Mercury in Gemini

Mercury riding Pegasus by Antoine Coysevox (1640-1720)

(Carrara marble, Louvre Museum, Paris - photo credit: Jastrow, 2007)

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For everyone whose wickets have been stickier than usual over the past couple of weeks (that would be most of us), a little good news: Mercury is about to leave Taurus and enter Gemini.

The date? May 1st (at least in the UT/+0 zone), with Mercury doing this deed as of 2:01 in the morning, which makes this ingress later in the day as you move east... and earlier as you think ‘west’ (with the whole of the Americas beginning to take up the many facets of the many things which tend to arise under Mercury in Gemini during the evening of April 30th).

And lest we forget, all of that means Mercury will be at 29 Taurus (after having crossed over Algol, a star of ill temperament earlier in the week) prior to reaching Gemini - meaning we may have a headache even before Mercury, symbol of thought, communication and mentality, even reaches its most "personal" (basic) home sign of Gemini.

The aspirin may come soon enough though - once we reach the ingress, I mean, as this is one of those shifts we tend to 'feel' as a subtle shift in our perspective on ...or our feelings about whatever is on (or going through) our Mercurial mind. Mercury in Gemini is a little less intense than Mercury in Taurus - and more speculative. Even when things get bad, a Mercury in Gemini moment will tend to trend more towards a lot of yelling, screaming and slews of (sometimes highly creative) insults, where Mercury in Taurus says less and breaks more - that 'more' being either physical or more or less about what we might just term as "confidence" (all meanings implied).

Mercury in Gemini also has a reputation for being a busy time, but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything gets done.  Sometimes Gemini’s ‘busyness’ is all intake or input - which fits with the function of Gemini as this is the sign which is all about thinking, learning how to think, learning that thinking can help us make good choices - and all that comes from learning how to learn, learning how to think (i.e., critical thinking) and how what we know is just as important as what we don’t know, as one is the voice of experience and the other provides us with the opportunity to expand our knowledge, and therefore our effective use of our life, our brain, our time and whatever resources we have (or can get) which can be focused on some challenge.

Plus there is always the fact that Mercury is about to go retrograde. The date of Mercury’s station is May 19th, but Mercury will be rolling into its shadow (the point at which it’s then in the ‘retrograde zone’) as of May 3rd. Generally speaking, from that date (the 3rd) until Mercury’s station tends to get ‘focused’ on one or more particular subjects - and that’s likely to be particularly true this year, what with this retrograde occurring entirely in Gemini, the most basic of Mercury’s signs of rulership.

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By ‘basic,’ we mean everything about our thinking - or even we even are thinking. Or if we’re capable of thinking something through - does our brain work? Do we have enough information? Do we understand the parameter of the situation?

Mercury is not the astrological Sun here, so this is more about our considering how life works, or how its working at the moment - this isn’t about life itself. With the Sun (and Mars) still in Taurus, Mercury’s shift into Taurus suggests attention being paid to details and values and a sorting through of reasons and rationales, new, old and outdated. With  Mercury going retrograde at 13 Gemini, we can be good at something but not successful at it due to a lack of balance. Or we may become aware of someone else who is good at something ... or something which we think deserves to succeed, but which isn’t getting the attention it deserves.

What is that about?

According to the lore for this degree, the difference between success and lack of success is metaphysical balance - which in the case of genius (or heavy-duty talent) is often the case. In fact, it could be argued that in this day and age of specialties, we’re producing a lot of ‘genius-level’ people and understandings which can’t stand on their own or succeed in a ‘wholesome’ way  simply because such skewing of interest isn’t metaphysically ‘wholesome’ simply because it isn’t ‘whole.’ (You know, balanced and therefore integrated as a balanced whole.)

This makes particular sense to me as I’ve been wrestling with this idea for a while now. And if I’ve been wrestling with it, I expect you or someone you know have been too. We can’t keep on ‘heading’ in a direction we don’t want to go, as metaphysics teaches us that the thing you invest your energy in is the thing you get ‘back.’ So if you prepare for a war (or you spend all your time thinking or talking about how difficult or dangerous things are, whether personally or globally) the laws of metaphysics virtually guarantee that life will oblige and provide some sort of danger to suit the subject you’ve been investing all that energy - be it mental, emotional, physical or otherwise - in.

It's something to think about - and you get my drift, I expect. We all deal with these (im)balances, and this trend towards balance is only going to increase, but become a premium going forward (that's the 'in the coming years' version of going forward) not because we aren’t each and every one of us capable of being many things (a very Gemini concept) but because social forces are looking for personal labels.

