Gemini (signs of the zodiac)
The zodiac sign Gemini ( Greek δίδυμοι Dídymoi , Latin Gemini ) corresponds to the third section of the zodiac from 60 ° to 90 ° ecliptical longitude from the spring equinox .
The sun is located in this sign on average between May 21 and June 21 . Due to the migration of the spring equinox , the zodiac sign Gemini no longer corresponds to the constellation Gemini . The sun in the constellation Gemini is roughly between June 21 and July 20.
After the Tetrabiblos by Claudius Ptolemy
- are the twins male (I.12), and
- of Mercury (I.17) is rulers of the character.
As a Melothesian equivalent, the twins were assigned to human body parts in ancient iatroastrology shoulders, arms, hands and fingers. The assigned deity was Apollo .
With Libra and Aquarius , the twins form the trine of the element air , and with Virgo , Sagittarius and Pisces the square of the four common signs.
The sign was already part of the Babylonian zodiac. It appears on the MUL.APIN boards as “Big Twins” (MAŠ.TAB.BA.GAL.GAL).
Since ancient times, the symbol has been depicted as two young men hugging each other or holding hands. On the zodiac of Dendera , the Gemini appear as a man and a woman. The origin of the astrological symbol is unclear. It can be a stylization of the constellation or the Roman numeral II, which then stands for the two twin stars Castor and Pollux .
The Unicode character for the symbol is U + 264A (♊).
literature
- Wolfgang Huebner: Zodiac. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 12, Metzler, Stuttgart 2002, ISBN 3-476-01470-3 , Sp. 553-563.
