Gemini I
The Eight of Swords/Decan 7 of 36/ May 20-May 31
Jupiter stretches the boundaries of Mercury’s Home
Gemini I: 20 May - 31 May 0°00’ - 09°59’ Gemini
Snakes have been simultaneously despised and revered across cultures and time. Ophidiophobia, the phobia of serpents, is one of the most commonly shared fears humans have. Chances are, you have a little dose of it yourself. There is a theory that our primitive brains developed a more evolved visual sense so that we’d being able to detect snakes in our environment. The ability to sense a serpent-like-shape requires hyper attentive awareness. The fear of being bitten or killed by a snake caused our primate brains to overdevelop our visual senses compare to the rest of our sentience. TLDR: Snakes bring us vision. They help us see what could be as well as what is. Whether it came from fear or reverence, snakes invite us to ssssssssssee.
Snakes were especially considered symbols of wisdom in Ancient Greece. Highlighted in the Temples of Asclepius, a god of medicine, the “Asclepieion” temples were places of healing, both physically and spiritually. The image of a serpent & staff is still used to suggest medicine/healing today and most likely comes from these healing temples.1 About half of all adults report having dreams with snakes. If you were visiting the Asclepieion in ancient times, a serpent in your dreams would be considered a direct visits from Asclepius himself. The dreamtime + snakes = wisdom through revelation.
Serpents, darkness, the unknown, secrets, the dream…enter: the Moon.
The Vedic story of the Naga Vasuki, a serpent who agitated the waters around Mount Mandara to disrupt the amrita, or elixir of life, is the telling of the origins of Rahu & Ketu (the vedic names of the lunar nodes)
“In the sacred sciences of Tantra and Jyotisha, Rahu and Ketu are not merely shadow planets — they are born of Naga Tattva, the subtle serpent principle that governs the unseen realms of karma, memory, and transformation.” -Chidakasha Bhairava
Vasuki being used to churn the ocean during Samudra Manthana
The movement of the Moon in the sky slithers a serpentine path; the dark and transformative lunar journey includes secrets and revelations. The Moon collects all knowledge from the sky each month, from every planet and translates it to us. How fortunate! Knowledge of these secrets that the moon shares can become wisdom. Understanding the transformative secrets of the universe is what separates us, even just in glimpses, from our old selves. There’s a bit of exile of our past truths that are required in the process of growth, but isn’t that what this whole thing is about?
Are the gods playing hide-and-go-seek with themselves through us? Do the glimpses of truth give us a peek at what the god(s) see?
Jupiter, a holy deity and divine planet is one that drives us toward truth. Gemini I is the first of Mercury’s home during this decan walk but its story is being told by an exiled host: Jupiter. This is the first time that Jupiter has made an appearance in this walk. This is the 7th decan since we began on the Spring Equinox and the final planet (of the traditional/visible planets). Jupiter is far away from home in Gemini, but that disruption of the comforts of home make our senses heighten. Our eyes are open to snakes/secrets when we are in a new place. Just like it seems to take forever when you travel to a place for the first time, your consciousness is alerting you to EVERYTHING. Each time you retrace old steps, you see less and less because you assume what was there before hasn’t changed. You can’t ever walk the same road twice, though amirite?
Even though Jupiter isn’t at home, Jupiter exalts in the home of the Moon. We’ve had the blessing of Jupiter in the Moon’s home for the past year. But we haven’t experienced a Gemini I + Jupiter in Cancer during this cycle yet. We’re about to experience it. The lunar influence of Jupiter is not to be ignored. The playful slithering of Mercury, circulating around the truths that Jupiter seeks to understand is what we are here to listen for during this decan. Jupiter is able to tell its stories with the memory, transformation, karma and intelligence of the Moon and bestow it to us in ways to help us see.
I know I usually talk about the transits later, and I do bring up some more things, but I wanted to pump the Jupiter insulin a bit earlier on.
Gemini I:
Tarot card: Eight of Swords
Gemini I
Planetary Ruler: Mercury
Decan Ruler: Jupiter
Remember: Decans are a 10 day “week” and at some point during that decan/week if you take the time to honor the things you’re noticing, that is all that is asked of you. Stay calm and keep walking.
Gemini I is witty, knowing, unnerved, philosophical, tempermental
Austin Coppock names it “The Apple of Eden”
The Golden Dawn titled it “Interference”
Teucer of Babylon writes “The married man will not be lucky, will not be friendly and he will be grieved over children.”
