Alexandre Cabanel , The Birth of Venus. 1863
Eros Transit through Gemini |
by Kim Falconer
“I took my lyre and said:
Come now, my heavenly tortoise shell: become
a speaking instrument of love.”
--SapphoEros enters the sign of GEMINI on June 21, 2006 and travels there until July 27, 2006. This period sees the square of asteroid 433 Eros to Circe on June 26th, the conjunction with Venus on June 30th, the conjunction with Prometheus on July 8th, the conjunction to Isis on July 10th, the opposition to Orpheus on July 13th, opposition to Medusa on July 21st and the near conjunction (5-10 degrees) to asteroid Lust all month! Check where these transits fall in your natal chart by house!
Gemini symbolizes the myriad aspects of comprehension and elucidation that help bring creative concepts to life. It is no mistake that the ancients made Gemini’s ruler, Mercury, the god of travel, protector of the roads. This god leads us through the familiar and not so familiar terrain with the aim of discovering new meaning and new significance. Dennis Elwell puts it like this:
“…Gemini stands for the ability to recognize relationships or likenesses. This is not the sign of the twins for nothing: without the basic mental faculty it denotes, we should look first at one twin, and then the other, without that spark of recognition jumping between. Therefore Gemini…is essential to our power of association, and our ability to find suitable metaphors for the unfamiliar. ‘What’s it like?’”
Gemini rules communication, travel, thinking, teaching and learning. It is the signification of conscious thought, perception and categorization. Its ruler, Mercury is an index not so much to intelligence, but to curiosity, theorizing, and perception. It is the part of the intellect that can make a relationship between what is known and what is yet to be discovered. It is the link to the unascertained.
When Eros dresses in this outfit, he seeks intimacy first through intellectual rapport and that usually means talking, telephoning, writing or emailing. The mere act of communication can stimulate this position of Eros into desires for deeper intimacy and union.
The first of the AIR signs, Eros in Gemini has a sense of mental objectivity and a distinct need for space. Although drawn irrefutably to the depths of intimacy by the nature of Eros itself, in this sign he may at times do more talking or reading about emotional closeness than going out and experiencing it.
Eros in Gemini uses knowledge as a lure, his mind as bait and his wit as reward. He also uses these intellectual instruments as a shield against the pain and suffering of the emotional world. The intimacy required by Eros is uncomfortable for Gemini, but not because it involves pain or change.
Change is vital to the archetype of Gemini and he can become bored quickly without it. Pain is something familiar too. The discomfort is more the fear of becoming dependent on an emotional intimacy that may be withdrawn or withheld.
In the story of the twins, Caster and Polyduces, the two were separated by death and that loss of connection, of communication with the beloved other, haunts the background of Gemini. The attraction to knowledge, the desire to know everything about everybody, partly stems from this fathomless fear of loss. Gemini also wriggles unhappily under the threat of emotional suffocation.
The need for space in this sign cannot be ignored without consequences. Playful, flirtatious and bubbling with curiosity, Gemini affiliates more with an Agape style of love than with the erotic. The pristine ideals of a detached love that sets the other free is much more appealing than the murky depths and emotional entanglements of Eros’ realm.
This is not to say that Eros in Gemini is incapable of erotic union. Eros here can turn his playful flirtations into the deepest of passion and intimacy, provided the doors and windows remain, metaphorically, open.
By examining the natal house(s) that contain the sign of Gemini, insight into this transit will arise. What area of life is waking up with a sense of interest, curiosity and thirst for knowledge of an intimate kind? This is the area of life, for the next 36 days, that will host feelings of enthusiasm, passion, creativity and desire. Gemini is a sign that loves to interact, and the house it rules represents the area of life where we need to learn, communicate, share, resource and talk, talk talk!
What natal planets are in aspect to Eros as he transits through Gemini? Conjunctions and oppositions will be the most potent, then the squares and softer angles, so look ahead to see when these will occur. What energies, needs and drives (as described by the natal planets), are being stimulated? How can you encourage full, exuberant and sociable creative expression?
The most beautiful sea
hasn't been crossed yet.
