I fought with my twin brothers,
This enemy comes from the heart,
until both sides were injured and fell on the side of the road.
--Bob Dylan
Twins always carry some supernatural meanings. Although modern biological knowledge can explain the birth process of twins, it is still fascinating and uneasy to see two people look exactly the same. Many pairs of twins are associated with Gemini and all have charming qualities. The least known pair of them are called Amphion and Zethus (also known as Zethus), the son of Antiope, the daughter of the king of the Thebes. Cysus is strong and energetic, and can be called a real warrior, while Anphion, on the other hand, has gifts from Hermes , a lyre, and is skilled in playing. Sisus despises his brothers indulge in "women's" pursuits, while Anphion actively defends the value of art and intelligent life. Through this myth, we have touched one of the basic conflicts of Gemini: the innate opposition .
Twins Castor and Polydeuces (Polydeuces, Latin for Pollux) are much more well-known than Ampion and Zetos, and are also the most commonly associated with Gemini. Their mother was the wife of Tyndareos, Tyndareos, the king of Sparta, and Zeus turned into a swan to court him, so she laid two eggs, one gave birth to the descendants of the mortal Tyndareos, Castor and Clytenestrus, Klytaemnestra, later the wife of Agamemnon, the king of Mycenae), and the other gave birth to the sons of Zeus, Polyx and Helen (Helen). In this story, there are two twins, a boy and a girl: Castor and Polyx, known as Dioscuri (son of God), as well as Clytenestra and Helen. One of these two twins is a mortal and the other is a god. This story embodies not only the theme of brothers (sisters), but also the meaning of brothers and sisters twin souls. In the story, Castor and Polyx have a dispute with another twin, Idas and Lynceus, and in the following battle, Castor, the son of the mortal, is killed. Polyx was heartbroken by the death of his brother and begged his father Zeus to resurrect Castor or exchange his own life with his brother. Zeus unexpectedly showed his compassion for the two brothers, allowing them to take turns to enjoy the favor of life, that is, one person spends a day in html Therefore, these two brothers have to suffer the opportunity of revolving between two opposites: as mortals, they have to face death and darkness, and as gods, they can share the pleasure of divineness. Traditionally, Gemini is a moody sign, and it is easy to suddenly go from being excited to being extremely frustrated . Judging from the above myth, this performance of Gemini is not surprising. In the myth, Gemini's experience shows a clear conflict: sometimes they are bound to the body of mortals, and they can feel the separation of life and death caused by this, and sometimes they are ascended to heaven and obtain an immortal body.
There are many myths related to the birth of the "Holy Gemini", including Greece , Roman , Egypt , India and China, two of which are usually one good and one evil. They are one of the many typical themes of myths, and sometimes the two brothers benefit humans or their close groups. Therefore, the Gemini god in Indian mythology, Asvins, a four-wheeled carriage in the sky, is regarded as a god who brings rain and abundant yields. But more often, Gemini are given a personality of light and darkness. In Roman mythology, the twins Romulus (Romulus) and Remus (Remus) are both sons of the god of war Mars. They grew up eating wolf milk. The two were both builders of Rome, but there was a dispute in the selection of the site. Remus was killed himself while trying to kill Romulus.In this story, Remus represents the "dark" side, trying to destroy Romulus, who represents "light", and ended up in a tragic end. This entanglement between the light and the dark forces connects the deep yin and yang poles of human beings, which is what Jung calls "shadow": the inner enemy of is also his own brother born from the same womb. He can never be completely conquered, but he must always fight with it .
Another scene on this issue can be found in Jesus and Judah in the New Testament. In the Old Testament we have seen brothers Cain (Cain) and Abel (Abel). Although they are not twins, they can also see the opposite. Cain is the party of the brothers representing darkness, and Abel is the light. Satan and Christ are also sons of God, and Esao (Bible character) and Jacob are also fighting brothers. It seems that the deity in charge of Gemini will bring individuals into an inevitable conflict with their dark opposites. This kind of conflict is often reflected in others, the most common one is with one's own brothers and sisters, one of whom is "good" is spoiled by his parents, while the "bad" is carrying the shadow of the dark side of the family. In this situation where the opposite is reflected outside, it is more difficult for people to find the "enemy" lurking in their bodies, but the hostile sides will eventually meet in a narrow road sooner or later.
