The Sun enters Gemini II, The Hermaphrodite, on 30 May 2024 at 6:56 pm EDT. Austin Coppock named it this in his book 36 Faces, while T. Susan Chang calls it Angels and Demons. The Chaldean Order assigns this decan to Mars, while the mythic cycle of classical Alexandria gave it to Cybele — an ancient Phrygian deity who may be one of the oldest Mother Goddesses from Anatolia, if not from the entire Mediterranean world.
I've previously written about Gemini II in 2023, 2022, 2021, and 2020.
The middle decan of Gemini is called the Hermaphrodite, after a child of Hermes and Aphrodite, who bore the external and internal genitalia of both men and women in their own body.
According to one story of Hermaphrodite, found in Ovid, he was a remarkable beautiful young man of extraordinary gracefulness and easiness of manner. A naiad, or water-spirit named Salamis observed him bathing one day, and jumped into the pool to fondle the youth who was too young to understand or consent to these advances. She tried to have her way with him, either through rape or seduction; yet the boy resisted, and Salmacis cried aloud her wish — to be united with this boy forever. A passing god, hearing her prayer, solemnly knitted them into one being — and Hermaphrodite became a god in themselves, a god of the unified masculine and feminine. They blessed — or cursed? — the spring in such a way that anyone else who bathed there would be similarly transformed.
Other accounts suggest that Hermaphrodite was an androgynous figure from birth. Roman theologians attributed the birth of human hermaphrodites to the influence of Hermaphrodite and their father Hermes' influence. "Serious" scholars of natural history noted that hermaphroditic births were rare but regarded as significant omens of the future, while satirical authors made hermaphrodites into funny figures worthy of derision. Whether by alchemical change in a pool or divine birth, the Greeks and Romans depicted Hermaphrodite with both female breasts as well as penis and scrotum in naked depictions; I'm not aware of a statue that also shows a vagina — but it's possible. Despite Ovid's account connecting Hermaphrodite's origins to female-on-male sexual assault, this boy-girl deity was highly sensualized and sexualized in Roman fresco and statuary, and was considered to be the patron of marriage. Since they united in themselves both the masculine and feminine, their feast day (the fourth of every month) was considered highly auspicious for weddings in many community around the Roman Mediterranean.
And Hermaphrodite stood in contrast to another figure, far more terrifying to the ancient Romans — that of Magna Mater, the Great Mother Cybele. She had been carried into Rome in procession in the form of a Black Stone that was said to have fallen from heaven — and she was placed in the porch of the temple of Capitoline Jupiter in the heart of the city during the Second Punic War, and spiritually married to Jupiter as the principal god of the Romans, an extra consort to be recognized alongside Juno. Her high priestess and priestesses were not scions of Rome, either, but foreigners from Phrygia in what is now Turkey — and there is symbolic evidence that Cybele had been worshipped there in some form since at least 6000 BCE. Even more than the women priestesses wielding significant power in the cult of the Great Mother, though, were the strange and androgyne priests of Cybele — eunuchs all — who had voluntarily allowed themselves to be castrated in service to the Mother. The Roman Senate, with the same kind of shrill horror that some modern US senators reserve for anti-immigration screeds, forbade any Roman man from joining the cult of Cybele as anything other than an observer.
So, here, in miniature, echoing from twenty-two centuries before our own time, we find some of the same kinds of strange dismay and fear of foreign customs, alchemical-medical recreations of the mortal frame, and ancient powers that do not seem to belong to "the modern rational world" —and yet do. Public officials have no trouble vilifying transgender people, and comedians satirize them, and preachers sermonize about the way they warn us that dire changes are coming. And yet, the presence of transgender people in the world is unnecessarily sexualized, their romance is celebrated (both their actual relationship lives and the fantasies we spin about their lives), and their presence in a community is a remarkable signpost (and perhaps talisman) that points to tolerance, diversity, and healthy community norms.
And maybe we react with such a strange mix of hope, unease, joy, and concern around transgender persons today, for the same reasons the Romans did — they're proof that Mother Nature can bring forth a far vaster range of possibilities and potentials into the world, than our allegedly rational minds can understand. The Great Mother is truly greater, and more awe-inspiring, than we can conceive — and patriarchy has little choice but to bow down to her revelation.
Maybe that's one of the key messages of Gemini more generally, and of The Hermaphrodite specifically. We humans want to control a lot of things: the wind, Mother Nature, the structure of sex and gender, what are the acceptable desires of flesh and heart — and Cybele and Hermaphrodite both say, "Terribly sorry, but those are not in your power to rule."
