The wheel of the year changes again with the passing of the Sun from the sign of Taurus to Gemini. With this shift, the season of spring approaches its zenith - the new kingdom of the Sun promised at the previous winter solstice and first achieved at the spring equinox is now reaching the height of its power. We can all revel in the uplifted spirits and good fortune that this season brings. This transition occured on May 20th at 8:59 am eastern time.

In broad brush strokes, Gemini season is associated with sociability, charm, and intellectual dexterity, as well as deftness with the use of craft, tools, and language. Ruled by Mercury, God of reason, Gemini denotes a strong mind, as well as playful and sometimes amoral trickster qualities. As with all tricksters all mind-centric archetypes, there is a duplicitous quality to mercury which is all warm smiles and polish on the surface but contains a shadow side beneath the surface. From here, let's unpack origin of Gemini's symbolism, as well as the meaning for the Sun's passage this year.

Gemini is the final zodiacal period of spring, the season during which the light dominates the darkness, and the light is ascendant, getting stronger by the day. In Gemini season, we reach the apex of light’s ascendancy: we have been slowly watching the days lengthen and brighten day after day since capricorn season, and now they are about to reach their zenith. The Sun has achieved victory over darkness and winter, and the new kingdom established by its victory is on very firm ground.

On an agricultural and communal level, the movement of the Sun from Taurus into Gemini indicates that the time of slow and gentle cultivation during Taurus season has concluded. The new life of springtime has taken root; food, flowers, and foilage are in abundance everywhere. Now the new kingdom that we worked so hard to achieve can take care of itself. It’s not going anywhere.

Analyzed through this agricultural lens, it would seem like a kind of utopia has been achieved. The light of the Sun is on firm footing, and there’s no urgency or great work required on our part to keep it established. The power of darkness is nowhere to be found, and the decrease of daylight again is a long way’s away.

But like most utopias in mythology, there’s a shadow under the bright, chipper surface. The maintenence of this shining, glimmering facade requires that all the shadowy hidden elements are repressed and pushed into the background. Oftentimes, a great deal of conniving, scheming, and manipulation is required to maintain this cheery, absolutely perfect veneer. “There is no war in Ba Sing Se.”

Because the season of the year that Gemini aligns with carries so many positive connotations for growth and good fortune, Gemini carries significations of optimism, aggreeability, and sociability. It is also associated with mental dexterity, linguistic capacity, and craft, as this fecund, carefree time of year is most amenable to learning, integrating new skillsets and practicing new trades. In keeping with its duplicity, Gemini is associated with the deception and unseen shadow that accompanies any bright exterior.

This double-sided nature to Gemini makes it the one sign associated with the archetype of the Trickster. Fittingly enough, Gemini is ruled by the trickster of the heavens: Mercury, the god of reasoning, language, and travel. Gemini is Mercury’s yang, externalized, masculine expression - Gemini employs tools, technology, language, and all other products of the linear mind. Gemini verbalizes, communicates, and solves problems. In Gemini, we see Mercury as the clever, fast-talking, tool-using trickster god: as the gifted, clever child prodigy who stole Apollo’s lyre and killer of the hundred-eyed Argos; as the many-masked magician who creates worlds through the use of the word.

In keeping with its duplicitous quality and rulership by Mercury, God of the mind, Gemini was historically associated with tricksters - creative yet morally neutral figures who straddle the boundary between good and evil, wilderness and civilization, body and spirit. Loki, Coyote, Hermes, Thoth, and Mercury all use their noetic brilliance both to be creative and sometimes play tricks. They have an agreeable demeanor and disposition that makes people feel comfortable welcoming them into their home; they inevitably regret this decision, but the trickster provides some valuable lessons along the way.

When the Sun enters Gemini, the world is bathed in the same bright, cheery demeanor that saturates the heavens. Grace, ease, and efficacy abound. The mind relaxes, and can begin to learn, play, and explore in a way with a whimsy and levity that is only possible when the threat of darkness and impending shadow is so far off.

This an excellent time to begin picking up new crafts and skills, or engaging in any kind of learning with a carefree attitude that is not attached to results. Play and curious exploration for its own sake is the ideal - this is the season of levity, where we can revel in the new kingdom of the Sun and hold our responsibilities and duties more lightly. You’ll be surprised at just how much can be accomplished when you aren’t working in response to deadlines or feelings of responsibility.

Immersed in this kind of bright ideal, you may find yourself tempted to repress the shadow. Respite is not meant to be total avoidance - while this is the season to prioritize play and pleasure, and the other goods of utopia, we can’t completely shirk the more difficult callings of our lives. Continue with the the more unsavory, uncomfortable elements of your work and life’s responsibilities. Likewise, do not give up engaging in your own spiritual work; carry on in your examination and removal of vice for the sake of the cultivation of virtue. If you choose instead to repress and discontinue your integration of the Shadow, then in order to steer you back onto the path of righteousness, the Trickster God may visit you too.

Speaking of the trickster making unwanted visits to the wayward, Saturn in Pisces forms a superior square to the Sun during this period. Roadblocks and obstacles to achieving our desires are far more likely. Shadows will be very difficult to repress and keep under lock and key. Challenging circumstances will arise to trigger long-standing, deep-seated issues that we have been processing.

On the bright side, Venus and Mercury both form conjunctions to the Sun. This ensures that good relationships remain present during this period. Good communication and agreeable interactions with be easy to maintain, and you’ll find a lot of success coming your way from working on projects alongside other people.

Always rememer this season to follow your bliss while still honoring your shadow. The mistake of utopia is to attempt to completely squash all unsavory elements that don’t support the gleaming facade. The great irony is that in its utter repression of the shadow, utopia creates far more imbalances than would be present if it would just give that shadow its proper seat at the table. This is the trouble of gemini, and the great trap that many people with gemini placements fall into - where they think they are doing other people a favor by hiding their shadow, they actually just make things far worse, often imprisoning themselves in webs of deception spun with good intentions.

So this season, be resolved to honor your bliss and your shadow simultaneously. It goes without saying that you have many positive, altruistic components to your multi-dimensional psyche; but your shadow, unconscious components will do far more good to yourself and those around you if you incorporate them into your life as well. Be like the wise people of old who knew how to handle the trickster: while you may not let the tricksters inside your home, you do welcome them to the threshold, and allow them to provide you with their wisdom from the liminal place they naturally occupy. See how much wisdom your own inner trickster can give you when you give it its proper place.