The Twin Gods of Gemini

The hushed congregation of acolytes stared straight ahead, as the High Priestess of Gemini strode down the aisle. The only sounds were those of the priestess’ heels as they clicked on the stone floor and muffled lamentations of the baby held in her arms, which echoed off the cavern walls.

As she arrived at the twin marble altars, even the screaming baby became silent, the awe of the surrounding penetrating even its infant understanding. Laying the child down on the simple wooden table which sat equidistant between the altars, the priestess adjusted her robes of deep scarlet and midnight blue.

Beginning the ceremony, she performed the necessary genuflections, first to the altar on the left, the goddess Mythain, and then to her twin on the right, Clythadin. Then taking the child in her arms once more, she turned to face the altar of Mythain, an eight-foot statue of a woman clothed in simple robes, her left arm stretched out, hand meeting and fingers entwined with those of her twin, in her other hand, an open book from which she was reading.

“O great Mythain”, the priestess implored, “we ask that you bless this child in the life she will lead and in our endless battle against Sagittarius. Guide her as she follows in your path of wisdom embracing knowledge, cherishing learning and above all, moderating that which she does with patience.” Her supplication complete, the priestess lowered her eyes to the swaddled child and kissed it on the left cheek.

As the priestess turned to face the statue of Clythadin on her right, a visible shudder of fear ran through her, and she paused for a moment before looking up. In a grotesque parody of his twin, Clythadin seemed old somehow with lines of worry across his brow where his sister was at peace. The dedication to learning representing by his sister’s book was, in Clythadin’s statue replace by a broken dagger which he held pointed up.

“Praise to thee, Clythadin of the twins. We, your servants, humbly ask that you deign to give your blessing to this child. That you gift her with your courage and wits, and that you pass to her some of your impetuous temperament and hot-headed conviction that she might act in your name to destroy your enemies wherever she may encounter them”.

As she finished her pray to the brother, the priestess once again raised the child and this time kissed her upon the right cheek. Her supplication made to each of the twin gods, the High Priestess, bowed to each and turned to face the congregation.

“We all know that the true power of the Gemini comes not from the individual power drawn from each of twins, but from the unification of the two. We ask now that you, as brother and sister born eternal watch over this child and show her how to temper her impulsivity with the cautious nature that also is necessary to survive in this world. We beseech you now, to bestow your joint blessing upon this child and accept her to walk in the dual light of your conjoined splendour.”

As the ritual reached its culmination, the priestess lifted the child above her head and screamed, “let her forever seek to banish repetition and monotony from her life as she alternates from one extreme to the other, never knowing the tranquillity of the middle ground”.

Exhausted, the High Priestess fell to the floor, still clutching the infant to her breast. The first sound to break the dead silence that rang out across the chamber was the muffled cry of the child, the first sounds she would make as a disciple of Gemini.

Recomposing herself, the priestess turned to her congregation and addressed them. Brothers and sisters of Gemini, we have received our newest member. I shall now impart to you the wisdom of the day, as it was relayed to me by the mighty twins we follow.

“Today, you will feel the divine powers of our protectors ever stronger, as Mercury moves into the house of Gemini. As their split nature vies for your attention, you will find yourselves in moments of indecision. Do not feel compelled to act too rashly, listen to your inner voice and find serenity before commitment. Your impulsiveness brings you strength to act without fear, but you must temper your strength of the moment with the balance of both twins”.

As the ceremony drew to a close, the priestess turned once more to bow before her twin protectors and then retreated once again into the darkness. Slowly, the congregation of Gemini filed out through the archway under the watchful eyes of the twins Mythain and Clythadin.