Hercules is sent to gather the golden apples from the tree of the Hesperides in this challenge. This sacred tree of wisdom lies in a distant country on the northern edges of the world. Its sweet fruit was known and desired by many and Hercules, too, knew of the tree’s reputation. Like other mortals, he didn’t know the location of the garden.

The sacred tree is well guarded both by a fierce dragon and by the nymph-maidens of Atlas, the Hesperides. On the journey, he will meet five challenges that provide him experiences designed to test and transform his skill in the world. Throught these tests, he will demonstrate that he has learned to transform knowledge into wisdom.

Hercules sets forth filled with confidence in his wisdom and strength. He passes through the gate of the West and the North, asking those on his way for guidance. He finds none and begins to wander until he is sad and discouraged. Nereus arrives as a teacher and guide; however, Hercules fails to recognize him or the help and wisdom he offered.

Hercules then turns to the South and meets Antaeus the serpent. Over and over he wrestles the serpent but is repeatedly subdued. It is only when Hercules lifts Antaeus into the air is it vanquished.

Returning to his search, Hercules now turns to the West where he meets the arch-deceiver Busiris who claims to know the truth and professes himself “The Teacher”. He declares to Hercules, “My truth is right,” and Hercules follows him. After following Busirus for a year without questioning, Hercules begins to lose his strength. Weakened, he is ultimately captured by his teacher and bound to an altar for a year.

As he struggles to free himself, Hercules recalls the words of the teacher he failed to recognize, Nereus, “Truth lies within yourself. There is a higher power and strength and wisdom inside you. Turn inwards and there evoke the strength which is, the power which is the heritage of all the sons of men who are the sons of God.” (From the Labours of Hercules by A.A.Bailey)

As Hercules contemplates this, he recognizes its truth. He regains his strength and breaks his bindings. Now wiser, he continues his journey. During the search, he hears a distant cry for help. Hercules stops and ponders, wondering whether to respond as he is eager to continue his search. The call comes again, and this time Hercules hastens to help. Finding Prometheus chained to a rock and tormented by vultures, he rescues him, chases the vultures away, and binds his wounds so that he can recover.

Having rescued Prometheus, Hercules returns to the quest. Now he turns to the east after hearing a rumor that the tree is there. He rushes forward and is met by the sight of Atlas carrying the burden of the worlds upon his shoulder. He is moved by the agony and suffering of Atlas’s burden he forgets his task again. Hercules builds the two great pillars of Hercules to support the worlds and liberates Atlas of his burden. The giant, with the three maidens of the apples, Aegle, Erytheia, and Hespera, then present Hercules with three golden apples. Successful in the quest, Hercules brings the king the apples where they are then returned to the maidens so that they can be used for the nourishment of all.

This myth centers on the search for knowledge and its transformation into wisdom. We begin with the importance of the apples. Apples have long been a symbol in human consciousness for knowledge. However, when acquired for its own sake, information has little value related to consciousness. Knowledge must be transformed into wisdom through the use of the mind. This is a core area of growth and maturity for the Gemini native.

Gemini is an air sign which emphasizes the intellect, communication, connecting, teaching, and learning. Symbolized by the twins, and the two pillars, it is a sign of relating and governing pairs of opposites. For this reason, duality is a significant theme for Gemini.

Antaeus, the serpent is representative of emotional desire and distortion. He draws his strength and power from the Earth and its sensual pleasure and material comforts. Just as with our own individual desires and distortions, his destruction requires awareness or being lifted into the light.

The teacher Nereus, skilled in wisdom and speech, is called the ‘ancient of the sea.’ He is wise but also elusive, and a changer of forms. The ancients worshipped Nereus as a provider of fish, which are symbolic of the higher self, of transformation, and rebirth. He provides his virtuous, wise, and honest advice quietly, and Hercules initially does not recognize him as a guide. Perhaps the failure to recognize his gift is due to Nereus’s subtle, gentle, and noble approach. As the symbol of the higher self, Hercules did not know enough about his own inner nature to recognize this in another and value and follow his guidance.

Busiris is the false teacher who sacrifices all visitors to the gods to prevent famine. Hercules looks outwardly for wisdom, and so forfeits his own will and strength. Finding himself bound to an altar signifies the paralysis experienced when we fail to recognize and trust the inner voice of the soul. Only when Hercules remembers the words of Nereus and turns to his inward voice can he free himself from what has bound him.

