When we are going toward someone we say
you are just like me
your thoughts are my brothers and sisters
word matches word
how easy to be together.
When we are leaving someone we say
how strange you are
we cannot communicate
we can never agree
how hard, hard and weary to be together.
–from “Simple-song” by Marge Piercy
The Sun has just entered Gemini. Our minds turn towards Gemini things… books, words, chatter, curiosity, whimsy, and evil twins. The Sun turns your attention to the Gemini house(s) of your chart, when it’s useful to pause and ponder which half of Piercy’s poem you’re experiencing this year. Are you going towards a world that seems easy and like-minded? Or does your world, your companions, your familiar routes seem weary and hard? If you’re living in the second stanza, this Gemini season may be especially important for you.
Gemini is your annual opportunity to update your world. You may know exactly what needs updating. If not, you can start with your language. Freshen up your vocabulary with a few new and enlivening words. Listen to somebody younger, older, or with a different color skin, and steal a new term; use it for at least a week. If you have a meditation practice, let your thoughts run a little before you go to silence. Are inspiring–or self-defeating–mantras are running through your mind? Take your journal to a coffee house and see where the pen or keyboard takes you. Feeling uninspired? Write a letter to an earlier version of yourself: the third grader you, the college freshman you, the night-before-getting-married you. Share something you recently discovered about yourself and what you hope to learn in the year to come.
Remind yourself of all the times that you were actively going toward life. Remember what you saw in your mate when your eyes were fresh and open? Remember how your workplace looked the first day you walked in? Are there any experiences evoking the same beginner’s mind in you today? Consult a dictionary of names and let your finger randomly fall on one of them, maybe “Barbara,” “Chester,” or “Maxie.” Promise the gods that you’ll meet somebody new this month with just that name, maybe at the grocery store, the museum, the library. But be on the lookout, for winged Mercury will make sure this person has a message for you.
With all the scandals and legitimate horrors, with everything moving at such inflated speed these days, my next piece of advice may seem strange. But especially if your world feels heavier this year, if you’ve lost your ability to communicate with your dear ones, this is the month to lighten your spirit. The secret to Gemini’s month is not to take your quest for knowledge too seriously. At least once this season abandon your obligations and honor your mischievous child. Let your gurus be the Cat in the Hat and Curious George. Pick one day, one afternoon, one morning, when your inner adult takes a snooze. Then follow that itchy little spirit within. This creates a vacuum into which Gemini’s magic can rush like a giddy wind.
And don’t forget your evil twin. Find a long-necked bottle. Let your evil twin whisper into it every shocking thing on his/her mind. Everything. Without any judgment from the “good you.” If your twin needs more than one bottle, that’s fine. Then fill your bottle(s) with water and drive to a wild place. While you dance in a wide dervish circle, sprinkle your evil twin’s water joyfully all over the ground. Be sure to laugh. Talk to whatever animal comes to watch as though it were your brother or sister.
This is also a great time to learn more about yourself astrologically. Check out my personalized Moonprints and Venus reports. Lots of great reading! And the subject couldn’t be lovelier… they’re all about you!
luke phillips says
Dear Dana G.,
As a poet, lI can say, “thank you for all the poetry
in your gemini essay.”
As a human being, I can say, ‘thanx for the
necessessarily mischievous wisdom in your message……I’ve totally
internalized it.”
My gift: I used to be a college/public radio dj, so I’m
a cultural recommender ——- get (if you’re not already there) the new
Cat Power cd “Cherokee’. This artist embodies the fearless, intuitive energy
that proves to be so redemptive & humanizing & fun.
Appreciatively, Luke Phillips >>
gravybisquit@yahoo.com 864/735-4512
Dana Gerhardt says
Thanks for the thanks! And I will check out Cat Power on iTunes.
Janeace says
What a delight this piece is – loved the idea of writing to an earlier version of myself – who will she be? AH HAH!- the evil twin whispering all the devilish unspokens into a bottle – you tickled her pink! All the twittering and hooting and howling that came up from that suggestion – seems I may need a whole case of bottles – to make her happy! I am thinking of the dance in the moonlight! Yaaaahooooo!
David says
Dear Dana,
THIS is exactly the column I have been looking for all day….With the full moon on the horizon, the 22 promising to be a hugely momentus day for so many……THIS column, heralding the arrival of Gemini, makes me laugh and smile all at the same time…Such a heavy time all this Taurus energy and all those planets in Taurus..
Now, to write, to speak and to sing. Delightful piece. Thank you so much.
David…with moon in Gemini
Dana Gerhardt says
Thanks David! I’m enjoying the shift into Gemini too.