Castor and Pollux




The Contellation of Gemini




An Alternative Symbol for Gemini


The Twins as Gemini

According to Greek and later Roman legend, Castor and Pollux were indeed the sons of Leda, but Castor was conceived with her husband King Tyndareus while Pollux was conceived with the great god Zeus, who had seduced her. Thus Castor was a mortal and Pollux immortal. Their heroic lives and exploits together were characterized in many famous tales, many of which vary in their details through history (such as rescuing their kidnapped sister, Helen of Troy). However, one constant seems to be the reason that they are always paired in the night sky.

As Castor lay dying, fatally wounded in one of their adventures, Pollux was at his side when Zeus offered to Pollux the choice of giving half of his immortality to Castor. Pollux, of course, accepted and in some myths they alternate their time between Mount Olympus and Hades and in other versions they are transformed into the constellation, together for eternity.

Today, the symbol for gemini looks almost identical to a roman numeral two, two vertical lines between two horizontal lines, above and below. However, in ancient Greece, it was originally drawn as just the two horizontal lines. As with all zodiac tattoo symbols, though, we can choose from the graphic astrological symbol or the more elaborate depictions of people and animals, which in the case of gemini is often a pair of male twins, although it's also not unusual to see a man and woman as well.

The astrological sign of Gemini begins when the sun enters the ecliptic, around May 21st and it ends when the sun exits, around June 21st, at the summer equinox or solstice, the longest day of the year. In astrology, the sign of Gemini, along with Libra and Aquarius (two other symbols with roughly horizontal lines), is considered an air element sign. With Mercury as its ruling plane, Gemini is also a sign that can stand for the ability to change and adaptability to whatever circumstances might come your way. The graphical symbol itself implies that very kind of dualism.

Thus, people born in the air sign of Gemini are characterized as perceiving the world in terms of thoughts and ideas, as opposed to emotions. They rely upon an inherent framework or underlying structure in their interpretation of their environments and they look for logical patterns that can explain what they see. It is more than a little ironic that, for a sign that was originally based on the ultimate in brotherly love, Gemini types are known for prizing the intellect and trying to avoid being caught up in emotions.