The Sun enters Gemini I on Tuesday 20 May 2025 at 2:55 pm, and travels through over the course of ten days, nine hours and 47 minutes. Austin Coppock named this decan The Apple of Eden, while T. Susan Chang (noting its associations with the 8 of Swords in the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck, named it Fate Versus Free Will. The card depicts a bound and blindfolded woman on the low-tide ground below a castle, with eight swords sticking hilts-up out of the sand. We thus consider self-imposed restrictions and limitations, in this decan, as well as the initiatory possibilities of changing circumstances. The ancient Greeks, at least in the Hellenistic era’s calendar, considered this the season of Tethys — wife of Okeanos the god of deep Ocean, and herself a Titan and goddess of fresh water sources. Rarely worshipped in her own right and in possession of no known temples, Tethys was still often depicted in mosaics in bath houses and dining rooms — as the mother of all the world’s many streams and rivers.
Gemini’s ruling planet is Mercury, who is currently inconjunct — but the sign’s triplicity rulers (who function kind of like lieutenant governors or the viziers of the ruler when they’re away) are the Air sign powers of Saturn by day, Mercury by night, and Jupiter as their co-operator. Saturn is square but below the horizon, while Jupiter is present — and while Saturn is officially the duty officer of the day, it’s a bit like he’s taking a personal day at home and barking in orders to the professional subordinate Jupiter who had to be in the office today. Saturn might want things done his way, with austerity and boundaries and clean lines… but Jupiter, harried and annoyed to be in a multivariate and complex detail-oriented role like being the manager of all things twinned in the world… has his hands in too many pies right now to care about what some elder statesman has to say while he’s lounging by the pool in semi-retirement. Jupiter is generous and magnanimous and full of big-hearted ideas. He can worry about what Saturn thinks, later.
Thus, it may be a good idea to push for your own solutions in professional situations this week — Tethys invites you to go with the flow and keep things fresh and moist (that is, connected and moving), while Jupiter as the intermediary between the Big Boss and yourself promotes solving problems in the moment and getting forgiveness later. Saturn promises that there will be hell to pay right now… but successful results are hard to argue with. So, coach your supervisors into doing things your way… but be sure you’re right.
I’ve written about this decan previously, in 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024.
Dates to Watch
Saturn enters Aries on 24 May 2025 at 11:36 pm EDT — a transition from a state of mild dignity as the ruler of the last term/bound of Pisces to a state of enclosure and constraint. Saturn is considered detrimented in Aries, a condition sometimes described as “a prince visiting the territory of a hostile prince.” It’s not yet clear if Saturn will be in Aries as a hostile warlord bringing his band of marauders with him, or if he’s coming on bended knee to offer fealty and surrender.
One way to think about this, as Chris Brennan and Austin Coppock discussed on the Astrology Podcast some weeks ago, is that Saturn is slow, old, deliberative, austere, wintry, cold, and wise — while Aries is youthful, springy, fast, action-oriented, explosively abundant, hot, hot-headed, and … well, not dumb, but prone to fire-ready-aim course of action. It remains to be seen if the old will act with the impetuousness of youth, or if the youth will take power away from the old. Saturn will be playing a long dance this year with Neptune the visionary — and it looks like the old codger will be outsmarted for a while.
A few hours later on 25 May 2025 at 9:00 pm EDT Mercury enters Gemini, taking over responsibility for their own sign. It happens just as Saturn moves from the square to the sextile, shifting from the boss eager for conflict to the retired leader happy to be out of the fray and willing to let younger hands do the work.
28 May 2025 at 1:32 pm EDT is the time that the Moon enters her own sign of Cancer. She’ll likely be visible as a waxing crescent on the western horizon just after sundown, and it will be a good time to sing hymns to the Moon or otherwise celebrate her as she passes through her own sign as a new and growing Moon. This is, among other placements, her Eighth Mansion, associated with high-level strategic planning and almost feral tactical responses.
On 29 May 2025 from 11:58 pm until 30 May 2025 at 12:12 am EDT, a Mercury cazimi occurs with the herald planet moving direct. This takes place for US East Coasters with the Sun and Mercury in the fifth house, suggesting a hands-on hobby project lasting into the late-night hours but nonetheless reaching a turning point.
