Mercury... and Other Stations

The CN Tower in Toronto being struck by lightning

(photo credit: Raul Heinrich, July 2008)

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Mercury’s station-direct allowance begins next Monday, February 7th (at about mid-afternoon, UT/+0) time. And I’ll just go out on a limb here ... as I type and you read that, you’re sighing in relief, thinking ‘and not a moment too soon!’

Am I right?

Sure I am. Mercury retrograde is never over fast enough - for any of us!

Or rather, it’s never over fast enough to suit us, though on a metaphysical level we will trust to the idea that ‘all things happen for a reason’ ... (you know, that basic sort of ‘unbeknownst to us, the universe is unfolding as it should’ thing) ... which, never mind whether this period is over fast enough to suit us guarantees that whether we like it or not, Mercury is over at the point when that which needs to be accomplish to suit us occurs.

Got that difference?

So the degree that Mercury is doing its turn-about (whether or not its fair play) is 1 Aquarius, which by virtue of numerical position hints that this February 9-13 (give or take a day on either end) is going to manifest at a personal level, fully loaded (like a potato) with every capacity to provide new opportunities ... a sincerely odd time ... and/or some sort of personal insight which may or may not be connected to an opportunity to become part of something embodying some basic ability to use or utilize ‘current’ potential(s).

Basics play a part here. But being that this is coming from the Aquarian arena, this station references situations, trends and choices which operate at a pluralistic, not individual level - so when we say ‘basics,’ we’re not talking specifically about anything having to do with one of us. No, we’re talking more about things which may affect one of us because it is happening to ALL of us. Though we (understandably) think of Aquarius as our individualism, what Aquarius really speaks to is how any ‘whole’ - a couple, a class, a group, a company, a culture, a nation, a religion or society - is made up of individuals, all of whom are looking to find a place in this world where they fit in, where they are accepted (even appreciated) and where who and what they are matters. (Maybe it isn’t always agreed with, but it matters!) So when Mercury (or any other astrological object) takes a station or does anything else in Aquarius, we should expect those energetics to be about Aquarian things ... or to emerge from some Aquarian ‘arena’ public, social, societal, economic, systemic, mass 'anything' (market, transit, movement, etcetera) ... theoretically as to how when we fracture, depart from or otherwise try to turn the Aquarian Principle into factions solely at-or-for our own pleasure (or in the name of aims which aren’t truly universal) we set off systemic (Aquarian) effects which ultimately turn into some detriment of, or to the entire Whole, including our Self.

Mercury Direct (glyph chart)

February 11, 2015 - 14:58 (UT+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Mercury Direct (text chart)

February 11, 2015 - 14:58 (UT+0) - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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But before we get there ... (that is to say, to the wholly Mercury part of the story) ... in the wake of Sedna’s February 6th turn to direct (which under Mercury retrograde hasn’t been any picnic), first we will deal with the metaphysical manifestations of to other objects moving through their stations.

And those objects are...?

The first is asteroid Apollo, which in going direct at 25 Gemini is also in a more-or-less public mode, if generally more in a mode where (Apollo) truths are presented (or simply appear) through societal or social vehicles (the news, media conversations, contacts with friends or coworkers, etc.). As to the nature of these (Apollo) truths, though specifics will depend on where Apollo is a.) in your chart natally, b.) in your current solar and lunar charts and where it’s c.) currently transiting your natal chart (i.e., through what house), with all of that as a given 25 Gemini will lend a ‘rhythmic’ and ‘dancing’ quality which is far more about the (Gemini) intellect and our ability to think things through (‘dancing through something in our mind’) rather than any kind of physical dance.

And thus the ‘movement’ or ‘motion’ implied occurs through the mental state. Will we come up with new ideas? Will we be inspired? Will we simply ‘dance’ and try to avoid some sort of conflict, challenge or inevitability which we may think is about ‘them’ but which is really about something we need to think through or which we haven’t through through all that well yet? Will the fact that 25 Gemini often supports the quirky, unusual and clever even as it detracts from chances of business success spur us to victories as we recognize that we are really competing against our own sense of self-determination? Will we pay our dues and do due diligence to contain our ‘moves’ and not over-extend ourselves and strain our abilities?

Will we find we are out of step either with others or with our Self?

Apollo goes direct on Sunday, February 8th - which is the same day that Medusa goes retrograde. Does this mean that during these next few days ahead (call it February 6 through 10th) we may find ourselves being prompted by something in such a way that we perceive some ‘fearful’ truth?