Ivor Morrish once wrote an interesting book called "The Dark Gemini", in which he explores the themes of twins that are associated with the dark side and evil. He described it like this:
"When we use the word "twins" to describe the opposite good and evil, it must be noted that in the beginning, many of the "pairs" in the myth are associated with brothers and sisters, especially brothers. One of them represents "good" or their words and deeds are acceptable, while the other represents "evil" or what they do is regarded as bad things by society and is unacceptable. Twins are often regarded as special existences, and if they are not directly linked to divinity, they will have some opposite unusual or supernatural powers. Like the positive and negative force in electricity, or the north and south poles of magnets. Therefore, the concept of twins implies the concept of balance or equilibrium . The two are close, similar but not exactly the same. In the end, opposition will lead to an increase in hostility, and one of the twins will try to destroy the other - at least in myths."
My personal experience with Gemini tells me that when I was young, the "good" and "bad" in Gemini are usually separated and will be projected onto some people or things outside the environment . Slowly, with the collision of opposites, Gemini will begin to discover that both sides of the opposing sides are actually from themselves. Of course, people often only have this experience at a certain age. This understanding comes even harder in the Gemini twins I met in real life, because one of the two is usually very outgoing and confident, while the other is more restrained and neurotic. Putting aside their own requirements, the pressure from family and society also makes the division between "good" and "bad" more difficult, but the inner struggle will sooner or later be manifested. However, as Morrish pointed out, there is still a balance between these opponents. Both will be incomplete without the other. The formation of a complete personality depends on the existence of both parties, and neither one can develop without the other. The forms of opposition may vary, and like the Anphion and Cissus we mentioned, disputes may arise between the masculine and feminine sides, or between the values of reason and emotion, or between the spiritual and material goals. Of course, it may also occur between negative and positive traits. Two extremes are common in Gemini. Just like the song sings, "She is so well-behaved when she is good, but she is extremely terrifying when she is not good." Others may find this strange or unacceptable, and the troubles are doubled for Gemini. They often completely confused themselves, while trying to find ways to make these contradictory principles consistent, while accepting reality: they may never fully achieve the ideal kind of uncontradictory harmony. If Gemini cannot face their inner opposition and contradictions, the dark or bright side will inevitably appear on their siblings, friends and partners. In the worst case, some children will be artificially "destroyed" into the "bad" existence in their parents' minds . Because if parents want to satisfy Gemini, this external "evil" is necessary.
The themes of light and darkness have a profound influence in myths and exist in all major religious beliefs in the world. We will soon mention Mercury’s avatar in large quantities: Hermes, the avatar in alchemy, mercury-unpredictable, elves with a dim light, who both points the direction for the alchemy work and often threatens to destroy it. It is capricious and hermaphrodite, both the most basic substance and the alchemy elixir. It is the carrier of all contradictions you can think of, and is also regarded as the dark twin of Christ. Therefore, Merculi is a mysterious twin of the Son of God, born with the dark side of the earth that nurtures all things. In dualistic religions, such as Zoroastrianism, the ambiguity of the universe with double faces is also mentioned. Ahura Mazda (Good God) is the source of light, while Angra Mainyu (Good God) is the source of darkness. The good gods enhance life, bring joy and eternal happiness, while the evil gods pursue death, misfortune and suffering. In the eyes of Gemini, the entire universe is an opposite . Just as Castor and Polyx need to appear alternately in the underworld and heaven, the same is true for Gemini. Sometimes they can only perceive the good side of life, and sometimes they can only see the bad side.