No, we don’t like labels. But (part one) the metaphysics of a label is both the reaction we have to it (plus) the reaction we come to when we understand why it has been assigned to us, whether by someone in particular or some blank societal force. Increasingly we are all labeled either by the people we know or by the statistics we represent - just as we increasingly tend to label others, most often without even knowing who they really are.

Or aren't.

And the metaphysics of that is how the less we know about others, the less we want them to know about us.

Yes, we're all living with that, too... (welcome to the Age of Aquarius!).

This is a time when all the things in life which we don’t want to think about, which we don’t even think we should have to think about or concern ourselves with - when all those things are making themselves evident. They may not be so ‘in your face’ that we are forced to deal with them ... but they're moving up on life’s lists.

And for many of us, this Mercury in Gemini and the Mercury retrograde passage which comes with it is going to be a time when we have an opportunity to get perspective on some of these issues. When with a little thought, we may come to some recognitions, realizations and decisions (or at least a few pre-decisions) about what we are going to be, support (or not support) ... and maybe more importantly, what we are going to get ourselves to do.

For a lot of us, balance can be achieved through a little cutting back. For others, it’s their relationship to what is ‘lacking’ (in their personal balance) needs more familiarity, more ‘friendliness’ on our part about things we’re not comfortable with, on some level.

The Sun won’t be entering Gemini until just after  Mercury’s station, so during the run-up to that station (a period often noted for pressures, lots of things needing to be sorted out and a desire to get XYZ ‘done’ so its off your plate) we’re still going to be dealing with our own insecurities even where we want to be at the top of our game.

This is the Gemini combination and the story of the two stars - Castor and Pollux - we know as the Gemini twins. Our brain works to think through (Pollux) something even as we try to (Castor) mange the situation or ‘bully’ through it based on personal presence (representing Aries strength + Taurus instinct, those being the only two signs of the zodiac which precede Gemini).

Mercury moving into Gemini is bound to ‘lighten the mood’ and increase the pace of communication, travel and general activities, along with the number of people involved (or getting involved) in such activities.

It also increases our need to care about how we go about doing all those things ... and the need to cope with whatever happens as we do them and in response to what we do. That’s the Gemini polarity: the ideas we get under Gemini get tested and reacted to under Sagittarius, hence all the ‘course corrections’ and ‘did you forgot that part...?’ moments which come through Sagittarian channels.

With Saturn currently transiting Sagittarius (in opposition to Mercury’s position in Gemini) some of what we meet up with in the next few weeks is going to be hard. Or it may seem harsh. We may even be tempted to not believe it or to reject it out of hand simply because it doesn’t ‘work’ with how we want things to work.

For those willing to commit to owning why they do things (the Mercury choice we make to do or not do something for reasons which make sense to us), things are likely to change - or at least you’re likely to come to a different set of parameters or realizations just after Mercury goes direct again on June 11th.

And yes, that is a common comment with Mercury retrogrades, at least in part because of Mercury’s association with communications, whether spoken, in text, in digital form or otherwise. Under Mercury retrograde (or even as Mercury goes into its station to go retrograde) its common for messages to go astray, for letters to not get sent, for personal schedules to get off track and for cars and computers to act up.

Often it takes the whole of the retrograde (plus a couple of days) to get such things straightened out. And given how retrogrades tend to internalize energy, during that time we end up (Mercury) thinking about such matters.

Yes, it can be annoying. People are often annoyed or frustrated under Mercury retrograde. Either they can’t think of something, are being held up because someone else can’t think of something (or can’t seem to get around to doing it) or we’re trying to decide what to do.

Given all this, you may think it’s odd, but there are some people who thrive and do hugely well under Mercury retrograde. Some are people who simply have Mercury retrograde in their natal chart - a natal Mercury retrograde does seem to indicate a degree of ‘immunity’ to the feelings of being ‘pent up’ which so many experience under Mercury retrograde. But others where we get involved in making a choice which by its own nature isn’t the ‘end’ of the process, such as when or where something gets bought for the express purpose of reworking and eventual resale.

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With Mercury coming out of retrograde at 4 Gemini just before Neptune goes station-retrograde at 9 Pisces (on June 12) gives us a square between the two stations - and an indication that some of us are in for a few surprises. Things will be revealed and things will melt away during these days, affecting choices, plans (especially long term plans) and opinions or estimations of ... (as opposed to our feelings about) ... others or their choices, opinions and plans.

And with Mercury conjunct Industria, there’s effort involved - whether this pertains to your actual work (career, job) or not. So maybe you don’t want to think about ‘this.’ Or perhaps you don’t want to think that all the effort you’ve already put into something now has to be reworked or tweaked in some manner.

