As ruled by Mercury, the Gemini archetype is associated with the mind. It connects significantly to various domains of the mental and linguistic dimensions, such as the flow of verbal/non-verbal communication and information. We associate this sign with curiosity, high stimulation, perceptual/intellectual diversity, restlessness, teaching, and learning. In sum, we could say Gemini represents gathering information or data to form an understanding or view of the world and the various ways we interact with or describe it.
How can the pursuit of information, or the acquisition of truth or perception, become a battlefield where words, thoughts, ideas, or speeches become weapons or enemies? This is easy for us to conceive today, where Twitter wars happen daily, and powerful institutions have essentially waged war on misinformation. Especially in the shadow of the pandemic, the acquisition and dissemination of information are perceived as dangerous endeavors.
We hear a lot about the dangers of false or misleading information today, yet the response, such as the silencing of free speech, gets overlooked in mainstream discussions. Censorship is a well-utilized tactic of authoritarians to silence information they deem as threatening. This is not to suggest that misinformation is not a problem, but the events of 2020 have catalyzed a concerning wave of censorship and the public's acceptance of it. Regardless of whether one disagrees with the censored information, it is hard to deny that allowing powerful institutions to censor whom they decide is a slippery slope that can quickly snowball out of control.
Linguistic information has incredible power over human beings because we rely heavily on it for survival. The human capacity for sharing information is the most complex among mammals. No other animals on the planet use language to discuss the past, present, and future with the complexity that humans do. The human brain's higher neuronal capacity (more neurons than other primates or animals) also means prioritizing our visual and linguistic advancements over other senses. Thus, our ancestors relied heavily on information shared verbally to survive effectively in natural environments. It likely all started with the question, is this safe to eat or not?
Information is thus a powerful currency, and human societies have fought over it for millennia. Today's Twitter wars, platform bans, and censorship campaigns do not differ much from the motivations behind the Library of Alexandria's destruction, the Spanish Inquisitions, or Nazi book burnings. On an individual and collective level, confronting information that threatens our beliefs is also fraught with stress and fear because it results in cognitive dissonance. This is the psychological discomfort experienced in encountering information contradictory to what we believe to be true, and it can lead to highly irrational behavior. Human beings react to this experience with denial, rejection, hostility, or avoidance of the information, or they can choose to accept it and move through the discomfort. The latter requires some time, courage, and putting egos aside.
Mars retrograde in Gemini reminds me of a specific quote from don Juan, the Yaqui sorcerer that anthropologist Carlos Castaneda apprenticed under while conducting fieldwork in the book, The Teachings of Don Juan: A Yaqui Way of Knowledge (1). At this point in the book, Castaneda struggled to integrate his first experience with Peyote (what don Juan refers to as Mescalito), especially after hearing about his behavior while under its influence.
While Castaneda recalled his Peyote experience as a playful, ecstatic interaction with a dog, the next day, he learned how he had wildly chased after the dog barking loudly, played with the dog for hours while drinking from a water bowl, and eventually peed on the dog before passing out (pg. 46-47). Castaneda explains to don Juan that
"Peyote had produced in me, as a postreaction, a strange kind of physical discomfort. It was an indefinite fear or unhappiness; a melancholy of some sort, which I could not define exactly. And I did not find that state noble in any way." (pg. 48)
don Juan simply replies
"You are beginning to learn." (pg. 48)
Castaneda's struggle at this point in the book could be described as an experience of cognitive dissonance. His behavior contradicted the perception he had of himself. In fact, don Juan lectures Castaneda later about being too self-focused and missing much that is happening around him. Don Juan also explains the way in which Mescalito can pull one out of themselves to teach them, echoing the modern understanding of how psychedelic substances can allow individuals to observe their mind, thoughts, and behavior objectively. Castaneda confesses that he doesn't feel cut out for the learning that Mescalito provides
"This type of learning is not for me. I am not made for it, don Juan."
"You always exaggerate."
"This is not exaggeration."
"It is. The only trouble is that you exaggerate the bad points only."
"There are no good points so far as I am concerned. All I know is that it makes me afraid."
"There is nothing wrong with being afraid. When you fear, you see things in a different way." (pg. 48)
As a result of his discomfort and fear of Mescalito, Castaneda rejects further learning through Peyote use. He has confronted realizations that terrify him and challenge his worldview. Yet, don Juan's response that fear alters perception is the crucial point here and leads to the infamous quote. On a separate evening from the previous discussion, don Juan gives Castaneda wisdom he had memorized from his teacher while he was apprenticing to be a sorcerer himself:
"A man goes to knowledge as he goes to war: wide-awake, with fear, with respect, and with absolute assurance. Going to knowledge or going to war in any other manner is a mistake, and whoever makes it might never live to regret it." (pg. 51)
This quote refers to don Juan's earlier suggestion that "When you fear, you see things in a different way" (pg. 48). Fear can throw us off our usual route to developing a perception, either shutting down our ability to think critically and clearly or as don Juan suggests, fear can embolden respect for the knowledge we seek to have. As don Juan further on explains
"When a man starts to learn, he is never clear about his objectives. His purpose is faulty; his intent is vague. He hopes for rewards that will never materialize for he knows nothing of the hardships of learning."
"He slowly begins to learn--bit by bit at first, then in big chunks. And his thoughts soon clash. What he learns is never what he pictured, or imagined, and so he begins to be afraid. Learning is never what one expects. Every step of learning is a new task, and the fear the man is experiencing begins to mount mercilessly, unyieldingly. His purpose becomes a battlefield."
Castaneda then asks
"What will happen to the man if he runs away in fear?"
"Nothing happens to him except that he will never learn. He will never become a man of knowledge. He will perhaps be a bully, or a harmless, scared man; at any rate, he will be a defeated man. His first enemy will have put an end to his cravings." (pg. 84)
Don Juan alludes to the reality that learning is a process of developing the strength to endure the cognitive dissonance experienced due to chronic disillusionment or disenchantment. When one sets out on a learning path, they will inevitably encounter information and perceptions that challenge what they expect to find. The truth is often counter to our ideals, beliefs, and expectations. And yet, to acquire true knowledge, persistence and endurance are required to push through the discomfort.
There is likely some valuable wisdom to gather from don Juan's words as we move closer to Mars' lengthy retrograde in Gemini. Mars in Gemini is a time to utilize our fear to approach information with respect or to endure cognitive dissonance and come out with altered perception and understanding. While we can relate to these issues throughout our lives, Mars' extended trip through Gemini could bring some pivotal events to the surface that deal with the need to approach knowledge as a warrior facing the battlefield.
Other Mars in Gemini issues might involve taking a firm stance on a particular side of a cultural issue, defending a belief, perception, idea, or set of data relating to a specific understanding of the world. It might involve fighting against some perceived misinformation or attacks to censor or silence. Critical opportunities might surface to assert our truth or perception. We're likely to see some critical collective events in the U.S. dealing with these themes, especially as Mars retrogrades over Mars in the U.S. horoscope.
Mars Square Neptune