House Delineations
The First House of self and self-presentation is Virgo, ruled by trining Mercury in Taurus and hosting the South Node. Uranus trines. Old issues of physical health are likely to resurface in new ways, especially in unfamiliar environments like new learning situations or during long-distance travel. They may be short-term interruptions, but use traditional methods like prayer and sorcery to help make them go away more permanently.
The Second House of wealth and possessions is Libra, ruled by opposing Venus in Aries. Triplicity ruler Jupiter in Gemini assists from the trine. Neptune opposes, while Pluto trines. Some financial matters resolve in your favor but it will require work on your part and consistent application of knowledge — and part of the work of bringing more income your way requires lighting a fire under yourself about how you handle the more tedious parts of your labor — most people have to earn their living through hard work, and you’re probably no exception. Are you working hard enough? How about creatively enough?
The Third House of extended family and neighbors is Scorpio ruled by squaring Mars in Leo. Triplicity ruler of Water signs, Moon assists from the trine; Uranus is in opposition, while Pluto is at the square. You have some rules around family and relationships with neighbors that are difficult to square with how you prefer solitude or seek your own long-term advantage. Are you doing enough to build long-term daily connections with folks? Are you supporting important people in your life economically as well as socially?
The Fourth House of household and property is Sagittarius, ruled by opposing Jupiter in Gemini. The triplicity rulers offer little support: Sun opposes while Saturn squares. Neptune trines, while Pluto offers the sextile. Greater contentment is found at home than in the company of others this week, but it’s outside the household that you’ll achieve the greatest successes. Make sure you thank your housemates or spouse when you get up on stage to accept awards, or you’ll be seen as too small hearted and it will reflect poorly on you in the future.
The Fifth House of entertainments, pastimes and children is Capricorn, ruled by sextile Saturn in Pisces in the anaretic degree. Moon offers support from the sextile while Venus squares; Neptune also squares while Uranus trines. It’s a good time to support your partner or children in their hobbies and pastimes, but you may get only a little downtime to plan your next adventure for yourself. Hoard those ideas though, and travel with notebooks and pen or pencil to get those ideas on paper; having a voice recorder handy for aural/audio projects is helpful too. Don’t count on your memory this week.
The Sixth House of labors and employees is Aquarius, ruled by inconjunct Saturn and hosting Pluto. Mercury squares while Jupiter trines. Neptune offers the sextile. Employees and subordinates may be considerably more greedy or appear more selfish than usual this week, and more quick to critique what you think are perfectly reasonable requests. But it may be worth adjusting your perspective more than usual this week, and try to envision what you are attempting to trade (or enforce) on those below you in the hierarchy. Maybe it’s greed, and maybe it’s forces larger than yourself.
The Seventh House of partners and spouses as well as foes and rivals, is Pisces ruled by squaring Jupiter in Gemini. Saturn and the North Node are present, as is triplicity ruler the Moon. Uranus offers the sextile. Emotional matters are heightened but take a long time to find their way to the moral center. Small matters may become vast moral outrages without much cause, and unaddressed relationship issues may boil over unexpectedly, as opinions of heart and groin clash with the head’s established facts.
The Eighth House of odious tasks and obligations is Aries, ruled by trining Mars in Leo. Neptune is present. Triplicity rulers Sun and Jupiter are both sextile. Women’s leadership is likely to take you to important places, but first you have to do the work rather than take credit for someone else’s. Mend important fences and figure out who has genuine leadership ability as opposed to management by shit list. Follow the right people, and develop a suitable vision of your work habits by actively cutting off the threads of effort that aren’t serving you well.
The Ninth House of travel, tourism and education is Taurus, ruled by inconjunct Venus. Mercury and Uranus are present. Triplicity ruler Mars is square, while the Moon is sextile. Immediate changes to travel plans or educational programs are possible, but be alert for the ways in which delays reverse themselves or that spiritual intentions can realign to existing conditions on the ground. When your religious ideology matches your physical circumstances too well, you’re at risk of locking in to what is currently true, rather than what might become.