Prometheus is an important symbol in mythology. He symbolizes intelligence and acts as an advocate for humanity by stealing fire [think fire of mind] and giving it to humanity. As punishment, vultures fed on his liver each day (the liver is considered as the seat of human emotion) only to have it regrow each night. Hercules rescues Prometheus from this eternal fate, which signifies Hercules’s own transformation by using the higher mind to transmute his emotions.

The Hesperia, the nymphs of the West, tend to the sacred trees in the garden. These three beings represent the challenges around duality of humanity that are required for the spiritual journey of awakening in Gemini.  Aegle means radiant good health and represents physical life. Erytheia represents the soul life, signifying our immortality. And lastly, Hespera signifies the mind, through which we realize the illusion of our own duality.

The quest for the apples represents the mortal man and his pursuit of immortality through knowledge, but this is only possible through the realization of the spiritual nature of our being. The golden apples grant immortality when eaten, and so are not for consumption by man, only by the Gods. It is for this reason, that they must be returned to the garden.

Gemini is a mutable air sign, ruled traditionally by Mercury and Spiritually by Venus. It is a strong mental sign and under the spiritual influence of Venus, the Gemini native learns to love with the mind and think with the heart.

For the Personality in Gemini, a critical task is to master communication. For the spiritually immature Gemini, this means learning to know who you are communicating with and how to understand them. As a robust mental sign, the Gemini native looks for the details and explores and analyses them. In the absence of an inner world, where one can go deep, there is a predisposition to stay on the surface and focus on its details. And so, communication is confined exclusively to the outer world. There is a restlessness in Gemini, which manifests as an urge to seek something new, exciting, and interesting to explore. The ancient mantram for Gemini is “Let instability do its work.”. This instability is a valuable key for understanding the scattered, changeable, and non-relational aspects of the personality in Gemini. An unevolved Gemini can wreak havoc through his communication (think Donald Trump).

The Soul in Gemini, on the other hand, seeks to master the intellect (abstract mind) and to develop a bridge of communication to the inner realm of spirit. Its ancient mantram is, “I see my other self, and in the waning of that self, I grow and glow.”. The spiritually mature Gemini seeks to manifest effective communication and to establish a relationship between dualities.

Most importantly, this involves recogizing the duality of soul and personality and working to bring them into effective communication.This perception of two selves provides insight into the duality inherent in Gemini and its need to bring relationship between the two aspects of self, the personality (form, mind, and reason) and soul (love, abstract thought, and wisdom). Having started with a foundation of knowledge, the spiritually mature Gemini uses the energy of love to transmute knowledge (as experience) into wisdom.

It is essential to talk about the development of the antahkarana for the Gemini native as it is in Gemini that the construction of this bridge of connection occurs. An ancient Sanskrit term, the antahkarana, also referred to as the rainbow bridge is built through training of the higher mind, meditation, and actions that are in service to the soul. The antahkarana is the component of our spiritual anatomy through which the communication, or messaging from the soul occurs. Once built, this spiritual highway facilitates an ongoing dialogue between the soul and the personality.

Through the influence of its spiritual ruler, Venus, the Gemini native blends love, mind, and soul through the construction of this bridge of consciousness. As this bridge is developed and strengthened in the spiritually mature Gemini, the capacity to love directly, heart-to-heart expands.

Johfra Bosschart

If you haven’t already done so, it may be helpful to read the article “Spiritual Transformation is a Team Activity” https://soulbridging.com/spiritual-transformation-captain/. This useful article highlights how the energy of the personality shifts its expression from personality dominance to soul control.

Gemini is ruled traditionally by Mercury and spiritually by Venus. It is the sign that governs communication, connection, and wisdom. Symbolized by the twins, this is a sign which highlights duality. The task for Gemini is to learn to quiet the busy, monkey mind (Chitta) so that an opening can be made to hear the voice of the soul. With Venus as its soul ruler, the loving, intelligent mind can begin to be influenced by the light of the soul.

Gemini is all about communication and duality. For the spiritually immature Gemini, communication is almost exclusively horizontal. Messages go from here-to-there, outwardly for the purpose of exchange of information. Recognizing the other and what they need and understand is a vital step forward in the development of communication. And so, duality is an essential aspect of the Gemini native development. The spiritually mature Gemini, upon awakening to the soul as the higher self, will begin to turn the communication inward. Through regular and routine practices like meditation, study, and service to the greater life, the bridge to the soul is built. Building the antahkarana, the communication bridge to the soul, is an essential task for Gemini.