Mercury Retrograde at 17 Aquarius

Trees... sky

(photo credit: US Department of Agriculture, February 2005)

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A week from when this post hits the internet (January 21st) Mercury will go retrograde at 15:44 (3:55) in the afternoon.

So why bring it up now?

That would be because what we humans do depends on how and how well we think - that being the heart and soul of the astrological Mercury. So since as any celestial object heads into its station (either to direct or retrograde) things tend to get congested, challenging and otherwise somewhat like slogging through a lake filled with peanut butter (perish the thought...), to have such that gumming up our mental works seems something it might be helpful to have a ‘head’s up’ on in advance.

Ergo, this post.

Besides, next week is going to be one of ‘those’ weeks in astrology - call it either many things coming together or much ado (and to do) about much which needs doing ... and if you're someone with a birthday around the 20th or 21st, this coming year is going to be full of new things and new opportunities ... but with them are going to come some personal challenges, with all of this pertaining to long-range (rather than immediate) life changes.

Mercury Rx (glyph chart)

Jan 21, 2015 - 15:55 (3:55 p.m. ) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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Mercury Rx (glyph chart)

Jan 21, 2015 - 15:55 (3:55 p.m.) UT/+0 - Aries Wheel (Location Not Specific)

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As for Mercury, once in retrograde, Mercury will continue counting down through the degrees, crossing back over ten  Aquarius on January 30th - a signal that the fervency likely to color many a thought, idea or precept until then will change over into more of a background now-you-see-it, now-you’re-clueless mode likely to be relegate to the background of our conscious thoughts even though it’s underlying everything we’re likely to be focused on.

The basic arc described by this retrograde (by its stations) is Aquarian - which means it is likely to have two energetic thrusts, one of which seeks to stabilize while the other seeks to change (representing Aquarius’ two rulers, Saturn and Uranus). When or where meshed together, these two energetics represent the chance that life will change (and/or) our efforts to be part of, or to resist it that change. And when or where Aquarian energies are not used in sync, they tend to represent the many  pluses and minuses of multiples and multitasking, which for some is easily artful ... and which for others is like living through some particularly unpredictable assault on one’s mental sense and collective sensibilities.

As to the specific degrees involved here, Mercury will go retrograde at 17 Aquarius and go direct at 1 Aquarius as of the 11th of February (both UT/+0 time), describing an arc of personal reconciliation to or understanding of circumstances which, if allowed to get the best of us, can manifest in difficulties or illnesses with the lesson being all about why, where and how we interact with others. The process involved here - like all Mercury retrograde cycles - will tend to manifest in a period where not much gets done ‘outwardly’ because things are being done (and need to get done) first, and those things may not be as ‘visible’ ... either to you or others.

Given that the sign involved here is Aquarius, neither the issues or whatever it is which ends up occupying our time is likely to be strictly personal - and with the station-direct point being 1 Aquarius there’s every chance that the whole of this time is ‘about’ someone or something which hasn’t been ...

a.) paid proper attention to ...

(or)

b.) ... which haven’t yet been even been noticed for what it actually is - or is worth.

You may be waiting for others to notice you or something you’ve done. Then again, others may be waiting on you - or you may not have yet noticed that the thing which is going to prove valuable moving forward.

It’s to think about.

With Mercury going direct only one degree ahead of the Moon, there’s a note of fervency, concern and high focus to this station. As well, with Mercury (and the Moon) within the 5 degree orb-of-trine to the North Node but NOT within the 3 degree orb-of-sextile to the South Node, there’s a clear differentiation between what we want to do and what we should do, with the Mercury/Moon-to-North Node trine indicating something ongoing which cannot be turned ‘off’ or ‘on’ through any act of individual will - which isn’t just about us, it’s about everyone.

In other words, we can’t ‘fix’ whatever is going on in a split second - and neither can anyone else. Will that play into why we feel we must or must not do something?
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It could ...with Pluto is sitting at 13 Capricorn t-squaring the nodes, dualistic (and maybe dueling) interests which range from 'resistance' to inordinate efforts to make something happen ... bring something into being ... or the eliminating of something something altogether seems inordinately important. And it may well be. But if or where the question is how to do-or-be all those important things, the very strength or intensity of our focus may get in our way.  Those who understand where their interests are in the global (meaning either 'world' or 'universal') interest - those people may now come to the forefront.

