serve better to act rather than to watch and wait. Better to speak plainly, better to be angry than afraid.
We can look back and make up our own minds at what the popular astrology had to say about the Wood Snake Year. It is hard to disagree about the stealth, the shedding of old skins of a few of the 2025 mighty fallen, and the abiding twistiness. https://astrostyle.com/2025-year-of-the-snake-wood-snake/
There is lots else out there already about the incoming year of the Fire Horse.
But we are not there yet. Sol Invictus. This is the solar new year celebration, not the lunar new year celebration, even while I look out of my window facing north east and see the rising waxing gibbous moon (which today is in Gemini AND Mercury, the co ruler of Gemini and Virgo will be moving into Capricorn later today (at 4.10 EST -5 hours behind where I am writing this in Lancashire UK).
Mercury in Capricorn January 1-January 20/21
Mercury will be staying in Capricorn until January 20. This could prove a very productive time for tackling various long overdue jobs, reducing our burdens and our overheads, breaking problems down into steps, drawing up a checklist, and tackling them slowly, methodically….unexciting, for sure. The same perhaps with certain fairly minor but vexatious health matters. But not much feel better than the sheer relief of making up our minds that we ARE going to wade into that pile of shit stuff, and come out the other side knowing we finally have it back under control and firmly back in its box.
No, cat. I said its. You may be a problem cat for all I know, but I don’t mean you.
We are getting on top of it. Thank you Mercury, for that welcome extra bit of lift when we were so tired. And now we feel ready to take on the world.
We weigh our words, choose them with care, strategically. Our words have weight.
This is the functional application, the power of Mercury in Capricorn, the gutsy and relentless mountain ibex. It just keeps on going. But now it has an added spring in its step. Nil Desperandum as they say.
Happy New Year
May Janus open wonderful new doors for you this coming year.
This World card is from The Gilded Tarot illustrated by Ciro Marchetti. This was one of my go-to working decks when I started reading professionally back in the noughties. A hard-worked deck of cards, as you can tell, but now relaxing in its box.
From The Gilded Tarot
“Dance dance wherever you may be…”
The World card correlates with Saturn in astrology, Old Father Time, and in readings involving timing questions can literally represent events that happen on a Saturday.
More broadly, The World card signifies the end of a chapter in our lives, the closing out of a cycle, the end of an era. Bittersweet, perhaps, or even a cause for grief, but not unexpected. Timely, due and inevitable. Somehow we must make our peace with that existential sword of Damocles, living in the clear and certain foreknowledge of loss and of our own mortality.
Que sera, sera, says the World card. What will be, will be. But that doesn’t mean we do not have an agency all of our own. World dancers, you and me, one and all. The adventure of Life is its own reason and meaning enough. The experience is its own purpose entire.
The odds against us being born as us, and not as someone else have been estimated as 1 in 400 trillion. But somehow it was us that got through. And here we are. Reaching out and across to one another, conversant in cyberspace.
Expansive, ebullient Jupiter doesn’t get all the fun. Saturn has its moments too. The World card not only signifies completions but adventure and opportunity. Where to next? “Dance dance wherever you may be…”
Saturn as the ruler of Capricorn holds the bottom line, however. It promises and demands honesty. Saturn is old age, memories, ancestry, parents. Saturn is work, responsibility, discipline and duty. Growing up. Facing life head on. Putting our shoulders to the wheel. Life is the eternal dance. So the artist shows us the world dancer. Her dancing signifies grace in effort, vision in struggle, form to music and movement. Something we can do, and make, and show for our time here in spite of, and in defiance of our natural fears, tribulations and anxieties.
Saturn has been going back and forth between Pisces and Aries in 2025, struggling to bring order to chaos, and having a Capricornian devil of a job trying, snared in Neptunian fog and wilful illusions and deceptions (Epstein’s island being just one of many examples under the searchlight throughout 2025, and with files released but heavily redacted.)
Saturn will finally settle into Aries 13/14 February 2026, and will stay there until 2028 in a whole new astrological cycle. New, because Aries is the first sign of the Zodiac. The spring-born ram-lamb baby of the Zodiac.
This Saturn in Aries cycle has been seen before. History tell us that previous cycles of Saturn in Aries have witnessed the rise of ideological fanaticism, new religious wars or revolutions, for example, The Reformation, The French Revolution and the American War of Independence.
People decide they are being pushed around, and now, they are not going to put up with it any longer. Lines get moved. Maps get redrawn, and so do constitutions, creeds and codes.