With Saturn in opposition from 0 Sagittarius, there is some ‘danger’ of getting caught up in a debate or the energy of competition (against our Self or others). Or even that we may dig our mental heels in during these days, refusing to listen to sense because we don’t want to be seen as anyone who ‘doesn’t know’ ... or because we believe we have somehow been endowed with the right to act pig-headed.

And yes, you may have that right. But if that amounts to the right to defeat yourself in the long run, is that a right you want to exercise?

Why we do what we do (and don’t do what we don’t do) is of course probably the biggest part of why our lives - and our world - ends up being what they are. And the idea of Mercury in Gemini, whether in direct motion or retrograde, is about learning how to learn. Mercury’s annual passage through Gemini (which for 2015 doesn’t end until July 8th) is all about just that - which is why we tend to run into so many new ideas and new perspectives on things we already know (or think we know!) during this passage. That old wives’ tale which starts out with ‘I’m a Gemini, I’m supposed to be into all sorts of things’ is just that - a tired old story which doesn’t get anyone where they want to go. Yes, Gemini is about learning what the options are. But after that, Gemini is about making an informed choice which, by how it works or doesn’t work over time teaches us ever more about how to choose, think ... and for those who happen to also have a Moon in Gemini - how we can choose to deal with, or with regard to our emotions considering they are emotional and thus are not ever precisely entirely manageable.

Once we get through this Mercury cycle, we will all probably have a greater sense of what we’re doing. By the time that happens (i.e., by the time Mercury moves into Cancer come early July) we will have sorted through the recent eclipse-timed upheavals we are all still wading through the many repercussions of.

By then we will have hopefully realized where we’ve been fooling or compromising our Selves of late, and how in light of who we really are and aren’t - and who we know we need to (Gemini) choose to be and become, how so much of that depends on whether we really know what we're 'up against' - not so much in life but in our own mind.

And some of that we will understand because of all we experience under Mercury in Gemini, which if nothing else is a suggestion about the thinker - one who thinks about both their thoughtless and thoughtful thoughts.
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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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Dateblog: February 2015

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In looking ahead at February, the month begin on a theoretical note with Sun and Mercury in Aquarius. We’re thinking about things and thinking or working things through.

That’s always the theme under Mercury retrograde, and with this one occurring in Aquarius, we’re trying to figure things out. We’re wondering which choice we should go with, and why-or-how that could turn out differently than what we’re opting for now.

But against all this thinking we have the feeling quadrant of life. Every two days or so the Moon changes sign, and as it does, the tone of some conversations change, the appeal of certain actions waxes and wanes, which with Mars and Venus in Pisces means we’re all going to be one part sensitive, one part tired (whether physically or just ‘tired of this’ being individual) and very much in that sort of mood where we really (sincerely) wish things were a different way, but since they aren’t, we’ll deal with what we have to deal with.

We accept necessity. We act with a certain personal clarity that XYZ (and ABC) needs to get done and we may even not be unhappy with what we’re doing - it’s just not scratching some itch we have ... which we may know all, or nothing particular about.

And meanwhile, life goes on. With the arrival of a Leo Full Moon on February 3rd, questions of recognition and acknowledgment of worth rise to the surface like a lovely froth ... or maybe just pond scum, depending on the suitability and consistency of whatever effort/s have gone into whatever is occurring at this time. Moon phases always indicate steps in a process and both the ending of one thing and the beginning of another. And though your everyday Full Moon isn’t considered astrologically auspicious unless you have more than several other indicators going on in your personal chart, they often represent a time when things ‘come to light,’ whether in the cause of much de-light or not.

Will this feed into something you’re dealing with (or which you should be dealing with) as Sedna goes on station, then direct at 23 Taurus on January 6th (UT/+0)? Maybe so - but unless 14 Leo (the degree of the Full Moon) and 23 Taurus both aspect your personal chart with some acuity, probably not.

Still, it’s an interesting to note that after the Full Moon comes Sedna’s station ... and no sooner will Sedna’s station end but Mercury’s station (to go direct) period begins.

Mercury going direct (at 1 Aquarius) on February 11th definitely marks one of the bigger ‘shifts’ of energy for the month. That it happens as Sedna is freshly in direct motion suggests learning something about or coming to realize something through the world around us which gets us to give up - or at least consider getting past - some long held notion which isn’t as workable as we thought it was. Either it’s all about ‘us’ and pays ‘them’ improper consideration (or credit), or something is ‘off’ in terms of scale, scalability or feasibility.

And either way, we know we need to change - whether we end up changing or not, and our reasons really don’t matter.

The real question is about growth - and the (Sedna) willingness to grow and mature, or at least to grow past some cherished (Mercury) notion which as much as we might want to think this is the way the world is ... or should be ... it simply isn’t.

