The first decan of Gemini is called The Apple of Eden (so named by Austin Coppock); this year the Sun enters this sector of the sky on May 21 2023 at 3:09 am EDT.

The story of the Apple of Eden is pretty well known in the western world — God plants a garden, a paradis (or “walled garden with fountains”) with two trees in it, one of which is the Tree of the Fruit of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and one of which is the Tree of Life. God puts a man and a woman in the garden, tells them they can eat all of the trees except that Good and Evil one, and goes away for a bit. A serpent tempts Eve, the woman, into eating the Good and Evil Knowledge Fruit (an apple, according to some versions of the story), and she tempts the man, Adam (who’s name means something like, “the guy”) into eating that fruit too. God comes back, asks what’s going on, notices his gardeners are now clothed instead of naked, realizes they’ve eaten off the Good and Evil tree, and freaks out. God says, “if they eat of the tree of life, too, they’ll be immortal like I am, and ultra-powerful.” God kicks them out of the garden, puts an angel with a flaming sword at the garden’s entrance, and lays a powerful curse on the man and woman so they’re not tempted to try to come back.

A great many people over the centuries have interpreted this story in a gnostic way — from a word, gnosis, that means the kind of knowledge that derives from direct experience (rather than, say, book knowledge or knowledge passed from teacher to student verbally). Today gnosis almost exclusively refers to a kind of “direct experience of spiritual mysteries” — drug trips and highly altered spiritual states from Zen meditation are described this way; so are heightened states of ecstasy. In such states, the mind sometimes dissociates from the body, and we are ‘lifted up outside ourselves’ — and when we return to our bodies, we sometimes become convinced that the body or the flesh or the entire material world is a prison, or a false state of reality — and that the mind being free of the body is the true reality.

The ancient Greeks of Alexandria in Egypt (there are more than 29 cities founded by Alexander the Great, plus numerous copycats in the New World, so I guess I have to specify) often spoke of the Demiurge, or ‘craftsman god’ who made the world of material stuff — and then stuffed our souls into the material world like a Chinese baker stuffing fortunes into fortune cookies just before going into the oven, or a gaoler shoving Dickensian-era debtors into a half-rotted wreck of a ship bound for West Australia. Our souls, our natural state of being, is somehow imprisoned in a place its not supposed to be, put through a traumatizing transitional experience, and then left in unfamiliar places and spaces waiting for the right moment to be released. Sometimes that release comes through the cracking of a cookie, or a descendant’s first visit to London… or through eating an apple.

Mercury administers the first decan of Taurus, though Venus rules it — and though Taurus is both the season of planting and the perhaps the most food-conscious sign, this is the decan of the chef and the gardener, the party planner, the orchard keeper, the whiskey distiller and the chatelaine. Anyone who plans ahead for six or seven or twelve months, or nine or twenty years, or a lifetime, is likely to have some skill at this mix of direct creativity and quicksilver modification.

As someone who’s pursued the craft of sewing semi-professionally, and the craft of woodworking in a hobbyist sort of way — I have to say that I don’t see us mortals as the victims of a divine artisan-god, haphazardly shoving our souls into prisons of materiality. My experience has been quite the opposite: the artisan often has a reverence for the materials they work with, and a hope that they can bring the ‘soul’ of the thing they’re making into reality — A shirt isn’t really a shirt until it’s put on, and fits someone; until it finds its wearer, it’s just fabric on a hanger; a chair isn’t really a chair until someone trusts their weight to it, and the sturdiness of it is proved. Similarly, a human needs to have the ‘knowing’ of direct experience before they’re really a human being.

Those Greeks of Alexandria thus celebrated Tethys in these ten days between the Equinox and Solstice. Tethys, the wife of Okeanos the god of deep ocean, was the mother of the ten thousand river-gods of all of Earth — and the great-grandmother of all life on earth, which could only arise through the interactions of air and water with the substance of the material world. Tethys is the reminder, if such is needed, that we are part and parcel of the world, and we are not ever wholly divorced from it no matter what our mind’s experience may be.

The four dodeks or 12th parts of a sign here are Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, and Leo — the undifferentiated unity of Earth and all life subdividing into variant forms and diversity, returning again and again to the deep waters, while still roaring, “I am alive, and the Earth is alive!”

Planetary Placements

Aries I The Double Bladed Axe holds the Ascendant with the Sun below the horizon, making this a night chart ruled by Mars. But the Moon, Venus and Mars are all in the wrong hemisphere, while Jupiter and Mercury are inconjunct. Saturn takes his joy in the twelfth house, promising a long and slow unwinding of the events of the next ten days without much clarity about the future. The trine between Pluto and the Sun also forms a sextile to the Ascendant — indicating that it’s time for us to push back on the unjust or unfair expectations of partners (romance or business or rivalries of any kind)!

