Gemini, the Twins in the year 2001

Year of Growth and Change

The coming year is one of personal growth and growth through relationships. This is a year of high impact encounters and strong shifts of fortune.

There is money to be made if you know when to act and how to manage it. There is love to be found or renewed if you know how to open yourself up to it. It will be important for you to redefine yourself, to see yourself in different ways, almost as a different person. If at the end of 2001 you can say you’re not the man or woman you once were, then you’ll have done well. It won’t be easy, but you, of all twelve signs of the zodiac, have the agility and quickness of wit to reinvent yourself. And, there’s always that famous ‘other side’ of you! After all, you are the Twins! Maybe it’s time to bring the other one out to play.

Auld Lang Syne

The year will start on a high with Jupiter in your own sign in your solar first house. You might feel ready to party and hit the heights. Enjoy, but don’t overdo it. The shackles of the recent past are not done with yet. Work and exercise are a good focus for you, but you may not feel like hitting the gym or burning the midnight oil. Find some clear pursuit that will help to burn up the excess energy. Overall this will not be a good year to mix business and pleasure. Try to keep these areas of your life separate. With Mars in Scorpio in your solar sixth house ushering in the New Year by squaring mysterious Neptune in Aquarius, be careful of deception and self-indulgence. Either of these is likely to backfire if you go down such a road. Secret liaisons are likely to create problems or scandal, especially if people of different races or cultures are involved. Matters of this nature from the past could come back to haunt you. This year, know how much to take, how much to do and when to stop. If you have any skeletons in the closet to come clean about then do it.

A Fool and His Money

A lunar eclipse on January 10th may affect your finances adversely, especially if you’ve been over-spending. Be wise before the event otherwise you might find yourself regretting any rash fiscal acts. This could well be a good model to establish your financial patterns for the year ahead. There are conflicting influences in your financial forecast for 2001. Some influences will bring potentially rich rewards from hard work and wise management. Others suggest that if you try to balance the books with luck or rely on hopeful enthusiasm to carry the day, you’re likely to suffer losses. Your inner child might belt the plastic into oblivion, but your inner miser might just carry the day. Be bold, but mitigate your boldness with wisdom, good planning and effective control of funds. A number of influences, Pluto among them, are pushing your buttons in 2001, almost to the limit. Don’t overreact and push back. Cultivate resilient strength.

Crossing the Styx  

For many born under the sign of the Twins, things have changed a lot in the years since 1995. Pluto, the underworld god of death and transformation, moved into Sagittarius then and has been making merry hell in your solar seventh house ever since. We must cross the River Styx to get to the domain of the invisible one (Pluto) and that river will, in this instance, have been the changing stream of people you’ve known. Your relationships have been under fire from the invisible one and many of the changes that have taken place for you will have been to do with whom you relate to and how you go about the process of relating. Friends, family, lovers and partners past and present, husbands and wives, ghosts from yesterday, visions of tomorrow... all these have been swirling around in your cosmos.

Out With The Old...  

For the early born Gemini, people who were once a part of your life will have gone and new people will have come in, helping you create different ways of interacting. There will have been big changes in personal responsibility for others. There will have been endings, departures and even betrayals. You may have even found some new and almost compulsive liaison. It will certainly be an intense one. For those already in relationships, the pressure around you or from within to maintain the relationship will have increased. You will have found some friends false and discovered that some gods have feet of clay. Relationships will have really challenged some of you, creating intense feelings of both sympathy and antipathy. There will have been conflicts and hostility to deal with, some of which might have been irrational or completely unexpected. You may have found yourself under pressure or even under attack.