The most beautiful child
hasn't grown up yet.
Our most beautiful days
we haven't seen yet. --Nazim Hikmet
Those with natal, progressed or Draconic planets at CRITICAL degrees of the the Mutable Signs —4 &17—may notice the transit of Eros over theses points particularly as matters come to a head. (Comments and experiences on critical degrees welcome on the forum!)
Decanates
It may be mentioned that these influences (decanates) are real and actual in their natures, quite as much so as those of the signs.
--Alan Leo
The elements of the signs are divided into decans, or divisions of 10 degrees. There are several traditional ways to assign the decanates--the following being my favorite.
Here each sign is divided into three lots of 10 degrees, the first taking on the nature of the sign itself. The second decan takes on qualities of the next sign in its element and the third taking on the subsequent sign of its element. The sub-rulers, and their aspects to other planets and the original sign ruler, are always important to consider.
0 to 9 59 Gemini:
The first decan of Gemini is powered by pure Mercury energy--Curious, restless, thinking, flexible and adaptive. This decan gets bored easily and needs diverse stimulation to keep the interest up. Multi-tasking is essential.
10 to 19 59’Gemini:
The second decan combines Venus' sensuality and social grace with the flexibility and curiosity of Gemini. It wants to play and share! Banal routine is the nemeses so lots of interactions-intimate and artistic-will be vitalizing. Needs to partner.
20 to 29 59' Gemini:
Eros & Circe
34 Circe, pronounce "KIR-kee, is a "C" class "main belt asteroid (orbiting between Mars and Jupiter).Circe was discovered on April 6, 1855 by J. Chacornac of Paris. It takes approximately nine years for her to complete a return.On June 26th, asteroid Eros will square Circe at 4 degrees of Gemini.
Circe was an enchantress, a Witch of great power. The daughter of Helios (the Sun-consciousness) and Perse (the daughter of Okeanos-unconscious waters), she is celebrated for her knowledge of magic and the use of herbs to heal and to transform.
Circe lived on a beautiful island, Aiaia ,where she waited for lost sailors to come to her for help. Sometimes she helped them, and sometimes she gave them drugs before serving THEM for dinner! Remember what happened to Glaucus when he asked Circe for a love potion to turn Scylla's head?
Unfortunately perhaps, Circe fell for Glaucus and in a fit of jealousy she poisoned Scylla's bathing pool. When Scylla waded into the water, the submerged half of her body was transformed into a combination of fish joined with six ferocious dogs' heads sprouting from around her waist. The dogs attacked and devoured anyone who came near and Scylla fled to a distant shore to live there alone, forever. Glaucus was mortified and fled both women!
Circe did experience love and erotic transformation with Odysseus, at least for a time. When Odysseus and his crew stumbled onto her island they quickly searched for food and water. They found Circe instead. As the men walked from the beach they could hear sweet singing from Circe’s home in a forest glen. Wild animals came, wagging their tails, to greet the strangers. The men were charmed by her beauty and drank the potions she offered. As Circe’s drugs took effect, the men transformed into pigs. Circe herded them into pens and threw food on the ground before them.
The sole survivor, Eurylochos, escaped back to Odysseus and urged that they set sail immediately. He described the beautiful Circe and the awful things she did. Odysseus would not leave and went to Circe’s home alone.
Along the way, Odysseus met Hermes in the guise of a young man. This "young man" gave Odysseus a plant called ’moly’ saying that it would "protect" him from the witch's potions.
Circe welcomed him as another victim and gave him her drugs but the Moly negated the effects. When Circe thought the drugs were working, she struck Odysseus with her wand. Odysseus drew his sword and sprang upon her and the astonished Circe surrendered. She released the twenty two pig-men and ceremoniously anointed them with another one of her potions. The men were restored to their original forms but they were taller and more handsome than before they had been "enswined".
Yet Odysseus stayed on the island of Aiaia for quite some time in the sweet and sensual embrace of Circe. They were lovers for years--long enough for Circe to have at least two children, Agrios and Latinos. (Theogony, 1010).