And if so, is this something we just are ‘afraid’ of facing about ourselves or life or our life in particular ... or is this some truly fearful truth which we have for whatever reason not faced or not dealt with which reflects on us - or life at large?

- link to post -

Medusa: Through Our Mental Mirror, Darkly

In going retrograde at 12 Libra, Medusa raises a different dichotomy - that of vulnerability (of concept, mentality or operational ability) and the danger of abilities, efforts or relationships coming to mean or be nothing - or at least nothing that you thought they were going to be. Some astrologers see this degree as wholly problematic while others see it as a very challenging essence which given Medusa as the astrological ‘lens’ suggests something ‘fearful’ or something we are ‘frightened’ to know (or know that we actually have to deal with or be responsible about). Given that the Sabian symbol for 12 Libra is “Children Blowing Soap Bubbles’ this energetic will tend to function through-or-as areas of life where we either have the leeway to play and be creative ... or maybe ‘inventive’ would be the better term.

Are we merely playing - or are we now having to face the difference (the ‘Apollo truth’) between that ‘perfect world’ we all have in our mind and the reality we need to live with and in?

12 Libra is said to call for moderation - modesty, one author calls it. Medusa on the other hand calls for a willingness to cope with that we cannot stand to see - in ourselves (or Self), most of all ... which could work well with moderation, and then again maybe not.

And maybe that’s the point - the truth we need to see whether we’re scared to know it or not.

As both these asteroids take their stations on Sunday the 8th, station effects won’t be officially over until the 10th (maybe even the 11th if Medusa or Apollo is focal in any given chart) ... which means they definitely overlap not just with the standard station effects we would ascribe to Mercury’s station-direct station, but also with eclipse effects.

(Oh yes ... that.)

Being real here about all this, whether we're talking Mercury's station or Medusa and Apollo they are qualities unto themselves as well as representative of issues, forces, encounters, confrontations and those sorts of challenging inspirations which function in the moment but also end up leading you on to something bigger.

And let's face it ... when we talk 'bigger' in the astrological bucket of ongoing evolution desired and otherwise of the most intricate and personal type, eclipses are 'it' - and though lunar eclipses may light or quench your fires and desires, its the solar eclipse hitting your chart ... or just passing over our lovely Planet Earth which heralds the alteration of life itself - which is sometimes yours.

So that which gets us into that sort of spot with our Self and with our most mortal and preciously driven life is no small matter to sneeze at. Or ignore.

And that's what eclipse effects are: two months of nothing being particularly simple. Two months of a continuing (and sometimes continuous) ‘breaking down’ not just of situations and relationships, but our innermost resistance to recognizing what things really are and what isn't working. Or why it isn't working. Often we know what the problem is - that's what we're so unavoidably affixed to.

Or fixated on.

And yes, sometimes both. 

Often we have some inkling of what we need to be doing instead, though for better and worse this part often tends to not manifest (at least as we see things) until we’re cuddled up to the eclipse itself ... at which point we realize how very much bigger Life is than we are.

That this March’s solar eclipse (a total solar eclipse, no less - amp up that eclipse wattage!) is going to be in Pisces - which automatically speaks to universal and/or inescapable emotionalism and feelings of uncertainty going into and through the eclipse period - even as we try (oh so very hard) to defend our position against some ‘Self concern’ which may expose or exacerbate real vulnerabilities - as well as those which may be only imagined. Furthermore, that this March eclipse is happening at the very last degree of the entire zodiac (29 Pisces) is a bit of an echo with regards to Medusa’ station at 12 Libra as 12 Libra’s esoteric aim speaks to a global bounty achievable through that which Libra does as well as any sign: the promotion of equal universal regard for all things, all creatures, all people, all cultures - a regard which may not be real (now or ever), but which is universally desirable.

As for Mercury’s station, because that occurs at 1 Aquarius, we can expect some out-of-sign sextile qualities to infuse our coming week - by which I mean anything which combines a bit of give with an opportunity which we may or may not want to avail ourselves of. We can understand what might be gained, yet there’s something about what we’re contemplating which leaves something akin to a bad Mercurial taste in our brain (which is just barely better than ring-around-the-brain-tub) ... although something in the back of our think tank is telling us that it might not be as bad as we think, that maybe all we’re objecting to is something new. Or change itself.

Or ... you know ... that we didn’t think of it first - which by the by is a prideful position of ego which is hugely antithetical to the incoming eclipse, which is a whole other kettle of metaphysical fish to contemplate.