The Dodeks of Gemini II are Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn — and they also tell this complex story of dualities turning into uncontrollable multiplicities. Libra indicates a balance between two — this exactly equals that. But Scorpio is the many-handed monster of desire, carrying both healing and poison in its stinger. Sagittarius is the human, the divine, the technical, the feral and animalistic, all wrapped up in a strange hybridized package. Capricorn is the fish caught in the moment of chan into a goat — a reminder that evolution is ongoing, for sure; but also suggesting the Egyptian crocodile, 250 million years old and counting, reminding us that there are forms of nature far more enduring and steady than ourselves.
Planetary Placements
The planets occupy a mix of signs above and below the horizon, making this a day chart with a striking range of nuance and guidance. However, with the exception of Pluto all the planets are Occidentall or western, which usually signifies a reactive, receptive or responsive season rather than one in which we are able to initiate or begin our own plans.
In the lower half of the chart, Pluto is in the fourth house. The Moon, Saturn, and Neptune are in the fifth house. Mars is in the sixth house. These are the realms of household and family, children and hobbies, and daily routines. Pluto suggests that financial issues for the household continue to bite, and concessions or cutbacks or austerities may be required on the Homefront. You can criticize the billionaires all you like, but the Netflix or Disney+ subscription will have to go so that the lights can stay on and the rent can be paid, and keep food in the pantry. If this means turning off Amazon Prime, too — think of the money that's saved, and the way you stick it to the ultra wealthy in bite-sized doses.
The Moon prepares to make her monthly conjunction with Saturn later tonight, and she's waning as she approaches the White Moon position of perigee where she's closest to Earth. This is currently in the Twenty-Seventh Mansion, The Lower Spout, a place of healing and increased harvests — but also to the destruction of wealth and finances. Is it better to cancel a few subscription services or to see your personal budget get shredded? Saturn advises you to live in a dark room and read by flashlight, but your kids probably feel differently than Saturn does — but that's why parents get paid big bucks, right? Right? Neptune promises that you're not going to make exactly the right decision, either way: either you lean too much toward austerity and haven't got enough to sustain you when the big wave crashes on shore; or you keep too much and risk losing more in the same wave. Find a sensible best fit here; no one can tell you if the wave is truly coming or not. Mars in the sixth house says you risk injury while doing something you genuinely love: take it easy on those yogic stretches; sharpen your knife and attend to your station and actions carefully while making your favorite Szechuan stirfry.
In the Seventh House of relationships, spouses, and business partners, Mercury and Uranus prepare for their conjunction on May 31, 2024 at 1:43 am EDT. The two are just below the horizon, so they represent the idea of seething, startling, rushed intentions not wholly bound to reality; and here they can represent the idea of your spouse or business partner racing out the door with a shouted, "I'm going on an adventure!" You might not even get that much notice. It may also come in the form of excitable, manic argument between concrete practical actions, and pie-in-the-sky potential... but it's worth noting that the fantasy may be more realistic than the reality. Don't knock the ideas before they've hatched. Do take time to sort out the plan before you execute it.
Above the horizon, the Sun, Venus and Jupiter are all crowded into the first half of Gemini, activating our current decan The Hermaphrodite and the previous one The Apple of Eden. All three are in the eighth house of responsibilities, duties, and odious tasks — there's a creative, political, and diplomatic effort that's required in order to sort out some challenging some circumstances, and the golden light of your soul's higher purpose will have to be shined in such a way that your hands may be employed aright — and you can achieve your purpose. But... just because it fulfills purpose, doesn't mean it will be fun. Be gracious, generous, creative and kind while tucking into a full helping of tediums; your work will not be easier, but even petty bureaucrats may be more sincere and kind this coming week.
The Lot of Fortune sits in the last decan of Leo at the top of the chart in the tenth house, supported by the Midheaven in the first decan of Virgo. Recognize that this week, you have the freedom to pursue the agenda of the people that you represent which your whole heart. As long as you do so organically and honestly, you will find you can get the job done, even if it's hard. But spend time to understand what the line is between pursuing the plan that everyone wants, against the plan that you yourself want. Be cautious about pushing that second agenda, the one that just serves you — that's not going to go well, at all.
Horoscopes by Rising Sign
Decan I of any sign (usually covering the 21st of the month to the first of the following month) is free to all visitors; Decan II is only available to Patreon and Ko-Fi.com subscribers; and Decan III is available to Patreon, Ko-Fi, and MailChimp subscribers.
Scorpio:
Sagittarius:
Capricorn:
Aquarius:
Pisces:
Aries:
Taurus:
Gemini:
Cancer:
Leo:
Virgo:
Libra:
Colophon
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I use iPhemeris for my charting software, and screenshot it to make charts. I want to thank the team that develops iPhemeris for the addition of Terms and Decans to their charts. I also use Hugh Tran's Physis typeface to craft logos for this blog, as well.
I use Christopher Warnock's The Mansions of the Moon as the basis of my Moon placement delineations, and Austin Coppock's 36 Faces for much of my planetary delineations. Neither gentleman endorses me.
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