Circe has a rather strange relationship to love. She certainly likes to be in 'control' with her potions and her annihilation/mutilation of rivals. Her love spells were irresistible, however. And now, with Eros, how passionate will be her desires? Ten fold? A thousand fold? Perhaps instead of transforming others, it will be Circe herself, our magical power to create change, that will be altered. Pay special attention to any planets or points at the CRITICAL DEGREE of 4 in the MUTABLE signs. It is sector of the chart that will be most effected.
Those interested in exploring this further, please visit the forum!
Venus & Eros
These two bodies conjunct again as they did in December 2005 in Aqyarius. Now they meet at 7 degrees of Gemini on the 30th of June.
Venus is a symbol of the power of values and attraction and when it is touching Eros those powers can ignite into the manifestation of just what we want. The interesting thing to note, when this happens, is the response to that manifestation. Sometimes what we want fails to sustain or fascinate us once it is obtained. If contacting a personal planet or house cusp, these transits can help clarify cravings and bring to consciousness the nature of their value.
It is also possible, under this Venus/Eros conjunction, to discover that the conscious desires and the unconscious ones are not identical. As the saying goes, if we are advertising for poets and keeps getting truck drivers, we best check the ad. This can be a good time to get in touch with personal values we hold aesthetically important. If no contradictory transits are in place at the at the same time, it can also have a festive feel encouraging celebration and socializing. If it is linked with other indicators and conjunct an angle, node or vertex, it can mark the beginnings of a new intimate relationship.
Those interested in exploring this further, please visit the forum!
Isis& Eros
Praise IsIs . . . whose mighty wings bring breath
Honor Her . . . with the gift of attention
Celebrate IsIs . . . with your life and spirit
Remember Her . . . In all things
Draw IsIs . . . into the world with each breath
Call Her . . . in song and flourish
~ Hail IsIs Eternal Queen ~Eros and Isis will conjunct on July 9-10th at 15 degrees of Gemini.
The union of these two deities may bring powerful results both internal and external. Here we have two divine aspects of love and magic. The daughter of Geb, sister to Osiris and Seth, Isis is the embodiment of love and the power of nature.
Osiris was the consort to queen Isis. When his jealous brother Seth slew the him and dropped his body into the Nile, Isis made love to her resurrected husband and gave birth to Horus. The themes around Osiris and Isis are those of death, resurrection and love, not unlike Dionysus and Christ and the Magdalene.
With Eros in conjunction to Isis, there can be a reunion with 'divine love', a feeling of any of the thematic images of Osiris and Isis: love, union, separation, dismemberment, longing, searching, and creative outcomes (Horus).
If you have a personal planet or points between 12 and 19 Gemini, this is a time to be alert to messages from the 'underworld' (unconscious) and from the great mystery of nature. What are you searching for? What if you find it? Consider what may happen if you are touched by the ‘great magic’ of these two deities. How will you respond?
Those interested in exploring this further, please visit the forum!
Orpheus & Eros
G. Kratzenstein-sub, Orpheus & Eurydice.
3361 Orpheus will be opposite Eros on the 13th of July at 18 degrees of Gemini. Consider now what was activated at the conjunction in early January this year at 9 Aquarius.
Asteroid 3361 Orpheus is an earth-crosser, meaning it orbits between Venus and Jupiter, crossing the orbital path of earth. It takes 1.33 years to complete a revolution around the sun.
The mythology of Orpheus is striking, especially when we understand the intensity of love that compels and transforms him, and his connection to Sappho. The story is about the ascension of consciousness after an experience of love, death, transformation and death yet again. Orpheus is transformed! He can animate the earth, trees and animals that hear his songs. This means, “in the reverse symbolism of myths, that he seeks and achieves union with the outer realms of Nature and the Cosmos; that he moves from the particular and the self-centered to the universal.” (Thanasis Maskaleris, Narcissus and Orpheus)
Orpheus, given a Lyre and taught to play by Apollo, was the greatest musician of his time, perhaps of all times. According to the Ancient Greeks, his music and his singing voice would calm wild beasts. It saved the Argonauts form the deadly lure of the Sirens, and even evoked trees and rocks to uproot and dance.
