Mercury in Capricorn (And its Associated Factors)

Mercury Lacing his Winged Sandals by Jean-Baptiste Pigalle

(1753, cast lead - Louvre Museums, Paris)

This post is going up just after the Full Moon hits full with (astrologers admission) Eurydike already on station.

Sometimes scheduling a blog is just imperfect no matter how hard you try!

Anyway, perhaps you’ve noticed some ‘cost’ to something, whether that means something you’ve done, something you’ve chosen not to do or something you haven’t yet gotten to?

Eurydike goes retrograde on December 29th at 13 Virgo, a degree which in general refers to whatever emotional factors you experience as part of getting things done. This could also be about the ‘cost’ of having done something, not only because that’s the ‘gist’ of Eurydike, but because 13 Virgo is a degree which on one side speaks to the love of ‘fine arts’ and which on the other apparently refers to all those ‘finer things’ in life.

Wherever you go with this, plainly the inference is that Eurydike on station is a moment when we reflect on what we want or like and what that perhaps has cost us, or what it is going to cost us. Yet considering this is Eurydike in Virgo…and since Virgo refers to (among other things) health and, through its rulership by Mercury mental health (or the health of the basis upon which we make decisions or adopt priorities)…this may be a moment when you determined to avoid some cost because you realize that’s not the best (“healthiest”) thing to do.

(And yes, “healthiest” could refer to financial health or many other kinds of ‘healthy choices.’)

When we talk Virgo, we always talk responsibility. And considering the story of Eurydike (spelled as ‘Eurydice’ most times in the myth)…where this asteroid is concerned, the Virgo side of the equation asks whether we have taken responsibility for something, acting responsible where we are in charge of something, or whether we are holding ourselves to standards or limits which are considered responsible. Against this, Eurydike represents the ‘cost’ of having taken whatever on. Or not honoring our commitments.

This can be as simple as holding yourself to a budget to realizing you’ve been careless online, opening yourself to ID theft to even recognizing that you’re in the wrong profession. Or a marriage which is miserable, but…

What does it depend on? Most likely the degrees of situational difficulty depend on several things.

Operational Factors:

• Was your natal chart aspected by November’s Solar Eclipse at 21 Scorpio? (LINK to blog post)
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• Was your natal chart aspected by November’s Lunar Eclipse at 6 Gemini? (LINK to blog post)
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• Was your natal chart aspected by December’s Uranus station/direct? (LINK to blog post)
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• Has your natal chart been seriously affected (by aspect) by Pluto’s conjunction of Facies? (LINK to the most recent blog post on this subject. For others, click on “Facies” in the sidebar word cloud.)

The more of these questions you answer “yes” to, and the closer the aspect involved, the more likely it is that Eurydike’s station is going to be a bothersome moment.

By why Eurydike? Aren’t there a zillion other asteroids out there?

Absolutely yes. But take a look here…

…Eurydike goes retrograde on the 29th. And as you can see, during Eurydike’s two-days-prior, two-days-after station “allowance” Mercury enters Capricorn (where Pluto is just finishing its initial, year-long conjunction of Facies) and Dionysus, a symbol of ‘sacred celebration’ goes retrograde. And not to put too fine a point on this, but December 28-29 is when the Sun crosses the Pluto/Facies point.

This is a recipe for setting off results, recognitions, realizations, limitations or feelings of needing to improve, deal with mistakes and pay Ye Olde Piper for whatever has already been done and done not all that well.

Dionysus being the alternate godly name for Bacchus (lord of the drink and all that) we know there is some sort of impulse to have fun and not care. But in Virgo? And going retrograde (the image of our ‘looking within’) as Mercury reaches its most sobering and pragmatic transit of Capricorn is where we get the idea that the bill is coming due. And all that feeds into our Pluto/Facies issues, be they personal or societal.

Have you ever heard of Sagittarius as the sign of the legal system? That’s true. But if I add that Sagittarius is also the sign of media (getting the word out)and education (spreading facts, ideas and information)  it’ll probably make sense that Sagittarius is about the trial and Capricorn is about the legal consequences (also known as the reward-vs.-punishment). This truly fits with Sagittarius as a fiery sign of the ideal and how things should be (or should work) and Capricorn as cold hard reality.

It also underscores the idea that as Mercury moves into Capricorn, we start thinking realistically and about ‘the realities’…and that whatever difficult-to-untangle Pluto/Facies realities are part of life are going to be coming to the conscious, ‘thinking’ (Mercury) forefront.

