The Sun enters Gemini III on 10 June 2025 at 11:24 am EDT, and travels through over the course of ten days, ten hours and 41 minutes. Austin Coppock named this decan The Executioner’s Sword, while T. Susan Chang (noting its associations with the 10 of Swords in the Rider-Waite-Smith Tarot deck, named it Famous Last Words. The card show the bloody victim of a murder with ten blades sticking up out of their back; storm clouds overhead are clearing to make way for a future of blue skies and fair weather. The ancient Greeks, at least in the Hellenistic era’s calendar, considered this the season of Praxidike — a title or epithet of Persephone in her role as divine judge and executioner in capital criminal cases.

It appears to have been a time for another important aspect of the Hellenic world’s calendar — the era of the mysteries of Castor and Pollux, the divine twin sons of Zeus, and the half-brothers of another mythic figure, Queen Helen of Sparta — the most beautiful woman among mortals, whose kidnapping launched the Trojan War.

Castor and Pollux were associated with mystery cults on the island of Samothrace, in Thrace and Thessalonica in the north of Greece, and at the city of Thebes in Boeotia. While the Mysteries of Eleusis are far more famous in both history and modern imagination, the Mysteries of Castor and Pollux probably deserve as much attention. Except — we know very little about these rites. They didn’t draw substantial attention from writers in ancient times; nearly nothing of the physical site where the Mysteries were held, remains for archaeologists to study; and to the degree that we know anything about them at all, it seems that they were rather less mystical and more prosaic or quotidian.

Except — what scholarship has been able to uncover suggests a rather more complicated story, one in which the rivalries of twins plays a role. In what is generally called The Balkans today, the nation-states north of Greece, the gods are called the Kabeiroi, a group of gods of uncertain origins, famed as dancers, boxers, warriors and horsemen, sometimes numbered as a pair and sometimes as many as nine. In Crete we have the korybantes or curetes, dancing warriors and horsemen whose clashing arms and armor masked the cries of both the infant Zeus and Dionysius — but who were also priests of Rhea the Titan, wife of Saturn… and also sometimes described as a pair, and sometimes as nine. In Sparta, there were Castor and Pollux, whose worship eventually migrated to Rome; they were horsemen and boxers and warriors, and definitely there were only two of them. The Messenians, who started out as Spartan slaves before rebelling and winning their freedom, worshipped a similar pair of twins, Idas and Lynceus (sometimes called the Anaktes after a familial name) — and similarly famed as … dancers, boxers, horsemen, and warriors. Also definitely only two Anaktes.

Are we sensing the theme here?

There was something about the shape of brother-gods — horsemen and dancers and warriors — that became popular all over the Mediterranean. Whether nine or two, odd or even, kuretes or Anaktes or kabeiroi or Castores or Tyndarids or Dioscuri … there was something about the gathering of men in armor, to box and to ride horses, and perhaps most importantly to dance together — that was itself a formal initiation into manhood for many cultures of the north side of the Mediterranean. Perhaps, though, by around 460 BCE, it was already becoming de-emphasized to the point where it had ceased to be shocking or challenging to participants — because nobody bothers to even hint at what the rituals are. It’s not even possible to guess.

Yet at the same time, the example of Messenia provides an important reminder. Castor and Pollux were the Spartan twins, and Messenia had been conquered and enslaved by the Spartiates from about 660 BCE until 371 BCE. The Messenians started worshipping their own gods, their own way — but kept Castor and Pollux’s hated rivals, the Anaktes, as their own version of the twin deities, famous for their dancing, boxing, horsemanship, and soldiering. They could do without the Spartan version of those gods… but not the gods themselves.

By the time the Romans completed their conquest of the Mediterranean in about 146 BCE, the universal symbol of these deities — nine or two or some other number of boxing, dancing horse-lords — was the dokana, a wooden frame that resembles a modern Torii gate from Japan, in that it consisted of two upright wooden posts with a pair of crossbars high enough to form a gate. The resemblance ends there, though, since these were carved with a snake sinuously climbing the post (or perhaps carved in relief). An amphora or jug to receive offerings either stood on the top cross post, or rested on the ground beneath the crosspieces and between the pillars.

It’s entirely unattested in literature, of course — but I find myself imagining a band of men, all strangers to one another, coming to a dancing ground through a strangely carved gate at dusk. There, they drum and dance and tell stories, they wrestle and play-fight, all naked under the stars. At dawn, they leave as brothers. It’s both a mystery, and not, why such a gathering would be difficult to describe and yet also become so widespread, so untethered to a specific location, while also remaining a cultural touchstone for a couple of thousand years… and why the essential numbers of initiators dwindled from nine to two as the rites became more anodyne and urbane, and probably shorter.

