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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Black Moon Lilith at 22 Leo

(image) Maser M 31 at the core of the Andromeda Galaxy as photographed in X-ray by the Chandra Space Observatory

(photo credit: NASA, January 2000)

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Here’s my thesis for the day: orbits aren’t round. In science, that’s just a fact - orbits tend to be egg-shaped complete with one end of the orbit being pointier than the other. (Which may, with all due respect for chickens and eggs just beg the question ‘which came first, the orbiting object or the orbit it is orbiting along?’ or some such akin to that.)

So we have these egg-ish orbital tracks. And most of them are pretty constant. But some - such as the orbit of our Luna Moon around Planet Earth - do their own little orbital dance, one which in the mind’s eye (provided you’re not feeling blind-sided) might well remind you of that child’s toy known as a Spirograph.

The tracings of a Spirograph

The Moon’s orbit being the Moon’s to moon over, what seems notable to mention at this particular point in time is the fact that the ‘short’ or ‘near’ end of that "rotating" or transiting Spirograph figure is what is known in astrology is known as Black Moon Lilith, a calculated point which like the Ascendant and other axis points (the MC, IC and Descendant) is often difficult to manage simply because this isn't a planet. Or an asteroid. Or a comet, star or dwarf planet. They all have mass. But a calculated point has no mass - and when you watch things astrological for long enough it becomes rather apparent that the metaphysics of 'mass' is related to any form of a very common expression: I'm trying to get hold of it.

Metaphysically, that's about mass. Any attribute denoted or described by an object with mass appears to be something we can develop 'habits' with (or about) - and thus we can change those habits. No one's saying such changes are easy, just that they're possible...with the real idea here being that Black Moon Lilith, in being an astrological symbol of zero mass is very hard to 'get hold of' or otherwise remain constantly and consistently aware of...which in one sense leads to a very consistent kind of perspective on the Black Moon as in the world of energetics it functions something like a ‘shadow effect’ in all of our lives, shifting through the zodiac raising this and daunting us with that, always originating from some area of thought or feeling, ethic, perception, value or awareness which we have ‘pushed away’ or abandoned outright.

As for the reference to Lilith, that would be something which ‘embodies’ something we have - individually or as a culture (or race, perhaps) turned our back on, rejected, or denied in manner which may or may not be obvious to us...or others.

Just to make this all a little more interesting, there are also two forms of Lilith: the calculated point (Black Moon Lilith) and a main belt asteroid (Lilith). And yes, there's a post on that too, if you'd like to read the long form:

- link to -

The Two Liliths 

The effects of Black Moon Lilith are not always entirely noticeable in our busy moment-by-moment days, but we do feel them. They're there even if they're that itch you can't quite scratch, that certainty you can’t quite define and that uncertainty which, try as you may, you can’t quite resolve...at least not to the degree of relaxed satisfaction.

As for why Black Moon Lilith seems worth taking time to think through in this moment, that would be because Black Moon Lilith moves into 22 Leo on September 17th (UT/+0)...and 22 Leo just happens to be the degree Jupiter (the desire to get ahead, achieve, expand one’s understanding/ability) will go station/direct in come this December.

Technically... (read: in the short run)... the Black Moon will only be in 22 Leo until early on September 26th (UT/+0). But it still seems worth our while to be on the ‘lookout’ for social and/or societal clues as to where you’re going to be (most of all with your Self) or be facing come mid-late December 2014 - and in this regard, the Black Moon is a metaphysical signpost we are all being given (even if what we do with it is our business).

To understand how this will function in your life, obviously the first place you need to look is at your personal chart, complete with sign, degree, aspects and all the usual contemplation. Then, where does 22 Leo fall in your natal chart?

As for 22 Leo as a degree, it’s a sensitive one - which you may read as ‘emotionally sensitive’ or ‘psychically sensitive’ or any other kind of sensitive as seems applicable, given the rest of your nature (and chart). There is a need to be of use and help in the world, plus a need to learn how to value and be valued properly - which is to say, not too much and not too little. This degree carries with it a quality of anxiety which is often made worse by attempts to ‘cope’ with the problem rather than deal with the reaction to it (the anxiety) which in the long run is really the problem - and as I say that (typing to you as I look up the Sabian Symbol)... well evidently that anxiety could be deserved - at least at some level.

Sabian 23 Leo (Zodiacal 22 Leo):

In a circus, the bareback rider displays her dangerous skill.

Keynote:

 The audacity and perseverance required to control and play with the powerful energies of the vital realm in human existence.