Some say that Orpheus preferred ‘youths’in his intimate encounters but he fell in love with and married Eurydice. At his wedding the couple were blessed but the oracle was not optimistic. Shortly after the ceremony, the shepherd Aristaeus was taken by the beauty of Eurydice and pursued her. She fled through a meadow and was bitten by a snake. It killed her instantly.
Orpheus greave long, desperately and deep, so much so that he decided to go down into the underworld and retrieve her. He used his songs to charm Cerberus, guardian of the threshold, and persuade Hades to let her return to the land of the living with him.
Hades agreed but there was one stipulation. Eurydice was to follow him out of the underworld and he was not to look back at her until they cleared the entrance and gained the light of day. Sadly, he looked back just before they were free and he lost her all over again.
Virgil writes in the first century AD:
Orpheus,” (Eurydice cries out), “what ruin hath thy frenzy wrought
On me, alas! and thee? Lo! once again
The unpitying fates recall me, and dark sleep
Closes my swimming eyes. And now farewell:
Girt with enormous night I am borne away,
Outstretching toward thee, thine, alas! no more,
These helpless hands.’ She spake, and suddenly,
Like smoke dissolving into empty air,
Passed and was sundered from his sight; nor him
Clutching vain shadows, yearning sore to speak,
Thenceforth beheld she, nor no second time
Hell's boatman brooks he pass the watery bar. (Verg.G. 4: 494)Now falling into an even deeper grief, he becomes a seer and a healer as well as a musician. He adds to his bardic tradition the skills or the oracle (not unlike Chiron). His mourning was so profound that he was eventually dismembered by Maenads to silence his grief. His limbs were strewn everywhere and his head and Lyre float down river and into the sea. Eventually, his head lands on the island of Lesbos where the magic of his voice and music is passed on, eventually, to Sappho. His Lyre is set amongst the stars as a constellation.
We can ask, why did he look back? Why didn’t he trust that Eurydice was there, even if he couldn’t see her or hear the sounds of her footfalls? How could he ‘forget’ the mandate of Hades?
As Thanasis Maskaleris points out, what matters more is the experience Orpheus has, and the resultant transformation—his knowledge of the dark realm, his second loss of his beloved and how these encounters, more bitter than sweet, change his soul. He ascends to become more than he was before, as musician and seer, and finally as healer.
Some say that when he died, he was then reunited with Eurydice where he played for her endlessly in the underworld.
With Orpheus opposite Eros, especially for those who have planets or points around 18 degrees of the mutable signs, the experience may coincide with an recognized transformation. What house this occupies my advise as to the area of life that provokes the change and the people that may participate.
Herbert Marcuse writes about mythic and psychological considerations of Eros and Orpheus saying, “The images of Orpheus . . . reconcile Eros (love) and Thanatos (death). They recall the experience of a world that is not to be mastered and controlled but to be liberated-- a freedom that will release the powers of Eros now bound in the repressed and petrified forms of man and nature. These powers are conceived not as destruction but as peace, not as terror but as beauty… the Orphic Eros transforms being: he masters cruelty and death through liberation. His language is song, and his work is play.” Herbert Marcuse, “Eros and Civilization” Chapter 8.
Those interested in exploring this further, please visit the forum!
Medusa, Eros & the Sacred Feminine
Medusa and Eros oppose each other at 25 degrees of Gemini-Sagittarius 26'on the 21th of July.Who is Medusa and what does it mean to have Eros in aspect to her?
Asteroid 149 Medusa is a "Main Belt" asteroid, taking 3.21 years to orbit the sun. She is a tiny body, only 19km in diameter yet her symbolic impact may be anything but small. Those with planets or points at 22-29 degrees of the MUTABLE signs or on the ZERO DEGREE ARIES POINT may get some real insights into the depths of their unconscious through the rich imagery of Medusa.