Nor is it going to be. No one is happy right now and we are are being forced to adapt to new realities. Those realities favor none - and in that, do not favor anyone who preserves favor for some, or those who dictate what ‘favor’ means.

It’s that last part which really gets us. But it’s a big Aquarian Age issue and thus part of the process which Sun in Aquarius (which ends on the 18th, UT/+0 time) and Mercury in Aquarius (which started back in January and which extends into March) not only pertains to, but is founded on ... a concept we’ll probably all get in gear with (whether reluctantly or otherwise) around the time the New Moon at 29 Aquarius doesn’t light up our skies shortly before midnight on February 18th (UT/+0) and but three scant minutes before the Sun leaves Aquarius for the Pisces, the sign which shows us how we are part of everything ... and everyone else.

Yet apparently we aren’t supposed to just bathe in these feelings of universal amniotic emotionalism, as for feisty and otherwise, Venus and Mars both move into Aries on February 20th - a sign that the rest of February is going to involve dealing with our own will.

And whether we will deal with our will - willingly or otherwise. Too much, too little, too relied upon, too often stuffed under the bed ... whichever bailiwick we come from, now we see how well it does - or doesn’t work, all of which would seem to be grist for the solar eclipse which we’re on countdown for as soon as the Sun enters Pisces - that being a 24-hour period during which Mars and Venus roll into or through 29 Pisces, the degree of the incoming eclipse.

Given all of the above, its unlikely that this is going to be our most tangibly-oriented February ...

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...only Sedna and Pluto are in earth signs all month. But that does point to that period just before Mercury goes direct (on the 11th) as an important time. Maybe not in the moment - maybe something you learn or hear about or do will come to matter to you in days or times to come.

Apart from that, with all the gold being astrological fire, we can expect a lot of experimentation, postulation, chords being struck and striking images. The month starts out in more of an air-water mode than it ends up in, suggesting more February fervency to begin with and a bit more ‘telling of the tale’ and exploration as the month wears on. With the eclipse roughly representing that which exposes issues of mortal responsibility and the vital difference between want and factual reality (the whole of it, not just the parts we like) we’re all likely to go through things which will get our attention about such matters.

Then again, what else were you planning on doing with your February (apart from celebrating Valentines Day and the birthday of a certain astrologer I happen to know)?
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A 5 Cancer New Moon...and Mercury Direct

With all the (well deserved) attention astrology pays to “major” (outer) planets...which is a whole conversation in itself, as the farther from the Sun (life, metaphysical consciousness) you get, the more vast and often stunning or inexorable effects on that consciousness or life is.

Call the onset of these effects being...say, beyond Saturn, Saturn being the planet farthest from Earth which is visible with our own naked eye and therefore astrologically associated with the extent of our grasp or the greatest of our goals and achievements reached through diligence, long-term effort and all that we associate with slow, sometimes terribly challenging growth.

All of which is about what we do...or try. It’s beyond all that (beyond Saturn, that is) where the precepts of astrological evolution really reside.

Which means (you don’t have to like this, but it well may be considered true), one might thus say that evolution in the greatest sense starts where and only when our ability or sense that we can control things - or even get a grip on them - as humans simply ends.

And where said control probably never existed.

But oh...how we all gawk, gasp and gnash our desirous teeth wanting that control.

So maybe because of that...and maybe in spite of that, as much as we all tend to regard stations of Neptune, Pluto, Eris, Sedna and TNOs like Typhon Deucalion et al with something akin to instinctual alarm, there is a level at which we all know that our life is really made up of our everyday deeds, decisions and doings. And all of that is symbolized by planets inside our system’s main asteroid belt.

You know...Sun, Mercury, Venus, Moon, Mars.

And yes, the Moon is a satellite of Earth, I know. It’s referred to as a planet because astrology dates all the way back to yon very much olden times (think: 4,500-3,000 BCE) when all people could do is stare at the night sky and by doing so establish the difference between ‘wandering stars’ (objects which move in the short/observable term like the planets and our Moon) and those many, many stars which appeared to be ‘fixed’ against the night sky.

(Yes, those ‘fixed’ stars - the astrological fixed stars.)

Of those ‘inner’ and more personal points (we’re back to Sun, Moon, Mercury, Mars and Venus), two never go retrograde - the Sun and Moon. But the other three do go retrograde, a fact we’ve all gotten a bit punched-drunken on this year, to be sure.

But this year’s ultra-pressure cooker aside, on an everyday basis there is nothing people into astrology like hearing more than Mercury retrograde is finally over...and when it comes to ‘getting past’ life’s awkward moments and lingering dragnets on our psyche, the monthly New Moon event has always seemed to function as a wiping down of the board and a resetting of all to approximate/current moment zero.

