The past few years have been tough for Gemini
souls and for anyone with Gemini’s quixotic,
mercurial impulse to explore, examine, question,
and sample experiences. With Pluto in Gemini’s
opposite sign of Sagittarius since 1995, joined
in 2003 by Uranus in Pisces, it hasn’t exactly
been kicks and grins for Gemini. "Take
a position and stick with it," insists
Pluto in Sagittarius, and sensing he is overpowered,
Gemini appears to acquiesce… but looks bored
and restless while doing so. "Here,"
invites Uranus in Pisces, "have some emotional
electroshock therapy! It will open you up to
greater feelings of compassion for all mankind."
And Gemini thinks this would be sort of interesting
if it didn’t mean he had to feel so much;
besides, all that Pisces water tends to short-circuit
Gemini’s wiring, leading to malfunctions and
mercurial meltdowns.
Yes, it has been a difficult time to be light
and curious, witty and versatile, a tough time
to propose new ideas or to question prevailing
paradigms. So each year we have entered the
Gemini season with just a little more trepidation,
like small children who fear going to school
because bullies keep picking on us and we didn’t
finish our homework. We’ve found that our bright,
inquisitive Gemini impulses are apt to get us
into trouble. Asking reasonable questions might
invite unreasonably brutal responses, or the
exhortation to "rely on faith, and don’t
ask so many questions!" There have been
fewer and fewer places for Gemini to express
itself, and the result has been the emergence
of its shadow side: cruelty. Those individual
voices that managed to break through Pluto’s
grip and get heard have tended to be mean-spirited
talk show hosts, bombastic politicians, and
fundamentalists - the mouthpieces for an increasingly
strident and xenophobic collective voice.
Fortunately, when Saturn moved into Leo
in 2005, Gemini gained a strong ally in the
struggle for expression. Gemini is the third
sign on the natural astrological wheel, and
Leo is the third sign from Gemini; so Gemini
"reads" Leo as a fellow "three,"
a kindred spirit in the pursuit of conversation
and fun. Saturn in Leo has aided Gemini by providing
focus and determination, and the courage of
conviction; "Ask your questions; speak
your truth with tenacity," it has whispered
in our ears, "and I’ll provide the dramatic
flair you need to get people to listen to you."
Saturn in Leo has been a good friend to Gemini
these past couple of years, lending the stability
and focus that Mercury’s children often lack.
Gradually, our Gemini selves have stepped into
this supportive framework and returned to work,
giving voice to what is in the air, and what
is on the minds and tongues of the man on the
street. Nowhere is this more evident than in
the Gemini field of journalism. After allowing
their voices to be stifled for many long years,
journalists are stirring at last from their
long slumber and slowly reclaiming their vital
role as society’s Jiminy Cricket.
Pluto in Sagittarius, while difficult in many
ways, has nevertheless served the important
function of reminding us about the power of
the collective voice – for better or
worse. For too long, the voice of "we,
the people" – in media, in politics, and
in public discourse - has been shrill, closed-minded,
and downright mean. It’s only since Jupiter
entered Sagittarius last November, for the
first time since Pluto has occupied that sign,
that we have begun to reclaim the positive power
of our collective voice. Jupiter has opened
the window and reintroduced light into our Pluto
in Sagittarius dungeon, beginning to clear the
fouled air while Pluto prepares to move into
Capricorn in January.
The downfall of talk show host Don Imus1
exemplifies this ideological backlash. Born
with Venus in Gemini square the Moon in sensitive
Pisces, Imus has made a career out of exploiting
Gemini’s shadow side with ill-formed thoughts
and nasty wise cracks. When transiting Pluto
and Uranus recently aspected his natal Venus,
Imus went too far with an offensive on-air comment
that cost him his job. The days that followed
saw an outcry of satisfaction from people who
were sick to death of the ugliness pouring out
of their radios and televisions.
Imus’ defenders claimed he was the victim of
censorship, but it wasn’t the government that
silenced Imus. He wasn’t fired for questioning
the status quo, for provoking stimulating debate,
or for reporting unpopular truths. His sponsors
simply pulled their advertising dollars when
it became clear that Don Imus and his casual
racism and misogyny no longer represented the
collective voice; the dark moral of the
story is that for far too many years, they did
represent it.
As Pluto begins to loosen its headlock on Gemini,
we are slowly reclaiming our individual voices
and rediscovering the thrilling marketplace
of ideas. I’d be the last to rain on that parade.
If the dark years of Pluto in Sagittarius have
taught us anything, it’s that we need Gemini
– for who else will point out that the emperor
has no clothes? Who else will ask the questions
that are hanging in the air like ripe fruit
on a low branch, desperately waiting to be picked?
But at this full Moon in Sagittarius, we’re
reminded that long after Pluto has left the
sign of philosophy and big ideas, the collective
voice will continue to have the last word.
The Full Moon joining philosophical Jupiter
in its own sign reminds us that not all the
fruit on the loftier branches is dead or full
of worms. It’s healthy to follow Gemini’s
urge toward curiosity and questioning - but
it’s still just as important to heed Sagittarius’
need to form beliefs as it is to question
them. So at this Full Moon, let your Gemini/Sagittarian
self reach up a curious but steady hand, explore
all the fruits on the tree of life, and pluck
confidently from every branch.
Don Imus, b. July 23, 1940, 1:33 pm PST,
Riverside, California. Data from Astrodatabank.com.
