The middle of Gemini season (June 1st to June 10th) is here!! The patron goddess of the second decan of Gemini is Cybele. A Phrygian earth goddess, the story goes that Cybele was born with a penis and a vagina, which freaked out the rest of the gods, so they cut off her outtie. (Proving that the violent history of medical intervention by higher authority when one’s perfectly fine genies don’t conform to what is considered the ‘norm’ is one that goes back at least two thousand years). Cybele’s pene grew into an almond tree where it fell to the earth and when a passing river nymph ate one of the almonds, she became pregnant and begot a son name Attis who by all accounts was *incredibly* good lookin’. Cybele takes Attis as a lover and in this way, reunites with her own severed parts.
Because of the designation of Cybele as the patron goddess of this decan, Austin Coppock has dubbed this face: “The Hermaphrodite” but I would like to recommend a different designation for two reasons:
- The term hermaphrodite carries so much baggage from its historical-medical usage that it is difficult to enjoy it blithely as a mythological archetype at this moment in time. You can check out the ISNA’s page: “On The Word Hermaphrodite” to get a sense of what I mean.
- I don’t think that dubbing this face “The Hermaphrodite” is super accurate anyway because Cybele is actually the name of the goddess after she is castrated. Before her castration her name is Agdistis.
Cybele as the patron goddess of this face (and not Agdistis) suggests that the symbolic significance of the middle Gemini decan is in the longing for re-unification after separation. This archetype of two severed halves of the same whole has been popularized by Hedwig and the Angry Inch’s queer rock ballad: “Origin of Love” which retells a story from Plato’s Symposium. The Symposium is a collection of philosophical speeches on the nature of love. The speech referenced in Origin of Love is told by the playwright Aristophanes who basically says that once upon a time humans had four arms and four legs and two faces. These early humans were real powerful and the gods felt threatened by them, so the gods decided to split humans in two. Aristophanes claims that love is the word we use to describe our desire for wholeness as we all wander the earth looking for our other half.
Being a human can be lonely. Aristophanes’ story is about that deep yearning we get to not be alone anymore, to merge with another. Hedwig gives us one prescription for how to achieve this: smash your bodies together until re-membering occurs. The second face of Gemini approves of this method but has another suggestion and that is bridging the gap between bodies through language. Barthe says: “Language is a skin: I rub my language against the other. It is as if I had words instead of fingers, or fingers at the tip of my words. My language trembles with desire.” Although language (imperfect, inexact) is a clunky medium with which to merge, Gemini Decan Two (GD2) is prepared to try. GD1 (The Apple of Eden) was overwhelmed by the amount of sheer information available. GD2 is well aware of the amount of information, now they want to put that information to use in the service of connection.
In this season we honor the longing for wholeness.
In Other Sky-News:
Mercury, Venus, and Mars will all be switching signs in the next ten days.
Mercury will be moving from Taurus to Gemini Tuesday June 6th. Carolyn Casey says of Mercury in Gemini: “This is unmediated communication; everything is connected, everything talking to itself.” Mercury in it’s own sign will help the Sun in it’s merging-through-language quest. Expect communicative channels to get chattier, wittier, and pithier.
Venus will be moving from Aries to Taurus June 6th as well. Venus in Aries is a bridge burner, a passionate ambassador, and an aggressive flirt. Not a particularly ease-ful combination of qualities, Venus has been approaching a conjunction with Uranus that will hit it’s climax Saturday, June 3rd. A Venus-Uranus contact might be making potential friends or suitors sparkle a little more right now (Venus-Uranus is often associated with electric, magnetic attraction), and you might also be feeling the itch to get out of a stale relationship. Watch out for rash decisions and slash n’ dash endings. Venus in Taurus will be a lot more chill. In the meantime, embrace the complete lack of chill and enjoy the electricity.
Mars will be moving from Gemini to Cancer June 4th. Mars in Gemini is sometimes unsure of where to point the sword. Mars in Cancer is pretty ding dang sure where that sword needs to be pointed but might be too busy sulking, brooding, pouting, and simmering to plunge it in. Mars in Cancer is a good time to aggressively house-keep. Try the Marie-Kondo method of ridding yourself of anything that doesn’t bring you joy. Be merciless.
HOROSCOPES:
Read for your rising.
Take what you need, leave what you don’t.