The Wheel (Jupiter) & The Lovers (Gemini)
Decan Transit:
Jupiter will be in Cancer, its sign of exaltation, during the entirety of the Sun moving through this decan. Jupiter has been traveling in Cancer for a year and will be leaving this exalted place on 30 June. Jupiter’s story has been amplified through Cancer but also through the 5 decans that it rules (Gemini I, Leo II, Libra III, Capricorn I & Pisces II) During the Pisces & Capricorn decans this year, Jupiter was retrograde and in 2025, during Gemini I decan, transiting Jupiter was in Gemini. But during 2025 Leo II decan, while Jupiter was the decan ruler for the Sun’s transit, traveling Jupiter was in the best condition: direct, fast and being conjoined by Venus. For this current decan, we get a Jupiter with similar condition. At the moment the Sun enters into Gemini I, Jupiter will be exalted in Cancer and copresent with the Moon and Venus. Similar to last August’s benefic conjunction in Cancer, we will get to see some positive similarities as the two benefics come closer together during this Jupiter story.
Besides the benefic co-presence, Jupiter will share antiscia with Mercury the first day of Gemini I and then a few whole sign aspects to the malefics. Mars, in Taurus, will sextile Jupiter by whole sign (more than 20° apart) and squared by Saturn in Aries (11° apart). The Virgo Moon will sextile Jupiter on 24 May, Libra moon will square Jupiter on 27 May & the Scorpio Moon will trine Jupiter on 29 May. Finally the Sun will share antiscia with Jupiter on 28 May.
NOTE: Of course the Lightning Bolt in the room is Uranus transiting this decan while the Sun is here. At the Sun’s ingress into Gemini, Mercury & Uranus will be present in this first decan. The Sun & Uranus will be conjunct on 22 May while Mercury is in the adjacent decan. Let’s let Uranus liberate us from our old ideas of ourselves.
Natal Chart Consideration:
In your own chart, look to see if you have any planets or points in 0°00' - 9°59’ Gemini. The Sun will be traveling through & activating these degrees. Also consider if you have your natal Jupiter in aspect to 0°00’ - 9°59’ Gemini: Jupiter in Sagittarius will oppose the Sun; Jupiter in Libra & Aquarius will trine the Sun; Jupiter in Virgo & Pisces will square the Sun; Jupiter in Aries & Leo will sextile the Sun.
Personal Work:
If you’re writing during this decan, here are some journal prompts for this generous moment in the decan story. Write these three prompts in succession:
Write down 15 things that are “true” about yourself. Or ask a few friends “What are things that you think you know about me?” Try on these truths and see if they still fit? Do they describe you today, or was it an older you? Have you shed some skin since those words rang true? Write it out or get ideas from close friends. Throw it in the group chat and say your astrologer is asking. xo
Next, write 15 things that are NOT true about you. Quickly, don’t overthink it, just write “I wear clown shoes.” or “I eat ostrich eggs in a martini glass” It doesn’t matter. Just shake it up and out. Let it be nonsense, let it be logical, just let it be false.
Now that the words are rattled, <breath three deep belly breaths> write 12 things that you want to be true for you: today, in the next season, the year, decade, lifetime etc… Write these down in a fluid single sitting. Return to these words each day for this decan (and all of Gemini for pure magic) and see if their resonance is clear as a bell with each re-read. Truth, even future truth, continues to ring.
For further connection to Jupiter, as the decan ruler, you can focus your practice on the Jupiter’s Day (Thursday) & Jupiter’s Hour. Two Thursdays, May 21st & May 28th are two Jupiter days during this decan but you can work within Jupiter’s hours on any day. Find the planetary hours for your location with this link: Planetary Hours Calculator Link
Bonus points for choosing Jupiter’s hour ON their day for a special honor. They like purple things, lapis lazuli, olives and tin.
Resources:
One of my favorite conversations with one of my favorite astrologers: Gemini with Emilie Litzell
As a part of this project, I’ve invited new writers to share their voice on a decan. To close out this post, I hope that you will check out Jeanine’s wisdom on Gemini I
Jeanine | Intuit Astro | Gemini I
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Thank you for constellating with me
End Credits:
Gemini I Natives
21 May Fats Waller (jazz pianist) 22 May Arthur Conan Doyle (author) 23 May Carl Linnaeus (botanist) 24 May Bob Dylan (songwriter) 25 May Igor Sikorsky (aviation pioneer) 26 May Miles Davis (jazz musician) 27 May Rachel Carson (scientist) 28 May Jim Thorpe (Olympic athelete) 29 May Tenzing Norgay (Mountaineer) 30 May Alexei Leonov (Cosmonaut) 31 May Walt Whitman (Poet)
The Rod of Asclepius is a single snake around a staff while the staff of Hermes (a caduceus) is a staff with two interlocking snakes.
“As conductor of the dead to their subterranean abode, his (Hermes) emblem would seem more appropriate on a hearse than on a physician’s car.”
— Stuart L. Tyson, “The Caduceus”, in the Scientific Monthly, 1932