In going on station in conjunction with Eos, Amor and Eurydike, there are questions with regards to relationships or ‘ability to relate’ which are likely to challenge us - or at least our thinking, whether that has to do with the relationship itself or simply the (Eurydike) ‘cost’ or ‘price’ of ‘who does what,’ who is going to do what, or who has done one thing or another.

Whatever is going on - or going on in our Mercury minds with regards to same, that Eos is exactly conjunct Mercury at 1 Aquarius is a direct reference to a physical dawn (sunrise), the ‘dawn’ of some effort - or (probably the most likely here) something which begins to dawn on us - as in, it occurs in or to our Mercury mind.

Again however, this station is unlikely to be solely about us as that’s not so very Aquarian. Yes, we may be doing some tall-and-private thinking on various subjects, but those subjects are unlikely to concern things we would do all by ourselves unless what we’re planning is a ‘splitting off’ of something or a getting away from those we’ve been formerly associated with - none of which says anything about whether such choices are right or good or proper, of course.

But we are likely to try something now, whether that’s an attempt to move forward, hold our ground or take on some sort of serious effort, as that would reflect Mercury’s station being in sextile to Saturn. Given how t-square matters are always depicted in zodiacal order, this on begins with Juno at 6 Leo, an influence which is all about the need to (Juno) manage that rather snarky personality sword which has (6 Leo) pride as one edge and insecurity as the other - all of which we are then going to expose to whatever our Saturn/Sagittarius (desire to achieve or gain ground) goal is (singular or plural goals, obviously) ... and given how Saturn is already sitting at 4 Sagittarius (the degree it will go retrograde at as of March 14th) whatever we choose to do (or not do) now is going to take some time to develop, resolve - or even show up consequences of.

Furthermore, with Saturn sitting at the apex of a t-square in this moment, it’s a touch unlikely to expect universal cooperation and(or) approval.

That will come ... but chances are good it’ll have to wait a while. During that time life will have us working through our reluctance - whatever they may be - on subjects concerning whatever we’re ‘limited’ by until such point as we do our work and others do their work ... and which point we’ll all get on the same Saturn page with each other as to who is responsible for what, and how we are all going to arrive at a place where we’re able to move past our egos and fears (and ego fears, yes) to where we become capable and willing (yes, willing) to recognize, own -and through embodiment, act in the name of as a  universally constructive influence bent on empowering each and every one of us to be the individuals we are, and were created to be.

And that point? Well, it’s probably somewhere beyond March 3rd, that being when Mercury will be exiting the shadow of its 2015 Aquarius retrograde ... though with Saturn involved solutions, resolutions and achieving the structurally (im)possible could take a bit longer.

In short, we don’t know what’s going to happen yet - and no, nothing in life is ever simple.

Still, maybe that’s what makes life so interesting ... which may be the thing to think about as we finish up Mercury’s retrograde and move ahead in a more ‘direct’ manner.
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Mercury Retrograde at 17 Aquarius

Trees... sky

(photo credit: US Department of Agriculture, February 2005)

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A week from when this post hits the internet (January 21st) Mercury will go retrograde at 15:44 (3:55) in the afternoon.

So why bring it up now?

That would be because what we humans do depends on how and how well we think - that being the heart and soul of the astrological Mercury. So since as any celestial object heads into its station (either to direct or retrograde) things tend to get congested, challenging and otherwise somewhat like slogging through a lake filled with peanut butter (perish the thought...), to have such that gumming up our mental works seems something it might be helpful to have a ‘head’s up’ on in advance.

Ergo, this post.

Besides, next week is going to be one of ‘those’ weeks in astrology - call it either many things coming together or much ado (and to do) about much which needs doing ... and if you're someone with a birthday around the 20th or 21st, this coming year is going to be full of new things and new opportunities ... but with them are going to come some personal challenges, with all of this pertaining to long-range (rather than immediate) life changes.

Mercury Rx (glyph chart)

Jan 21, 2015 - 15:55 (3:55 p.m. ) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Mercury Rx (glyph chart)

Jan 21, 2015 - 15:55 (3:55 p.m.) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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As for Mercury, once in retrograde, Mercury will continue counting down through the degrees, crossing back over ten  Aquarius on January 30th - a signal that the fervency likely to color many a thought, idea or precept until then will change over into more of a background now-you-see-it, now-you’re-clueless mode likely to be relegate to the background of our conscious thoughts even though it’s underlying everything we’re likely to be focused on.