And here...just ahead...we get both. This month’s New Moon will be in Cancer (at 5 Cancer) and occur on June 27th at 8:10 in the morning, UT/+0 time, after which we count to three (days), then Mercury goes direct on July 1st at 12:51 p.m., also UT/+0.

Do these events overlap? Technically no, since we generally give planetary stations a two-days-prior/two-days-after ‘station allowance,’ which would only take us back to June 28th...although if you have a chart with four or five planets in Gemini (or Virgo) that may well (depending on your individual chart) indicate a heightened sensitivity to stations involving Mercury, since it rules (read: tends to excite, promote, provoke or challenge) the attributes of both Gemini and Virgo.

As the Moon comes to its New phase however, that would also be when Jupiter squaring the Nodes comes to perfection, bringing notions associated with 25 Cancer (Jupiter’s position) and those of 25 Aries and 25 Libra (the respective positions of the South and North lunar nodes).

Sappho by Theodore Chassériau (1849, oil on panel)

It’s also when asteroid Sappho goes retrograde at 17 Aquarius in opposition to Black Moon Lilith (calculated Lilith) and in an (8th-derivation) inconjunct to Pallas which suggests threads, notions and developments within this next New Moon cycle which ask of us to think things through and to use logic no matter how loud the ‘roar’ gets, no matter how tough the pressure becomes... with the understanding that 17 Aquarius is a degree which causes difficulties when ignored, whether we’re ignoring something within our own Self or life or whether we’re being ignored by others. There is a need for communication which given this degree’s tendency to ‘go off’ or act in an arrogant, obnoxious or out-of-order manner when denied can create near-cyclic difficulties where the acting out engenders restraints which then result in more eruptions.

Another note here: this is a degree known for physical manifestations, some of which cripple what are otherwise worthy or worthwhile talents, abilities or potentials.

Against these notes we have the Sabian Symbol for this degree: A man’s secret motives are being publicly unmasked - an image astrologer Marc Edmund Jones typified as ‘the difficulty for the modern individual to keep secret his private past or his deeper motives’...(a comment Jones made back in the 1970s and which would seem to apply ever more as time flows by).

For some of us, that Sappho is going retrograde will carry this point’s ‘universal and/or universalist’ within, helping them recognize the greater or ‘universal’ level of some question - and that in turn will help unite their thinking or serve as a means by which they will enter into connection and conversations with others. For some, Sappho’s often nostalgic and ‘poetic’ nature may rise to the fore, softening former ‘hard lines,’ helping foster greater willingness of some kind.

Into all of this come the degree of the June New Moon: 5 Cancer. Known for difficulties stemming from a ‘meanness’ of character which often surfaces in greed and/or miserly attitudes (or refusing to care or extend some feeling benefit) 5 Cancer is known to focus on a refusal to accept or work with/deal with various forms of human weakness - which is at some level a weakness in and of itself. There is a strong sense of ‘having to do what must be done’ which goes along with this degree as well, which since it’s poised in Cancer’s first ten degrees (degrees 0-9) refers to what we do or - again - our certainly very human individual physicality. The Sabian symbol here being ‘Game birds feathering their nests’ can reinforce the ‘borders’ and ‘boundaries’ placed between those being cared for/about and those who are remaining unrecognized at some vital, human level. Referred to as a degree which philosopher-astrologer Dane Rudhyar keynotes as ‘rationalization,’ this would appear to be Cancer at it’s a basic and instinctual level some might typify as individual (or close-held) survival and which some will internalize and transmute into ‘the survival of the group which insures my opportunities for future growth.

As for the chart...

New Moon at 5 Cancer (glyph chart)

(Aries Wheel - Location Not Specific)

New Moon at 5 Cancer (text chart)

(Aries Wheel - Location Not Specific)

The degrees of this chart fall into two rather separate ‘circuits’ - one being in the first decanate of various signs (degrees 0 through 9)...and one being in the third decanate of various signs (degrees 20 through 29). Moreover, taking just the the first decan points for the moment, these are also all in signs which occupy the left or pro-active (learning, experimental) side of the natural zodiac wheel.

What does that say? That tells us that this next month is about what we do or are doing, about what we are willing to try, learn about, say your peace on -or realize the reality of. Or to put it another way, this isn’t a month about building in the sanctity and security of our nests - whether through deed or presence, contribution of thought or concerted willingness to just be there for others...this month speaks to our all being part of this life and this world.

And how those two ideas differ.

Beyond the balancing of all that as a wash of color across the wide screen of life’s backdrop, then we add in a few configurations...