In Norse mythology, Valdur (Baldur, God of Light, Son of Odin ) and Loki (Loge) are also a pair of disputed brothers. Valdel is handsome and elegant, with an idyllic temperament, and is incredibly perfect. Loki is dark and cunning, and is portrayed as an ugly, hunchbacked, physically and mentally distorted image in Wagner's masterpiece "The Ring of Nibelonan", who is ultimately responsible for Valdel's death. In the opera, Alberich (Wotan in German and Odin in English) has the same relationship. Odin himself admits that they are twins and calls himself "white" Alberich, and calls the dwarf King "dark" Alberich. In the human world, Siegfried and Hagen are the heroes and the shadows behind them. But just as Bardel died at Loki's hands, Ziegfei's death at Hagen's hands was also an inevitable fate. The hero of light is a bit too dazzling, too invulnerable, too far away from the suffering of ordinary people, and is not as eager as the mortals to fulfill the mission of redemption he was given. He will only be injured if he is conspired behind his back. This also shows that although the posture of a hero of light can avoid other injuries in life, he cannot avoid shadows and subconsciousness. At the end of The Ring, everything looks dark and frustrating, the hero is gone, and the world of God is coming to an end. But I think what Wagner really means is to explain what is left behind when human beings are destroyed and the deities of the two camps are heading towards dusk. Therefore, Judah must betray Jesus, and Jesus must make the destined sacrifice in order to give a symbol to those who are capable of unifying the opposites in life. Cain must remove Abel and get corresponding evaluations. Satan must also persuade Christ to punish Job , and let Eve fall and steal the forbidden fruit. Richard Donington wrote in his book on "The Ring":
"If Hagen is Ziegfei's dark personality in some ways, then Alberic is also the prince of darkness. This drama reminds us that if humans commit atrocities, it is because the demons are always instigating. But the demons' provocation also plays a certain role in the protagonist's growth. Most of this growth exists in learning that good and evil cannot be separated, but it is not unilateral. Demons are often the dark side of God."
Wagner himself is also a Gemini, and he may have a better understanding of such problems.Of course, in the biography, he is a completely contradictory, unbearable and uneasy person, but one of the greatest artists of all time. Ordinary Gemini may also get the same profound insight. As I see, Gemini often experiences chaos in their lives, or some chaos caused by their own deceptive dark side, are inevitable .
In myth, some examples of sisters being enemies can be found, just change the gender of the hero. The Inanna and Erishkigai we mentioned before are such hostile sisters. Here, the "light" side also needs to learn from the "dark" side, which is no less than death and rebirth for them. Artemis (Artemis) and Aphrodite are also hostile sisters in Greek mythology, which we mentioned before when discussing Taurus related myths. Artemis' purity is incompatible with Aphrodite's lust. The emergence of the theme of "other women" (which seems to be a periodic phenomenon in Gemini's life) is related to Hera and her husband Zeus' countless lovers. Even in fairy tales we can meet several such jealous women. They sometimes compete for jealousy for a man, and sometimes they compete for power and profit, such as Snow White and her evil queen, Cinderella (also known as Cinderella) and her ugly and jealous sister. Psyche (His wife of Cupid) and Aphrodite fought to win the love of Eros (Eros, the God of Love, that is, Cupid in the Roman population), even Dorothy in the fairy tale of the Wizard of Oz had to go against the bad Western witch. (The Gemini Judy Garland plays Dorothy in the 1939 classic movie The Wizard of Oz.) The suspicion between sisters, the jealousy between friends, the conflict between opponents, all these themes are extensions of Gemini myths, and unfortunately, few people understand it as a competition between the two sides of the same body.
Hermes himself embodies an ambiguous personality, swaying between light and dark, just like the completely different things in twins. Hermes is Zeus's smartest son, born to Miya (Maia), a nymph in Greek mythology (Nymph, water fairy, beautiful goddess of water, representative of water elves, and the name Zeus called her when he was looking for the oracle of the goddess of the night. Therefore, Hermes is not the son of an ordinary woman. His mother is a goddess older and stronger than Zeus. The joy of Zeus and Meyah is not an ordinary invasion like Zeus and other women, but a spontaneous alliance between the soul of light and the unfathomable unconscious nature of darkness. Zeus obtained Maia in a dark cave through the night, and the latter conceived this extremely cunning child: a hypocritical flatterer, a robber and a shepherd, a dream messenger and a night wanderer. Just as historian Kerenyi said, "It's like a lurker hiding in front of the gates on the street."