The basic arc described by this retrograde (by its stations) is Aquarian - which means it is likely to have two energetic thrusts, one of which seeks to stabilize while the other seeks to change (representing Aquarius’ two rulers, Saturn and Uranus). When or where meshed together, these two energetics represent the chance that life will change (and/or) our efforts to be part of, or to resist it that change. And when or where Aquarian energies are not used in sync, they tend to represent the many  pluses and minuses of multiples and multitasking, which for some is easily artful ... and which for others is like living through some particularly unpredictable assault on one’s mental sense and collective sensibilities.

As to the specific degrees involved here, Mercury will go retrograde at 17 Aquarius and go direct at 1 Aquarius as of the 11th of February (both UT/+0 time), describing an arc of personal reconciliation to or understanding of circumstances which, if allowed to get the best of us, can manifest in difficulties or illnesses with the lesson being all about why, where and how we interact with others. The process involved here - like all Mercury retrograde cycles - will tend to manifest in a period where not much gets done ‘outwardly’ because things are being done (and need to get done) first, and those things may not be as ‘visible’ ... either to you or others.

Given that the sign involved here is Aquarius, neither the issues or whatever it is which ends up occupying our time is likely to be strictly personal - and with the station-direct point being 1 Aquarius there’s every chance that the whole of this time is ‘about’ someone or something which hasn’t been ...

a.) paid proper attention to ...

(or)

b.) ... which haven’t yet been even been noticed for what it actually is - or is worth.

You may be waiting for others to notice you or something you’ve done. Then again, others may be waiting on you - or you may not have yet noticed that the thing which is going to prove valuable moving forward.

It’s to think about.

With Mercury going direct only one degree ahead of the Moon, there’s a note of fervency, concern and high focus to this station. As well, with Mercury (and the Moon) within the 5 degree orb-of-trine to the North Node but NOT within the 3 degree orb-of-sextile to the South Node, there’s a clear differentiation between what we want to do and what we should do, with the Mercury/Moon-to-North Node trine indicating something ongoing which cannot be turned ‘off’ or ‘on’ through any act of individual will - which isn’t just about us, it’s about everyone.

In other words, we can’t ‘fix’ whatever is going on in a split second - and neither can anyone else. Will that play into why we feel we must or must not do something?
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It could ...with Pluto is sitting at 13 Capricorn t-squaring the nodes, dualistic (and maybe dueling) interests which range from 'resistance' to inordinate efforts to make something happen ... bring something into being ... or the eliminating of something something altogether seems inordinately important. And it may well be. But if or where the question is how to do-or-be all those important things, the very strength or intensity of our focus may get in our way.  Those who understand where their interests are in the global (meaning either 'world' or 'universal') interest - those people may now come to the forefront.

But will they succeed? Providing they are not working solely in their own regard (be that an individual person or an individual collective) great strides can be achieved. Yet those strides are unlikely to be immediate: Mercury retrograde is Mercury retrograde and all the standard advice about don't be impatient ... check your work twice ... don't sign onto anything permanent ... do your research ... thinks things over ... be prepared for messages to get garbled, lost or delayed ... all such regular Mercury warnings are all in play, as they always are under Mercury retrograde.

But even beyond that, with Pluto at the t-square here, that which is being negotiated now is unlikely to be achieved without some measure, feeling and reality of sacrifice even if in the end what gets achieved is something more wholesome, more satisfying, more productive ... and just better.

With Mercury (and the Moon) in opposition to Jupiter still retrograding back through Leo there’s likely to be a sense that something has gone ‘over the line’ or ‘too far.’ And with Jupiter retrograde posited as the ‘goal’ of a Venus-Sedna-Jupiter t-square, the freeing of our Self from whatever it is which is most challenging in the moment (be that one or a thousand things) is going to require that we finish learning that we need to, and how to let go of perspectives and expectations we were raised with and which were formed early about who people are (and aren’t!) as well as what we are entitled to ‘expect’ life to be, or how we thought things were going to “work” for us.

The strength, the power, the efficacy that we seek is there. But it’s not out there ... it’s inside some kind of ‘thought shell’ which has hardened around our way of thinking - most of all about what we ‘need’ in order to be or feel valid as a person or validated as part of our world.

And now we get to think our way to ‘breaking through’ that barrier which (oddly enough) we probably played a large part in erecting long ago when in our heads the ‘how it works’ ideas got set down in concrete.

We’ve outlived some of that. We need to change. And this week - the week leading up to Mercury’s station on the 21st (UT/+0) is all about coming to focus on what ... and why ... certain things need to change.
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