Jupiter, Mercury, and Uranus are in Taurus, along with the North Node. There will be a hunger for both big-picture planning for the next six months, as well as the detail-oriented meticulous planning necessary for that large-scale vision to be achieved. However, the Uranian impulse is to be caught up in the momentary and transitory problems of today and the immediacy of the next hour — and it will be difficult to achieve forward momentum on the big projects. It’s money and material comforts that will be in the crosshairs — but remember that you have to match your long-range ambitions with the short-term trouble that needs immediate attention.

The Sun and The Moon are both in Gemini, activating the first and second decans with a first crescent of the new moon — but cadent in the third house and both below the earth, making the undertow of family business significant and troubled. The Moon is in the seventh mansion, a little 24-hour coffee shop with pretenses to spirituality called “The Forearm” — with a etched glass panel in its front door of Albrecht Dürer’s Praying Hands. The Sunday afternoon crowd is usually a bunch of exhausted pastors recounting the highlights and lows of their morning services and social hours, but the weekday regulars are conniving politicians and local shopkeepers figuring out how to make a quick buck. New financial schemes can be concocted easily in the next two weeks — but they have to pass the sniff test from your relatives and closest friends.

The Imum Coeli and Venus are both in the fourth house in Cancer, encouraging you to look after your mom or your children more closely in the next ten days, and to tend your garden. I saw a video recently that said “there are two places you belong: in your lane, and out of my business.” If what you’re looking to cultivate is your own peace of mind and your own delight, that’s good advice; your garden and your home are where your creativity, your passion, your ability to grow and open up as a person, will be most likely achieved.

It’s not that there won’t be conflict though. With graduations, end-of-year proms (formal dances), and summer’s approaching excitement, Mars’ presence in the fifth house warns of underage drinking and drug use, the potential for car accidents, and the sharp shocks of changes coming into the lives of children turning into adults. In high school (and again in college), I picked fights with some close friends rather than say farewell properly, because it was easier than saying good-bye. Hard conversations with teenagers in your life about expectations and responsibilities — as well as counseling on moderate risk-taking — are all appropriate. The kids may feel under a spotlight, but compassionate transparency is important here — and that looks and feels a lot like love.

(For those that don’t have kids in their lives — take a little more care with your hobbyist woodworker projects, and watch what you’re chopping to bits while getting ready for the first barbecue of the summer… knives and table saws do funny things when we’re not paying attention… and the consequences aren’t funny at all.)

The South Node in Scorpio suggests that a lot of people are going to be talking about what their responsibilities aren’t, and consciously weaponizing their denials of duty. The first place that may happen is with your spouse… but you are just as likely to say “not it!” to your boss at work or to a volunteer team at a your church or lodge or Scouting group. The temptation is to heap opprobrium on the denier — but remember that you also will try to get out of unpleasant tasks here: show some kindness to the slackers.

With the Midheaven in Capricorn, there’s likely to be an office party or other company event you’re expected to attend outside of regular hours. If you can, go — it’s likely to be a nice occasion with good food and drink. But remember that these ten days, you have the most control over your appearance as a form of visible messaging, and that ideological zeal can still make trouble: dress well, look good, avoid controversial conversations — and make an early exit.

Retrograde Pluto in the eleventh house in Aquarius affirms the advice of the Midheaven — workers and laborers are going to try to negotiate in good faith with bosses and supervisors, with business owners and managers over the next ten days… and it’s not going to go well for them if they can’t work out a deal before June 12. It’s going to be easy to have great conversations with people that are in your own bubble when it comes to labor vs. capital as a result… and anyone outside that bubble, the conversation is likely to go off the rails in a big way unless you can listen with intelligence and reason rather than emotion.

The twelfth house, the place of self-made obstacles and imposed limitations, contains Saturn and Neptune. As the planet of obstacles, declines, ruins and decay, Saturn is absolutely ecstatic to be here, and thrilled to bring about the slow and gradual unwinding and messy collapse of order and normalcy. But Saturn likes to do this in a deliberate way, like a knitter gently unraveling several lines of a scarf in order to knit them again, like a sweater. Neptune doesn’t unravel for re-use, though — he sets moth-eggs in the work, or makes random cuts in a delicate shawl like a preschooler delighting in learning to use scissors for the first time. Like bankruptcy, described as happening first slowly, then all at once, Neptune promises that mistakes will accumulate over the next ten days in small ways, before crashing down suddenly. Be alert to small changes in health, bank accounts, and legal status, and act sooner rather than later. However this sign also contains The Lot of Fortune, indicating that you have considerable free will and ease in managing this sticky situation… keep thinks of ways you could get hit, keep alert to scams, and you’ll come through fine.