Saturn in Aries moving into the ultimate zodiac sign of new beginnings is like Saturn The Old Man of the Zodiac, herding the bumptious ram lamb. Saturn (settled authority) is rejuvenated but Saturn also needs to show that pioneering rebel ram-lamb how to focus, directing its energies and strategy to lasting effect, and to do the necessary legislative spadework and paperwork, operate through existing state apparatus.
Or else to overhaul it.
Health-wise, Saturn rules old age and specifically, the functionality of the knees. Saturn in Aries could mean wonderful advances in related medical knowledge and technology.
Saturn does not dispute we need to take proper care of ourselves. For our own sakes, first and foremost. But, as Saturn will advise Aries, “Ask not what your country/people/family can do for you but what you can do…”
Saturn enters Aries on February 13, 2026, and will stay there until April 2028. This transit marks a time of personal accountability, renewed ambition, and disciplined action. Collectively, Saturn in Aries encourages courage in leadership and a willingness to take bold, responsible steps toward progress. It asks society to rebuild systems with integrity, initiative, and resilience. As a result, the global focus turns toward independence, innovation, and defining success through effort and perseverance.
On a personal level, Saturn in Aries strengthens confidence, structure, and self-discipline. It challenges people to act with integrity and take ownership of their goals. For those with Aries ruling the 6th House, this influence reshapes daily work, health, and routines. Individuals need to set firm boundaries around time, energy, and service. Consequently, consistent effort and steady habits will lead to lasting results, empowering a healthier, more focused approach to both work and well-being.
And then….
Saturn and Neptune will Conjunct in Aries
On February 20, 2026, Saturn and Neptune form a conjunction in Aries at 0°45′, blending vision with discipline. This powerful alignment urges the collective to build new systems rooted in visionary ideas and action in a long cycle focused on spiritual leadership, inspired innovation, direct experience and courageous reinvention rather than blind faith.
We see ever more starkly now, that something has changed in the western societies that goes way beyond even the most important considerations of party politics. Something has fundamentally changed in the historic covenants between the People and elected Governments in the West, in the UK, in western Europe, in the US and Canada. This, we are coming to realize, is neither recent nor sudden nor organic and accidental. The New World Order. It has been quietly taking hold for a long time now, starting after the end of WW2, but now it is raising its head above the parapet, starting to flex, and whatever the good intentions, at least to begin with, the gimlet super-corporate gaze of this new Globalist Techno-Sphynx is not friendly, not even…or even least of all…to its own people.
The implications for this increasingly authoritarian so-called New World Order seem likely to come to a head during Saturn in Aries. Saturn is on the side of farmers, and the countryside. Mao crushed the farmers and starved the people. So did Stalin in The Holodomor, especially in the bread basket of Ukraine. Closer to home, when WW2 broke out, my maternal grandfather left his day job as the Curator of the Museum in Bolton, Lancashire, joined the Navy, and in 1942 was part of “Operation Pedestal”, and the convoy that went to the relief of hungry Malta.
The UK government has just relented somewhat in respect of lowering the threshold for inheritance tax which has threatened to close down smaller farmers. It wants the land for eco-energy, massive solar panel farms, truly huge, and we can see it shaping up nicely (not) very near where I am, and that certain companies and their shareholders are going to get incredibly wealthy, basically vandalizing the countryside and local economy on a fragile coastal flood plain, purportedly for environmental reasons, but actually for a mega-profit.
Saturn says we need land to live on. We need a base, a place to stay rooted and connected, however far we may travel. And those roots go very deep socially historically and even biologically. Not every soil is the same.
We need energy, yes. Lots of it, yes. The cleaner the better, yes. And we need reliable food supplies. It is madness for any government to rely too much on imports, not in times of war, and not in times of peace either.
Saturn, from the Latin “sator” is “The Sower of The Seed.”
There is revolution in the air when Aries is in Saturn. We may be seeing it again. Saturn is slow to rouse but if really pushed, then it will pick up pitchforks and shovels in defence of the land, local jobs and food supplies.
Resetting to Zero. What does that even mean in real terms? Zero emissions, zero anything? When can that happen in the real world?
But in terms of Tarot symbolism, The World card, major arcana 21, is the last card in the Tarot deck, thereby returning us to the beginnings represented by The Fool card, and its numinous portal, the number Zero.
The Fool stands for a landscape in which we do not have our map co-ordinates to know where we are right now, let alone plot our direction of travel.
(Alternatively, some Tarot scholars might say, the number 22, nicknamed “The Master Builder”, signifying that big changes are just round the corner, but on balance, it’s probably for the best right now to take a few chances.)