But will they succeed? Providing they are not working solely in their own regard (be that an individual person or an individual collective) great strides can be achieved. Yet those strides are unlikely to be immediate: Mercury retrograde is Mercury retrograde and all the standard advice about don't be impatient ... check your work twice ... don't sign onto anything permanent ... do your research ... thinks things over ... be prepared for messages to get garbled, lost or delayed ... all such regular Mercury warnings are all in play, as they always are under Mercury retrograde.

But even beyond that, with Pluto at the t-square here, that which is being negotiated now is unlikely to be achieved without some measure, feeling and reality of sacrifice even if in the end what gets achieved is something more wholesome, more satisfying, more productive ... and just better.

With Mercury (and the Moon) in opposition to Jupiter still retrograding back through Leo there’s likely to be a sense that something has gone ‘over the line’ or ‘too far.’ And with Jupiter retrograde posited as the ‘goal’ of a Venus-Sedna-Jupiter t-square, the freeing of our Self from whatever it is which is most challenging in the moment (be that one or a thousand things) is going to require that we finish learning that we need to, and how to let go of perspectives and expectations we were raised with and which were formed early about who people are (and aren’t!) as well as what we are entitled to ‘expect’ life to be, or how we thought things were going to “work” for us.

The strength, the power, the efficacy that we seek is there. But it’s not out there ... it’s inside some kind of ‘thought shell’ which has hardened around our way of thinking - most of all about what we ‘need’ in order to be or feel valid as a person or validated as part of our world.

And now we get to think our way to ‘breaking through’ that barrier which (oddly enough) we probably played a large part in erecting long ago when in our heads the ‘how it works’ ideas got set down in concrete.

We’ve outlived some of that. We need to change. And this week - the week leading up to Mercury’s station on the 21st (UT/+0) is all about coming to focus on what ... and why ... certain things need to change.
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Mercury in Aquarius: Wired

header image based on 'Day's End' by Frank Ammerlaan

(image by artist's permission/2012, materials listed: metal and colour passivated zinc)

Mercury entering Aquarius with the ‘weight’ of our Sun/Venus desire to be that thing which gives us what we want in this world suggests that the next few weeks are going to be filled with challenges even as there seems to be some sort of slightly strange serenity. Call it a steadying of pulse, our adapting to a lighter touch or regard…or maybe we’re just settling into the many facets of life which seem clear even if they aren’t entirely cohesive.

Or functionally optimal.

The good news here is that unbeknownst to us, providing we are making the effort to recognize the difference between what we like and what works, advances are being made.

Optimal, in other words, is the goal…and the process of working towards that optimal (and a few other things) is likely to be an ‘embracing’ concept which colors many a thought and plan between January 11th at 9:36 in the evening (UT/+0) as Mercury enters Aquarius and when it exits Aquarius for Pisces as of 2:30 in the afternoon (UT/+0) on January 31st…which just happens to be the day Venus goes direct.

All the above remaining true in a general sense, this Venus-in-Capricorn station/direct date is important as pertains to all things Capricorn and worldly (public image, societal standing, personal achievements, building a career…and all which goes into any one of these) plus all things Aquarian: income, social/societal acceptance, mass market, mass culture, universalism/unity vs. individualism/uniqueness.

This is – in short – a metaphysical recipe which speaks of non-optimal circumstances we are faced with so that we will take ourselves seriously and focus on what we can do as one thought against what might really be worth doing.

In that ‘what might be worth doing,’ there are two ways of thinking about the matter: the ‘what do I want out of this’ point of view, and the ‘what can I contribute to the whole which improves things so that life is better and easier for everyone?’ sort of perspective.

And that difference – a difference which amounts to a sort of ‘give versus take’ or ‘have versus create/empower’ is exactly the difference between Capricorn and Aquarius, two signs which are adjacent to each other on the zodiac wheel.

Of course there are some global irritations to face here – there always are when we’re talking about signs which sit side-by-side. Our Mercurial thought processes are now moving into ‘airy mode’ which favors discussions and ideas but our Venus hearts are undecided. Maybe even doubtful.