The Tenth House of career and profession is Gemini, ruled by inconjunct Mercury. Triplicity ruler Jupiter is present, as is the Sun, while Saturn is square. Pluto is trine while Neptune is sextile. It’s going to be a hands-on time for your business and career, in ways that you may not entirely like for the first few days — because you’ll have to be detail oriented and think of the big picture at the same time. However, in the second half of the decan, May 25 to May 29, you’ll find that the double-thinking eases as you start to use the monthly and annual scaffolds of your action plan, your strategy, to arrange your daily and weekly routines. Use these days well; they won’t come again for a while.
The Eleventh House of friends and associates and associations is Cancer, ruled by the Moon in Pisces from the sextile. Triplicity ruler Venus is square, as is Neptune; Uranus is sextile. It’s easier to maintain equilibrium in peer-to-peer relationships this week than to seek fun as a group of friends, but you may still find yourself in deep conversations one-on-one in the middle of large crowds. Seek excellence in these interactions but allow the connections to wax and wane (and wane away) in coming days; the balm of a waning moon presides over many points of connection as you each go on your way into duty cycles, professional needs, travel. Expect that connections will open and close suddenly; take advantage of the sudden appearance of possible meetings.
The Twelfth House of long-term vision and short-term obstacles is Leo, ruled by the sextile Sun and hosting Mars. Triplicity ruler Jupiter supports from the sextile. Pluto opposes, Neptune offers conflicts from the square, while Uranus offers support from the sextile. It’s an easy time to set professional goals and develop logistical and strategic plans to support them, and to design the tactical and operational goals to implement them. However, most of these goals should be self-directed and professional rather than emotional or focused too much on relationship matters; relationship issues are likely to crop up, but are more likely to be about questions of shared resources or operationalizing the tasks or mutual obligations of partnership; in these areas, conflicts are likely. Be ambitious about setting goals that include appropriate rewards.
Horoscopes by Rising Sign
Decan I of any sign (usually covering the 21st 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.
I recommend reading your Sun sign, Moon sign, and Rising sign for best results. I write them with rising sign in mind, but several people have told me they find that they do better with all three.
Virgo: Trouble comes your way… but it’s more in the realm of trying to figure out how to implement your long range plans than as difficulties with your health. Although your immediate health concerns may give you difficulty, it’s important that you see them as a distraction from more serious issues — your career goals, your current to-do list, and the issues a partner or spouse may face. Most of your life is being “lived in public” at the moment, and where it isn’t public, it’s likely to be both unbalanced and likely to get too heavy or too light quite suddenly. Focus on your personal education plan for the first four days, then shift to communicating career or professional matters. It’s in your relationships with neighbors that you’re most apt to break rules or traditional norms, but it’s worth considering the long-term implications of that — do I want to be friends with these folks? Or enemies? A neutral middle ground may be a better choice.
Libra: What are you doing to achieve financial stability right now? You’re going to have to do more of that… but more importantly, you’re going to have to start thinking about where you want to be 10-15 years from now. It’s easy to say, “running my own company” or “lounging on a beach in Aruba,” but both of those endeavors require foresight and planning and dedication. Time to start separating out the “nice to have” from the “real deal” desires, and planning accordingly. That’s going to require updating your communication with your higher powers, upending some of your assumptions about the future, and learning some new business skills. Look around you, and ask if your business and all of its employees can survive the grand disruptions that seem to be coming in like a flood tide? Sure, the tide goes out… but what stands when it’s done retreating, is what was built to withstand the flood.
Scorpio: Hardship in the workplace can be expected, but remember that both the boss’s reprimands and their praise for your ambition are of temporary value. You might need a good recommendation when you leave, but the quality of your performance review is perhaps not as valuable as your boss thinks it is. You might not get to spend as much time with friends this week as you’d like, but you’re also likely to be dealing with a financial issue affecting your home or household, and also making significant progress on a professional or hobbyist project. Creative efforts in your daily life will be rewarded, but sometimes the rewards we achieve are by destroying something that should have been amazing but that taught us lessons through failures. Be open to the visions that damage or accidental ruin can provide. In relationship matters, you will benefit from following ‘traditional norms’ for the first part of the week, but you should also be open to allowing some new undulations. Communicate your intentions clearly and express thoughts and prayers for the future even if you feel like the time for dialogue is winding down.