Horoscopes by Rising Sign

Decan I of any sign (usually covering the 21s of the month to the first of the following month) is free to all visitors; Decan II is only available to Patreon and Ko-Fi.com subscribers; and Decan III is available to Patreon, Ko-Fi, and MailChimp subscribers.

Aries: You’ll have to divide and conquer in the next ten days, as you face a series of structural changes and emotional tides that may make you feel lonelier than ever. But don’t get angry — you have financial security to think about, both tomorrow and the six-month plan.  Get on it, because family might help, but in reality you’re going to have to grow this garden yourself.  If you have kids, take special note of what I said about Mars, farther up in this article — this goes double for you. An argument with a friend about who owes what to whom is almost sure to break out; amicable resolution almost certainly.requires that you eat the unexpected cost… but you don’t have to resolve it amiably if you don’t want to. And— if it’s about work you did for them, it’s worth getting nasty about it right away.

Taurus: Financial matters are front and center for this time — what is ‘yours’, what is ‘theirs’, and what is ‘ours’.  You’re making some new financial commitments that may cause you to keep close to home.  A visit, of sorts, to a sibling’s residence may be needed… and you may have to give your spouse or housemate a clear bright signal about your expectations and hopes. The next ten days include unpleasant limits on your routines due to a long and winding path back to normalcy… and there’s possibly a lot of fake outrage and stirring drama coming out of your friends about issues beyond your control.  Take the lead where needed, and call up the willing helpers. Get it done.

Gemini: Yes, you can make a new start right now — as long as you are staying local, have a guide or a coach or a teacher to see yo through the first steps, and explain your process frequently in small steps. Have you thought about starting a blog (public) or a journal (private)? Yeah, that’s a thing you might want to do right now. Issues of “masculine”, “feminine” and “non-binary’ may be much on your mind, but this is a case where action may help to refine the thought process.  Spend funds on things that bring peace and happiness, but be prepared to argue from your expertise with extended family. A financial mess may appear, but this one is on you to solve; try to do it without help.  On the other hand, the issue at your job would be better handled with a team rather than tied up through a solo process… you’ll just have to argue for the personnel you need.

Cancer: Home and family will be on your mind these days, but remember that the best solutions should involve beauty: dancing, celebration, close friends (maybe some wine), and greenery or flowers to mark the season.  You have some challenges you need to face in the next two weeks on your own — but bringing in a sibling or close relative to at least empathize is wise… and they might even be able to help you execute your plan.  A big upheaval with close friends is coming, and the issue is a raise for one and a pay-cut for another, disrupting routine get-togethers. The result may be a significant change in summer travel plans where you have to say adios to one friend and add another…. or plan to go solo. A definitive solution isn’t likely to emerge immediately, but there’s both opportunity and boundary in this current trap.

Leo: Having fun right now means facing the hard problem, which will be with you for some weeks. There is a risk of injury from your personal sports and leisure activities enduring until about July 10 — exercise more caution than usual on the soccer field or during pick-up basketball… or during more ‘athletic’ forms of bedroom activities, shall we say.  Casual conversations may end in argument, though.  You will feel strong desires to reconcile, but likely find it hard to make it happen; you’ll benefit from seeking counsel from siblings or intimate friends.  A financial mess in your professional setting may have benefits for you, leading to a raise or increased resources; if so, start a rainy-day fund; you’ll need it later this year.

Virgo: Daily life may rotate around what you own (and where in the house it goes) for a few days, as well as hiring folks to manage your worldly goods or your money.  Properly managed, with your usual attention to detail, is likely to lead to greater wealth and prosperity — but there will be a great deal of roundabout ‘structural anxiety’ from a spouse or significant other.  You can choose to calm and reduce those fears, or simply turn a blind eye to it and let them figure it out themselves —and they will, but the nature of your relationship will benefit from you taking responsibility one way or the other. A trip, or an educational project, may experience both new insights and cost-overruns. Review your numbers and figure out if this is still cost effective.  A new (bad) project is likely to launch at work — it’s going to take more than prayer to get this dodo to fly, though. See if you can cut it off at the head before it gets too far.

Libra: Your spouse or significant other is thinking a great deal about fairness and justice and those sorts of things; you won’t necessarily be able to solve the problem but neither should you tune out these concerns. Where you can, try to divide the philosophical issues from the concrete actions, and take the concrete steps you can; you can argue the ideals against the practical for hours, but that dialogue is going to be the goldfish in the bowl, perpetually swimming around and thinking, “oh, a new castle!” Instead, take an immediate practical action, and put some money down; you can worry about the implications of that later. Focus your learning, though, on fairness… write to some officials if it helps, and do some reading outside your comfort circle.  If you don’t know what else to do, pray for an ongoing education on this question.