“The discovery of zero will always stand out as one of the greatest single achievements of the human race.”–Tobias Dantzig
But the number zero, so indispensable in the modern world, and to the new gods of the algorithms, was not discovered, or would not have been discovered, had it not been invented, used initially as a placeholder for accounting purposes, likely as far back as Sumeria about 4000 years ago (as usual).
Zero does not stand for nothing, but for an unknown value or quantity. Likewise, there are many unknowns in the natural world. But there is no zero.
We can decide to clear the decks, but the past is never dead and gone.
We stand witness. We carry the torch. We look for ways to pass the torch. That’s what we are doing here right now, you and I, and everyone else.
With the aurora borealis flaming coldly overhead, or the stars leaping in the frost dance, and the land numb and frozen under its pall of snow, this song of the huskies might have been the defiance of life, only it was pitched in minor key, with long-drawn wailings and half-sobs, and was more the pleading of life, the articulate travail of existence. It was an old song, old as the breed itself–one of the first songs of the younger world in a day when songs were sad.
Tonight and tomorrow night, 27/28 December, the first quarter Moon is in Aries. See what happens tomorrow, if there is any uptick in your energy levels, or in family news, or the pace of events.
And if the skies are clear tonight, and you see a brilliant planet a little way east of the crescent Moon in the southern skies, well, there it is.
This year we entered the sun sign territory of Sagittarius, The Archer of The Sinking Sun, November 22.
See him pictured here in this photograph, standing on the liminal shoreline, aiming his arrow of fire into the darkness of Scorpio. The arrow’s target is the winter solstice, and then we know we are heading back into the light.
Let’s take a closer look at the ancient story of The Celestial Archer.
Traditional Associations
Symbol: The arrow, “Sagitta” speed with accuracy, impulse, instinct, far sightedness, the active masculine principle,
Ruling planet: Jupiter
Element: Fire
Quality: Mutable
Zodiac House: Ninth
Key phrase: I seek
Hebrew letter: Samech, meaning “trust,” “support,” and “nearby”
Body: Hips/Thighs
Tissue cell salt: silicea/silica. Strengthens and cleanses connective tissues, helps to eliminate foreign material from the body. A rejuvenator, easing signs of premature ageing, important for managing stress.
Birth Stones: Topaz, Citrine, Turquoise
Colour: Light Blue
Trees: Elder, Sal/Saal, Eucalyptus (rejuvenation)
Tarot Cards: Temperance, Knight of Wands, 8, 9, 10 Wands
Astronomy
The constellation of Sagittarius is near the centre of our spiral galaxy, the Milky Way, and is mainly visible in the Southern hemisphere between June-November.
In the Northern hemisphere we can see it low on the horizon between August- October.
Sagittarius gets its nickname, ‘The Teapot’ on account of its vaguely teapot-shaped star pattern, or asterism. The best time to see The Teapot is in August or September, but we need somewhere really dark, locating the hazy band of The Milky Way stretching right across the sky, looking up in the northern hemisphere where the Milky Way seems to bulge as it descends to the southern horizon. This ‘bulge’ is roughly the middle of the Milky Way.
The tip of the spout of the teapot, and the stars that make up the handle are the bow and arrow of the Archer, pointing straight at Scorpio next door, aiming at the red star Antares, the Heart of The Scorpion.
There is also the constellation Sagitta from the Latin, meaning literally, “Arrow”…with the constellation of The Eagle, Aquila, in-between Sagitta and the constellation of Sagitta-rius, the fiery Archer himself.
Mythology
Sagittarius is famously associated with the ancient Greek story of Chiron the centaur. But the story is far more ancient, and goes back to Mesopotamia and the story of Pabilsag, a deity or divine king of a city called Larak, in a story that was handed down to the Greeks through the Sumerians.
The Sumerian word ‘Pabil’ means ‘ancestor or relative.’ Combined with ‘sag’, meaning ‘chief, head, tip or foremost,’ his name can be translated as the ‘Chief Ancestor’ or ‘Forefather.’
This makes sense in anthropological terms. The Archer is a hunter, just as our forefathers were hunters at the dawn of human civilization. And Sagittarius is a solitary hunter, just as many a hunter or trapper still hunts alone in winter.
But also, like Hermes/Mercury, the messenger of the Gods of Ancient Greece, Sagittarius, aka Pabilsag, is a ‘psychopomp’ – the guardian and guide, not only of the dying year, but of the mortal dead, offering safe escort to the souls of the dying as they…we… re-ascend to the heavens through the stars of Capricorn, called by the Neo-Platonists “The Gate of The Gods.”
