The Crossroads

Hermes was the son of Zeus, king of the gods, and the mysterious nymph Maia, also called Mother Night. When Hermes was a baby he toddled out of his cradle and stole a herd of cattle from his brother Apollo, the sun god. To fool Apollo he put on sandals which faced backward, so that the angry god went in the wrong direction looking for the culprit. When Apollo finally confronted him, Hermes presented him with a gift; a lyre he'd made from a tortoiseshell. Hermes flattered his brother with high praise, telling the older god that the gift was meant to honor the sun god's wonderful skill at music. Apollo was so beguiled that he forgot about the cattle, and in return bestowed upon Hermes a gift of his own ... that of divination. So it was that Hermes became the master of the four elements, and eventually taught people the skills of geomancy, pyromancy, hydromancy, and aeromancy; divination by earth, fire, water, and air. He was always worshipped at the crossroads, where statues were erected to honor him and invoke his blessings upon the traveler.

"Hermes, the Magician, is the guide", so says Liz Greene who equates the two. "This means that somewhere within people there is something which has foresight and can divine what direction to take and what choices to make."
The last full moon in Sagittarius conjunct Pluto is upon us. The Sun will form a conjunction with Venus in Hermes-rich Gemini, and Mercury will be just turning direct in same sign. I get the impression that directions are beginning to be defined as Pluto makes this generational transition. In some boss orchestration, when Pluto comes back to 29 late November for the last crossing, the Sun, Moon, Mercury, and Mars will all be conjunct in Sagittarius. What a trip.

My view? Gemini is one of the most underestimated signs in the zodiac. I think they prefer it that way. The fact that they are given carte blanche to travel the worlds freely, upper and lower, has always been my clue. No one else gets to go everywhere. They do know the routes. And mostly, the crossroads, those spots of possibility.Illustration: Juliet Sharman-Burke