The dodeks of Gemini III are Aquarius, Pisces, Aries, and Taurus, perhaps mirroring the experience of those youths joining the dancers in the Dioscuri’s mysteries for the first time: As Aquarians, they have intellectual knowledge of what’s about to happen to them, and what they are about to do. In Pisces, though, they have the shyness of modern middle school boys at a dance — waiting for a long time on the sidelines, both eager to join in and unsure of themselves. As the fire in their soul meets the fire in the belly (or lower), they dive into the dancing, the fighting, the storytelling and singing whole-heartedly. At Taurus, exhausted, they seek their beds at dawn, worn out but contented by the night of fierce brotherhood just past.

House Delineations

The First House of self and self presentation is Virgo ruled by sextile Mercury in Cancer and hosting the South Node. We’ll find that our lives have a tendency to operate in organic ways as we move in the direction of what grows and feeds us, and shrink away from what doesn’t. Trouble comes from unresolved issues from the past and ancient problems given new life.

The Second House of wealth and possessions is Libra ruled by inconjunct Cancer; triplicity ruler Saturn opposes, while Mercury and Jupiter square. Financial matters are likely to be well-balanced, but be subject to ongoing obligate tasks that must be completed before anyone puts silver in your pocket. Friends and allies may also be expecting ongoing financial support that will be difficult to deliver but hard to refuse.

The Third House of neighbors and extended family is Scorpio ruled by squaring Mars in Leo, and hosting two mathematic points, the Lunar Apogee and Imum Coeli. You may find yourself wanting to stay out of local entanglements, but your words may get you into trouble, and your personal happiness may be either disturbed or delighted by how you engage with your inner circles and extended family tree — speak cautiously, but gather to yourself what feels beautiful and admirable.

The Fourth House of home and immediate family is Sagittarius, ruled by inconjunct Jupiter but hosting the Moon in the Twentieth Mansion and her own decan the Bridle/Harness. Triplicity ruler Sun opposes, while Saturn trines. Home and household matters bring both obligations and chores, but also some targeted emotional heavy-lifting labor; journeys undertaken for family members’ well-being bring success.

The Fifth House of children and pastimes is Capricorn, ruled by squaring Saturn in Aries. It’s a good time to take inventory of your children’s needs and resources — well-fitting clothes, the proper books and materials for hobbies and recreation. It’s also a suitable time to confirm that your own resources are correctly supplied, but you may not get to enjoy them all that much. Lay up materials for future vision, but don’t expect to use them immediately.

The Sixth House of daily routines is Aquarius, ruled by sextile Saturn in Aries and hosting Pluto. Small tasks and routines will often threaten to overwhelm you this week; big tasks are easy to take on. You will find that there’s a need to review and critique the major systems that anchor your life, whether those be the workplace or the medical establishment that keeps your medications balanced or the accounting systems that keep your payroll running smoothly.

The Seventh House of relationships is Pisces, ruled by trining Jupiter and hosting the North Node. A spouse, significant other, or business partner may take a long time to wind their way through a series of important decisions related to current career or professional matters — but they’re directing their attention with zeal and purpose in ways that you may find out-of-touch with reality. Help to ground their opinions through a conversational strategy rooted in open-ended or probing questions and frequent summations of what they’ve already said before offering a countering opinion.

The Eighth House of responsibilities and duties is Aries ruled by trining Mars and hosting both exiled Saturn and Neptune. “Divide and conquer” will be an important strategy for tackling an out-of-control To-Do list this week, and you may find it helpful to break big tasks down into smaller components: remember that when eating an elephant, first cutting it into small bits would be helpful… and remember to share the load! The big vision is before you as Neptune begins its 13-year trek through Aries… but Saturn’s 3-year plod here will include some weary back-tracking through chores you thought were settled and marked “done”.

The Ninth House of travel, learning and religion is Taurus, ruled by present Venus in the first decan the Plough, and also hosting Lunar Perigee, the Midheaven, and the planet Uranus in the third decan the Prayer Beads. It’s going to be hard to avoid ‘traditional’ travel or ‘religious’ tasks this week, like meeting your dad for brunch on Father’s Day or getting them a present; even if you’re estranged from them, you may feel a desire to connect in some fashion or to bring about a tactful restoration of connections. However, religious matters may explode, and travel plans may be subject to last minute changes that feel charged and upsetting, especially if there’s public embarrassment involved.

The Tenth House of career and profession is Gemini, ruled by inconjunct Mercury but hosting the Sun in his decan the Executioner’s Sword, with triplicity ruler Saturn sextile. Career matters are likely to be bifurcated this week, as you attend to important matters on two fronts — with a clear mandate to complete certain projects “before the end of June.” It may be worthwhile to set a personal 14-day deadline on that, actually — so there’s time to wrap up loose ends in the last week of June for the sake of your boss’s meddling, but the majority of your work is finished.

