In the play Constellations by Nick Payne (which I saw Friday night), the two characters depict some of the many possible ways their intersecting lives could evolve depending on the countless variables at play at any given moment.

Photo of Chicago’s O’Hare airport, the busiest in the world, by Eric Francis.

The plot’s structure is based on the concept that infinite multiverses exist in parallel, and the one we live depends on the choices we make. In each scene, the characters only have to reconcile their own two viewpoints on that particular shared experience — unlike the audience, who witnesses the entire gestalt.

Yet you don’t have to go all sci-fi to get a taste of something similar — you can just tune into some Gemini astrology. In contrast to Payne’s play, Gemini suggests that perhaps we can indeed occupy parallel realities — or be two people — at once.

Gemini is also about reconciling these different viewpoints. Step out of the mindset that there’s only one way to see and think about something. And stop pretending that your shadow is not just as much a part of you as your light.

We’ll get a prime opportunity this Thursday, when the Sun (which entered Gemini on Saturday) conjoins the Moon for the Gemini New Moon. This is exact at 3:44 pm EDT (19:44 UTC) on May 25.

The Sun represents conscious awareness; the Moon can represent a veil over consciousness. So already there’s an indication to let yourself be open to what each of those sides of yourself has to say about things. Gemini makes this explicit.

Still, it’s not always easy. Human beings are great at ignoring facts and intuition and even our own behaviors in favor of what we want to believe. “Do as I say, not as I do” is often said partly in jest; but every parent knows that at one time or another (or often), it’s the message they’re sending their kids.

Having the Sun and Moon meeting in Gemini highlights the potential to take two (or more) approaches to solving a problem; it could offer an especially poignant or introspective look at your own hypocrisy or double standards. You might suddenly notice the shadow to the light you were focused on, or the sliver lining to what had appeared as a cloud.

Sculpture at Burning Man 2012. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Widening the lens a good deal, consider the blatant hypocrisy and double standards demonstrated by those in government, especially the top levels.

For many, that’s easier to see because it’s external. Yet it’s often harder to reconcile because it seems so astonishing that those perpetuating it cannot see it — or do not care. Staying focused on that external view is, however, a trap.

We all have Gemini in our charts; we all have at least one area of life where we either have an easier time reconciling duality, or have a harder time recognizing the ways we contradict ourselves. Do your inner twins (or parallel worlds) get along, or not?

We may never get to see all the potential multiverses of our lives; we don’t get to sit in the audience and watch all the options play out, wondering at the end which version our choices will make ‘real’. We simply have to make our choices, and live with the consequences.

But we can also do our best to see many potential outcomes before deciding; and once action has been taken, we can try to understand what we’ve done and why — and why those around us see it the way they do.

As the Gemini New Moon approaches and the Moon grows darker, how open can you stay to what you might see?