... In With The New  

This does not mean that there won’t have been success. Some of you will have been very successful but probably against the odds or in the midst of dispute, and certainly only with a lot of hard work. The coming year could be one of good fortune if you can handle the pressure. Old rifts may have healed themselves, but then new ones will have suddenly opened up, creating difficulties and even a parting of the ways. Twins born up to June 6th or 7th will have felt these things strongly. The most important question is ... what have you learned from all of this? If you have simply gritted your teeth and held on through it all, you may be headed for further trouble. The Gemini born from June 3rd to June 8th will be in for a particularly testing technical examination in 2001 as Pluto the transformer moves into his opposition of your Sun. You can wilt beneath the challenge or flourish, toughened by the experience. It’s up to you. The most important thing now for all of you born under the sign of Gemini is to change because of what you have learned. Remember that your sign has the knack of being both direct and evasive. This is not the year for evasion.

The Harvest of the Past  

In the last two years, Saturn, the harvester of past effort, has been moving through Taurus and your solar twelfth house. He has been testing you, pulling you back inside yourself sometimes, then pushing you out into the world to get on with it. He has been making you look, sometimes directly, sometimes indirectly at the older cycles of your life and your past. Old values and attitudes you have held will have been broken down, sometimes gradually, sometimes with dramatic suddenness or because of dramatic changes or events that have occurred. You may have been more tired and withdrawn than usual, or simply tired of what you have been doing or perhaps tired of what you have to put up with in order to do it. You may have found enemies you didn’t know you had. Your body may have become your enemy, with illness, exhaustion or strain playing a part in your life. On the one hand rest might seem to be the order of the day, but 2001 may not allow you much of that.

Giant Lift-off!  

On January 25th, the two giants of the Heavens, Saturn and Jupiter begin to move forward again after a long phase of retrograde motion. This signals in the bigger picture that the shackles are beginning to loosen. Jupiter is making his transit of your sign this year, right from the beginning through to July 14th when he moves into the more domestic and emotionally oriented sign of Cancer in your solar second house. You will be feeling buoyant and optimistic, but could also be wasteful and inattentive to detail. Scrub up in that department! Ride your own luck and enthusiasm with opportunities that present themselves for growth, expansion and diversity. But, as we have already established, don’t put your funds at risk with the whims of fortune.

Career and business matters can be advanced now but it will be important not to try to push ahead too far, too fast. Timing is crucial for you this year. Wait for the right moment and you can make the most of all you do. Act at the wrong time and the best laid plans might end up in the shredder. Most of us know pretty well how gifted the Gemini is with patience (hardly at all) so cultivate that quality. Teach yourself to wait then strike when the time is right. You’ll do well with this approach. And the first lesson in patience comes early in the year.

Quicksilver Mercury  

Mercury is the quicksilver ruler for the sign of Gemini. He moves speedily, holds the closest position to the Sun of all the planets and travels his own willful way in the course of the solar year. Mercury moves into retrograde (reverse) motion three times a year for about three weeks each time. The retrograde phase heralds a time of confusion and misunderstandings that can affect arrangements, travel, transport, appliances, machinery and communications. The breakdowns that occur under these auspices are a function of neglect, inattention, simple misunderstandings or component failure. They will often bring to the fore the very contingency we should have planned for and didn’t. When the retrograde phase occurs, it is wise to watch out for such possibilities as well as putting off major decision-making or the signing of crucial documents and agreements. We tend to miss things while Mercury is in reverse motion and then have to come back and do it all again. A process of review is always beneficial for the retrograde phase can efficiently show where problems might lie or help us with damage control or the mending of things. Double check arrangement at these times! What you think you’ve said and what others have understood will often prove to be two different things.

Early February sees Mercury turning retrograde in the sign Pisces before returning to Aquarius. This phase could affect the early-born Gemini quite strongly as Jupiter will be conjunct your Sun, urging growth and expansion, buoying you up with waves of enthusiasm. This can be a beneficial period but do take it slowly. Nothing is quite what it seems. March presents more opportunity for insight into the demands of your situation.

Love... or War?  