We go home again across the arc of the Milky Way. So Sagittarius as The Archer, is understood as a bridge between worlds. Sagittarius, represented in the Tarot as Temperance, denotes the Healing Arts, moderation, patience, the art of compromise, and the art of good timing (crucial to all good decision-making and a successful hunt.)
The Sagittarius Archetype
From The Smith-Waite Centennial Tarot
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.
Sagittarius, aka “the forefather” is the Archer, a Hunter, the Voyager, the Philosopher, the Scholar, the Author, the Seer, the Prophet. An eternal student, exploring high and far.
The month of Sagittarius was the most critical time for hunting. The crops were long since gathered. Most foraging was also done by now, of berries, roots and fungi.
Meat must now be caught and hung, cured, salted away for the hungry months ahead, when people were also more likely to get sick.
The court card of Sagittarius is the adventurous Knight of Wands, wearing his hot yellow coat, his helmet with a plume the colour of flame, and his coat decorated with mythical salamanders or fire dragons. Here is a dashing fellow, zooming in and out, here today, gone tomorrow, and very often when he has turned up in real life in readings, he has been riding on a motorbike, or driving a rather fast car. Sometimes too, he has been a fire fighter, literally.
In terms of real events this card denotes and foreshadows sudden or surprising events, arrivals and departures. It may foreshadow a far-reaching political decision, just as the U.S is now proposing another highly questionable controversial peace plan for Ukraine…but whose idea was this plan actually? With whom did this 28 point supposed peace plan originate? This time last year the U.S had authorized the use of long-range Storm missiles to be used by Ukraine. Now Russia has committed an act of railway sabotage on Polish soil, claiming that two-pro Russian Ukrainians committed the sabotage (“can’t point a finger at us, na na na”) and apparently is deploying North Korean personnel for clearing land mines inside Ukraine in clear breach of international law. I do feel that Ukraine will likely lose a big chunk of its eastern territories, at least Donetsk and Luhansk, while retaining its sovereignty. Unjust if so, in view of the guarantees made by Russia and the US in the Budapest Memorandum 1994, and a shabby indictment in that eventuality, of the dithering cowardice of the Eurocrats who already let Putin get away with it in 2014. If this supposed peace plan goes ahead in its new current form, highly unlikely because so manifestly unreasonable to require Ukraine to disarm whatsoever, then it can only be agreed by a decision of the Ukraine parliament and why should they trust any more guarantees from Russia, the U.S, NATO or EU countries.
What price for peace, with or without justice.
It may also in physical terms denote a heat wave or volcanic activity. Even as we entered Sagittarius season last year in 2024, this volcano in Iceland was erupting for the seventh time in a year, and the tenth time in three years.
This year, Scorpio season began a spike in volcanic activity in Japan as we were counting down to the much heralded…and somewhat foreboding New Moon in Scorpio 19/20 November. The volcano, Sakurajima, is Japan’s most active volcano, on the southern tip of Kyushu near the seaside city of Kagoshima. The ash clouds were so high just a few days ago, there were dozens of flight cancellations.
Scorpio stirs up a cauldron. Mars, the ruler of fixed water sign Scorpio, is deep water, deep heat. Sagittarius shoots out flames or fireworks.
Sagittarius is the sign of our farthest travels. This includes mind travels. Reading a book is a form of travel. Reading rolls up telepathy, mind reading, space travel and time travel all in one page. Each page a magic carpet. Sagittarius represents the Ninth House of long haul travel, and this also applies to study, philosophy -and publishing.
There are so many terribly sad events when we might ask, what use is philosophy? What use is poetry? But that is exactly the use of them. Words have the power to lift us up. We conjure special words for births and weddings and funerals. Words are magical invocations. Words are comforters. They help us readjust and regain our equilibrium when everything is dark. Words contain the magical power of Wyrd. We get the word weird from Wyrd, meaning mystery and destiny.
Word.
Weird.
Wyrd.
“I will lift mine eyes up to the hills from whence cometh my help.”-Psalm 121
The higher we go, the more bearable, or at least, the more manageable the situation when the going is really tough.
The real life Sagittarius natives are astute, capable people. They need a lot of freedom of manoeuvre, and they may fail to apply themselves if bored. Like Gemini, they are prone to restlessness, and may at times struggle financially in consequence. Sagittarius is energetic, with an enlarged curiosity, and needs plenty of physical activity outdoors, and to be in contact with nature. They tend to have lots of friends, so much so, family and friends can sometimes feel neglected. Sagittarius can do domestic and devoted. of course. But you wouldn’t say it’s really how they roll.
