05/21/2026
Today, the Sun enters the third sign of the zodiac, and so begins the time of Gemini, the Twins. In modern astrology, Gemini is an Air sign.
The constellation of Gemini focuses primarily on two bright stars, called today Castor and Pollux after Greek myth, which form the "heads" of a pair of humans, with the other stars of the constellation roughly forming the outline of the two stick figure humans.
This grouping of stars has been associated with the image of twins as far back as Babylonian mythology, when the two bright stars were called Meshlamtaea and Lugalirra (loosely translated as "one who rises from the underworld" and "the mighty king," respectively), and were together called The Great Twins. In Babylonian myth, these names were also understood to be titles for specific aspects of Nergal, a deity of plague and pestilence, and ruler of the Underworld.
However, in modern times, Gemini is better known via its Greek myth. As was mentioned earlier, the two main stars of the constellation are today named Castor and Pollux, after a pair of twins from myth.
Both twins were born of the woman Leda. Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, King of Sparta, while Pollux was the immortal son of Zeus, who r***d Leda while in the guise of a swan (an entire tale unto itself!). They were born together, and remained inseparable.
The twins, who were called the Dioscuri, became accomplished horsemen, and joined in the Hunt of the Calydonian Boar as hunters. Later, they spent time as part of the crew of the Argo, from "Jason and the Argonauts". When Theseus abducted Helen after the fall of Troy, the twins participated in her rescue. They became known as helpers and healers amongst men.
Eventually, Castor died, as all mortals must. In some stories, he ages and dies normally. In others, he is killed during a blood feud between the twins and their cousins. Either way, as Castor was dying, Pollux refused to be without his twin, and demanded that Zeus keep them together by offering to share his own immortality.
This, Zeus accepted. However, since one had been touched by death, and both were now only half-immortal, they were forced to spend half their time in the underworld while the other half they were above ground. After splitting the immortality, Zeus placed the twins in the sky, where they would remain forever.
Welcome, Gemini!