Remember Neptune sitting at 7 Pisces? It’s still there, so if you missed the first chat on same, since this now-you-get-it, now-you-don’t coming from that twitchy place inside where we all want so much to feel what we want and so don’t want to feel anything which will unsettle our secret (and secreted) sense of vulnerability...there’s still time.

- Link to -

Mercury in Taurus/Neptune at 7 Pisces

In any case...Neptune trine a New Moon which is itself conjunct Niobe speaks to pride as a self-delusional detriment - and one which has every possibility of refusing to feel and surrender to some reality now only to pay a far larger price down the line, all of which like as not has to do with some issue with emotional cost to ‘pride of standing.’

With Neptune squaring Phaethon, there’s a headstrong ‘I can do this and get away with it’ quality to many a choice now...but if you remember Phaethon’s story, that may not turn out well. After all, Phaethon was the world-be-heroic teen who insisted to Apollo that he was strong (mature) enough to control the horses which drew the chariot of the Sun across the sky...which most of us (providing you’re not still in the ‘it can’t get me’ stage of life) know is a recipe for trouble.

And when you add fuzziness of emotional standing (with Self most of all) to the need/desire to get out there and prove you can do something simply because you think you ought to be able to (never mind those pesky realities)...we shouldn’t be surprised if Phaethon in Gemini’s tendency towards hasty thinking, shooting off of one’s mouth (aka the tendency to make declarations) and other ‘immature’ ways of working through challenges drive some of this month’s questions and quandaries.

As for Venus in Gemini squaring that Pisces Neptune, this is a combination which promotes friendliness of expression - if not always genuine friendliness. This isn’t likely to be much of a problem unless we are either promising or choosing to believe something out of our personal and basic desire not to have to ‘go through experiencing’ some other choice.

In other words, it isn’t about what ‘they’ do - it’s about why we’re doing what we’re doing. If we’re doing it to evade or avoid something in us we’re likely to unconsciously create ripples in our own pond through others.

This really does give us control, though most of us are (despite what we all like to think) not all that big on controlling ourselves. Others? Yes, indeed. But control our Self? That’s a harder, if more respect-worthy thing.

To finish up here, Juno-Sisyphus is a particularly quirky combination as Juno speaks to self-discipline or the management/conservatorship of one’s resources, possessions, talents...or since this is Gemini, our minds, mentalities, choices and chosen ways of getting things done. Against this we have Sisyphus, an indicator of the ability to do what you want with a warning that if you go that direction, no matter what you think...it just isn’t going to turn out well.

Sisyphus always speaks to something we know we have the capacity to do but shouldn’t...which in combination with headstrong Phaethon is purely an argument with Self. Will we adhere to the standards of treatment, specifically those which deal with how we treat other people (a Sisyphus issue) or simply amuse, assuage or enrich ourselves at the expense of others?

Circuit number two in this New Moon horoscope concerns a series of three semi-sextiles which connect the first four signs of the zodiac (Aries, Taurus, Gemini and Cancer) in a jostling energetic speaking to how easy it is to merely be disrupted or disruptive [Eris/South Node] based on some ‘image’ we have implanted in our brain about how life ‘should be’ but isn’t.

All of that filters (uncomfortably...maybe even annoyingly) through our [Mercury] mental faculties, with all of this coming together as something we [Jupiter in Cancer] need to [25 Cancer] establish or take on, whether in our personal life or in the world around us.

Plus let’s not forget, we do have the Jupiter-Node t-square just now coming into high focus.

Balancing the need to be who we are in our own mind and in this world (so much has to do with proving something to ourselves, have you noticed?) the North Node being in trine to Mercury (which should be marked as retrograde, sorry)...this is the ‘should do’ of the North Node (which automatically comes with a side order of ‘do I have to?’) in trine to Mercury as Mercury nears but is not yet at it’s degree of station.

That will be 24 Gemini, not 25 Gemini.

Meanwhile, there’s a ‘squaring’ of our own need to grow in our own ability to comprehend and handle things with others - all of which plays into personal and public success through our [Eris] ability to deal with things we never imagined in a thousand-million years.

Will we react? Or will we, despite hesitations, misgivings, other things we’d rather be doing and a clutter of misunderstandings old and new which seem to be haunting our waking dreams...in spite of all that, will we persevere?

25 Libra is a degree which acknowledges difficulties and yet which retains a clear, indefinable yet eternal sense of hope. This is not the hope of any miraculous salvation but rather that which holds out that what we earn, we shall in time be rewarded with.

Are we impatient? Are we just tired and looking for a break?

Maybe one...maybe all. We are all just human, you know. Disappointments, trials, defeats, exhaustion and losses...they do happen. Sometimes they’re outside of us and tangible, sometimes they’re to some cherished notion we’ve been toting around despite life’s evidence to the contrary.

As for Mercury...