This rolling stone of a centaur sooner or later almost always comes cantering home again, expecting to find loved ones exactly where they left them. And usually, they will. But others must not be taken for granted either, and this needs care. Sagittarius does best with a quietly confident, self-reliant partner. Hence, their challenge, but their guiding light is Temperance, as personified in the Tarot, symbolizing patience, prudence, the wisdom of moderation, self control and the art of good timing. This may be their life lesson.
Sagittarius may well be psychic; religious or spiritually inquiring, with a prophetic or visionary gift which they may express through music, writing, animal connections, or group endeavours for some common cause.
But as we are reminded every time we discuss the archetypes of the natal sun signs, there is no such thing in reality as THE Sagittarius personality. You are a unique individual. Your zodiac sign (sun sign) is a major keynote, but there are many other factors in play, your rising sign, your Moon sign, and the planets in your houses, elements, the lunar nodes, asteroids, aspects, transits, and so on. If you don’t feel like you are a ‘typical’ Sagittarius, perhaps you are a second or third decan Sagittarius, rather than a ‘most typical’ first decan Sagittarius.
The Decans of Sagittarius
“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, known to be in use by astrologers in Egypt at least as far back as 2100 BCE, as evidenced carved on coffin lids, 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 decan from the Greek word “deka” meaning ten, supplying extra clues and nuance in respect of character and potential destiny.
First Decan
Sagittarius-Sagittarius
Dates: 22 November-30 November
Planetary ruler: Jupiter
Tarot card: Eight of Wands (Smith Waite Centennial Tarot)
Smith Waite Centennial Tarot
Card Meanings: speed, changes, news, sudden developments, arrivals, departures, or situations that may prove to be short-lived- a ‘flash in the pan.’
Jupiter, the planet of expansion, progress, ambition, and optimism is both the ruler and sub-ruler of this decan. There is idealism and a love of knowledge. This Sagittarius decan is an enthusiast for life, upbeat, spontaneous, and fun. They are highly competitive. They really, really do not like to lose, but they have a keen sense of fair play and justice.
There is a fascination with medicines, shamanism, and with ancient cultures and their healing traditions. Sagittarius loves wide-open spaces, fresh air, and being close to nature. This native is outgoing, and seemingly approachable, yet actually rather private and reserved, and not easy to get to know well. They can be the life and soul of the party, but when it comes down to the serious business, they confide in very few.
Famous first decan Sagittarius subjects: Winston Churchill, Pablo Escobar, Tina Turner, CS Lewis, Britney Spears, Gianni Versace
Second Decan
Sagittarius-Aries
Dates: 1 December-11 December
Planetary rulers: Mars and Moon
Tarot card: Nine of Wands
Smith Waite Centennial Tarot
Card Meanings: battered and bruised but I am still standing. Courage, stamina, fortitude, stubbornness, a pause for recovery, a need to reflect
Mars brings to this decan even more of an adventurous spirit, energy, and ambition. This decan could be an explorer or adventurer, but does well in business and commerce, and generally shows marked executive abilities.
These natives are natural sportsmen and women or soldiers. They are charismatic, and though they push people away when guarding their space, when they do fall in love, they will want to show you the world, though they may have a bit of a short fuse, and need plenty of time outdoors with lots of physical activity to be at their best. Second Decan Sagittarius is courageous, clever, good with their hands, quick with their minds, technically proficient, independent and stoical. No matter how rough a time they are having, just as with the first decan, they usually keep this to themselves, showing their best face to the world.
Famous Second Decan Sagittarius subjects: John Kerry, Kirk Douglas, Jim Morrison, Tyra Banks, John Malkovich
Third Decan Sagittarius
Sagittarius-Leo
Dates: 12 December-21 December
Planetary rulers: Sun and Saturn
Tarot card- Ten of Wands (Smith Waite Centennial Tarot)
Card Meanings: I am taking this to town, effort, determination, shouldering a burden, nearing the end of a process, journey or situation
Ruled by the Sun, the centre of our solar system, this person is rather like the sun in their own environment, very much at the centre of their universe, but with a great love of change, and a hardwired desire for reform in whatever cause. This decan is full of enterprise and novel ideas. They are realists, even cynics, but they are in tune with their instincts, and can make great researchers, investigators, or teachers.
