Mercury Retrogrades in Leo

 Mercury, Herse and Aglauros

by Marie Pierre Jean-Baptiste (1763)

 

Mercury entered Leo back in late June – June 26th, to be exact. That same day, it entered the shadow of its upcoming retrograde – which would be this Sunday, July 15th (at 2:17 in the morning UT/+0 time, just in case you’re into clock watching.)

Oh…and that date of Mercury’s entrance into Leo? That just happened to be the day between the dates on which Saturn and Venus each went direct.

This all bodes well for those doing something of portent. This bodes as perhaps rather problematic for those trying to stand on ego or I-Me-Mine oriented positions. Leo fosters that, if for the most understandable of reasons: nobody wants to think something they like, really believe in or have labored long and hard on is ridiculous, broken, unacceptable or otherwise being rejected for whatever reason!

With Mercury going retrograde at 12 Leo – a degree guaranteed to carry a bit of waffling Leo ‘can’t I just be proud of myself?’ those with 12 degrees of any sign are likely to be going through a little Adventure In Self Questioning sort of moment. That’s neither good nor bad in and of itself, though with Kallisto (the ‘bear of a time’) also at 12 Leo, it’s likely that nobody’s getting a free ride at the moment.

At least not an emotional ‘free’ ride.

 

This doesn’t mean that anything is truly ‘wrong.’ It’s just that the kudos and ‘atta boy’ (or ‘atta girl’) you’d really like to be getting is in most cases, not going to be forthcoming.

At least yet.

There are those who will finish something now, or who have been working towards something which by hook or crook or fate of finality ends up locking, stocking and barreling out of the gate about now. For them, this is a red letter day – and if something happens now which is a ‘turn of circumstance’ of any note, you will do well to note that note and consider it noteworthy!

For those who are working on some project OR who are busy following a course of action they are determined not to be distracted from Edisona (the ‘bright idea’) sheds a little light on your topic from 15 Leo – one of the zodiac’s cross-quarter degrees. The most frequent result of input which shows its informational face now is that you’ll need to double back or make a few adjustments based on what you learn. HOWEVER…! There are some folks who will realize that they’ve been kidding themselves. Or that they’ve been led amazingly astray.

This is one of the interesting things about Edisona – and about tracking orbits of asteroids in general. (Yes, I have a giant chart on same with all sorts of orbital numbers and distances.) When you start logging these things, you start noticing the ‘near-and-far’ patterns.

What do I mean by that?

Simply this...when Edisona is at it’s farthest from the Sun (its aphelion point) it’s closest neighbors are Juno and Scheherazade. Juno represents the kind of discipline we need to exert inside our Self in order to keep ourselves on track. It’s the sort of energetic which keeps us from believing in just any-old-thing. It’s the concept that we should look before we leap, the need to know who we’re dealing with and the soundness of that old slogan you never gamble with anything you cannot afford to lose.

On the other side of Edisona is Scheherazade, ‘the telling of the tale.’ In most instances, Scheherazade is harmless. But sometimes Scheherazade is the tale which gets sold because someone feels the truth will not get them were they want to go.

Edisona – representing ‘illumination’ on the conscious or mental level – asks us to take both ideas into regard. And that requires thinking things through…which is an obvious Mercurial quotient.

At Edisona’s inner orbital position (it’s perihelion) it is flanked by the perihelion points of Byblis (defense of the indefensible) and Lilith (emotional denial)…neither of which sound like such a ‘bright idea’ but which often enough, people resort to anyway.

In considering this, we should probably wonder where all these points are at the moment – vis a vis their orbital cycles, I mean. Lucky for us, looking such things up is pretty much of a breeze using the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) data bank and orbital image generators, from which all the following images come, with the date set for July 15, 2012.

First up, an image of Edisona in orbit:

  Edisona in orbit at July 15, 2012

Next, a reference check on where Edisona’s outer-reach (aphelion) neighbors are.

  Juno in orbit at July 15, 2012

 Scheherazade in orbit at July 15, 2012

 /

Finally we come to the images for Byblis and Lilith, the positions of which may well tell us whether we may be kidding ourselves, lying to others or in complete denial about what the truth of some situation really is.

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 Byblis in orbit at July 15, 2012

 Lilith in orbit at July 15, 2012

Of course this could be the other way around, you know…with all of these points (with the interesting exception of Edisona) pretty much near or at their aphelion (as far away from the Sun as they get) this could be an image of our trying to ‘offload’ responsibility.

That’s the problem with being human…just about the time you’re sure it’s all about them (or their fault) the truth appears to become some form of a lesson for us to learn about ourselves – that lesson being the offset to that ‘I’m so sure it’s them’ opinion.

Remember: we all fit into each other like yin and yang. We know people, we are attracted to people and circumstances because there is some form of ‘mirror image’ or ‘mirroring.’

 Mirror image of Tewkesbury Abbey

(photo credit: Pauline Eccles, first published by

geograph.org (UK) in July, 2009)

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With the former (the mirror image) we get either our twin, the easy agreement which can be twice as right or twice as wrong…or we can get the polarity – I say light, you say darkness and together we learn about the cycles of a day.

As for ‘mirroring,’ there is the ‘strictly psychological’ form of mirroring which involves echoing what you’ve just heard someone say either because you want to make sure you understand, because you are afraid of having some other point of view or because you are echoing what was said in order to elicit further comment.

For those of you who are into the astrology of asteroids, you’re probably saying ‘okay, so what about Echo?’ Which is valid.

But no, Echo is not at either end of its orbit either (I checked). Although… considering that at the moment of Mercury’s station asteroid Echo is sitting with Pelion and Child suggests either:

1.) much ado about children

2.) difficulties we have with accessing our ‘inner child’ (sorry, but that trite sort of phrase just works here)

…or,

3.) an act of childish nature which we are in the process of doing or more likely, have already done.

