With the opening of Gemini season, we also step into the first decan of Gemini
When Jupiter and Mercury come together to be the decan rulers…*
I lived all my life in the Northern Hemisphere except brief visits to the southern parts of the world. In this regard, for me Gemini season symbolises the transition from spring to summer although always to be prepared for any hiccups in terms of weather especially now living in Edinburgh:))) The great experience of having rain, hail, sun, snow:))) (a bit of exaggeration doesn’t hurt!) and rainbow; all within a few hours…I believe that this goes very well with the mutable character of Gemini with the addition of trickster Mercury as the ruler. It is also a period when the colourful nature is completely transforming into different shades of green while different types of fruit are waiting for their individual ripening periods to arrive.
When Sun will be going through the first ten degrees of Gemini, Mercury will be in Gemini which means that Mercury in Gemini would be the dispositor in that 10 days period. As I am just talking about Mercury in Gemini, let me jump to the decan rulers of the first decan of Gemini. We will have Jupiter and Mercury as the decan rulers according to Chaldean/Descending order and Triplicity order respectively. So, the question is that how might Jupiter in Gemini and Mercury in Gemini feel? Jupiter is like a visiting team in Gemini as it is the traditional ruler of the opposite sign Sagittarius. However, for Mercury it’s just the feeling of being at home as Mercury rules Gemini.
I would like to quote from my Jupiter in Gemini blog piece I have written when Jupiter was getting ready for its journey in Gemini back in 2024: “There may be a lot of different expressions. We might go on a curious journey. We may find ourselves going down the rabbit hole but how far should we go, how much should we dig and what should we do with all that coming out of the rabbit hole? There can be a tendency to grow, expand our knowledge, to pass information around but what is the limit? I believe that to decide on that limit may be crucial. We may become more verbal in expressing our beliefs especially via social interactions. We can understand better how mental exchanges and stimulation mean for us or in a certain area of our lives. I also think that publishing or broadcasting might be significant on mundane level; more books, more podcasts, more interaction with our nearby communities to exchange our ideas, to gather information or to expand our knowledge…What if exaggeration or arrogance kick in?”
What about Mercury in Gemini? Quite sociable, chatterbox and interactive Mercury; who can catch up with you when you are in Gemini? Speedy and also very flexible meaning that ideas may change from one minute to another but there is a reason for that, right? Absolutely! We may always have different and better ideas which might leave the previous ones under shadow causing people to say ‘why changing mind all the time?’ The answer would be ‘why not?’ Being mentally very active could be an important trait and it might be observed in the way we talk, in the way we write…Curiosity and rational approach might keep our minds busy as well!
Let’s have a look at the minor arcana card associated with the first decan of Gemini, the 8 of Swords from RWS deck:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Swords08.jpg
When I look at this card a few questions come to my mind: “How do we reach the castle behind or is the castle (maybe a village) a real target? Are eight swords which look downwards possibly symbolising not very positive thoughts in any way a hindrance on our path to the castle or in any journey we might possibly take from that point onwards? Do we realise that our feet are not bound? And how tight or loose are the blindfold and the ropes around our arms?”
From where I sit and look, I may say that if we are not after quick and temporary solutions, instead if we would like to find ourselves in a promising permanent path supported by rational thinking (very much like the Lovers card associated with Gemini as below)
https://robertmplacetarot.com/the-alchemical-tarot-of-marseilles/ (The Lovers card from the Alchemical Tarot of Marseilles deck by Robert M. Place: one of my favourite decks)
then we may reconsider what we have in hand and what we can really do with them in the best way possible (like the Magician which is associated with Mercury) and we may also trust that things may always turn in our favour (like in the Wheel of Fortune associated with Jupiter) as this is life journey and anything can happen any time.
Coming back to the 8 of Swords card, sometimes either we overthink or we exaggerate for better or worse, and we may not be able to see things clearly anymore. Is it the reality or is it only in our heads? Maybe we are too much invested in a certain situation, more than necessary and this refrains us from seeing the bigger picture or the real picture! In a way, we blindfold ourselves with our own hands and minds. As we see on the card, actually none of the swords seem to be touching the person neither they are blocking her way. She may not be seeing (or maybe she has the capacity to peek through the blindfold) but she can walk since her feet are not bound. So, there may be ways to get out of that situation!
At this point, you may tell me that when you are not the one there, it might be easier to talk and make comments etc. However, I think that it’s another message for us from this card. When we are stuck in a certain mindset or focused on a subject deeply and we start struggling, we always have a chance to step out, let it rest or let it go for a while and even observe as a third party before we go back and look at things with more fresh eyes…We do have a choice…
Stay well,
Teri
by Teri Nudelman a.k.a. amethystastrotarot as in Hello from Amethyst! –
*Original article published on my Substack account on May 19, 2026.
With the opening of Gemini season, we also step into the first decan of Gemini