They can be very direct in saying what they think, and this can give them a reputation for being opinionated. They may have a dark sense of humour. But their sub-ruler, the Sun, which stands for warmth, pride, and vitality, joining up with beneficent Jupiter means they have initiative combined with magnetism, and when they feel like it, a talent for making other people laugh. (Not that there was anything remotely funny about Stalin, but of course every zodiac sign has its fair share of seriously nasty bad apples)
Famous Decan 3 Sagittarius: Jane Austen, Beethoven, Nostradamus, Joseph Stalin, Steven Spielberg
The Cusps of Sagittarius
In reality, there is no such thing as being born on the cusp. We are born under one zodiac sign or another, and if we know our time of birth, we can confirm this. But the cusps at the start and end of each sign, again, offer further nuance to the zodiac archetype.
Birthday 22 November- 25 November
This is Sagittarius with Scorpio qualities, ruled by Jupiter and Mars. They are courageous with great physical endurance. They tend to take on a lot of responsibility, maybe too much, which can overload them and hold them back. They take great care over their work, but they will voice strong opinions, and though they are keenly sensitive to the things others say to them, they can be pretty direct themselves when conflicts arise.
Birthday 19 December -21 December
This is Sagittarius with Capricorn qualities, ruled by Jupiter and Saturn. They can be great company; hospitable, entertaining, and well-informed, although they are forthright in disagreement and can rub others up the wrong way. On the other hand, they have a strong sense of duty, they seldom betray confidences, they’re not petty, and they don’t interfere in matters which don’t involve them directly.
The world is their study. And in Sagittarius season, we let loose the arrows of our curiosity.
“The best thing for being sad,” replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, “is to learn something. That’s the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.”
The world is our study, and our study is a salve. But this is not to say we hide ourselves away in our reading. When we study, when we do a bit of research, we may clarify something that has been eluding us. We may identify a new line of strategy, and start planning a new course of Action.
Sagittarius loves study, but Sagittarius transmutes it into ACTION.
The fixed water sign of the celestial Scorpion is the zodiac archetype of Halloween. Still waters run deep, truly, but this is water as steam, like the steaming geysers of Iceland, bursting out from sources deep down in the heart of the hot rock.
Traditional Associations
Zodiac glyph
Scorpio’s glyph is symbolic of a serpent representing the life force energy, the flow of that energy and the release of it. Imagine the M as a coil with the energy flow going outward with an arrow sign attached. This arrow represents the sting of the scorpion. It also represents futurity, but is also the arrow of Sagittarius, the next sign of the zodiac. The other “m” glyph in the Zodiac is Virgo, but here the M is imagined as a coiling serpent with its tail folded inward in protective, healing mode.
Ruling planets: Traditional: Mars. Modern: Pluto following Pluto’s discovery in 1930.
House: The Eighth House of power, secrets, sex, death, finance, legacy
Symbols: Scorpion, Serpent, Eagle/Phoenix (nearby constellation, Aquila, the Eagle.)
Element: Water (but this water STEAMS.)
Quality: Fixed
Keywords: I desire. I transform
Hebrew letter: Nun, meaning the snake. Scorpio has three glyphs, the only sign to do so; the snake, scorpion and eagle (or phoenix.) The snake sheds its skin and thus represents transformation, healing and magic.
Tissue cell salt: calcium sulphate, repair of tissues and resistance to infectious diseases.
Trees: Walnut, hawthorn, blackthorn
Tarot Cards: Death, King of Cups, 5, 6 and 7 of Cups. The major arcana card in the Tarot representing Scorpio is the Death card, one of the most feared cards in the Tarot deck. Note the Biblical ‘pale horse’ of Death and the white rose. He comes for all, the king, the archbishop, the child. But the rose signifies beauty and immortality. All that has ever once been, is recorded somewhere, somehow, forever.
Smith Waite Centennial Deck
The Death card is not usually about the literal death of any person. It may represent the death of something else, like the ending of a situation, chapter, project, plan, or relationship.
But. BUT. I have learned in my own experience as a reader, the Death card can mean exactly that, physical death, like it or not. The cards can mean exactly what it says on the tin and this has more than once hit me hard and very close to home in the literal, physical human sense. There is no Life without Death. We die. Even rivers can die. Even the stars die.
Old age is not our natural birth-right. Few animals reach old age living in the wild. It is this sharp focus of such an awareness that gives Scorpio its drive, intensity, its passion, or its preoccupation with the “darker” side of life, and with the occult and the mysterious, but also its power of regeneration, and the drive to procreate new life.
The scorpion is a staggeringly ancient creature. The earliest evidence dates from the Silurian period 450 million years ago, when the first scorpion ancestors left the seas for the land. Fossils from the Carboniferous 300 million years ago indicate little change since then but early scorpions may have had compound eyes.