Scorpio: It’s a good time to remember the Miranda warning, “everything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.”  What you say can get you in a great deal of trouble — what you do, operating from a sense of responsibility, is unlikely to result in difficulty. So do what you know you must. Responsibility to others is a challenging thing at times – a friend of mine says, “marriage when it’s working is heaven; when it’s not, it’s hell.” Substitute “work”, “citizenship,” “volunteering” and “community participation for the word “marriage” there, and you’ll find that it applies equally well. Accordingly, acknowledge when the partner gets the attention or needs the resources, and be prepared to “make do with less” for the time being…. and know that there’s a big challenge between work and home which is easing up, but unlikely to be fully resolved immediately. Find peace in tending a garden, if you can.

Sagittarius: It’s going to take about two weeks for what you’ve learned in the last two weeks, to settle into your bones and really take root.  In the meantime, there’s some issues of intimacy and reconnection that you have to address with a business partner or significant other… and you have a busy schedule of daily routines to keep up with, and some professional “hump days” to get yourself over before you can really relax.  Home is going to be a mix of structural problems and relaxation that you’ll have to address… but this time it’s your turn to manage the household on your own.  It’s easy to dream that a significant other can bear the responsibility, but you have some family-related drama that you may have to process with friends on a more social level… or let out with a cathartic scream.

Capricorn: You’ll be in the public eye in the next ten days, or at least expected to be — even though you might be working from home. There are challenges to your responsibilities, and conflicts over your duties, even as your bank account swells. If you’re working class and you need a new deal with your boss, get it in writing soon, by the end of the first week in June.  Longstanding patterns in your family are likely to give way with a couple of big pushes or an inappropriately strong drink at a Memorial Day cookout.  You’re expected to make generosity and luxury the cornerstones of upcoming social plans, but you might just want to ask for something revolutionarily normal.  A new project may launch in your workplace, but it’s better to insist on a balanced team of masculine and feminine opinions.  Make a private peace with your spouse over a personal issue between you; but recognize that a fight over shared resources may be impossible to avoid.

Aquarius: You’ll be looking at friends and associates with a critical eye these next ten days – and find much to critique in work habits and routines, which seem to you to be inadequate for the times.  But if you don’t find the good in your colleagues and associates soon, you’re going to find yourself needing new sources of income. Remember — no matter how responsible or orderly you are, sometimes you can’t defeat crazy.  Along those lines, make a list of house projects you’d like to complete in the next six months, as well as a list of things you can fix in under an hour.  You may think you can hold this list in your head… but I’ve been living in a house with a broken sink faucet for 30 days, and I just fixed it today after getting sprayed by it every day.  Write the list, and then start crossing things off it — especially if it brings you pleasure to do so.  There’s a conciliatory role you need to take on in the workplace — and it may require you to argue with your partner about it, and claim your expertise. BUT… in matters of fairness, and justice, and right relationships with other pros in the workplace, you need to trust your significant other’s judgements and opinions. You know processes, and tools, and things, but they know how people think about fairness: trust them in their area of expertise.

Pisces: The next ten days, you may find yourself believing that friends have abandoned you; that you’re all alone; that you have no real allies.  PICK UP THE PHONE — CALL THEM YOURSELF — MAKE PLANS. You may not have a lot of money, but there are people who would be delighted to hear from you, and who would be happy to make a connection to you. You have more people who are prepared to go deep with you in conversation, in shared projects, in the intimacies of empathy.  You might get laid… but this is more about dancing in the rain and having private time with people who are happy to connect with you on a deeper level than mere sexual attraction. And yes, if you feel called to set up an altar or shrine to ancestors, to your deity or to your higher self — now would be a good time to initiate that project. Be more careful when working with sharps or heat in the workplace for a while.  

Colophon

I have a Patreon account for those who want to support this column as it continues its third year. Those funds support artists, artisans and thinkers that I regard as contributing to the well-being of the world. You can also buy me a Ko-fi in $3 increments; any column I write after receiving a Ko-Fi donation will be open to the public).  You can also schedule an appointment with me using Accuity Scheduling, for a natal or solar return consultation.

If you want to read some of my astrologically-oriented poetry, the largest collection is called A Full Volume of Splendor and Starlight, available through my Etsy shop, and containing poems and hymns to the planets, constellations, decan deities, and Moon Mansion angels. While not astrological, Festae contains hymns to some of the older Roman gods and spirits from the calendar created by Numa Pompilius, the second ancient King of Rome.

I use iPhemeris for my charting software, and screenshot it to make charts. I want to thank the team that develops iPhemeris for the addition of Terms and Decans to their charts. I also use Hugh Tran‘s Physis typeface to craft logos for this blog, as well.

I use Christopher Warnock‘s The Mansions of the Moon as the basis of my Moon placement delineations, and Austin Coppock‘s 36 Faces for much of my planetary delineations. Neither gentleman endorses me.