The Eleventh House of friends, associates, and organizations is Cancer, ruled by the inconjunct Moon, and hosting exalted Jupiter and Mercury in the first decan Mother and Child. Triplicity ruler Venus is sextile from Taurus. Travel plans to include mom (and other mother-like figures in your life), as well as visits to children (or your much-younger friends and associates) are beneficial to your mood and overall well being. Big-hearted actions with small and thoughtful details are valuable — a card or a small-value gift may have more impact in the next few days than you would think possible.

The Twelfth House of obstacles and opportunities is Leo ruled by the sextile Sun in Gemini, and hosts Mars in his own decan The Banner. Triplicity ruler Saturn is trine. It’s a good time of year to plan out your major goals and objectives, month-by-month, for the coming year. You’re likely to face obstacles in the form of sudden changes and hardships to this plan, but advancing your overall philosophy or political agenda in stages over a year is much more likely to bring results than haphazard reactions to day-to-day tumults. Get ahead of the curve of terrible things, by shining your light and rational best-plans on where you want to go, instead of trying to respond to the undesirable now.

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: Your reason, higher intellect and desire to help others will all be focused on career matters this week, even as you become aware of obstacles to how you achieve those goals in your vocation. However, the core emotional tenor of your life will be happier and healthier if you use your time at home in targeted ways, and choose to spend your time not far from your front door. A variety of tasks that are normally quick to undertake will face tedious obstacles and round-about travel. Being generous in small but thoughtful ways to your extended network of friends will yield grand results later on; travel plans are both necessary and likely to be disrupted — have back-up plans when your training plans are upended.

Libra: You may find that the balance of your life is a little upset this week, with you having to do more work, and accept more changes to your routines, in order to meet the requirements of your job than usual — and your compensation may feel out of balance relative to results. Part of this may be that you’ve changed careers or stepped into a new role, and your education or training hasn’t yet caught up with th demands of the new role. If so, it’s time to focus strongly on getting that training done, by seeking out the person responsible for teaching you in a dedicated way. Put off your usual forms of entertainment until you’re really in a solid place around these new career matters, and plan to break away from the usual cycle of activities with friends outside of work. Figure out who in your organization is carrying its ideals and its “big picture of the mission,” and follow them; know who your IT professional is, too, and make friends with them.

Scorpio: You may find yourself breaking your usual rules about what to say, and where, when out and about in your local community or when chit-chatting with neighbors. It may be valuable to remember your own professional standards — you find success through your professional standing, remember, and how you perform in challenging situations, right? But you may find that you can’t keep your mouth shut when it’s your profession under attack, rather than yourself. Ask your partner(s), whether romantic or professional, to help teach you how to be civil when what you really want to do is spit fire or venom. Feel your way toward big-hearted learning and detail-oriented factual communication, but know that you may have trouble with a friend who has doubts about how you present yourself to the world.

Sagittarius: Ask your partner(s) — professional ones rather than romantic — to help you complete certain tasks wherever you can this week, and to shine their light on the ways in which you need to rest or restore yourself. There are big hearted works that require your communication skills and personal expertise to be completed, but both travel and learning endeavors put you in risky situations that will be difficult to avoid completely, even when you’d rather stay home with a spouse or significant other. Do what you can to preserve your emotional center, but remember that you can put the phone down especially while driving. You may feel like fun is not an option for the next while, but hold out a vision of what you hope for, and playing around with restricting your entertainments to specific types may make it easier for you to do the hands-on connective work that brings satisfaction.

Capricorn: A friend of mine used to describe themselves as Undersecretary of Fun. You may find that you hold a similar role this week, with a focus on providing comfort and solace in traditional ways during untraditional times. Quality food and drink, a nurturing home environment, and safety may all feel like important priorities as your household needs to draw more into itself. However, you may discover that giving this much energy to your spouse or to your social circle also feels like hardships for you and creates harshness for yourself… or puts you in a place of discomfort vis-a-vis your boss, who doesn’t like how much time you’re giving to volunteer efforts. Reviewing your recent projects and their economic value both to you and to your employer may help give you the evidence you need to ask for a raise.

Aquarius: It’s a week for trudging through your regular errands and routines, and managing the people under and around you. But you may take some unfriendly fire from normally friendly folks; and you may find that your past actions are up for review and critique in ways that don’t feel nice at all. The proper counter is to be able to provide specific, actionable, and fact-based evidence to your teams and subordinates about how they can improve. Be able to provide specific guidance and to show that you’re thinking about helping develop and grow the people who report to you. Your spouse or significant other may need to borrow some of your resources for their success, and this could be a source of friction between you. You may face the need to set restrictions on how your family members interact with you. A clean house is a happy house this week, but you may also identify one or two hobbyist projects that you’d like to finish before the summer solstice.