They are arachnids: arachnida scorpiones, with a body in two sections, 2 pincers or pedi-palps, 8 legs like a spider, and an exo-skeleton made of chitin. They are more closely related to Harvestmen than spiders.
They dance before mating, a stately promenade. They give birth to live young and carry them on their backs until the babies have their first moult and disperse. The mothers may eat the young if resources are desperately scarce.
They have a long life span compared with other arachnids, 2-3 years in the wild but they have lived up to 25 years in captivity. They can live a year without food and they eat insects, spiders, other scorpions and lizards. They also eat small mammals, such as mice.
They glow in the dark except when newly moulted. Scorpion fossils still fluoresce, despite spending hundreds of millions of years embedded in rock.
They are famously venomous. However of the nearly 2,000 known species of scorpions, only 25 have venom powerful enough to be dangerous to an adult human. In the U.S., the Arizona bark scorpion, Centruroides sculpturatus, produces venom strong enough to kill a small child, but anti-venom means deaths are rare.
The Stars of Scorpio
Wiki: Till Credner
Nature, science, religion, astronomy and astrology were intertwined in the ancient world.
Scorpius is a massive, spectacular j- shaped constellation located in the skies over the southern hemisphere near the centre of the Milky Way. In the Northern hemisphere it can be seen in July and August, and in the Southern hemisphere, it’s visible from March to October.
Sometime around four thousand years ago the Babylonians looked up, discerned the huge and brightly leaning “J”- shape in the summer stars, saw in this the shape of a gigantic scorpion and called this constellation MUL.GIR.TAB – the ‘Scorpion’, literally read as ‘the (creature with) a burning sting.’
The movements and relative positions of Scorpius were mapped by Babylonian magicians and astrologers, who left written records of the omens they observed.
“When a halo surrounds the Moon and Scorpio stands in it, it will cause men to marry princesses, (or) lions will die, and the traffic of the land will be hindered.”
A comet appearing in Scorpius (Scorpio) was read as a dire warning of a coming plague, but when the Sun rose in Scorpius, alchemists saw their chance for the transmutation of lead into gold.
There are 18 known stars in Scorpius, the most famous being the red giant star Antares (rival of Mars, the god of war and the original planetary ruler of Scorpio) Antares, its biggest star, is almost unimaginably huge – our sun is barely more than a dot in comparison- is one of the brightest stars in the night sky.
Methuselah
Scorpius contains exo-planets, some extremely old, while others may be potentially habitable. The planet PSR B1620-26 b, nicknamed “Methuselah” is estimated at 12.7 billion years old (The universe is about 13.7 billion years old.) Methuselah has a mass about twice that of Jupiter and it orbits around not one, but two stars.
Cue existential angst. I may need to lie down awhile in a dark room. Where, pray, is the eau de cologne?
Hot water under pressure but it’s in a hosepipe this month, and it has sprung a few leaks, spouting scalding jets and clouds of steam. Water as steam. Full force.
Veritable spiders webs and networks. Flexing. At home here in the UK, amongst so many other terrible and furious things on the world stage right now, we see China threatening the UK government behind the scenes. Long suspected. Now we see it in plain sight. We are told it is presented as a case of “You will authorize the building of this monstrous new super embassy in the historic heart of your capital. Or there will be consequences.”
One thinks of the unquiet ghost of the failed Guido Fawkes. There are fireworks outside my window even now.
More hopeful news, The Met Police are now declaring they will no longer be policing NCHI’s – Non crime hate incidents. No more knocking on the doors of the citizenry to threaten them over social media posts that have upset “someone.” May the other police forces now swiftly follow suit. This is Britain, not North Korea, and there can be no apologies for drawing the parallel.
A bill to introduce Islamophobia as a new crime has not passed in the House of Commons. Thank goodness. But after all the furore a few weeks ago, they seem to have kept that rather quiet. England finally did away with blasphemy laws in England in 2008. The history is cruel. Ans so are the things that still happen now, in countries where blasphemy is still punishable by death. We do not want blasphemy laws creeping in again by the back door, enabled by our government in the name of so-called diversity and inclusion.
Just as in Scorpio season 2024 we are challenged with keeping our own equilibrium while watching yet another intense month of massive threat and fury in world events. And keep it we must, while maximising our own energy bursts to fix, to clear, to burnish, to cherish all those and all that which we most rightfully hold dear.