Medusa, which means “cunning one” was the mortal sister to Stheno “strong” and Euryale “wide roaming”. All were daughters of the sea titans Porcys and Ceto. Medusa was the youngest of the girls, extremely wise and most beautiful—she had particularly striking hair. Men found her enchanting and came to ask her 'favor' but she was devoted to her service as priestess to Athena and ignored them.
One who would not be ignored was Poseidon, god of the sea and rival to Athena for the domain of Athens. He raped Medusa (some versions say she was willing) in Athena’s temple and for the offence, Athena punishes the girl. She transformed her, and her sisters, into beasts with dragon wings, scaly skin and snakes for hair. Whoever looked upon these gorgons was instantly turned to stone.
The young man Perseus, with the help of Mercury, Pluto and Athena, slew Medusa by severing her head. He avoided looking at her directly by using Athena’s shield as a mirror to see the sleeping gorgon without being turned to stone.
From the blood of Medusa was born the magnificent winged horse, Pegasus and from her severed neck came the giant, Khrysaor. Paradoxically, her blood held both venomous and healing powers. Medusa’s head was eventually placed on Athena’s shield where it continued to turn men into stone if they glanced upon it. Medusa became a symbol not for devotion and beauty but for fear, hatred and onslaught.
This myth says something very profound about the sacred feminine. Certainly, Medusa embodies the outrage of subjugated women over millenniums of time. She is raped, angry and poisonous with a stare fixed of rage. Any man who sees the "gorgon" in a woman is instantly turned to stone (petrified--immobilized). Barrett L. Dorko, P.T. writes in his paper, Perseus' Shield:
"The meaning of the Medusa myth is clear. To directly face an event that is full of fear and powerful emotion is most likely to produce the immobility, the "turning to stone" that the trauma originally created. Better to approach the memory obliquely, symbolically, gently and with our "shield" of understanding held high."
Jung speaks of the symbolism of the mirror as the capacity to "see" aspects of the unconscious that otherwise would render us immobile.
Only through the unconscious can such a view (which often shocks and upsets the conscious mind) be obtained--just as in the Greek myth of the Gorgon Medusa, whose look turned men to stone, could be gazed upon only in a mirror."
Laurens de Vos takes another view of the decapitation of Medusa in his paper To See or not to See. The ambiguity of Medusa in relation to Mulisch's The Procedure
“The young man finds Medusa on his way to virility. The threatening image of the snake woman is a metaphor of the mother figure. The growing child has to cope with and eventually to emancipate from his mother's gaze. The separation from the mother leads to the boy's independence and to the liberation of his sexuality. The decapitation of the Medusa can then be seen as the cutting of the umbilical cord. The mythological story hardly casts any doubt on this interpretation. Only after he has slain off Medusa's head, Perseus is capable of liberating Andromeda from her chains to marry her."
Alicia Le Van in her paper on Women in Antiquity reminds us that Athena has roots in the Libyan Amazon Serpent-Goddess-Trinity. In pre-Hellenic myths Athena was said to have come from the uterus of Lake Tritonis, (meaning Three Queens), the same place that Medusa is said to have ruled, hunted and led troops in Athenian myth. The older myths are more specific, they say that Athene was born of the Three Queens of Libya themselves, the Triple Goddess, with Metis-Medusa as her destroyer aspect.
Although Athena's image is altered and "civilized" by the Greeks and their patriarchal rule, in art she is consistently associated with snakes as they appear on her shoulders and on her armor, along with Medusa's face as the central image. Le Van suggests the the entire Medusa myth was used to explain the appearance of Medusa's head on Athene's shield and that the decapitation of the gorgon is in essence the truncation of the sacred feminine.
"The Perseus myth was invented to explain the appearance of Gorgon Medusa's face, or mask, on Athena's shield and aegis, the image of Athena that was inherited from the pre-Hellenic period."
She also states that the demise of outraged Medusa is the definitive subjugation of women:
"The mythological beheading of Medusa symbolizes the ultimate silencing of female wisdom and expression. It is the act which stops her growth, limits her potential movement and cultural contributions. She is obliterated and her severed head is flaunted on the Acropolis and other works of art in pride of her and all women's subjugation by violent men. She is broken and her body enslaved. Her spirit, her mind, her spiritual powers are killed. Her once honored forces of female creativity and destruction are halted. Her role as dynamic mediatrix degraded. Her life-giving, death-wielding powers and wild forces of nature are controlled, tamed, and mastered by the male order. The cycles of life and nature are made to conform to his linear perspective."
