Follow the Sun
The Archetype of Gemini
by Jef Bartow
From the purposeful determination and power to bring things to earth in Taurus, the archetype of Gemini frees us from our entrenchments through its airy adaptability, versatility, changeableness and vivacity (liveliness of spirit). Through Gemini, we become receptive and susceptible to higher influences of spiritual energies. The duality of Gemini brings us the recognition of our higher soul and potential spiritual Self.Mythologically, the twin brothers Castor and Pollux (i.e. Polydeuces) represent the duality of our higher and lower selves, our individuality and our personality. "Castor was famous for taming and managing horses, and Pollux for skill in boxing. They were united by the warmest affection and inseparable in all their enterprises." They became "patron deities of seamen and voyagers." To the Romans, their presence on the battlefield "secured for them victories against all odds.""Polydeuces was the immortal son of Zeus while Castor was the mortal son of King Tyndareos. At Polydeuces’ request the twins shared the divinity between them, living half the year beneath the earth with the dead, and the other half on Mount Olympus with the gods." Thus, the glyph of Gemini became the connected pillars which symbolize united duality. Also, the symbol of Gemini further represents the duality of the mind (or connected thinking), part illumined and the other restless and very mobile.Our articles are available for reproduction for all members. Please give credit to the author.
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Through Gemini, we embrace ideas for their own intrinsic value and long for mental stimulation. In its "spirit of contradiction," it also influences us to be critical, impatient, two-faced, undependable and indecisive. Stimulating some of our big dreams, we can be challenged for consistency and constancy and ultimately become a jack-of-all-trades and master of none. Constantly fluctuating between opposing views, it can lead us to vacillation and indecision, while remaining superficially detached from emotional or passionate involvement. Other negative expressions of this archetype include being somewhat glib, lacking empathy and any real understanding of feelings.Images provided by NASA
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Personality Conditioning
The archetype of Gemini represented by the dual mind uniquely influences us not only as we mature, but also as we pursue spiritual growth. Early on, its cheerful playfulness helps us seek new activities, new relationships and variety in life. It helps us avoid the mundane routine work which characterizes life for many adults. It provides us a predisposition to joy and enthusiasm, but also some restlessness in everything. It helps us learn and understand quickly with a great curiosity for everything new and different.It further positive influence stimulates a lack of prejudice and a broad-minded and anti-conventional orientation. It helps us develop our intellectual and communicative abilities and how to think quickly on our feet. It helps us develop the key word for Gemini in "adaptable intellect." Other positive characteristics include being friendly, witty, eloquent, versatile, and perceptive with a good sense of humor. As adults, Gemini helps us to remain "eternally youthful."
Impetus from the archetype of Gemini is aptly termed "vivid extension." This involves multiple extensions in concrete experience which first helps us build a personality and then soul infusion. The adaptability and changeableness of Gemini is critical in helping us develop a perceptive, logical objectivity and discrimination which are characteristics of our higher self. Through Gemini we also more easily develop intuitive perception, which is the first fundamental ability individualized in our higher spiritual Self. Further, the energy of Gemini expressed from its archetype helps us unfold the Wisdom aspect of our Egoic Lotus (our monadic Heart Centre). And highly critical to this success, it helps us maintain the ever needed adaptability and versatility to overcome the inherent obstacles and difficulties on the Spiritual Path.Living a Spiritual Life
Fittingly, Mercury as the ruler of Gemini mythologically helps us understand what living a spiritual life through the archetype of Gemini means. Mercury (i.e. Hermes) was the God who "most easily crossed the line between the living and the dead." This facilitated him to be later become known as the "messenger of the gods." But beyond just being a messenger, he also became the "enactor of Zeus's wishes." Ultimately, Hermes became "in the sacred science of the West, the symbol for Understanding, especially in relation to divine things."Until recently, those taking major solar Initiations in this earth sphere left physical plane embodiment in the middle of the process. The first example of a disciple surviving the crucifixion initiation is that of Lazarus being raised from the dead after three days and from then on becoming known as the disciple St. John. This meant that living a spiritual life of "conscious integration of soul and spirit" (Gemini archetype) took place beyond our material planes in one of the spiritual Retreats.With the help of the Gemini archetype, we now have the opportunity to unite our personality and soul with our higher Spirit within, while remaining in physical embodiment. Most all of the positive characteristics and virtues of Gemini facilitate breaking the growing momentum of crystallization in our bodies as we age. This helps us to not only survive the higher spiritual Initiations, but also to bring those spiritualized energies into physical expression. One powerful result of this is the opportunity is to also transmute even our physical karma before leaving this level of Matter.
Individuating the Self through Uniting with the Soul
The first three solar Initiations in spiritual growth encompass a process of becoming a Soul-infused personality. This is a preparatory step to beginning the process of individuating the spiritual Self. The archetype of Gemini is pivotal in this process. In spiritual growth, the united duality of the twin brothers described above becomes "resolving duality into a fluid synthesis." Only as we resolve the "pairs of opposites" within us can we fully express our soul character in life. Examples of the pairs of opposites include the masculine and feminine, good and evil, mental and emotional, the conscious and unconscious, etc., etc.
