the twins

    ._____.
      | |
      | |
     _|_|_
    '     '


quality: mutable
element: air
ruled by: mercury

Gemini is also a constellation, part of the twelve Zodiac groupings.

Mythology and Legends

Castor and Pollux, the two bright stars forming the heads of the constellation, were known as the twin stars from ages past. The Arabic culture knew them as the Two Peacocks, the Egyptians knew them as the Two Sprouting Plants, and the Hindus knew them as the Twin Deities.

Castor and Pollux were members of the Argonauts, who sailed with Jason to find the Golden Fleece.

Castor and Pollux were also known as the twin sons of Jupiter and Leda. Castor was the master of horses and Pollux was a master soldier and fighter.

St. Elmo's Fire was formerly called Ledean Lamps by sailors on sailing ships to honor the sons of Leda.

            Pollux       Castor
              *-----------*
              |           |
              |           |
              |           |
              |           |
              |           |
              |           |
        Wasat *           |
               \          |
        Mekbuda *         * Mebusta
                |         |
                |         |
                |         |
                |         *  Trejat
         Alhena *          \
               /            *
              /              \
             *                *

An annual meteor shower appears near Castor and Pollux during December 10th to the 12th. Another meteor shower appears from the feet of Gemini during the month of October.

Castor was the first binary star to be observed, discovered by Bradley in 1750. Castor actually has approximately six companion stars in a loose cluster. A supernova was observed to the right of Mebusta in 1912.

Castor and Pollux were used as the names of the evil twin brothers in the movie Face-Off, starring Nicholas Cage and John Travolta.

The third sign in Western Astrology. A Mutable sign, a masculine sign, an air sign, a logical sign. What could be seen as duplicity is merely the attempt to get two great minds to come to an agreement in one head. Incredibly intelligent, the twins have the capabilities to run circles around many other signs. However, they can be very given to obsessing over small details and this is the only thing that slows them down. Amazing communicators, they have the ability to to sway people to their way of thinking. Brilliant, manipulative, indescisive, social, sympathetic, mysterious twins.

Their colors are cyan and yellow, their planet is Mercury, (which they share with Virgo), their stones are most likely citrine, pearl or alexandrite, feel free to argue that with me. The parts of the body they rule are the arms and hands...of course, two of the same that can each do different things. Their tarot card is The Fool, not because he is naive, but because of all of the doors he opens for himself. Geminis generally stear clear of leadership roles, mainly because the wear and tear would be a bother and a bore. They can exude creativity and make for good thespians and photographers. I could write you a list, but how does Angelina Jolie grab you?

"When asked why he doesn't believe in astrology, logician Raymond Smullyan says that he's a Gemini, and Geminis never believe in astrology."

Gemini was a series of missions flown by NASA, the United States space agency. It was started in 1961 when they saw a need for an intermediate step between the Mercury and Apollo projects, and it was dubbed "Gemini" in 1962.

Gemini's main goal was to produce a two-man manned spaceflight, to thereby study the effects of long term spaceflight and weightlessness on humans, to work out and test the procedures required for longer spaceflight, and to attempt methods of docking in space and landing on land, as opposed to water. (This last was cancelled from the program in 1964, so all the Gemini flights did land on water, but they perfected the landing control to the point where they could have theoretically landed on land.) NASA considers the Gemini project to have been highly successful, as it met most of these goals and made other minor achievements as well.

The Gemini spacecraft were an enlarged version of the Project Mercury capsules - a rounded cone, 19 feet high and 10 feet in diameter. Mighty cozy quarters for two grown men. The first Gemini flights started in 1964, and manned flights started in 1965, continuing through 1966. Each flight was given a roman numeral, as follows:

Gemini I

Gemini II (Gemini I and II were both unmanned. all later flights were flown with two men.)

Gemini III - first manned flight of Gemini

Gemini IV - first spacewalk for an American

Gemini V

Gemini VII - At just under 14 days, this was the longest of the Gemini flights. Its goal was to see if humans could live in space for 2 weeks. They could. I'm sure the astronauts were relieved. =)

Gemini VI - Yep, VI came after VII - VI was cancelled at first. VI met up with VII in space - cool!

Gemini VIII - This was the first docking in space. A malfunction caused it to spin out of control. They undocked and effected the first (but not last) emergency landing for NASA. The astronauts were unharmed.

Gemini IX

Gemini X

Gemini XI

Gemini XII - The last gemini flight, Gemini XII featured a then-record length spacewalk of over five hours.

thanks to nasa's site and my childhood subscription to Odyssey magazine.

Gemini
(May 22nd to June 21st)
Twins
Colours: Saffron yellow, and black and white contrasts. The colour of Mercury, ruler of Gemini is White.
Stones: Crystal, topaz and beryl.
Metals: Mercury
Trees: Nut trees, rowan and beech.
Flowers: Lily-of-the-valley, lavender and rock-roses
Countries: Wales, America and Belgium.
Cities: London, Melbourne and San Francisco.

Gemini is a steel roller coaster at Cedar Point. Many riders feel that due to the extensive wooden structure that Gemini is a wooden coaster. Coaster type, between wooden and steel, is determined by the track. Gemini does in fact have a steel tubular track. Built in 1978 by Arrow Dynamics at a cost of $3.4 million dollars, Gemini holds a special place in many coaster riders’ hearts due to its classic feel coupled with the fact that it is a Twin coaster. Twin coasters, also called racing coasters, have two side-by-side tracks and usually run the trains in a racing fashion, as Gemini does.

Riders board either red or blue trains, though if the crowd is quite thin they will only run one track. Seated two across in three rows for a total of thirty riders per train, riders are taken up 125’4” to be dropped 118’ at a 55-degree angle. Regardless of age Gemini has some excellent stomach wrenching drops throughout the 3935-foot track reaching a top speed of 60 mph. Coming into the station in split helixes, riders experience the thrill of a close race nearly every time over the coarse of the just over two minute ride.

More detailed statistics of Gemini:

• Height: 125’4”
• Drop: 118’
• Drop Angle: 55 degrees
• Top Speed: 60 mph
• Duration: 2:20
• Length: 3935’
• Capacity: 1650 rph (riders per hour)

Resources include roller coaster database and extensive riding of way too many coasters

Gem"i*ni (?), n. pl. [L., twins, pl. of geminus; cf. Skr. jmi related as brother or sister.] Astron.

A constellation of the zodiac, containing the two bright stars Castor and Pollux; also, the third sign of the zodiac, which the sun enters about May 20th.

 

© Webster 1913.