Mercury in Taurus

 Image adapted from an image of constellation Taurus as found

in the 'Uranographia' of Johannes Hevelius (1690)

When I think of Mercury in Taurus, the first thing my mind goes to is the image of ‘good solid thinking.’

And yet…it can be so much and so very otherwise. Taurus is a sign all about our security (physical or psychological) and our abilities (our “native resources”). Taurus is also the sign of the self worth and/or self respect which motivates us to take those abilities and develop them. To make something of ourselves. To do something in this world.

When Taurus goes right, we do well, we flourish, we earn respect and support from others – in general we earn a sense of personal satisfaction.

And in the world of Taurus, satisfaction is the metaphysical peanut butter which goes oh so well the jelly of Taurean security.

So where can Taurus go askew? Taurus, which if you remember is one end of the Taurus-Scorpio polarity, goes wonky when the ‘personal earth’ (Taurus) gets undermined by ‘interactive water’ (Scorpio) in any of the numerous ways that Scorpio situations test how secure we are or aren’t inside our own skin.

War, sex, investment, birth, death, surgery, control, imprisonment, taxes, interpersonal conflicts, manipulation, domination, vulnerability…any and all of these (in just about any form they turn up) are by dynamic, Scorpionic. And though, being the self-protective critters we are, we tend to think that anything that goes wrong is “their fault” (oh, how many times have we all heard that!)…the truth of this on the astro-metaphysical level is that whatever the situation is, it’s raised a question inside our Taurean corral.

And when that happens, our inner bull comes out snorting!

Of course a bull doesn’t know to check its own hide and see where it’s got pricked. As far as I know, bulls don’t say to themselves ‘why does my hinder flanks suddenly hurt?’ They just look for whoever hurt them, and when in doubt, they gore a wall or fence or two. (Or three or four.)

But as people, the best thing we can do IS to look at what hurts and what about us has been hurt and why that hurts. It’s our sense of security and our sense of satisfaction and with the exception of those who are truly out to get us, most people tend to prick our pride or scratch our ego less intentionally than we suspect.
Why we’re so sensitive there? That would be our issue.

Now I’m not tell you to go thank someone whose carelessly thrown verbal dart hits you right in your trigger point, but let’s be real. We all have a few trigger points and though it’s a whole lot easier to blame than self reflect, we’ll probably do better in the long run to figure out the where and why’s of those triggers.

Sometimes we can fix them. Sometimes we can’t. Some people have been so beat up, whether in war or maybe growing up, or through some tragedy or crisis experienced as an adult that they’re just plain injured.

As our symbol of mentality and the thought process (and everything we mentally choose to do or not do) Mercury brings to Taurus exactly what we need to reconsider how well we’re doing in our own life – and as a person among other people in this world.

It’s a great time to examine the viability of your plans or when you may need to have a talk with yourself about really getting on developing a few more personal tools so you can be more effective, be that in your personal or professional life.

As Mercury enters Taurus on May 1st at 3:38 in the afternoon UT/+0 time, it’s joining a Taurean party already in progress. The Sun is already in Taurus, Mars is in Taurus and Venus is already half-way through Taurus, dancing along as Venus does.

In short, on a personal level it’s a hugely Taurean moment. Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars…? That’s every personal planet on the list apart from the Moon!

Oh yes…the Moon. Well, the Moon will have entered Aquarius just before Mercury arrives in Taurus (no doubt striking a natty pose). And because the Moon is the ‘astro-clock’ of daily doings that means Mercury is entering Taurus probably just about the time a few Aquarian/Taurus challenges hit the grill.

That suggests issues with ‘enough-ness’ of various kinds.

 As I set out to make an image of an "astrological clock" I realized that bcause

zodiacal motion through the wheel is counter-clockwise, it would look pretty

funny. So! It's a bit 'Alice in Wonderland,' but the above is pretty much "two

minutes to Taurus" - give or take a half-minute!  

Just to make it plain here, this Mercury-Taurus transit is going to be a quickie: Mercury enters Taurus on the 1st and moves on into Gemini on the 15th (which would already be the 16th if you’re in any longitude corresponding to, say, Greece or points east).

Astrologers have various opinions on what such swift transits indicate. Some say there will be more of ‘that’ packed into less time (“that” being the Mercury-in-Taurus quotient). Some think of it as a brief time in which to get something done – sort of like being in a rush. Others think that such brief transits manifest as ‘not much here – moving on!’ sorts of periods.

However you think of it, we know a couple of other things about this particular Mercury in Taurus passage. One is that Saturn is still retrograding through Taurus’ opposition sign of Scorpio, a combination which can be destructive, reparative or simply mind-bending in the sense that you look at something and say ‘REALLY?’ How could you not see that? Not know that? Put up with that? Do without that? WHY did you do that? WHAT are you going to do now?

Thinking back on the Taurus/Scorpio polarity, we would have to think that this short two weeks or so is at some level an opportunity to get on a better, more even or more productive keel with yourself (Saturn being in retrograde makes it about our internal life)…from which you can make better life choices and act with greater security, from which theoretically will come better results.

Another thing afoot here…(as they would say in Sherlock Holmes)…is with Neptune direct at 5 Pisces, Mercury is going to spend four days or so (let’s call it from May 2nd through May 5th) in sextile to Neptune. This is great for parties and vacations. If you happen to have a fantasy, musical or romantic comedy film you want to release during this time, people will probably be in the mood to go and see it.

(Movies grosses do reflect the dates - which is to say the charts - of their premiers. It’s a subject that as a member of the film industry has long interested me and which I’ve done a lot of research on!)

My father was a huge fan of Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes (above). Personally, I prefered Jeremy Brett in the part. And that 'debate' became a lasting joke between us, one we enjoyed bandying about right until the day he passed away. Of such things are memories - especially the ones we value - made of.

(photo courtesy of the NY Public Library Digital Collection, c. 1930)

Those days of May 2-6 aren’t likely to be great for ‘precision’ work. Or precise thought. And since Neptune connections with Mercury are often said to be a signal of misunderstandings and deception, watch what you say and who you say it to.

The flip side here is that this Mercury/Neptune connection is also one when egos are a little softer than usual. So that’s good for tender matters, matters of the heart and equally good for saying ‘I’m sorry’ where you may have offended someone.

Last but not least (not by a long shot!) is the fact that May 10th is a Solar Eclipse at 19 Taurus. So matters of values and what we consider valuable (whether we have it or have lost it or feel good about it or feel rancidly and wretchedly offended about it) …all such matters are already on our minds.

And up for cosmic grabs, shifts, losses and incarnations.

The weeks before a Solar Eclipse tend to be a hodge-podge of happenings. With this one being in Taurus everything from food to banking to national economies to personal finances, bankruptcies, fidelity and friendships are up for grabs. The very concept of security is now being challenged both in the world and in your world, forcing you to think about it and think things through in general.

And thus Mercury comes into Taurus, helping us do just that.
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