Transmission Transition: Mercury backs into Aquarius

 'Visual Echo Experiment' by Chul Hyun Ahn (2005, photo image of grouping BmoreArt, October 2005)

As a reminder…Mercury will retrograde back into Aquarius on February 13^th at 3:13 in the a.m. (UT/+0 time).

With Mercury’s station-direct still a ways ahead on February 28^th and Mercury not returning to Pisces until March 17^th, that means we have a substantial amount of Mercury in Aquarius ahead...some of which will be under retrograde producing a reflexive 'thinking about thoughts' vibe - even a 'why do I think this way?' questioning before the February 28th 'going direct' station which will mark a natural shift of focus back to more external factors.

And what we think about them, yes - of course. This is Aquarius we're talking about, after all. And as we say this it probably bears remembering how this time around Mercury first accessed Aquarius on the 11^th of January, not reaching Pisces until January 31st.

Not that I'm discarding the Venus retrograde qualities of that time, but Mercury's January shift into Aquarius really was when (judging from my own life and the emails which cascaded in) things got rough for many of us.

All that - cyclically - is still in play, with the Aquarian essence still being the (air sign) ‘idea’ of something which 'works,' which is 'honed' by our mind, which generates acceptance or the kind of excellence which sets us apart and thus creates acceptance in the form of success. Some may have converted or coerced the 'size' of the Aquarian playing field...we have everything from the Olympics to individual projects and product-fielding at stake now. Aquarius has a natural affinity for commerce (economics, income or just plain money) in the same way that digital everything and 'digital viewing' (of every kind) generates an affinity in the individual: it's the systemic power which counts.

But as always, when it comes to Aquarius we do have challenges. To what degree do we separate ourselves (or what we're doing) from what's "out there" in the big Aquarian world in order to become separate or different from others in the cause of being an individual?

Aquarius asks that we maintain our 'group viability' at the same time that we excel individually. When we do it right, balancing ourselves on that 'electrifying' edge where we understand what works across the board - that's the genius Aquarian insight.

And yes, it's achieved individually. The Aquarian 'it' (whatever your 'it' may be) simply won't come to ultimate fruition in isolation. Aquarius is about a broad functionality which translates either to broad scale thinking or something very specific which has broad scale application or appeal - and that means with ourselves as much as to anyone else.

That Mercury ‘began’ this transit of Aquarius back in January speaks to repercussions and taking 'next steps' now. Dynamics may be exactly the same, but maybe you've at least sorted through other things in the meantime. This is one of those ‘repeating signal’ patterns all about flux in the process of formulation which operates sort of like a wave.

In other words, we can be pushing for something or get  ‘pushed around’ in life or by life. Witness the diagram…

 
Yes, you've seen the diagram before. But had you thought of it before now as a long-term process you were going to go through (whether you volunteered or not) which would push you to consider your own estimation of Aquarian success -- apart from all else, in your own life?

Success or failure in the Aquarian realm is often determined by our willingness or ability to see things from either a narrow or broad perspective. 

It is not right or wrong which counts here but rather our ability and willingness to see what works or doesn't work and the ability or willingness to flex, adapt, fix or replace some things (while rejecting that which truly doesn't work) without disrupting the functionality of the whole which counts.

From now until the Sun’s ingress of Pisces (which will occur on February 18^th at 6:01 p.m. UT/+0 time) we have the Sun and Mercury in Aquarius with Mercury retrograde: that’s a lot of information, processing and considering. The degree numbers being all third decan, matters aren’t personal though opinions well may be. Finding out what people want or think and where things are ‘coming from’ pays off constructively where discovering where you are right or wrong is informative by way of telling you who you can work with and how your methods of dealing with others may need to change or take a different tact.
 
Then the Sun moves into Pisces, which gives us the same side-by-side sign aspect…the same sort of ‘friction’ or ‘irritation’ felt under Mercury-against-Venus, except now life isn’t about our reactions to what we’re getting from something or what we have or don’t have to work with (or any other Venusian version of internalized, retrograde challenge). No, now the ‘heat’ or ‘rough patch’ reflects how realistic we are or aren’t…or what we can bear feeling about whatever life is confronting us with as our life…our situation…our reality and how that may or may not be so different from our dreams.

One way or another, we’re disillusioned by feeling what reality can’t be…while being emboldened by the understanding that life isn’t supposed to be 'dreamy.'

Which really begs the question why we thought otherwise, no?
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