And though it’s always easiest to blame ‘them,’ this is also a time where we’re all doing a lot of deep questioning about who we are, what we’re capable of and ‘if we really want to do “that.”’

Perhaps the best – and simplest astrological suggestion here is to try not to pair the (Mercury) idea against the (Venus) result (i.e., what we will get if we do or are such-and-such).

Why would that be?

That would be because of the five ‘daily life’ personal planetary symbols (Sun-Moon-Venus-Mercury-Mars), Mercury’s arrival in Aquarius trines that prone-to-vacillating Mars in Libra.

Or maybe that’s not vacillating? Maybe that’s preparation you’re involved in? That’s fine too. After all, in the greater perspective preparation is vacillation – it’s our negotiating, our act of trying to ‘hold on’ to that moment for some reason or personal purpose.

But the greater point is this: since air signs tend to work well together...and because both Sun and Venus are in earthy, tangible-practical-pragmatic Capricorn, the ‘path of least resistance’ will seem attractive, meaning that a lot of us will wait (in turn putting other people on hold). There are ways to achieve  greater productivity providing we’re willing to bring an open mind to life’s negotiating table and those now willing to undertake intense or spirited (Mars) discussions...debates...communiques...in an effort to link all those theories and urges we're feeling to things and people who can at least give us input.

With that, however, comes a disclaimer: conversations and communications now may not solve or answer all questions and quandaries. Some will, of course. But even those which don't are likely to give us grist for the mental mill, and during the weeks ahead such grist will provide not only something to work with (call it 'nourishment') but keep us from pushing too hard or falling prey to undirected (unfocused) frustrations but usefully funneling off our psychological energies.

Plus there is the fact that in most of our lives many a Mercury/Mars situation will pop up, testing, utilizing, balancing actions, choices, alliances, promptings and commitments which are either directly about something which needs tending/attending to, or which has become corrupted or ‘detached’ (separated?) in some way.

Or yes, maybe both. Such things do happen.

Still…that only gets us so far. As Mercury makes its January 31st Pisces ingress it’s only days away from going retrograde (on February 6th). And since at that point Mercury will have only reached 3 Pisces, we know it’s going to retrograde back into Aquarius rather soon.

Which would be true, of course. After poking its planetary head into Pisces, Mercury does a turnabout and re-enters Aquarius on February 12th at 3:31 in the afternoon (UT/+0 time).

And yes, that is one day before St. Valentines Day…which in true and Mercury/Aquarius quirky fashions has always struck me as the very oddest of holidays. No – it’s not the intent which strikes me odd, it’s how modern society has managed to get from the life of St. Valentine (which evidently was pretty horrific) to chocolate and hearts.

Not that I object, of course. The Mercury in Aquarius touch to this year’s edition of the Valentine tradition favors friendship and either fun or simple and heartfelt statements. Connected to Valentines or otherwise, the conservative or modern, out-of-the-box thought may work now – and to the degree that anything (personal or professional) works or doesn’t work now, taking time to work through why strengths work and why weaknesses aren’t working is something to take into consideration.

Whatever you are doing, consistency of quality will count – especially during the latter half of January. Once Mercury retrogrades back into Aquarius starting February 13, that becomes a time for  consolidating gains and making new plans, some of which will depend on information which will be received as or after Mercury goes direct on February 28th.

Mercury's Southern Hemisphere as photographed by the Mariner spacecraft

(photo credit: NASA-JPL)

Mercury will exit Aquarius for Pisces on March 17. However…since no sooner will Mercury have gone direct on February 28 but Mars goes retrograde on March 1st with Saturn going retrograde on March 2nd, especially where you’re involved with efforts having do with networking, income, friends or  finding-maintaining-improving your place in ‘social society,’ this Mars/Saturn dual-station would seem obvious, if not y important.

Nothing which is done at this dual Mars-Saturn station is likely to come to fulfillment or potential fruition quickly. Given that, and given that Aquarius is a sign all about ‘the plan,’ ‘executing the plan so that it works’ and ‘successes to be earned,’ Mercury entering Aquarius now seems like a path which no matter where it wends exits precisely as we find ourselves on a ‘cosmic doorstep.’