Astrologer Marc Edmund Jones wrote of this degree as one which in being both vital and creative is the driving engine behind spectacular human feats. In commenting on this degree Astrologer Dane Rudhyar typifies it as that which turns ego into imagination and inventiveness, providing us with the insight as to our own potential for dramatic native virtuosity.

And yet this showmanship cannot be ego-aware. The moment it turns into a means to receive those accolades or those longed for rewards and/or advantages, that’s when the shadow of the Black Moon becomes the gaping vulnerability which though perhaps not apparent to others, nonetheless swallows us unimpeded.

Nor is the Black Moon going to be lighting its 22 Leo September-to-December ‘shadow torch’ on its own.

As the Black Moon begins activating needs imbedded beyond conscious perception on September 17th, so too will Europa (getting carried away) and Hestia (structural protection/protection of life structures) move on station to turn retrograde as of September 19th. And since both of these influences originate in Taurus and any turn to retrograde means the symbolic energy is turned ‘inward,’ the whole of this September 17 through 21 station will like as not test our ability to balance control against lack of productive participation, maintaining (or supporting) our personal sense of [Taurus] ‘having things secured’ as part of the process. Mind you, with Hestia (a guardian figure of home, hearth, family and state) in this mix there may be something we need to ‘guard against’ or take proper care of here, whether that thing would be doing our homework, nursing a drippy cold or remaining aware of some job effort, social obligation or merely our erratic temper.

There’s also the idea that the degree Europa is going retrograde in (19 Taurus) is one which tends to get bogged down or which ‘chases around in circles,’ which may well lead to much action and many words while also acting as a ‘symptom’ of the underlying (subconscious, rejected, misunderstood) Black Moon matters. Plus with Hestia on station and conjunct Europa in a degree (14 Taurus) known for beating a full retreat as well as doing much (too much) out of an abundance of instinctive (perhaps spiritual) beliefs there are likely to be more than a few ‘turnabouts’ during this time.

In point of fact, the whole of this week seems to be one long series of patchwork overlays. Europa and Hestia going retrograde on the 17th is not only its own event but also serves to mark a beginning the Cubewano (and possible dwarf planet candidate) station-retrograde moment for TNO Chaos.

Unlike Neptune-influenced Plutinos like Pluto, Ixion and Huya which test our ability to keep our dreams either separate or strongly rooted in fact, Chaos is a [Cubewano] symbol of something which exists apart from all other influences.

And what is that ‘something’? That something is all about possibility. Endless possibilities. Originally a symbol of that sort of fertility which promises there are more ideas yet to be had, and that the Sun will yet come up again tomorrow, the energy of Chaos is generally the proverbial ‘light bulb moment’ which starts some inspirational process. And here? Well, in going direct at 19 Gemini, Chaos presents us with a variety of [Gemini] choices - none of which are likely to utterly delight us... at least not in the short run. The Sabian symbol for this degree (‘A modern cafeteria displays an abundance of food, products of various regions’) being plainly multi-regional, multi-cultural or even international, the image being presented is about nourishment (food) of various kinds, some of which is foreign to us - an idea which fits very well with the endless source which is TNO Chaos.

And then we add in asteroid Apollo, which in overlapping Chaos’ station goes direct at 1 Leo a day after Chaos goes retrograde (on the 22nd, to be exact). Representing truth (the light of truth) and general enlightenment of every informative and curative kind, asteroid Apollo’s station at 1 Leo shines a light on vulnerabilities not as a negative but as something which gives us a chance to relate to others - and maybe more importantly, relate to our Self.

Our oh-so mortal Self.

For reasons mentioned before (read: because of a newly installed back injury) I will mention all this then let you think it all through...pausing only for one moment more to point out how all of this is happening during the run-up to Pluto going station-direct on September 23rd in tandem with the Sun moving into Libra, a fact which gives everything about this Black Moon-Europa-Hestia-Chaos-Apollo sequence something of a hint of ‘cosmic prelude’ preceding the bringing of all into [Libra] balance for good, for bad, for all it can possibly be worth.

So yes, everything about such moments are valid in the moment that they become: individual global transits will evidence their effects in and across all our days in all their symbolic if sometimes subtle manifestation.

And while all that is happening, time and our Black Moon Lilith timings will also be weaving all of this and more together seamlessly, bringing us to a place where no matter who has denied what we are ready to face another round of Plutonic transformations and the chance (or risk) of being transformed as we pursue our relationship to life and our place among others on this planet we call our world.
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