As I type this, I know many an American is thinking “Congress…” (fill in the rest of the sentence lovingly or otherwise as fits your bill)…but it’s not just Things Governmental, though Mercury entering Capricorn surely puts a highlight there. Capricorn as the general sign of ‘commerce’ as the doing of business brings anything about that to the forefront, too. So…are we in for news on the (Eurydike) cost of doing (Capricorn) business? Probably yes – at many levels.

But that’s not all! (Is it ever?)

Mercury enters Capricorn and Tantalus (that we know we shouldn’t do but which we’re tempted by) is sitting right there. PLUS…0 Capricorn (the ingress degree) is in perfect trine to 0 Virgo, where sits Regulus. And since Regulus is all about success which is spoiled by those who want revenge or to do the ‘other guy’ a nasty if they can’t have their own way, this speaks to come-uppances being on the menu.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave….when first we practice to deceive! And who do we deceive first and last? Ourselves!

This is one of those ‘you thought you could get away with it? No, no, no…not so much!’ sort of moments.

Plus there are a few other noodles in this soup. We’ll get to Sphinx in a moment, but Mercury’s Capricorn ingress is nicely trine asteroid Hel, which will at that moment be at 3 Taurus, a degree known in the Sabian parade as THE POT OF GOLD AT THE END OF THE RAINBOW.

In Taurus, this is ‘pot of gold’ image is theoretically about reaching a point of intrinsic personal security satisfaction with our lives. Of course many people interpret this monetarily, but that’s not the core of the metaphysical meaning.

Anyway, with Hel – all the things and ways we make life hard for ourselves – sitting at 3 Taurus in what is very much a Grand Trine with Mercury and Tantalus in worldly-reality based Capricorn and the operational realties of Regulus (have we played above board?) you can just imagine what could be going on about now.

And if you can’t imagine it…well, just hold on – it’ll happen!

But wait – that’s not all! (Yes, I’m sounding like a Ginsu knife commercial…) AS Mercury sets off this grand trine and all the tra-la involved therein, Sphinx and Phaethon are also going on station.

Let’s imagine this…asteroid Sphinx is about patience. It’s about asking questions. It’s about enduring and waiting things out. And Phaethon? Phaethon is the headstrong energy of the teenager who doesn’t think anything can hurt them and that they’re not just the equal of any adult, but that they should have ALL the rights of an adult RIGHT NOW.

For which....(according to the myth)...we come to a great fall.

 Phaethon by Hendrick Gottzius (Netherlands 1558-1617)

So...Phaethon and Sphinx in an overlap. Does that sound like a dichotomy?

Indeedie it does, and yessir, it can indicate just that. It can also indicate someone who is sitting on their thumb (or something else) all up in their high-dee-ho opinion that they KNOW and THEY’RE right and they’re just going to WAIT and they don’t care if the whole kit-and-kaboodle goes up in flames, they’re going to have things THEIR WAY!

Once again, I will guess Americans will read this and think “Congress.” But just on the political level, we can look around the world and there are plenty of other headstrong types demanding to have their own way and by gum, they don’t care if they take everybody down with their self-righteous, stubborn attitudes!
But this is also a recipe for bungee jumping without having checked the cords, whether your leap is emotional, financial, relational or otherwise.

And then….then there are those people who won’t budge and who won’t jump (or move an inch) because they’re sure everything IS going to Hel in a handbasket. I can hear it now…’you do that and you’ll be sorry!’

For what? Name it. After all, this world is full of parents who object to their children loving someone of a different ethnic background. Or culture. Or financial situation. Or not of a different gender.

So we can expect threats and posturing and the digging in of heels about now. Some of us can expect to get snowed under by a many-tendrilled problem we haven’t been able to solve which has finally caught up with us.

And some of us will finally get a clue. And that’s the other way to look at this confluence of Mercury-Eurydike-Dionysus-Sphinx and Phaethon (all in a pie with a Pluto/Facies crust): some of us will come to realize that the ‘sacred idea’ bears too high a price to support. They will realize that the waiting only hurts them – and people or things they care about.

How “big a deal” all this is in your life depends on how your natal chart is affected. There was that list given earlier, and of course to that we would have to add having any planet, node or axis point in conjunction to 0 Capricorn, Cancer, Aries or Libra…which is to say, from 25 Sagittarius through 5 Capricorn, 25 Gemini through 5 Cancer, 25 Pisces through 5 Aries or 25 Virgo through 5 Libra.