Mid February sees Mars the warrior enter Sagittarius and your solar seventh house, tracking down Pluto the transformer for a powerful meeting in the third week of March, a landmark point. Mars could spice up your love-life -- or send it hurtling into disagreement or conflict. Freedom could be an issue for you or your partner. Travel might separate you for a time, putting the pressure on for both of you. For the single Geminian, there might be a hot new relationship with something of a tempestuous quality. There could also be arguments or disputes, with you in the firing line. These will have to be sorted, but it may take longer to do so than you would like. Be patient. This is all part of the cycle of testing that comes this year and there’ll be enough excitement to offset the struggles.

March sees Venus, goddess of love and your spiritual funds manager turn retrograde in the sign of Aries and in your solar eleventh house. Don’t take any tempting offers for liaisons among your friends or wider circle. If you do things could fizzle out quickly or even end on a sour note. It could be good to step back from the brink of amorous pursuits altogether for a time in order to see just where you sit among the people in your life. Are you among those who are really doing you good and helping you to surge forward to new and better things? Give this some thought. For those Twins who are in partnerships, step back from things a little and see how your social life and your love life fit together. Give things a shake up if there isn’t any balance. Put more time into your partnership if required or perhaps bring your partnership more into the sphere of your social life if that’s what’s lacking.

Once again, watch the purse strings at this time. Notice in particular any patterns that you have as to how you initiate new ventures with money and observe the difference between how you start something and how you carry it through and complete. If your enthusiasm only really runs at the beginning and then starts to wane, this could require work on your part to change things. It might be interesting to see if this same pattern of waning enthusiasm applies to relationships as well. Are you a honeymoon addict? Give all of this some thought.

Relationships versus Self  

April 21st marks an important heavenly shift for the Gemini. Saturn moves into your sign and sets himself for the long haul. This could perhaps cause you to reflect upon the events of August, September and October of 2000, especially if you’re a Gemini born early in the piece. While Jupiter crossed your Sun, all was optimism, enthusiasm and ‘go for it’ style expansion. Now, with sober Saturn walking the line, you can expect a shift in the emotional and mental climate. This is especially so for those born up to June 6th. Responsibilities may press in upon you, threatening to wear you down. There will be demands to be met and work to be done. Be careful of your health this year. Don’t ignore little problems for they won’t be as little as you’d like to believe. Stress could build up or just plain old-fashioned exhaustion could set in. Take care of yourself as you try to walk the line between self-nurture and meeting the demands of your life. August right through to mid November could be a particularly testing period, especially for those born June 5th to June 9th. This is when Pluto and Saturn enter into a wrestling match, Pluto from your solar seventh house and Saturn from your solar first. You really will have to work at maintaining the balance between the demands others place on you with the needs you have to fulfill from within. Relationships versus self ... don’t expect to sort this one easily. It is the ongoing issue this year. Take the path one step at a time.

Mars and Chiron -- Warrior and Healer  

On May 12th, Mars turns retrograde in the sign of Sagittarius and in your solar seventh house. If things were intense from mid February, they could very well up the ante now. It is important for the Gemini to take the path of caution here and not take risks with physical safety, for others or for yourself. This period will pass, but while it’s in operation, extra care will do wonders and offset this difficult influence. It’s equally important not to take risks with relationships as well. Don’t mistake frustration and the illusion of conflict for the end of something. In fact this time could be one of healing and reconciliation both for yourself and for others. If there are quarrels with partners or close associates at this time, it will be very important to get at the root of them. Where did the conflict begin? It will not be in the apparent cause. This will be just a symptom of something much deeper. For some time now, Chiron, the wounded healer has been tracking a path through your solar seventh house in the sign of Sagittarius. Like Pluto and Mars, Chiron will have stirred up a lot of issues about partnership, freedom, the need for others and how you have hurt partners or been hurt by them. Your deeper emotional history is hidden under the guise of the current cycle of difficulty or dispute. Dig deep into yourself with the help of others in this mid year period and you will find that old wounds can be exposed, then salved and healed. Ignore them and they’ll come back to haunt you later one. Chiron in Sagittarius teaches us that without fun and adventure, the spirit is never truly whole and able to live life to the full. Use this time to look deep within to see where the hurt lies when parents or authority figures stepped in to stop you taking the risks your spirit calls you to.