Book me if you want to go deeper.
Chart for June 1st, 2017 at 11.30am
Aries
In Six of Stones, a black ball lays inside the protective circle of six wall-like stones. There is an opening in the circle of stones and when the little black ball is ready, the world outside awaits. To the top left corner of the card there is a small rosebud that has yet to bloom.
Aries’ ruling planet, Mars, is going from a semi-challenging sign to another semi-challenging sign, but the kind of challenge will change pretty drastically. When Mars moves into Cancer on the 4th, take lesson from the Six of Stones and remember that you are at your strongest and most able to appreciate the outside world after you have spent an appropriate amount of time healing within the safe walls of your home (whatever home might be for you). The world may be calling for your attention, but make sure you’re getting the grounding and stability you need first.
Taurus
The Devil stands with arms outstretched. They wear giant serrated bat wings attached to their arms like Dracula’s cape. They may have a skeleton head, or they may be wearing a skull mask with sunken red eyes, devil horns, and Riff-Raff style hair. They are engulfed in flames.
Venus, Taurus’ ruling planet, is finishing it’s difficult tenure in Aries. Venus in Aries is already a little spicier than most of us can really enjoy, but for Taurus (for whom Venus in Aries is traveling through the 12th house of shadow) it can sometimes feel downright torturous. Taurus has a hard time saying no to what feels good and Venus in Aries has an itchy-trigger finger for the good times. Take stock of which desires feel healthy, and which desires are starting to feeling like addictions
Gemini
The Architect of Stones stands atop a ladder, reaching out to pluck a red rock from the sky. The architect appears to be the lone inhabitant of this planet. Red asteroids circle the architect’s small home. Space surrounds them. The scene is reminiscent of the Little Prince.
Gemini’s ruling planet, Mercury, will be moving from Taurus (a difficult placement for Gemini Rising as Taurus will be in the 12th house of shadow) to Gemini June 6th. This is a great transition for Gem who will be lit up by the Sun (the greater luminary) and their ruling planet Mercury for the middle of Gemini season. Right now Gemini’s natural communicative capabilities are being put on display, so don’t let this opportunity period go to waste. The Architect of Stones is asking you what you are ready to build.
Cancer
The Lovers stand shoulder to shoulder like conjoined twins, giving each other a mean side-eye. One is blonde and the other is brunette and their hair is braided together. Both of them are wearing fancy victorian dresses. Splatterings of red throughout the illustration resemble blood. The brunette is crossing her fingers. The blonde holds a pair of scissors and it looks like she is preparing to cut the braid that ties the lovers together.
This week, Mars moves into Cancer’s first house, the house of self. As your most personal house gets heated up by the fire of the War God, let The Lover’s remind you that love is a choice and never an obligation. Honor the ties that bind, sever the ties that are choking you. Slow Holler says: “Open to love, let what you love transform you. Choose what’s in your best interest. Come home.”
Leo
The Architect of Vessels hovers their hands around a decanter of liquid. Resembling a perfume bottle, the potion is decorated with aloe vera, roses, and capped with a cow skull. Inside we can see an ocean. The architect of vessels possesses an elixir for soothing. An oasis in a desert. Aloe for a burn.
Leo’s ruling planet is the sun and right now the sun is talk talk talking, and long, long, longing through the second decan of Gemini. As Gemini is in Leo’s 11th house of friends and social circles, honor the longing for wholeness through the light you can shine in, on and for your community. What is the soothing potion, the calming balm, you have to bring to the group? With Mars moving into Cancer, how can deep feeling be your most powerful tool?
Virgo
In Nine of Vessels there are three rows of three delicate, white, porcelain teacups. The teacups are not matching, it looks as though each one might be from a different set. Most feature delicate illustration and all of them are a slightly different shape. The cups are tilted this way and that against a white and gold speckled background.
Virgo’s ruling planet, Mercury, is moving into your 10th house of public life this week and the Nine of Vessels is asking you to enjoy it! Always able to find something to be concerned about, Mercury’s move into Gemini reminds Virgo that the swift-footed messenger god is not just about being able to spot a trifling detail from a thousand miles away. Mercury can be fun too, and nobody does mercurial fun as joyously as Gemini. Host a tea-party, invite all your friends, talk about everything.