 Though we would all like to think that the 'Echo' in our

life is about someone else, since the whole of the horoscope

represents our Self, the 'Echo' we do not want to 'hear' (or

acknowledge that we have heard) is more often than not,

something we 'know' but do not want to know - which makes

any moment which summons the concept of Echo along with

that of Lilith (emotionally-based denial) an important one.

Echo by Alexandre Cabanel (1887)

 

And why is it that we’re going through all this tra-la about Edisona? Positioned at 15 Leo, Edisona is at one of the zodiacal ‘cross-quarter’ points. In this case the quadrant involved is the 2nd, indicating that matters at hand have to do with moving from a learning and ‘taking in’ phase into a phase all about applying what we think we already know in the process of learning more. That Mercury is ‘reversing course’ at 12 Leo would be one very good indicator that we still have ‘work to do’ on whatever project is now at hand…even if that project is going on vacation!

(You have heard the expression work hard, play hard, right? That’s what I’m referring to!)

Mercury will be retrograde from July 15th into the semi-wee hours of August 8th, when it will go direct just before dawn, UT/+0 time. During these weeks, we will all be examining what it takes to achieve our aims. Some of us will be having to face the idea that our choices just don’t work – at least not in current form! Leo being a very ‘headstrong’ sign, this is not a time when anyone tends to take critique all that well, though it would be a grave mistake to believe that all Leo bravado is built on fact, success or even sensibility to functionality. As one half of the Leo-Aquarius polarity, Leo is a lesson in creating for an ultimate purpose…and with the success of that ‘purpose’ being ours to propose, but not ultimately to fully define.

Let’s use an example here, taking ‘celebrity’ (a Leo concept) as our example. Pausing only to point out that in astrology celebrity is not the same as fame (celebrity is about the person and fame is about society’s appreciation of their accomplishments, achievements or creations)…anything which we purposefully ‘create,’ be that a child, an image or a product – the eventual ‘judgment’ on any one of those and its success is ultimately up to others, including people we personally will never meet.

That’s Aquarius. Aquarius is the mass of society. It’s ‘people’ not individuals. Leo polarizes into Aquarius by understanding that you can’t please all of the people all of the time and yet, we are each and every one of us dependent – at some level – on how others regard us. 

Those who, as the saying goes, ‘read their own press’ get so self-involved that eventually others are repelled. And that makes sense: to become self-involved excludes others.

Given all of this, Aquarius becomes the sign of reward for whatever we are and whatever we do which finds its place in what we might call the ‘greater marketplace of mankind.’

And that’s what Mercury in Leo is all about.

On the very-much-plus side here is that Mercury is going into retrograde in a perfected sextile to Venus – an indication that these weeks ahead can be a highly productive time. That Mercury is conjunct Kallisto on the date of its station says that we have either had a ‘bear of a time’ (Kallisto) or that we are having one…and that we probably need a ‘time out’ to think things through.

Mercury retrograde is an excellent time to think things through. It’s also good for making plans, for straightening things out, for having private conversations, for asking questions and for checking out all the possibilities before you settle on one as your choice in how to proceed.

If something comes to a head during the two days prior to Mercury going into retrograde (July 13-15) the indication is that something lies ahead which will change things. That ‘other shoe’ hasn’t yet dropped.

If something of note or import happens in the two days after Mercury goes retrograde (July 15-17), this is a further comment on something which has already taken place. Think it over…maybe you need to amend some position, attitude, choice or priority?

Mercury being trine Pallas at 10 Aries (and thus conjunct the trio of Child, Echo and Pelion discussed earlier) is yet another vote for recognition that we don’t know everything. That’s a totally neutral statement which at the moment may prove useful.

Maybe you need to admit you don’t know everything? Maybe even anything?

Do you need to admit that to yourself? To someone else?

Indecision is highly likely at this point and the smart money is on thinking, talking and investigating. 

Declarations and any other form of ‘betting on results’ is highly risky at this moment and the more that has to do with something you either want, want, want …or which you think you “should” do (societal obligation) the greater your chance of making a challenging, if not problematic choice.

Don’t let your ego get the best of you!

Oh yes…all these considerations, especially those involving risk or speculation should be doubled where money is concerned. Leo is the sign of athletics, competition and the stock market (as distinct from investments in anything solid) and all such matter are…well….something of a horse race at the moment.

 Spacecraft Messenger giving us a close-up

view of planet Mercury ( photo credit: NASA 2009)

Among astrologers, Leo retrogrades are infamous for instability in financial dealings. Some – undoubtedly – will be fine, but the name of the game now is likely to be volatility. Were there an eclipse, we’d worry giant time. As things are though, there’s just enough instability (especially with Uranus having just gone retrograde) to suggest things aren’t settled or predictable.

Take it as another form of that ‘other shoe’ thing.

With Mercury due to retrograde all the way back to 1 Leo, those who are willing to review and revise are likely to do well moving forward. This applies equally to products and life plans, so don’t be stingy – give yourself some latitude.

Mercury retrograde is a well-known headache when it comes to getting answers from people, sorting out final terms and finding exactly the right way to get anything done.

On the other hand, it’s also exactly the right time to figure out how to put the question so that it will in time get answered…and to have some idea of what you will do no matter what that answer is.

It’s a very good time to get informed on the parameters of any deal pending or in process.

It’s a good time to think ahead and work out how to get from here to there, pretty much across the board.

And for those on vacation? For you, it’s a good time to think about how pleasant it is not to have to think about anything. After all, there will be all those things which need accomplishing once you get home.

So! Stay in touch – at least with yourself! You’ll thank you for it in the end, I’m sure.

Anon and au revoir!