The Sun Enters Gemini
May 20, 2024
Hello Dear Readers,
Another month in the astrological year has already passed, and another Zodiacal season is dissolving into memory as new energies make their way into our daily lives.
I hope Taurus season brought a good dose of grounding, centering, and pleasure after the wild ride of Aries season. We now enter the breezy airs of Gemini season, where the sun will dance with the bees and butterflies from May 20 until the Summer Solstice on June 20. After the energetic innocence and rapid growth of the Ram, followed by the sensual explorations and introspective determination of the stable Bull, we arrive at a time of year when the Twins have much to talk about, cross-pollinating their independent worlds to create a spirited new dynamic.
Gemini season is a time of new beginnings, exploration, and communication, and it’s made even more expansive by the transit of Jupiter into Gemini on May 23, quite a change after a whole year blowing up the house of your chart that contains Taurus. Jupiter in Gemini is a distinctly different arena for the benefic planet of jubilant exuberance, and the Astrum Opus team has collaboratively written your rising sign a Love Letter from Jupiter in Gemini to explain how ole Jup will show up in your life over the next year. Check out the love letters here if you haven’t yet had a chance to read them!
After a reflective season of earthiness, it’s time to seek out your twin flame, your partner in crime, your gossipy Gus, and spread the words and new ideas of late spring before Cancer season arrives to serve up a hot plate of summer!
-Alison
Gemini in the Body
When I think of Gemini season, all I can see in my mind’s eye are bees, sphinx moths, butterflies, and hummingbirds. The abundant first flush of Taurus season’s flowers is already beginning to fade, and the pollinators are swarming around my garden, eager to drink their sweet nectar.
This buzzing cacophony is a perfect scene to ring in the season of the Twins, the chatty, social, Mercurial sign that takes us from spring into summer. We have spent long enough soaking up the heat of the earth- it’s now time to listen to the folky words of the freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, whose Sun, Venus, and Mercury are all in Gemini: “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind… the answer is blowin’ in the wind.”
In medical astrology, the double-bodied sign of Gemini is associated with many of the body parts that come in twos, of course! The shoulders, arms, and hands are ruled by Gemini, which align with the parts of the body used for expressive nonverbal communication. Think big bear hugs and constant multi-tasking, too, for this friendly, busy zodiac sign.
As an air sign, Gemini is associated with the lungs (another twin part of the body), as well as the bronchial tubes, capillaries, and respiratory system. This connection can be seen in the way people with strong Gemini placements are often described as being robust in their communication, intellectual pursuits, and social interaction. These traits can be linked to our respiratory system’s role in exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide through breathing, bringing the outer world to the inner and back again.
Gemini is ruled by the god and planet Mercury, aka Hermes, in the Greek Pantheon. Known as the messenger of the gods, Mercury was responsible for conveying divine dispatches between Mount Olympus and the Underworld. Communication, commerce, trade, and exchange are beautiful analogies to the actions of the human respiratory system. Mercury is often shown with wings on his feet and head, which is evocative of the season’s pollinating birds, bees, and butterflies, as well!
Gemini in the Life Cycle
Looking at the wheel of the Zodiac as a corollary for the human life cycle, Gemini is related to childhood and early adolescence. This is the season in our lives when we are consumed with a never-ending supply of questions and curiosities for our caregivers, as well as learning the ins and outs of social interactions with our classmates and peers.
After crawling on the earth and learning from our senses in the phase of Taurean toddlerhood, the Gemini phase of life erupts in a whirlwind of words, emotions, and relationships. Geminis, like school-aged children and young adolescents, are driven by a need for social interactions, conversation, and new contexts. They have an insatiable, Mercurial desire to connect the dots between their home lives and the larger world around them. Again, this reminds us of the respiratory inhale and exhale, bringing our inner worlds and outer worlds together through the airways.
Gemini is the natural ruler of the third house, and the archetype of the Twins is most concerned with the qualities of this home: the first ring of society out from the self, such as siblings, neighbors, and communication with those who are in local proximity. Gemini season is a good time to look at planets and points in your third house and consider how your chats with neighbors help you learn about both yourself and the world beyond your home base.
Self-Care in the Season of the Twins
Embodiment exercises for this season of the year include starting new writing projects, catching up with friends and relatives you’ve lost touch with over the colder months, partner and team sports (anyone need a pickleball buddy?), and anything that feels a little risky and out of your comfort zone. This is the best time of the year for cross-pollination, testing out your ideas with new audiences, and experimenting with new ways of communicating.
With so much talking and thinking going on this season, it’s possible to get a little restless in your nervous system and overly activated, so working with herbs like lavender, lemon balm, and milky oats can soothe the nerves. The Gemini-ruled respiratory season can also feel oversaturated this time of year with all the pollen in the air and being out and about more. Herbs like licorice, fennel, and mullein can be soothing for the lungs and bronchial system.
Gemini Season Dates to Note
May 23: Full Moon in Sagittarius. Venus enters Gemini.
May 25: Jupiter, the planet of abundance, enters Gemini until June 2, 2026.
June 3: Mercury enters his home sign of Gemini.
June 6: New Moon in Gemini.
June 9: Mars leaves Aries and enters Taurus.
June 17: Mercury and Venus enter Cancer and form a conjunction.
June 20: The Sun exits Gemini, marking the end of Gemini season 2024 and the beginning of Cancer season.
Guided Meditation for Gemini Season
Begin by nesting yourself in a comfortable position, allowing your body to sink into the supportive surface beneath you. As you draw a deep, nurturing breath into your lungs, imagine the air as a gentle, healing energy. As you release your breath, allow your eyes to softly close and every muscle in your body to surrender to a state of profound relaxation.
Alison Dale is an artist, ecological astrologer, and somatic guide based in the traditional lands of the Tewa people, known today as Santa Fe, NM. She is also the host of the podcast Cycles of Time (@cyclesoftimepodcast). Learn more about her work and current offerings at alisonmariedale.com or on Instagram at @astro.somatics.