Mercury enters Virgo Prior to Retrograde

Planet Mercury as viewed by Mariner - source: NASA

As Mercury enters Virgo on July 27 (9:42pm GMT) it does so in exact conjunction with Orcus, symbol of all those things which can no longer be changed, whether that means money gone, trust broken, lives spent or decisions made badly. 

And just ahead, at 4 Virgo, sits Atropos, the Greek Fate all about endings. 

Gee...does that give us a clue, or what?

 And yet, considering the great metaphysical theorems that 'all things happen for a reason' and 'unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should,' that suggests that whatever 'ends' (or we let go of) is truly all for the best. After all, Virgo is all about making things better and more functional. 

So maybe this is a very auspicious way for this particular ten week transit to begin. 

WAIT! 

Did I say TEN weeks? 

Yes, actually, I did say ten (count 'em, TEN!) weeks. It wasn't jus a test just to see if you were listening. 

Now...I know that you the fairly more savvy astro-watchers know what this means. It means that Mercury's about to go into retrograde, elsewise it would move on to a new sign in something like...oh, say...three weeks or so. You know, the standard sort of time period for Mercury transiting any given sign. 

The retrograde itself we'll talk about in detail later. But as for this 'letting go' thing, there's a couple of ways to think of it, considering the retrograde is a-comin'.

 One is the pro-active concept. And yes, those who know something needs giving up who begin the letting go process now will probably have that process pretty much well and done by the time Mercury ends retrograde and goes direct on September 12th, having all 'in gear' and moving on to the next thing by the time Mercury exits its shadow come late September. 

Then there's the 'I guess I have to think about it, but I'm not making any decision yet' group. Considering this is all taking place with a Mercury (thought process) in Virgo (making things work better/more workable), this group is going to investigate all the angles and see what can be done without doing anything truly drastic until the September 12th station rolls around. At that point they'll see why something has to change and begin making changes. 

For the record, this is likely to be most people. 

The last group of people are the 'I'm going to do this my way - I don't CARE what anyone else thinks!' group. This group will resist pressure heading their way as retrograde approaches, hold on by the proverbial skin of their teeth (however unhygeinic that is) through the actual retrograde period and then, as Mercury goes direct, find out what the gain or loss is for having refused to yield to clear indications that things weren't okay as they stood. 

In other words, especially with Atropos as part of this picture, they are going to feel or experience loss. 

Truth is, there's some sense of loss to be associated with this transit no matter what. It doesn't have to be terrible or disatrous, it's just a 'loss' in terms of what comes out of it is an altered status quo - it could be totally positive! The question is really whether you want to participate in the changes and ultimately benefit from them, pinch Peter and pay Paul as you go along, hedging every bet - or if you're just going to have change thrust upon you, for lumps or glory. 

Virgo being an earth sign, this concerns something tangible. Something which is part of your reality. Considering that Virgo is a mutable sign and not set in its ways, that accounts for the aura of change, exchange, interchange, improvement and experimentation.

A medieval image of the astrological Virgo as the goddess

of harvest who teaches us to care for that which 'feeds' our needs

Being that Mercury rules Virgo, this is a highly focused period. Your thoughts are going to be on whatever your issues at hand are. Meanwhile, others are going to be focused on their stuff - so don't be surprised if you're not getting the normal amount of input or support you might normally expect. 

But that's not all. There's a whole slew of points standing in opposition to Mercury as we trot into this mini-epic, starting with Neptune, representing ideals and illusion or disappointment. Neptune supports non-egotistical energies and dissolves that which is simply too over-the-top selfish to bear. (And no, you don't get to decide which is which - that would be the cosmic/karmic point!)

Then there's Chiron, the mythic centaur healer. Chiron is all about those things which you don't know how to do (or "fix") and which truthfully you'd be much happier never having to face, never mind deal with.

 As it to underscore the issue, then we have Icarus. You may remember Icarus from the myth - a youngster who when equipped with wax wings takes off into the sky, forgetting that if you get too close to the Sun the wax melts and down, down you go. Astrologically, Icarus tends to be about overstepping the bounds of both safety and good sense. All three of these symbols are in social, societal, friend-and-income (supportive) Aquarius. In opposition to Mercury/Atropos, this sounds a bit like standards of behavior and/or operational parameters.

Moving on to the Pisces portion of this opposition program, only a couple of points, the first being royal star Fomalhaut, a star which rewards one with great success unless corruption enters the picture. And since Athena (wisdom) is here, this is a whole 'you should have known better!' story. Or maybe even a 'you DID know better and did it anyway' tale. 

Considering this ingress happens just a day or so after a Full Moon in Aquarius, whatever was 'highlighted' at the full Moon...(which would have been on Sunday the 25 in the Americas and Pacific region and on Monday the 26th in the UK-Europe-Africa region and from there, all points east)....whatever was highlighted then has set a tone, theme and tenor for what unfolds from this point forward.

Remember...this all started with Mercury/Orcus - the idea of something already done. We can build anew, we can fix, apologize, restructure...but we can't 'undo.' And sure as shootin' we shouldn't in this moment try and evade, deny or ignore. 

One more 'looking back' note: as we started we noted not just Mercury conjunct Orcus at 0 Virgo, but Atropos at 4 Virgo. That implies 'units' of 4: days, weeks, even months. (It could even mean years, though with this being about Mercury that seems highly unlikely.)

Atropos, cutting the 'life thread'

There's also that Mercury reaches 4 Virgo on July 30, so don't be shocked if something pokes you with a stick about then.

How you handle all this? That's of course up to you. And how you emerge from this cycle? Again, that's all your personal doing. With the whole of this passage in Virgo, cooperation is helpful and obsessive focus on doing your thing your way not only often not helpful, but undermining. 

This can actually be an incredibly productive time of substantial achievement. It just depends on your understanding and willingness to own that you don't know everything, your ways aren't always the best ways to do things and that the world has standards and necessities we all need to pay attention to.

So bottom line here, be honest with yourself. In the end, that's the Virgo-Mercury healthiest thing you can possibly do. You may not love the reality of your life, but it is your reality - and reality...realistically...that's all we ever have.


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