For those in the Sagittarius/Capricorn muddle, this is very personal. For those in the Gemini/Cancer quadrant, this is about facing someone or some thing. If you’re in the Pisces/Aries group, this is about getting something done, on the road or to where you can deal with it. And if you’re in the Virgo/Libra bucket, this is about coping with and straightening out something which is already under way.

One last note here: because asteroid Hel was part of the Full Moon formulation and that Full Moon occurred on December 28th with that being the day that the Sun triggers Pluto/Facies, there’s every chance that all of this is a ‘playing out’ of what came your way at the Full Moon.

 A Full Moon setting over the island of Lanai in Hawaii

(photo credit: Vossman)

Whatever happens, Mercury in Capricorn is an excellent placement for working through complicated exotica with attentiveness to details. So this is a time to tackle big tasks, even if life isn’t tugging on your toe! Yes, these next days may feel bedragglingly complicated, but if you sort things through, ask all the questions which need asking (including of yourself!), there are ways to make the best of all things.
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Dateblog: December 2012

December 2012

The wash of red and burnt-orange of November where here in December gives way to more orange mixed with the turquoise representing Capricorn tells us that the global intensity so prevalent in October and November is giving way to a 'cooler' outlook and a lot of energy going into getting things done and make things work - that being the combined signature of Sagittarius and Capricorn.

That Mars is the first of the personal symbols to be in Capricorn is a bit of a ‘sober(ing) note’ in what otherwise may be an expectant (or expectation laden) mix. So given that Mars (the 'doing' planet) is already in Capricorn as the month starts with the Sun in Sagittarius, we know (or think we know) what's possible but we're not much in love with the current pace of the process.

The human words with would seem to apply here are frustration, impatience, overwrought, even anxious, though anxiety is more of an Aquarius reaction. 

Sun in Sagittarius has us making the effort and trying to get things done. But let's remember...Sagittarius is a sign associated with test runs and ‘putting it out there’ to see how something works. Sagittarius has an explorative nature which with Venus and Mercury still in Scorpio as the month starts is testing us. Are we listening as much as we're talking? Are we taking into account all the parameters of any given situation or merely the ones we think will get US to where we want to go?

The Mars factor in all this is the note of necessity. The thing which is emphasizing structural soundness. Whatever we do now, we want it to be structurally sound. We want it to withstand what life throws at us. And we know getting to such goal may take some time.

But we don't like that it may take some time. That may not work for us, considering other issues in our lives.

What to do? How to keep things moving and working in the meantime?
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 The Great Mosque of Samarra (in Iraq) was built back in the 9th century CE.

Obviously a structure meant to endure through the centuries, this is a

beautiful example of what the human mind can conceive and create when

we build carefully...sometimes in a literal 'brick by brick' manner.

(photo credit Jim Gordon, December 2007)

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That in the wake of the eclipses we’re reconnoitering and recognizing that all cannot remain status quo is signaled by Orcus (a Plutino) going retrograde on December 3rd. That this is happening at 5 Virgo says one of two things: either something isn’t working (or we see it can’t work the way we thought it would) or we’re seeing (a little too late) that actions have consequences.

On that note we continue forward into December’s second week – a week which is notable for Mercury entering Sagittarius (likely to manifest as intensity of focus being released or simply coming to its end) and something we might refer to as an astrological coagulation occurring on December 13th.

This conglomeration is composed of...Uranus and asteroid Kassandra going direct in Aries (would you believe the unbelievable is about to happen?), Circe going retrograde in Libra and, just in case we’re disinclined to think this applies to us for longer than a moment, a New Moon at 21 Sagittarius – which like all New Moons indicates an entire lunar cycle (ending January 11) all about seeing how well things work...and where they don’t work, figuring out why they don’t work and what to do about that.

The combination of Aries/Sagittarius (Uranus-Kassandra-Mercury-Moon) is likely to turn into one of two things, especially when we throw in the Circe ‘spellbound’ effect. Either we reject the idea that we ‘have to be like everyone else’ (and all that ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ stuff) or we are driven by some magical (Circe), theoretically dynamic (Sagittarian) idea that we can change how our life works (or is/isn’t working)...or image how others see and regard us (read: reputation) through doing something either unbelievable or which nobody believes.
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 Mercury's Southern Hemisphere as photographed by the Mariner

spacecraft (photo credit: NASA)

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The plus and/or minus here is purely individual. And considering that this is just about when Pluto is finally (FINALLY) finishing its primary conjunction of that nebula-of-ill-repute (Facies), a lot depends on whether we are each willing to – as the saying goes – ‘clean up our act.’