Question:

A doorstep leading to what?

Answer:

Where life will take us between

March 1st and May - if not June 2014.

That clock starts now. We need to take ourselves seriously but not be so wrapped up in who we are that we are unapproachable. Humor may be our finest weapon providing we are equally willing to laugh at ourselves as anything else, using that very demonstration of mortal humanism as our calling card and magnet. That elitism, isolation, lack of flexibility and narrow-mindedness are all negatives under Aquarius reminds us through errant steps taken and rebuffed that even if we don’t want to change...be it our minds, our preferences, priorities, courses of action or anything else...how hearing others out, by the very act of accepting whatever differences between us exist enhances us far beyond that we can be consciously aware of.

 Created by René Descartes, the above is one of the earliest drawings of a magnetic field known, and what is personal magnetism if not the outward experience of our 'electric personalities'?

 (credit: Rene Descartes - 'Principia Philosophiae,' 1644)

We are, in other words, not merely who we think we are, but who we are witnessed being. Problems will arise where there is a disparity between the two, and even if you are able to avoid any consequence for that contradiction, in the wake of its having been observed it is likely to become more problematic ever.

Life now is about connecting. Human commerce and life’s interactions are our wires, and we are all electric.
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Jupiter enters Cancer at a Mercury Station

 In honor of the vast increase in Cancerian energy we're all going to be experiencing, a

fun picture of a little crab on a rock taken by Pavel in January 2009

As the Lunar Nodes continue hovering at the Scorpio and Taurus’ cross-quarter points and Ceres rolling forward into Leo, we are all going to face new questions and new reasons to be more creative and personally expansive. With the Moon having just passed through Capricorn Fullness we are in a moment where by putting ourselves and our thoughts or efforts ‘out there’ helps us see what is – and what maybe can be…

…and then, as Mercury goes on station, Jupiter moves into Cancer. The date of this dual event is Wednesday, June 26th – except for those in the Americas and eastern Pacific region, where Jupiter slides into Cancer late on the 25th.

The specifics (so we can get the persnickety data stuff out of the way) are as follows: Jupiter enters Cancer at 1:41 in the morning (UT/+0 time) on the 26th, and Mercury goes retrograde in Cancer at 23 Cancer on the 26th at 1:09 in the afternoon (again, UT/+0 time).

Not to put too fine a point on it, with Venus and the Sun already in Cancer, that’s a LOT of Cancer energy floating around. So think family, home, real estate, childhood (the result of yours and that of anyone else as a formative ‘shaping’ energetic), culture, habits, traditions, national populations and immigration, agriculture, building, buildings…and any kind of plan you have for moving forward or growing your world, your life, your ‘base’ or ‘basis’ of operation(s).

So what’s with Jupiter in Cancer?

Jupiter in Cancer is expansive – that’s the Jupiter thing – and it tends to be expansive in the areas cited above. It also exacerbates (increases) feelings about all those issues, and because Cancer is ruled by the Moon, anything concerning money connected thereto.

Cancer is the first of the zodiacal water signs, all of which are connected to wealth. The 4th house of a chart generally indicates our home or ‘home base’ but wherever we see Cancer, we get a sense of our relationship to real estate, the cost of housing and our experience of our family’s general attitude towards wealth.

Jupiter's big red spot as photographed by NASA-JPL. It's amazing to think this

'spot' is actually a Jovian 'weather system' where the cloud tops are moving at hundreds of miles an hour...!

(photo credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech)

Of course, a lot about how this manifests in your life depends on where in your chart your individual Moon is - and of course, what sign that Moon is in. What this becomes is a combination of those two factors - the house with Cancer on its cusp will indicate where you tend to build your 'foundation of emotional reactions.' You know, the what you react to and why you react to it as you do. Meanwhile, the position of the Moon is where those foundations act out - and providing your Moon is not in Cancer, that Moon position will tend to describe how you will react.

A couple of examples, both of which are helpfully donated to this cause by friends of mine who may or may not care that I'm thinking of their charts. (Yes, this is the blessing and penalty of knowing an astrologer. Occasionally you learn something, but there's also a strange feeling associated with having your metaphysical structure being being discussed with countless others...even anonymously!)

