Almost everyone is familiar with Gemini as one of the 12 zodiacs throughout the year, and most of them are familiar with the trademark traits listed in the horoscopes. Whether you believe in horoscopes or not, the mythological significance of the ‘Divine Twins’predates Greece by roughly 8 centuries with an entirely different set of twins representing the same two stars in the sky.
I love their symbolism as the protectors of sailors in this epic poem with St. Elmo’s fire becoming their wings.
In both mythologies, the divine twins are guardians of travelers.
Homeric Hymn 27 to the Dioscuri (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C.) :
“[The Dioskouroi (Dioscuri)] are deliverers of men on earth and of swift-going ships when stormy gales rage over the ruthless sea. Then the shipmen call upon the sons of great Zeus with vows of white lambs, going to the forepart of the prow; but the strong wind and the waves of the sea lay the ship underwater, until suddenly these two are seen darting through the air on tawny wings [i.e. in the form of St Elmo’s fire]. Forthwith they allay the blasts of the cruel winds and still the waves upon the surface of the white sea: fair signs are they and deliverance from toil. And when the shipmen see them they are glad and have rest from their pain and labour.”
The Mesopotamian divine twins were eventually regarded as the guardians of the underworld, while the Dioscuri twins (Castor and Pollux) that the western world adopted were ‘deliverers of men.’ Granted, most mythological stories are symbolic in their conveyance of knowledge. Mythologies developed in response to humanity’s desire to better understand the world, and pass this knowledge into the future with archetypes that could be understood beyond language and culture.
Symbols were incorporated into pre-linguistic human civilizations.
There is a reason so many modern artists, especially of the fantasy genre, consistently pull from myths and legends and experience to produce something that is fantastical, yet somehow still grounded enough to be relatable.
One of the prevalent symbologies for these twin stars, regardless of era or culture, is duality–a concept I find invaluable in our understanding of reality. From the two sides of a magnetic pole, or the north and south pole of our planet that maintains our orbit, to life and death, or order and chaos. Yin and Yang, and maybe even the gravitational relation between two objects. With life as a series of ups and downs, overstimulating in the modern era of neck-breaking speeds in technological advancement, it can be extremely difficult to balance ourselves or know where to look.
I’ve mentioned the ‘US VS THEM’ mentality that labels can drive us to, a polarized perception of humanity as one group versus another group. I wonder why there aren’t more people adopting the bridges existing between the poles. Opposites are still tethered together on a spectrum with unique variables and underlying similarities. The reason I’ve called this blog and business the Gemini Healer is to focus on building bridges and serving as a gateway for healing and understanding.
I wish more people viewed the world as ‘us AND them.’
Thanks for reading! What would you expect from a nonprofit whose mission is to build bridges?
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