And if all that happens during the first couple of weeks of December (in the wake of November’s eclipses) isn’t telling enough for you, then we reach December 16th’s Venus entering Sagittarius, the culmination and re-start of the Mayan ‘creation’ cycle (read: a new era of being) and the seasonal (Capricorn) solstice – the official beginning of winter in the northern hemisphere and the sounding of the summer bell in the southern hemisphere.

All signs point to one thing: humans have by now learned how to survive in on this planet. What are we going to do now? This is not a question about spirituality or ecology or economics or education or political nationalism or internationalism. This is a question about balance. About taking a holistic view on what it means to exist. For all we know, we’re a mote of dust in some other universe. For all we know, we are the canker sore on Earth’s planetary behind.

Then again, we may just be a gift to the whole of the universe and all that exists and all that ever will exist. In that light, just how important is that new car or iPhone that you want? What is having children really about? 

Yes, there is a level at which we need to find pleasure in our life. But is that all we’re really worth? Is that why we’re given years of breath and a mind to think with?

All this swirls around us in many a form, shading every form of nuance as Mars moves into Capricorn on December 26th and we come to yet another pile of signals on December 28th.

It would seem that Creation wants to make an impression on us. Sometimes, we humans need more than a gentle tap to get our attention.

Hel going direct in Taurus combined with dwarf planet MakeMake and Achilles going retrograde (both in Virgo at the moment of a Full Moon would seem to be something akin to a realization of what it’s going to take to get done that which we need to get done. Considering the combination here, we've put ourselves in various positions which challenge us (Hel) mightily. We also realize (MakeMake/Achilles) that it's up to us to make things work in our lives.

This may have short or long term repercussions (maybe both) and so ends December.

Well, except for Mercury entering Capricorn in tandem with Dionysus (sacred rituals) going retrograde in Virgo on December 31st. For some, there’s a traditional ‘obligation’ of sorts to ring in the new calendar year. The term ‘rituals’ in the astrological Dionysus sense can be sacred, but then again can be that yearly de-cluttering of the house now that festival season is over. Or maybe you’re someone who has New Years Day rituals akin to mine: I belong to the ‘get up late, make breakfast and watch the replay of the Rose Parade’ group myself.
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 A 2008 Tournament of Roses float honoring the City of New Orleans

(photo credit erinbrace, January 1, 2008)

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But whether your ‘ritual’ is family, sports, religion or turning to closing out last years files in anticipation of this year’s business...whether it’s getting back to your exercise routine or starting something new so that 2013 becomes something different than 2012 was, the point is, we all have rituals. Some are declared, shared and traditional some are private and uniquely individual. Some are religious, some are social, some are familial and some are about business.

One last note here...having already done calendared all the major astrological issues "of note" for December (is 'calendared' a verb?) this is one of the 'clumpiest' months I've ever seen. So whether you're in high or low gear, you should expect this month will include some really intense periods with all sorts of factors in the mix interspersed by groups of 'more of the same' and 'adapting, dealing, flexing' days. Here at the blog I'll be breaking some of these lists up (yes, they're actual lists) into separate blogs which post in a chain so that you can read them one by one, like building blocks (or Legos, if you prefer). The famous 'end of the Mayan calendar' is also this month. I've talked about the calendar before here on the blog and there's a chapter on it in my eBook Travel Gossip if you want to know more (the link is in the sidebar). The point which seems most of interest here however, is that the Mayan calendar 'turnover' is in sync with the Winter Solstice with December's day-to-day intensities falling more in line with the Moon's lunar cycle.

There are some of you (and some cultures) which still use a soli-lunar calendar. Because this combination is about 'reconciling' (adapting) our emotional and valuation nature to that rational thought by which we run our daily lives, this seems one of the big 'make or break' concepts this month. In other words, don't work to mesh your feeling and thinking worlds (in every sense that that's applicable) and you'll find life far more difficult than if you do. 

Whatever yours plans are, and whatever your circumstances are, I wish you well in all things, from work to holidays to health and year-end/year-beginning pursuits.

I also hope you'll pass the good wishing along!

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