Le Traité d'Angoulême by Peter Paul Rubens

...Mercury will be going direct on July 1st at 24 (not 25) Gemini, a degree for which the Sabian symbol reads as follows: ‘A gardener trimming large palm trees,’ an image which can be well thought of not only through Marc Edmund Jones’ concept of ‘bringing under control nature’s power of expansion’ but through the more naturalistic idea of the palm tree itself, the palm being a fairly ubiquitous species (something we all know or have in ‘common’) which uses its own dead leaves to shield itself and its fruit (‘the fruit of its labors’) from the intensity of exposure to dry (unemotional) heat (friction, change, conflict).

Mind you, as Mercury goes direct we’re not out of the weeds just yet...

...that which is on our plates and on our minds, they have a bit of time to get worked through - until mid-July when Mercury exits its shadow (which is just prior to Mars exiting its shadow and Saturn going direct).

As Mercury goes through and emerges from its station, attitudes, opinions, conversations open up. Information we have been waiting for finally arrives. People finally look at their phone messages and that which has been back-ordered seemingly forever comes back into stock. So yes, we begin to move forward as Mercury goes direct - but we’re still tying up, settling out and dealing with that which we’ve been focused on for weeks... maybe even months now. Known for its own qualities of generosity and willingness to share (as opposed to those signaled by the Venus/Neptune square, which may amount to too much friendliness or putting those who deserve little but ‘look good’) 24 Gemini benefits us all by being an energetic which encourages open minds and a willingness to listen, hear and discuss - though to be honest, not all such discussions are in earnest. There is some ‘showiness’ which goes along with this degree, so to have Gemini’s ruler (Mercury) going station-direct at 24 Gemini speaks of this entire June 29th through July 3rd period as a good one for parties and hijinks, if also one when we may quite literally hear about grandstanding or someone ‘taking the stage’ so as to have their say.

But the bottom line here for most of us is just this: as Mercury goes direct again, at very long last we are at the end of the seemingly endless slog which began last December when Venus went retrograde. The whole of the time since then has been marked (some would say marred) by one or another of the personal planets being in retrograde...or about to go retrograde.

That’s over. We have a few weeks or sorting out the mental paperwork to do yet while Mercury and Mars both work back and out of their retrograde shadows, but there is cause for optimism in knowing we have now experienced facets of our beings we would never have dreamed of walking ourselves through - and that having done that, we are now better prepared to face our future...directly.
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Sun in Cancer

Sun on Rails

(photo credit: Herbert Smith, October 2004)

The Sun enters Cancer on June 21st at 10:52 in the morning (UT/+0). And as it does, astrologically life moves from six months (and six signs) of overall pro-active or experimental mode into a six month (six signs) period where all of the signs...Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and Sagittarius...at some level all speak to that which ‘responds’ or which causes us to take stock, build a better understanding of how to be or become more effectively based on experience - which is to say ours.

Cancer is all about feeling that ‘experiencing’...either in the most basic ‘who we are and where we come from’ sort of way...or in the receiving, containing or utilizing the emotional motivation we either get from our past or as we look to our future.

And yes, sometimes where those two things overlap...you know, where we get ‘motivated’ to work towards a better future, be it that of ourselves or in any more general or worldly way?

Cancer tends to have two very different modes - the emotionally confidence which comes from feeling at home with being ourselves in this life...and the insecure side of Cancer, that which most know as an ability to nudge, nag or get snippy, impatient or frustrated. Wherever we find Cancer in the natal chart, that house describes where and how we will experience some very ‘under our skin’ as well as ‘salt of the earth’ Cancerian moments.

And now all that comes to the fore as the Sun enters Cancer.

 2014 Cancer Ingress (Aries Wheel/Location Not Specific)(glyph chart)

2014 Cancer Ingress (Aries Wheel/Location Not Specific)(text chart)

Seeing that this ingress happens with Mercury still in retrograde suggests that from the time of the Cancer Solstice (June 21st, UT/+0) we are all likely to be wrestling just a bit with internal matters, be that in our mind, our heart...in some tug-of-war involving both...or  in any other ‘behind-the-scenes’ sense.

Plus there is one other little Mercury notion: because this ingress shows Mercury at 27 degrees of Gemini, part of the questions and self-questioning conflicts we will all face not just in the next month but over the next zodiacal quarter (the months of Sun in Cancer, Sun in Leo and Sun in Virgo - call it until mid-late September)...all of that time will have flecks and quirks of how well we have (or haven’t) reconciled our Self to the idea of what we give to the world against what we get from the world, some of which is likely to concern our home, home life, cultural heritage and the very Earth we call home - replete with it’s many other denizens, furry, fishy, feathered and otherwise and inclusive of anything good or bad about our very human life on said Earth.