Sagittarius: Home and household bring great contentment this week, but it’s in matters of extended family that you’ll have to interrupt the usual patterns and cut through old secrets. You may have to travel more than you planned to this week; allow additional time for standard travel, and recognize that learning new skills for their performative value has usefulness but also risk; juggling knives may not be the best place to start. Relationship matters are highlighted, but your attention is often concentrated on providing support and resources to a partner or peer in a professional capacity; you can expect your daily life to be regularly interspersed or peppered with hot-head conversation and angry outbursts from people who are normally placid. Your creative vision gets some notice and some new crowning glory, but it’s also soon going to be time to put the creative fire in the head into practical terms with materials and tools. The vision persists for a while but remember the obligation to put that stuff to paper. Household matters suffer from both emotional upheaval and unavoidable constraints. Your monetary issues are additionally affected by ongoing expenses that can’t be entirely constrained.
Capricorn: You’d like to spend time on your hobbies or with your kids, but family or neighborly matters may intervene in difficult ways even if those folks are trying to be friendly and peaceable. It’s not so much that they want to force themselves on you, but they’re just so enthusiastic at the moment, and they feel it wouldn’t be the right thing to do to exclude you. Meanwhile, you’re likely under a lot of pressure to perform well at your workplace and in your partnership, and your spouse or significant other probably wants you to play nice with their own family (which is where you have to put some attention, although it’s not fun). At work, a lot of eyes are going to be on you and expecting you to deliver, which you’re going to have to do before June 9 if you want recognition for the insane amounts of effort you’ve been putting out. The creative overflow is likely to do good things for your home productivity, but you’re likely to plan out and acquire materials for your various projects rather than do them. Be cautious about overdoing material acquisition too: this week, it’s easier to get than to use.
Aquarius: A critique of your daily routines and weekly schedules would be a great way to start off this decan, but you should expect that the feedback from your housemates or family may be both educational and not entirely pleasant. The dialogue with a spouse or significant other in particular may go from a conversation to inquisition if you’re not careful. On the one hand, it’s important not to take this personally; in some ways it’s the transit of Mars talking, not them. On the other hand, it IS important to take it personally and take it to heart as a set of your own personal habits that you can change, to your own economic and personal benefit in the long run. That may be important this week, as you feel the financial pinches — some might say clamps — of larger economic forces imposing austerity on your profit-seeking habits. There are also going to be ongoing efforts to connect and be connected to familial or neighborly community — but that’s going to come with chores or tasks where you’re expected to give right now (without necessarily receiving much in turn). You will benefit from putting in some big hours on some hands-on projects that feed your soul, but recognize that the knowing that comes from artistic or artisanal work, here, is more valuable than the finished product.
Pisces:You will find that you must call resources to yourself this week to cope with unexpected limits and boundaries which are difficult to overcome without outside help, but by the end of the week you’ll find that you’re more secure and more clear about how support appears in your family of co-professionals as well as your household. There may be some creative accounting going on during the first part of the week as you prepare to cover June’s early bills and expenses; but keep exchanging information and excitement with close friends and family; when you don’t know what to say, offer to pray for them, and see how that lands. It’s a big week for focusing on how your household is doing at work; check in with everyone and find out how school is going for the kids, how the retail work is going for the housemate, or how your spouse is doing with the desk-jockeying. There’s value in paying attention to hands: both the evidence of nail-biting and rashes, as well as soothing the stresses out of them. In daily work, pay special attention to cutting and burning/heating tools, and be more cautious than usual. When she was working on her cooking show, Julia Child once accidentally ordered a 185-pound wheel of cheese instead of a more standard amount; you should keep your eyes peeled for similar accidental overages on unusual purchases.
Aries: Vision and creativity are the powers that you should bring to your regular duties this week — although the temptation to burn it all so you can pursue your private time hobbies or get more time with your kids will be strong. Try to resist temptation to throw it all down, and recognize that your financial life is going through some turbulent times despite normally being on firm ground. You may have to cycle through your budget and receipts and check register on a regular basis this week to keep track of what’s going on — but that search for stability in unsteady times will be useful training for what’s coming later. Shining some light on communal matters will provide important points of leadership for what’s ahead; go on and eat well, but also remember to set aside some for the future. There’s some belief in you that you need to set something aside for lean times coming, and that’s a highly emotional fear that bears watching, but also tending. AT the same time, drilling some daily fiscal reminders and critiques into your associates and community wouldn’t be remiss. What hobbies are you pursuing these days — does it make sense to cut back so you can achieve mastery on a few things that bring you joy? Where can you focus your ambition for the next six months?
