Venus in Gemini: Why Limit Ourselves?

6.26.06


Let's not sell the Gemini short, by restricting it to only two faces.

There's so much more to Gemini than a pair of personalities, though its symbol is a single set of humble twins. Every twin has another twin. Each of those, another. (Then, she tells a friend, and so on and so on…) Who can keep count of all the facets and possibilities and reasons not to bother counting?

Ever since I saw that impishly charming drawing of an octopus eating spaghetti outside an Italian restaurant in Tokyo, I can't get my mind off the wily multi-legged mollusk. In our cartoonish image of it, the octopus can do anything: always with an extra limb or four to finish crocheting those baby-booties, while holding a Bud Light and a poker-hand full of playing cards and scratching his (or someone else's) back. A master of multi-tasking—just like the Gemini.

Venus's passage into Gemini last week (Fri Jun 23) saved us some from what was beginning to feel like too much of a 'downer' moment… with Mars, Jupiter and Saturn all wound up together, and forcing us take everything a shred too seriously. The downbeat vibe kept me, for one, from dashing out much written work last week, scrambling between physical and psychological botherations of my own and those of others. (The daylong tummy-ache was the worst part.)

But if you're an octopus (at least in my fantasy of one), you can split your attention—getting all your solemn duties taken care of with, maybe, half your legs, while the others are still free to hail taxicabs and wrap spring rolls and wag a come-hither tentacle at that cute squid across the lagoon.

(Your Gemini friends are like this, too. They can drive and eat and play with their cell phones all at once. Hell, some of 'em can even listen and talk at the same time. Really.)

Enter Venus in Gemini, which certainly won't make our problems go away… but is damn good at providing plenty of other delights and distractions to fill those stray in-between hours, so we can perpetually remind ourselves of all the other stuff in the world (to appreciate, to enjoy, to test out) besides our problems.

Maybe we still have to type away at our keyboards, plan our newly-tightened budgets or our steps to complete self-reinvention. Yet we've also got another dinner date at 8, a movie at 10, and several other errands to run that are markedly more fun. And with Venus in Gemini, we actually want to do 'em all. The higher pitch of activity and variety sweetens the whole deal, even the less appealing parts. Work isn't so shitty, if there's something more appealing in store before and/or after.

While Venus is in Gemini (through Jul 18), we do ourselves right by keeping the datebook full of appointments, excursions and catch-ups with our favorite never-seen acquaintances. Why strip the life out of life by sticking to the same one or two friends—yes, they're great, but every friggin' night?—when you can barely handle how many times you run into folks you genuinely like, telling them 'we should really get together' and never doing a damn thing about it? Why limit ourselves?

Now's an ideal time to make those calls… to throw together a few random pals at a local watering-hole, and see who gets along with whom. Possible clashes between Pal A and Pal G? Not your problem. You've got enough on your plate to worry about—and plenty more directions to turn, should someone dare to increase (rather than lessen) your stress level.

The same goes for possible romantic dalliances, if you're currently unattached or loosely 'seeing someone' with no commitment. For each of the octopus's eight suction-cup-covered appendages floating in the water, there's a handsome companion or lovely lass to suck in for an afternoon coffee or evening stroll. Try the merchandise before you buy.

Just make sure you don't 'forget' to disclose your intentions, if you're still in the sampling stage. The worst of Gemini's habits is the omission of key details, in order to leave all options wide open. Venus in Gemini, if not kept in check, has a knack for double-booking dates… conveniently not mentioning what goes on with its other seven hands, as it's lovingly stroking your hair with its eighth. Omission, for the record, still qualifies as dishonesty.

Venus in Gemini is also great for spreading the word, whether in a positive fashion (by generating buzz for people and projects you support) or less-than-positively (through gossip, gossip, gossip!). We're likelier than ever to be drawn into friendly conversation with strangers (and strange conversation with friends), so have business cards in pocket for plenty of networking possibilities.

Be on watch, though, for the 'overpromise/underdeliver' routine. Good games will be talked, but not always followed through on. That's the thing with those squirrelly Venus-in-Gemini octopuses (or, if you prefer, octopi)—how can you be sure there isn't at least one set of crossed fingers behind his back, leaving him an out?