27 Gemini is known for utter loyalty to some ideas as well as the utter rejection of others - which is very much in keeping with it’s position exactly in opposition to the Galactic Center (the center of our local Milky Way galaxy at 27 Sagittarius), a point which is all about needing to give (or make something of one’s self which ‘gives’ to others merely by nature) in order to fulfill one’s personal potential.

As Mercury goes direct on July 1st, some degree of questioning or discussing (with our Self or others) ‘takes a turn’...and we’ll feel a bit more clarified as the days roll forward until Mercury exits the shadow of its retrograde on July 15th. Add to that the implied (sign-to-sign) square implied by the Sun transiting Cancer against Mars in Libra and there will be distractions. And yes, there will be situations and reactions/commentaries (on our part or coming from others) which test our ability to merge or mesh our interests/perspectives with those favored or indeed needed by others. With Mars still in Libra and our notion of life [the Sun] being in Cancer, some of these messages will be purely about ego and need internal compromise while others will bring us into an awareness of (or the need to understand) some particular weakness which, in being expressed by Mars, is mental, conceptual or theoretical in nature.

All this will come to a head as we pass July 14th and move towards July 20th, that being the date when Mars finally (finally!!) wraps up its retrograde cycle in a conjunction with the Sun - which is something of a guarantee of a red-letter day.

What kind of a red-letter is up to us.

Jupiter and Io photographed in thermal-infrared from the Paranal Observatory

(photo credit ESO, November, 2000)

With that said, done and experienced however, then Mars heads for the end of its transit of Libra (read: the raising of personal issues through interactions/lack of interactions with others) which began back on December 7, 2013.

As for the Sun/Mars transiting conjunction, that can mark a finding of peace on any individual or collective level (even both). Then again, it can signal a moment in time when sheer stubbornness wins out.

Yet best beware: the ‘win’ of this moment doesn’t necessarily indicate success. Nor does it mean that which is done couldn’t be undone. Much of the good and bad of all here depends on us - on how well we handle the experiencing of our Self through our emotions. Mind you, this isn’t about ‘happiness’ per se, but rather more about our ability or willingness to ‘own’ our emotions in a world where everyone else has equally valid feelings.

As for the chart of this ingress...though you may be looking at the red lines (indicating square aspects) and think you’re looking at a Grand Square, you’re actually not - which is good, as Grand Squares tend to manifest as situations which need to be balanced and handled and pursued without any clear sort of resolution. Instead we get two t-squares, an idea which may produce a few groans (even more than a few) but which also speaks to a period of time (both the next month and the whole of the quarter) which asks whether we are able to operate for the good of all and not just in our own interests, be they defined by family, race, culture, heritage, affiliations individual or group, private or public, financial status or...well, you know - simple personal preference.

Both of these t-squares are in cardinal (pro-active) signs, with the Pluto/Vega t-square indicating the need to ‘get real’ in order to deal with some sort of powerful, even ‘controlling’ idea, ideal or allure (that being Vega’s charismatic touch) in order to affect some needed change...lest we experience change which is driven by someone else’s allegiance to some sort of ‘dream.’

Against this we have Jupiter at 24 Cancer - the expansive or expansion of will in overcoming others which when done without sufficient regard for others and/or care for human values and human beings fails utterly, whether in the short or long run. There is a decided Moon-Eris-South Node tendency to take the road known and to listen to those who are prone to agreeing with us simply because we feel so invested in our perspective that to (Sun in Cancer) experience anything which would tremble, however gently, our convictions feels intolerable.

Welcome to Sun in Cancer. That feeling? That reaction to the notion of needing to feel or being forced to feel who we’re being or what we would feel like if someone was doing-saying-acting as we are...all that would seem to be the point here. The ‘goal’ of this second t-square (the one in blue) being described as Ceres/North Node, we know the goal is a stable and productive relationship with our world, with life and with others.

It’s just that getting there is rather challenging - particularly to those who prefer to function in theory.

One other notion here: Capricorn against Jupiter, when split as it is in this image is often a signature of ‘those in power’ against ‘those who follow,’ be that a simple matter of parents with children or the more esoteric (if no less real and certainly no less important) concept of a government and its citizens. This is not so much a ‘power play’ dynamic as it’s likely to display a difference in orientation, with the Capricorn side stressing rules and/or consequences against a Cancerian need for continuity, lest that which needs to be done fails to hit its mark. Some manipulation of facts is to be expected. Yet where such tactics are used, chaos and destruction of that which is most cherished is likely to occur.

To some extent we are all likely to want to avoid some issues this month...but if we do, we’re only compromising ourselves.

So...do we want to do that?
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