Taurus: A great deal of communicative power resides in your hands right now. What you say, goes, and you can cause a great deal of turbulence, or settle the situation, with just a word or two. “The way we’ve always done it” is likely to be a valuable mantra this week. Financial matters require you give attention, value and care to property and possessions; things will not be easily replaced without your hands in the game and attention. Household matters are likely to be rocked by a few temporary challenges for a few more weeks yet, but your long-term thinking will benefit from a few flashes of glory from the heavens, and a more precise vision of how to facet and polish aspects of your life so they reflect your soul more accurately. You may find that you’re souring on your current career choices and looking for a change; but you may want to spend a little time considering how your associations with friends will shift if you give up this work completely. Your travel plans are likely to prove expensive and it’s worth examining the risk-reward a little more carefully. If you have kids, upcoming plans with them are likely to be an excavation of ancient problems that must now be given life in new ways. Break an unpleasant habit for better health..
Gemini: It’s your time to shine, and for the next thirty days you have a great opportunity to build a new vision and version of your self and your self presentation. Use these next ten days to focus on the knowledge of what you want to be, and try to live out that plan in how you live: stretch your hands often, drink as much water as you can (dedicate it to Tethys if you like, and share it with her before you drink), and make some plans about how you want to dress and style yourself. In the second ten days, work on two aspects: taking on the good habits, and letting go of the bad habits. In the third ten days, plan to give yourself feedback on what’s work and how to accelerate results. Just remember that your communication with yourself and others is essential. A big series of disruptions to your person is coming over the next few years, so smaller intentions that you know can lead to big changes is valuable here. Recognize that change starts from within; don’t ask people to change for you, just start being the person you think will be happy, healthy and whole. Recognize that you are going to be better at lying to yourself than anyone else, though — and that the changes you imagine to your career, to your friends group, to your long-range plans, and even to your family, will all dredge up some great trials in the time ahead. Worry about those, later. For now, let the sunshine in.
Cancer: You need to spend some time with some friends, especially friends that you think you might not see for a while, or ever. Check through your feeds and Facebook lists; who would you miss, if you missed them? Maybe there aren’t as many as you thought, or maybe there’s too many to count. Either way, make a few calls and make some plans to see them, if not this week then soon. You have a chance to lead here, but it starts with the long range vision and the expansion of your realms of attention… and that means devoting some time to your schedule and calendar and priorities. Some upheavals should be expected. Along the way you may find that you’re inspired to pray — for upheaval, for challenges, for the excitements of a road trip, or for adventure. That’s OK, and it’s also OK to figure out ways to work remotely and smooth out an absence with a boss who may be unusually understanding if you express the correct vision, and appropriate divisions of labor. If you can, treat this as a learning adventure, too, and figure out how to use the journey as a skill-building exercise.
Leo: If an ambition arises to enter a contest or to train for an event crosses your mind, you should go for it. However, it’s important to start training in the right way, especially if you haven’t trained for a similar event before. Enthusiasms divorced from realities often lead to injuries, and those should be avoided (if only for the expenses they cause as they box you in). If you can get a friend to join you, both as an accountability partner and ally, you should, but lead from a place of generosity and mercy rather than treating it as a forced march; going hand in hand is a much better choice than dragging them by the neck. In the workplace, you may want to hold off on communicating this new excitement to the rest of the team, but there’s a possibility that you could get obsessed enough with your vision that it interferes with your professional life. Don’t get so restricted by your training that it limits your diplomacy, tact, or added value in your career. Similar injunctions apply when considering relationships with a spouse or significant other. There’s likely to be considerable criticism from certain household quarters if you ignore agreed commitments in favor of training. Sometimes it’s easier to start in a half-assed way, and this is one of those time.s
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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.
