You are a Gemini

As a typical Gemini you talk a lot and you are never where you were five minutes ago. No one can tie the Twins down with a heavy cord and expect this sylph of the air to remain patiently waiting until the cord is tugged. More likely, you'll perform a Houdini-like trick and vanish before their eyes, leaving them with the cord. You are unpredictable, changeable as quicksilver, loving disguise and mimicry, fascinated for a little while with just about everything, quick to become bored and move on.

Gemini is the butterfly of the zodiac (some butterflies are smaller and nimbler than others, but they all fly). Of course there are Geminis who have become skilled at some particular study, art or profession. But even they must find variety within their chosen field.

Your sign is sometimes accused of being superficial and shallow. That's simply not true. Your mind is perfectly capable of depth and concentration, when necessary. It's just that if you spend too long on one thing, you might miss something else. And missing out on something potentially interesting is the next-to-worst thing that could happen to you. The worst is being bored.

Your restless mind seeks a broad and comprehensive spectrum of knowledge, and the further you pursue your education, the happier you're likely to be. You're the eternal student, from cradle to grave. You're interested in people (from a safe emotional distance), and will talk to just about anybody to hear a new point of view. There isn't any prejudice or narrowness in you; you're a true democrat at heart. A price must be paid, of course, for all these sparkling gifts. You may sacrifice the capacity for deeper relating in order to preserve your mobility. Yours is not a sign which likes heated emotional confrontations.

Geminis often joke about the things they feel most intensely about. If someone starts pouring out their deepest soul in grand, theatrical gestures, like the butterfly you're likely to fly away - through emotional disconnection if not literally. With all that knowledge clattering about inside your skull, you can sometimes be curiously blind about your own deeper feelings.

This is the least introspective of the signs, and it can take some very painful experiences to get you to sit down and deal honestly with all those messy emotions. And when you do, you're likely to observe and dissect your own feelings with the same detached curiosity with which you observe and dissect other people's. It's no wonder that so many Geminis are gifted writers. It's the spectator who sees most of the game.

Like a child, you're capable of having several distinct personalities. You can be tender, delicate, poetic and exquisitely attuned to the world around you. You're also capable of plunging into some pretty sour black moods, which, fortunately, rarely last very long, and are forgotten immediately afterward.

You hate being probed and questioned, although you're not averse to probing other people, and if you're expected to explain your behaviour, you're happy to make something up just to throw others off the scent. You're capable of practising big and little deceptions, both on others and yourself, if you feel too pinned down. But deep down, you have strong ethics, and you try to deal with people fairly.

Duty for duty's sake isn't your style, of course, and you like to travel light. If you're trapped in a morass of endless domestic duties or a boring job which doesn't stimulate your lively and curious mind, you'll either go to pieces in a mass of nervous fidgeting, nail-biting and paper-shredding, or you'll simply leave. Commitment can be difficult for you, even when you're deeply in love. It's not that you don't feel intensely, and you can remain constant in a good relationship for a lifetime. But you don't enjoy being nailed down to the earth. The butterfly brings joy and magic only if it's allowed to fly free.