Signs: Mutable Cross—Gemini

I recognise my other self and, in the waning of that self, I grow and glow

Experience as a mirror of relation to the self: fluidity leading to polarity

Gemini: esoteric meaning

Gemini holds a special place in the esoteric scheme as a sign (expressing Ray Two, as does the Sun of our solar system) because it has a connection with all other signs (see EA 348).

Details to follow.

Gemini: rulers

• Orthodox: Mercury
• Esoteric: Venus
• Hierarchical: Earth

Orthodox: Mercury ⇧

Details to follow for Mercury as orthodox ruler.

Esoteric: Venus ⇧

Details to follow of Venus as esoteric ruler.

Hierarchical: Earth ⇧

Details to follow of Earth as hierarchical ruler.

Decanates

See the notes about the inconsistency of decanates as given in Esoteric Astrology. For comparison, Stephen Pugh’s decanate rulers are listed alongside the current orthodox rulers and those given in the book.

Esoteric/developmental: conscious development (annual signs from Aries via Taurus to Pisces)

0-9°: Sun A: Gemini, bringing the influence of Ray 2 throughout the zodiac: synthesis of soul and form, later integration of spirit and soul (EA 365); the Sun and Mercury are seen as merged at later stages

10-19°: Mars E: Libra, echoes connection with the Aries, as well as and hierarchical ruler of complementary sign Sagittarius

20-29°: Jupiter F: Aquarius, Jupiter as the esoteric ruler of Aquarius, encouraging synthesis and the “fusion of heart and mind” (EA 139)

Exoteric/experiential: humanity in general (precession from Aries via Pisces to Taurus)

29-20°: Saturn G: Aquarius, an opportunity to bring about the “reversal of the wheel” after periods of life experience, and enter into conscious development

19-10°: Venus D: Libra, “relates certain pairs of opposites” (EA 356), highlights “the conflict between desire and spiritual will” anchored in the “planetary astral plane” (EA 361), with the scientific mind of Ray 5

9-0°: Mercury C: Gemini, instability and fluid versatility, later an analytical understanding of social situations

• Orthodox: Mercury, Venus, Saturn/Uranus (Gemini, Libra, Aquarius)
• EAst e/o: Sun, Mars, Jupiter / Saturn, Venus, Mercury
• Pugh e/o: Saturn, Venus, Mercury / Mercury, Venus, Saturn (swapped?)

In considering the decanates of Gemini, it is important to note that “Gemini and its inherent second ray influence… control every one of the pairs of opposites” (EA 346), and that this affects the roles of its decanates. The esoteric decanates as given seem reversed, as Mercury and the Sun are seen as merged at later stages of development, and Jupiter is the esoteric ruler of Aquuarius, so would rule the final esoteric decanate.

Esoteric

“Jupiter, Mars and the Sun” are given as “the esoteric rulers of the [decanates] upon the wheel of discipleship”. However, examining these decanates via the air signs: Jupiter echoes the importance of Gemini to the influence of Ray 2 as well as being the esoteric ruler of the final Aquarius decanate, Mars relates to the Libra decanate through its complementary sign Aries, but is also the hierarchical ruler of Gemini’s complementary Sagittarius, and the Sun would seem to be merged with Mercury (as in the first decanate of Virgo)—so these are not the “esoteric rulers of the sign upon the wheel of discipleship”, as stated in Esoteric Astrology.

Exoteric

“Mercury, Venus and Saturn… govern the wheel of ordinary life”—these would be reversed for backwards progression around the zodiac, with Saturn on Ray 3 echoing the ray of the Earth as Hierarchical ruler, giving Earth or Saturn (Ray 3 being the “field of experience”), Venus and Mercury, reflecting the esoteric rulerships with “Saturn offering at a certain fairly advanced stage the opposition needed to bring about a basic revolution”—in other words, the “reversal of the wheel” back to the forward progression through the signs. Mercury: “fluid versatility; in the later … stages … an equally fluid but analytical understanding of [people] and of circumstances”. (EA 367)

In connection with the decanates and their rulers, it is interesting to find that Sepharial and Alan Leo give entirely different ruling planets, and yet both are right. Uniquely for him, Sepharial gives the three planets of Jupiter, Mars and the Sun, and thus indicates those which are the esoteric rulers of the sign upon the wheel of discipleship. Usually his choice is exoteric and not esoteric. Leo, in this case, gives Mercury, Venus and Saturn, and these three govern the wheel of ordinary life. Between them, they cover the wheel as it turns in both directions. …note how two … governing planets of the decanates in the case of the ordinary wheel serve to enhance the planetary rulers of the sign, Gemini with Saturn offering at a certain fairly advanced stage the opposition needed to bring about a basic revolution. Note this phrasing. (EA 369)