Hermes's ever-changing career began with inventing the seven-string harp and stealing his brother Apollo . Later, he became the first messenger to send messages to Hades in the underworld, and from then on he performed the function of a messenger in the underworld (Psychopompos) and brought the souls of the deceased to the underworld. He can travel between the upper and lower realms, and also pass through the human world sandwiched between the two. He is the only deity without a specific "field", because his realm is the boundaries of the world, the main roads and passages, and the intersections where suicides are buried and hanged prisoners are buried. Human beings undoubtedly benefited from Hermes, but sometimes he also deliberately leads people astray in the dark night. Interestingly, another version of this great god's life story says that he and Aphrodite are twins. They are both sons of the god of the sky Uranos (Oranos, they look familiar, they are actually Uranos). Their birthdays are the fourth day of the new moon. And their son is Eros, the patron saint of love and dispute. This quirky legend about Hermes's life experience shows us another dimension of his personality, far from being a simple liar.His twins and soul mates are goddesses of fertility, and the image of their children represents the strong binding force of life. Hermes even cultivates relationships through quarrel and separation and brings them together by differences between things and vice versa .
According to Walter Friedrich Otto (a German literature scholar who has focused on Greek mythology for thirty years), Hermes "has no decent": his power comes from resourcefulness, he achieved his goal through fraud and confusion, so it is more appropriate to describe him as "magic" rather than "heroic" which is more suitable for , which is why the magical words during the Renaissance we mentioned before were given to "the incomparable great Hermes". He is a great wizard and a protector of the magician. not only gives people benefits, but also is scheming and completely unpredictable. Most of the time, he reflects unpredictable characteristics . Otto wrote:
"This is his true nature. If someone finds something valuable on the road or hits his waist by a sudden luck, he must thank Hermes. The word we often use to express surprises is "Hermaion", and the expression of "greed" is also "common Hermes". To be precise, people often receive gifts from this great god after experiencing a lot of trouble, but in the end there will usually be luck. Pushan in Indian mythology is similar to Hermes, and this god will also point people to people's directions and avoid getting lost."
Jung is deeply fascinated by the scammer's image of gloriousness and gloomy darkness, especially the "Mercules" mentioned by the alchemist. For him, this image represents the mysterious driving force in the subconscious, sometimes destructive, sometimes humorous, and sometimes frightening, but it is always so ambiguous and colorful. This kind of prosperity that never stops, weaving people's dreams and nightmares was reflected in the ancient style (Greece around the 7th century BC to the 6th century BC), when the ancestors at that time stood the statues of worshipping Hermes at various crossroads. Hermes' face was bearded and stood playfully on the top of the rectangular stone pillar with his erect genitals. Jung wrote in his essay about the prototype of the magician:
"The subject of this scammer is not only seen in myths, but also reflected in unsuspecting modern people. Whenever people encounter an annoying emergencies that bring obvious malice to their consciousness and actions, he is at work."
Jung connects this cunning image with the shadow, so we go around a big circle and return to the theme of "hostile brothers" in Gemini mythology.
"The so-called civilized people have forgotten this liar. I only remember his symbols and metaphors. When people get angry about their stupidity and incompetence, they always say that fate is teasing him or being crazy, and they will never doubt that the potential dark side that looks harmless in humans and animals actually hiding dangers that are even more than their craziest nightmare. When people get into the crowd and bury themselves, this dark side is mobilized, and as happened in history, it is anthropomorphized and manifested in detail."
Fate often jokes with Gemini because this is the attribute in their own souls. There are countless examples of Gemini that Hermes has shown countless creativity, and these people have left us with many valuable cultural heritages; Wagner, Dante and Thomas Mann (Womas Mann, a German writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature) are representatives of the best Gemini. But in my opinion, Jung’s “annoying emergencies” and the conflicts with opponents that spread throughout Gemini’s growth path will trigger their deep gratitude to the changing experiences in life and the legendary god of light and darkness. There is no doubt that if there were no such colorful things, Gemini would probably find life too boring.
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