The Goddess of Gemini - Goddess Iris, Greek Messenger Goddess of the Rainbow & Communication
As I’m writing this post we are now in Gemini season and there’s a LOT of Gemini energy happening in the cosmos right now — the sun moved out of fixed earth sign, Taurus, and into mutable air sign, Gemini, on 19th May where he’ll stay until he moves into Cancer on 19th June and the moon is about to start her new lunar cycle in Gemini this Thursday 6th June.
Both chatty Mercury and luscious Venus are in Gemini until 17th June and if all that wasn’t enough Big Boy Jupiter is in the process of transiting in Gemini where he’ll stay until June next year giving us a dose of his expansive energy in all areas of communication! Phew, that’s a powerhouse of Gemini energy in 5 major planets (for more specific detail on what this New Moon or astro transits will bring in sign up to my ‘Cosmic Goddess’ newsletter on my homepage to get more insight!)
So to honour all this Gemini energy I thought I’d do a post on the Goddess I feel is associated most with Gemini energy or themes and that’s Goddess Iris - the Greek messenger Goddess of the rainbow and communication.
ABOUT GODDESS IRIS
Iris was the daughter of Thaumas, son of Gaia, and the marine Goddess Electra and was the consort of Zephyrus, the god of the West Wind.
Before Mercury / Hermes (the Roman / Greek god of Communication) became known as the primary celestial messenger, it was Goddess Iris who was the messenger of the gods, particularly Hera and Zeus. She was devoted to Hera, practically being her lady’s maid.
She was a beautiful, golden-winged Goddess and was seen as a Guardian Goddess and embodiment of the rainbow - the divine bridge between heaven and earth. She was responsible for bringing messages via her rainbow over which she travelled between Heaven and Earth.
She was often pictured with a Kerykeion or Caduceus - a staff with two snakes entwined around it (which, incidentally, Hermes/Mercury is also often depicted with) which is symbolic of her role as a messenger and a chalice of water - which was seen as a chalice of blessings or carrying the liquid of the gods.
There isn’t much in mythology about Iris. Literally no dirt. No sordid affairs. No jealous tantrums. No consorting with mortals or smiting her hubby’s girlfriends into animals a la Goddess Aphrodite or Hera. And, unlike Mercury, who could be a bit of a wily trickster (not surprising given he is the God of trickery, merchants and thieves) and has a bit of a rep for annoyingly going retrograde for big chunks of the year causing technology and comms to go haywire, Goddess Iris was actually seen as being helpful to mere mortals. She was particularly venerated at Delos, where she was offered dried figs, wheat and honey.
How is She Connected with Gemini?
Gemini, ruled by Mercury, god of Communication and Messenger to the Gods, is a curious, intelligent and inquisitive air sign. It’s very quick and mentally agile and likes to learn, gather and share information. It’s a mutable sign so it tends to be very adaptable and open to change and evolution.
Goddess Iris, who was the Goddess of Communication and also the Celestial Messenger before Mercury became more famous for that role, is the feminine guardian Goddess for Gemini. She’s a bright, golden, winged Goddess who zips across her rainbow bridge quickly bringing messages back and forth between the realms. This is one of the strengths of Gemini energy - to be a channel, a bridge, a medium for receiving and disseminating information. Look at the glyph for Gemini - ♊ it literally looks like a bridge.
Just as Iris brings messages across her rainbow bridge from the celestial realm to humans on the earthly realm, so too can Gemini season support us with accessing messages and cosmic intelligence and communicating it with the world.
Gemini’s symbol is the twins, symbolising duality - the dual nature of humans’ ego self vs their soul self or other polarities such as between the masculine and feminine self or between the shadow and the light. Gemini is always seeking to bridge that duality between the higher and lower self or the shadow and the light within themselves and - in their highest expression - collectively.
WORKING WITH HER
Communication, baby!
During this potent time when so many planets are hanging out in the sign of curious & clever Gemini, the energy is supporting us to connect in with Goddess Iris and super-charge our communication!
What messages might be trying to be communicated from the ‘other side’ - the Goddess, the 'Universe’, the angels, your guides, your higher self, your ancestors - or whatever you connect with? If you’re struggling to either clearly receive guidance or to decipher or understand what messages or signs may have been trying to make their way to you, you can call on Goddess Iris to help you to understand. Because she travels between the rainbow bridge between Heaven and Earth or between the ‘Afterlife’ and earth, she can bring clear messages from these other realms to us down here on planet Earth and communicate them in a personal way that we can understand.
We can call on her to receive direct messages about anything we’re needing guidance or confirmation on or some news of particular blessings about to come our way.
She can also support us with our own communication. If there is anything we need to communicate - whether it’s in a bigger message we’re meant to share with the world, in how we market or communicate ourselves for our business, or if we need to improve on how we communicate within our relationships - Goddess Iris can support us with that.