Le Van also links Medusa's blood to menstruation.
"The snakes, her dreaded face, her look of stone, and her magical blood all correlate with the ancient menstrual taboo. Primitive folk believed that the look of a menstruating woman could turn a man to stone. Menstrual blood was also thought to be the source of all mortal life and also of death, as the two are inseparable."
In yet another approach to Medusa, Maureen B. Roberts, PhD states in her exploration Embracing the Fragmented Self: Shamanic Explorations of the Sacred in Schizophrenia & Soul Loss:
"As a second parameter in the assessment of the overriding effect of pathology, placing woundedness in its mythic context, it's worth bearing in mind, for instance, that Osiris and Dionysus were dismembered, that Psyche had to journey to the Underworld, that Prometheus had his liver repeatedly torn out by Zeus's eagle, and that Medusa was beheaded. As well, in terms of the psyche's ultimate goal of attaining wholeness, centredness and integration, fragmentation is a blow to the hubris of the stable ego, which must relinquish its sense of a fixed identity and must eventually step aside in order to allow the paradoxical Self to displace it as the centre of consciousness."
With such rich imagery and connotation in mind, what might it portend, the opposition of Eros and Medusa?
Medusa is no stranger to erotic relationship. She surfaces with her extreme counter-part, the "Ice Man" where she expresses severe rage against the cold wall of rational detachment. Read this wonderful and humorous summary, adapted from Liz Greene and Stephen Arroyo's lectures on "The Ice-man and the Medusa" at Dr. Z's site. Click here for "Getting a Clue"
It is possible that Eros may bring love to Medusa's outraged heart. It is also possible that Medusa will extricate Eros from a trapped or contained situation, bringing previously repressed material up from the depths of the unconscious. Where the Sacred feminine is repressed, love (Eros) cannot flourish. It may be the outrage of MEDUSA that blows open areas in our life where patriarchal ignorance (to ignore!) by both men and women has run rampant.
Eros had the power to touch the gods and mortals, monsters and daemons alike. Note where 25-26 degrees of GEMINI falls in your natal chart and feel free to comment on any insights or revelations in the forum!
Date | Eros 20 Jun 2006 29 ta 26 21 Jun 2006 0 ge 14 22 Jun 2006 1 ge 2 23 Jun 2006 1 ge 50 24 Jun 2006 2 ge 39 25 Jun 2006 3 ge 28 26 Jun 2006 4 ge 16 27 Jun 2006 5 ge 5 28 Jun 2006 5 ge 54 29 Jun 2006 6 ge 43 30 Jun 2006 7 ge 33 01 Jul 2006 8 ge 22 02 Jul 2006 9 ge 12 03 Jul 2006 10 ge 1 04 Jul 2006 10 ge 51 05 Jul 2006 11 ge 41 06 Jul 2006 12 ge 31 07 Jul 2006 13 ge 21 08 Jul 2006 14 ge 11 09 Jul 2006 15 ge 1 10 Jul 2006 15 ge 52 11 Jul 2006 16 ge 42 12 Jul 2006 17 ge 33 13 Jul 2006 18 ge 24 14 Jul 2006 19 ge 15 15 Jul 2006 20 ge 6 16 Jul 2006 20 ge 57 17 Jul 2006 21 ge 48 18 Jul 2006 22 ge 40 19 Jul 2006 23 ge 31 20 Jul 2006 24 ge 23 21 Jul 2006 25 ge 15 22 Jul 2006 26 ge 6 23 Jul 2006 26 ge 58 24 Jul 2006 27 ge 50 25 Jul 2006 28 ge 43 26 Jul 2006 29 ge 35 27 Jul 2006 0 cn 27
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© Copyright
2006 Kim
Falconer
Gemini