Eruption of the Strokker Geyser, Iceland, public domain, credit Andreas Tille
This month we are all children of The Scorpion. Scorpio may sting. And it may heal us. Scorpio is a great healer. Natural charisma and…anti venom.
But remembering the Death card, and Death offers a perfect white rose. Still, there are roses, always and for ever, even in the season of the Scorpion.
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
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.
From The Tarot Illuminati
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.
From The Tarot Illuminati
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.
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, 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”.
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?
The Gilded Tarot Royale
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
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)
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
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.
Via Wiki
Leo is the 12th 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.
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:
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, 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.
Boston Public Library Kasr En Nil
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.
Public Domain, photograph Petr Kratochvil
Thank you for reading. Back again soon with more on Leo in the Tarot, the decans, and the astrology of this Leo 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.
Public domain
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 Arcanacards: 8, 9 and 10 Swords.
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.
Painting by Frederick Leighton
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.
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.
Smith Waite Tarot
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.
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
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. Gemini is the third sign of the Western Tropical Zodiac, and represents the end of spring and beginning of summer in the northern hemisphere.
Associations
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. 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: The Lovers. The Magician, Knight of Swords, 8, 9 and 10 Swords.
Gemini is visible to the naked eye, 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 Orion between Taurus and Cancer. The Greek astronomer Ptolemy in the second century recorded Gemini as “The Star of Apollo” (Castor) and “The Star of Heracles” (Pollux). February is the best time to view Gemini. By April and May, we get the best views looking west soon after sunset.
The two brightest stars in the constellation are the “twins” themselves – Castor and Pollux, representing the heads of the twins 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- the distance that light travels in a year = about 6 trillion miles/9.6 trillion km. Pollux is the brighter of the two with a massive planet orbiting it; Genorium Beta, while Castor is actually not a single star, but a star system made of up six stars not visible to the naked eye.
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, 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 and many surviving objects reflect this eternal battle of seeming opposites.
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.
That night, notwithstanding the undoubted trauma of this shocking event, Leda slept with her husband, King Tyndareus, and in due course delivered 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. Castor and Clytemnestra were mortal, fathered by Tyndareus.
Public Domain, the young Castor and Pollux (Meissen)
Castor was renowned as a horseman and a master at fencing, while Pollux was known for his great strength and skill at boxing. They went everywhere together. But then Castor was killed in a quarrel and Pollux told Zeus he didn’t want his immortality, not if it meant eternal separation from his brother. Zeus scratched his head, wondering how to fix this, and decided to place them in the stars, to be together forever as the constellation Gemini.
The 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. 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.
Gemini is a mutable sign, ruling the borderline between late spring and early summer. The other mutable signs are Virgo, Sagittarius and Pisces, considered the most changeable and agile of the signs; inquiring, agile, adaptable, talented, cerebral, analytical, logical and restless. At the same time, Gemini can also be surprisingly dogmatic, attaching themselves to causes, whether religious or secular, social or political manifestos, or to do with lifestyle, for example, exercise or diet choices. They can be born-again converts- or crusading missionaries.
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.
Smith Waite
Card Meanings: news, sudden developments, strongly worded email, legal action, surgical procedure, dental procedure, shock, blow, attack, air strike, assertiveness, intelligence, calculation, a confident, forceful young person, injury, snow, hailstorm, windy weather, cold wind, east wind, motorbike
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. All the decans are 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 (0-10 degrees)
21-31 May
Eight of Swords
Smith Waite
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 the prediction or identification of practical plumbing/drainage issues.
This decan gets a double dose 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 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 may have considerable charisma 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 them occupied.
Second Decan (10-20 degrees)
June 1-10
Nine of Swords
Smith Waite
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.
Here is Putin and Zelenskyy experiencing another peak of aggression and strain this Gemini season 2024. Or instigating it, in the case of Putin, while Zelenskyy tears his hair out, the west bickers and vacillates, and others rub their hands. 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. People respond well to the Second Decan Gemini warm and effusive nature. Gemini-Libra is generous with their time and friendship and also with possessions. Just don’t be too 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 (20-30 degrees)
11-20 June
Ten of Swords
Smith Waite
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 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 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. This is the most independent- natured Gemini decan.
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 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. Graceful in movement, tidy in appearance, affectionate in nature, this native is a good friend and if they say they will do something, they keep their word, but they may at times be too sensitive for their own good.
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.
I’m not seeing a Presidential inauguration for Gemini native Donald Trump January 2025. He draws The World card and the Death card, signifying the end of a cycle or a chapter. But he did draw the Ace of Wands. New venture. New government. There may still be surprises
True Tarot Tales 