If you’re a writer, a speaker, a content creator, if you’ve always felt called to write a book or communicate some message with the world whether it’s through a social media platform, a blog, a podcast, a TED talk or something similar, then you can call on Goddess Iris to support you with getting your message out into the world and with being heard.
As she bridges the heavenly and earthly realms, if you’re struggling with inspiration or knowing what to say in any situation she can connect us with our higher ‘muse’ or self and allow the flow of the highest, divine knowledge and wisdom to come directly down to us through the rainbow bridge.
The chakra system
The ‘rainbow bridge’ is connected to the chakra system, the 7 main chakras - or energy centres/wheels which correspond with the 7 colours of the rainbow and relate to different aspects of our body and life areas.
Iris can support us to channel divine wisdom, or wisdom from our higher selves, down through the crown chakra and then all way down through the chakras - receiving inspiration and imaginative ideas through the third eye, the ability to express ourselves clearly through the throat, the ability to communicate and transmit heart intelligence from the heart, to shine our light fully and be confident being our true selves with the solar plexus, to connect with creative ideas for our particular mode of expression in the sacral chakra and finally into the root chakra where we ground the wisdom and communication into the earthly plane - in physical form such as a book or speaking at an event on stage or releasing it on an online platform.
According to Anodea Judith, the leading authority on the chakra system, working with our chakras lets us “become the Rainbow Bridge—the living link between Heaven and Earth”. Like the Rainbow goddess Kundalini, who represents each person’s inner life force, we will spin along our chakra disks up along our central axis to eventually be reunited with our divine selves (1). The Rainbow Goddess Kundalini shares a similar function to Goddess Iris as the embodiment of the rainbow.
Healing
Indeed, Goddess Iris’ caduceus is not just a symbol of divine communication - it’s also symbolic of healing. It consists of a central staff entwined by twin serpents (the ‘twins’ also being symbolic of the sign of Gemini, another connection she has to Gemini energy) which are symbolic of ‘Kundalini’ energy rising. Kundalini is described as a serpent-like life-force energy that is believed to lie coiled at the base of the spine in the root chakra and gradually spiral up through the chakras during awakening. It is an important concept in Śhaiva Tantra, where it is believed to be a force or power associated with the divine feminine or the formless aspect of the Goddess.
When Goddess Iris comes into your life or you feel called to connect with her, it may be a time of great healing (particularly healing any blocked chakras that may be preventing a seamless flow of kundalini energy through your chakras) and a time when you may start to feel a greater connection and guidance downloading for you from the divine feminine.
ASTEROID IRIS
As I’ve mentioned in a few of my previous posts, we can see how many of the Goddess archetypes may actually play out in our lives through the Asteroid Goddesses in our birth charts. Seeing where a particular Asteroid is in our birth chart or transit chart may indicate where an aspect or archetype of the divine feminine may wish to be expressed through you or where that Goddess may be guiding or influencing you in a particular area of your life (depending on the house and sign it’s in and also read as a holistic picture with the other planets they’re dancing with).
Asteroid Iris in your birth chart may show a particular aptitude for communication or heightened ability to connect with higher wisdom in a particular area of your life. For example Asteroid Iris in the third house of communication may highlight that you have a natural strength at communication and may wish to channel that energy into some sort of communication project such as a podcast or blog or something where you can freely express all the information you naturally glean. Iris in the tenth house may indicate that you reach some level of authority in communication and may end up being known for your communication skills in some way such as being a public speaker or famous content creator.
To see how Asteroid Iris or the other major Goddess Asteroids may be impacting your chart with a holistic picture of how these archetypes may be inter-playing with the major planets, book a Goddess birth chart reading with me.
RITUALS TO CONNECT WITH IRIS
If you need some support with writing, sharing your message or improving your communication, write a letter or request to Goddess Iris humbly requesting to be connected with divine wisdom or your highest wisdom and surrender to channelling or receiving through whatever wants to be communicated through you or to being guided to sources of information that may support whatever you need in that moment.
Ask Goddess Iris for a sign - rainbows are a good sign to ask for if you would like confirmation of something specific. Simply ask Iris to show you a rainbow and be on the lookout - it might not be an actual rainbow in the sky but you may start seeing them show up everywhere - on packaging or in an unusual place or someone may speak about ‘rainbow’ to you. Take that as your sign and confirmation of whatever you’re asking about.
Carry or do a crystal grid with crystals related to communication such as sodalite or blue agate, clear crystals such as clear quartz for clarity of mind, amazonite which is connected to communicating from the heart, or any of the rainbow crystals such as rainbow aura quartz, rainbow bismuth or rainbow hematite for chakra healing. Or you could place a tumble-stone of each of the chakra colours on your body over each chakra centre and ask Goddess Iris for her support to heal your chakras and connect you with your divine self.
REFERENCES:
1)Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System as a Path to the Self - Anodea Judith
Ancient Feminine Wisdom of Goddesses & Heroines by Kay Steventon & Brian Clark
The Witches’ Goddess by Janet & Stewart Farrar