Messages from the Full Moon  

The birthday month will be chock full of challenges for many of you Twins out there. The Full Moon in your own sign on May 23rd shows advances in work or work methods but difficulties with relationships and perhaps eruptions in the home or in your emotional life. Just beyond this, watch also May 26th and 27th as days for you to be careful in matters of travel and movement. You might miss the plane, walk into the door or fall off your bike. Take it slowly, especially the Gemini born late in the piece. The matters that come to the fore around the time of the Full Moon should not be put away too quickly for June brings the second retrograde Mercury cycle for the year. This one is in your own sign and may throw a temporary blanket of confusion on life’s day to day events. Mostly it will be best to be careful and thorough and take the month step by step. An astute combination of wariness and awareness will be the magic that you need to make all this work in your favour. Who am I? What do I need to be? These could be good questions to be asking yourself as you glide mercurially through these somewhat stressful days.

The Solstice and the Solar Eclipse  

The week leading up to the Solstice could be eventful and even turbulent. Marshal all your inner resources and enter the frey cheerfully. With a conjunction of the Sun, Jupiter and retrograde Mercury in Gemini opposing Mars and Chiron retrograde in Sagittarius, you could be forgiven for thinking you have been elected reigning monarch at some festival for fools and anarchists. However, the e-mail containing this vital information also held a deadly computer virus so you never got to read it. Don’t despair! Once again, put your agility to work and weave your way through the turmoil. You’ll be able to laugh at least or surprise yourself at what you might find funny at this time. See the joke, no matter how deep the issues run.

The solar eclipse that follows the solstice could once again hit you in the bank balance if you’re not careful. There may also be some fallout with loved ones, family or children. The eclipse point opposes the degree where Mars turned retrograde back in March so there may be some fallout still to be dealt with in the partnership domain. Preserve the security of your home above all else at this time.

The end of June sees Mercury moving forward again and July 20th brings Mars out of his perverse backward motion cycle. Jupiter also has made the move into Cancer and your solar second house now, so summon up the inner miser and really start the work to consolidate your efforts. Saturn and Pluto continue to test you though so while there is forward movement, there still is sustained pressure to keep going and hold your end up. Like a tug of war with some invisible titan, life is still keeping a firm grip on where you go and what you do. The months to come may find you counting the costs of the formidable efforts you have had to make to keep going this year.

Lifestyle, Children and Play  

October’s retrograde Mercury is the third for this year and it takes place in Libra and in your solar fifth house. With all the demands you have met, you may be wondering what happened to your life ... you know, the one you used to lead just a few years ago? Talk matters over with friends and partners. Acknowledge the demands of the retrograde and don’t try too hard to get things moving. Get a good perspective instead. Give matters of your offspring some concern. Have you lost ground? Make it up with time and attention. Give yourself a little breathing space and time for review. Is there anything you can delegate to a trusted cohort? This could be the time. A change of sign for the Moon’s North Node into Gemini and your solar first house could bring new associations and some prominence for your efforts. Enjoy!

Yule and Year's End  

You’re racing towards it (the year’s end, that is) and it might seem as if the year only started yesterday (or was that a thousand years ago?). A solar eclipse in the New Moon in the sign of Sagittarius in your solar eleventh house could bring some changes or even endings among the friends around you or associations or groups of which you are a member. Set your goals for the coming year and prepare yourself to go for it with whatever help is there and despite any opposition. You’ve earned success if you’ve kept your efforts on track this last twelve months. Just make sure that with the lunar eclipse on December 30th that you don’t undo all that you’ve done so far with overspending or poor financial management.