Pisces: Allow your focus to settle on your partner(s) — both your romantic partners or spouse, and the peer-level colleague who make your professional life successful. In a long and winding way, these folks have had a lot to do with your success, whether or not you acknowledge how they contribute both now and in the past. Are you giving them enough of yourself, or are you holding back? There’s time to address the shortfalls, but you may be going about your life thinking everything is fine, while they’re frustrated and ready to walk away. Being generous about how you communicate and give of yourself may reawaken an old fire of collaboration and partnership. And that new level of engagement may make home feel more grounded, and make your workplace feel more professional well as more homey. You face money restrictions at the moment — and you may find it necessary to take on new work and new responsibilities before you see an increase in pay in your current career.

Aries: There are some big, hard tasks in your future that keep coming, and it’s easy to find them overwhelming in ways that threaten to drown you. Remember that this is neither a marathon nor a sprint… but an Appalachian Trail hike that may take several months. I heard Bill Bryson speak on his AT hike, and one of the audience members questioned him, saying “you didn’t finish the hike, what makes you qualified to write a book about the experience?” Bryson responded, “Well… I walked the equivalent distance between New York and Chicago. It’s not like I didn’t walk at all.” So first — pace yourself. Second, recognize that some of this work is not yours to finish, and it may not be up to you. Third, recognize that you may have to gather your resources in new ways to prioritize the journey you’re on, both the learning that must take pace and the upheaval of a new commute. Some of your plans for personal delight may have to be cut back.

Taurus: Travel plans are strongly connected to new learning experiences over the next ten days, and you may find that your schedule is somewhat up in the air even if you’re going to the same places you usually do. A rational recount of what money you’re spending on your job — wardrobe, commute, lunch — would be a good idea. At the same time, recognize how the neighborhood around your workplace is a place of growth for you, with both professional contacts and intellectual and creative stimulation. Health matters must be properly attended to, but you may find that there are substantial delays in getting the care you’re entitled to and need. There’s deep heartburn in your home life, that isn’t immediately resolvable, but you may find it necessary to give yourself targeted permission to break some of the outdated norms of your familial and romantic life to bring healing to those places. You’re an essential part of your company workplace, but a critique of how they pay you may be in order.

Gemini: Focus your professional life on getting projects done and out the door — or killing the unworthy ones before they reach a customer. Some of this will require trusting your own judgment more than official channels, and may require some odious politics in the board room, or making a point to go and see a big boss to critique a plan in person. Your spouse or significant peers may also think you’re being foolish, so it’s a good idea to think through both your personal financial consequences, and get a super-close friend to attack your plan in some detail to look for flaws. There’s a surprising amount of peace and delight to be found in trying to break something that you poured so much effort into doing; but you may find that you’re pleased to how it stands up to such a stress-test.

Cancer: Be a leader to your friends in the next ten days. Set up communications networks, see to it that they get out of the house and do something together, and don’t wait for them to decide on a plan — offer the plan and then arm-twist them into going (gently, of course). You may find that you need to take a small financial hit in order to get everyone to participate — or that your plan isn’t quite “shovel-ready” or that the game isn’t ready to play right out of the box. Be prepared to do some work beforehand to make sure that things go smoothly. But when you collect your friends like shiny things and do the heavy lifting to make sure you can all relax together… you’ll find that wonderful delights emerge from that effort. Similarly, you’ll find that getting workplace stuff to run properly takes a lot of energy and effort without much result. Some long-term planning would be in your better interest — and if there’s some lingering tasks on your to-do list that you’ve been avoiding, crossing them off would bring a different kind of satisfaction and ease.

Leo: There’s some difficult days ahead, and some hardships, but you have a handle on what you must do, and what causes and projects you must advance. Some of this will arise organically, as you reach for new resources and material for your endeavors; and some will arise as old issues re-surface. You have big plans, and they need to be accomplished in small spurts of one-on-one endeavors with friends. If only you could get the whole old crowd to sit down together?! But no… this is likely to take the form of intimate interviews and short bursts of connection rather than a long-form Big Chill kind of weekend. In your job and workplace, you may be called upon to be the chief diplomat and tactful re-connector who joins together what was suddenly disconnected. This is a new role for you and it may feel like hardship, but if you play your cards right you might find that it’s the beginning of a whole new path to success for yourself. Be cautious in how you let money influence your romantic partnerships these ten days.

Colophon

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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.