Libra
In Three of Knives, there is a dark shrub with a few scraggly, bare roots growing out of the bottom. Several gray leaves lie beneath the shrub and inside of it there is a drooping eye crying blood, three knives, and many rain-tear-blood drops.
Libra’s ruling planet, Venus, is playing pinball between the Goddess of Getting-One’s-Come-Uppance Eris and the God of Sudden Accidents, Uranus in Libra’s 7th house of partnerships. Whether it’s a business partner, a project partner, or a lover, brace for the break this week as Venus won’t be out of this fiery hailstorm until it moves into Taurus June 6th. Remember though, that relationships go through many little deaths, and if you experience a small ending with a loved one, it doesn’t have to mean the big one is close behind. Transform what it means to you to be in partnership.
Scorpio
The Visionary of Knives is a glaring owl, scowling up at us from beneath her skull and rose crown. She carries a knife in both talons, like one might expect an owl to carry her most recent kill. Her giant, powerful wings are outstretched, either in flight or in an act of intimidation.
Scorpio’s ruling planet, Mars, will be moving from extraverted Gemini to introverted Cancer on June 4th. As Cancer is in Scorpio’s 9th house of philosophy, higher education, and meaning-making, this Mars transit asks you to consider how you see protection as a philosophy, what kind of education you need to be seeking on the most vulnerable folks in our communities, and how you make meaning out of feelings. The Visionary of Knives is telling you that there is wisdom in pain (but this wisdom is hard won, and different from easy cynicism).
Sagittarius
The Magician, white and grey against a gold background, looks languidly over their shoulder as they fan themselves. They are wearing a curly wig, a string of pearls, and they are covered in tattoos; sand running through an hourglass, a rose and dagger, a red umbrella, a ship’s wheel.
Sagittarius’ ruling planet, Jupiter, is currently moving through Libra in Sag’s 11th house of friends and community while the Sun is transiting Sagittarius’ 7th house of partnerships. Although Sag has been having a hell of a time the last couple years with Saturn moving through your 1st house, dampening your fire, this is a good time to remember that Saturn is more than a dampener. Saturn teaches us the big lessons and its transit through your first house is almost up. Let the Magician remind you through your connections with others how much you have grown.
Capricorn
In Ten of Vessels, ten red vessels of a variety of kinds surround a golden pond. Three teacups. A dripping teapot. A flower pot holding a small shrub. A toy sailboat. A balloon. A drum. A fishbowl with a gold fish. A mason jar holding clouds.
Saturn, Capricorn’s ruling planet, is still slowly maneuvering through Sagittarius, where it will stay until december. Saturn’s transit through Cap’s 12th house of shadow has been rough but the end is in sight. In the meantime Venus’ meet-cute with Uranus will be happening soon in your 4th house of home and family. The Ten of Vessels is asking you to let go of scarcity mentality and open to abundance. Whatever may or may not go down as the Venus-Uranus contact comes to fruition, ground into the joy within your community, and the strength of that container.
Aquarius
The Student of Stones regards a peach pit between their thumb and forefinger. On a table where their hand casts a shadow, there is also a pointed grey rock, and a pomegranate. A large chunk of the pomegranate is missing. Bright red seeds are clustered inside the fruit.
Aquarius’ ruling planet, Saturn, has been transiting through your 11th house of friends, community, and social networks. Aquarius is intrigued by social media, but with Saturn’s transit, questions are raised about the usefulness of Facebook as a tool for connection and how the internet is changing the way we obtain knowledge and make meaning. The Student of Stones wants to inspire Aquarius to “direct their curiosity and inquisitiveness into a methodical, structured pursuit of knowledge.”
Pisces
In the Four of Knives, a person is sleeping facedown in a tangled nest of blanket and pillow. They hold a folded switchblade clutched in one hand. In their dreams they see this knife opening, bit by bit.
Pisces’ ruling planet, Jupiter, is currently transiting through the 8th house of sex and inheritances. The 8th house, like the 12th, is one in which the veil between worlds thins. The Four of Knives is asking you to access the 8th house through dreams. Many of us have been experiencing the troubled sleep that accompanies such bewildering and perilous times. Take some time to sink into stillness. Start keeping a journal for your dreams. The 8th house speaks to what we inherit materially but it also shows us what magic we inherit from our ancestors. Find these gifts in your dreams.
mabel vautravers 