In our first example, Cancer is on the 12th house. Cancer on the 12th house is an indicator of deep, deep emotions, some of which can be downright scary. They can be scary to you...and they may just be scary to others who find out what you really feel about things and about them. Traditions may be hugely (read: overly) important to you...or then again, you may not be even remotely tolerant of anyone talking to you about traditions for reasons you just don't want to get into.

Not even with yourself.

If the Moon ruling this Cancer 12th house is (say,) in Aquarius and the 6th house, you will tend to act out all your feelings - the strong and the being-scared-of-them through qualities denoted by the keywords 'health, work, service.' That means you may have real issues with responsibility. Or maybe you'll take care of everyone but be really bad at taking care of yourself. Or maybe you only care about yourself and nobody else. Feeling your own feelings may be so powerful a thing (12th house placements are always powerful) that you can't bear to feel much...but then, given Aquarius' talent for seeing the bigger picture, maybe this is exactly what allows you to do great deeds and deal with difficulties which would scare the willies out of others.

Or let's say Cancer is on your 8th house. That makes your experiences with all forms of interactive negotiations (be they business, financial or of the Intimate Kind) a place where in risking your 8th house inner sense of "stability" (read: self respect, feeling of self worth) that your 12th house Scorpio Moon causes you to withdraw from others...and (oh by the way) choose people who will provide you with reasons to withdraw (except for the occasional fling, to be sure.)    


Wherever we see Cancer and wherever we see the Moon, these areas of our chart are going to be enlarged on throughout this next year of Jupiter in Cancer. Therefore, no matter what your Cancer ‘thing’ is, you can experience the negatives or expand on the positives. And this generally will happen by 'closing out' some old way of thinking.

In moving into Cancer, Jupiter is moving out of Gemini. And given that the flow of the signs around the wheel of the horoscope (above) is counter-clockwise, this means that this shift from Gemini to Cancer has Jupiter 'changing sides.' 

Of the horoscope wheel, yes. And in terms of personal and worldly dynamics. The left side of the zodiac (Capricorn through Gemini) is proactive. The right side is responsive, but not just in the sense of 'responding to input,' though it tends to be a bit of that too. No, in this  sense the idea of 'response' has to do with 'responding to the known' or acting or choosing in terms of that which we have already experienced.

The signature sign of this 'building of experiences' is Cancer. For you that may be building on experiences or building things which allow you to experience this or that...whichever way you go with it, we and our world are now exiting some six years of doing-in-order-to-make-happen (from which we learn). For the next six years, we will tend to build on what we have done.

Or yes, on what we have set ourselves up for. There are lots and lots of ways these things come to light!

Those of us who are hesitant will meet up with situations which evoke (or provoke) our Cancerian feelings and Moon issues. Those of us wiling to step out and learn or let go of what plainly isn't us or doesn't work for us will feel a renewal of our vital sense of life.

With Jupiter we know the stakes are big. And that the possible rewards are big. And how what we see as possible often exceeds our ability to stomach the 'whole' of the process. So during this next year of Jupiter passing through Cancer, we should expect a lot of big talk. But will action back up those claims?

That remains to be seen.

Real estate and ‘lifestyles’ will probably come back into focus on many a level and for many a reason, good and gnarly.

All of that aside, the next day or so (between now and the 25th/26th, depending on location) is going to be uber intense. Jupiter pushing through the last gasps and breaths of Gemini makes us think the stakes are raised.

Are they? Maybe. But since it’s common for the days leading into Mercury’s station to feel pressured, when we add in Jupiter’s climactic energetic in thought-and-choice oriented Gemini, a few folks are likely to go plumb out of their minds now.

And let’s remember…those societal-and-relationship lunar nodes being at the Scorpio/Taurus cross-quarter points also point to some pressure-filled moments.
Or is that a ‘pressure release’ moment?

- link to -

The Lunar Nodes at Cross-Quarters

With Pluto in the oppositional sign of Pluto, life is changing. The world is changing. The times are changing. Evolution and revolution are grinding, churning, turning outlived concepts on their heads.

And some people, yes. There are those who are getting their ‘come-uppance’ now and those who are getting traction on getting ahead. It sort of depends on where you are coming into this time. After all, the Pluto keywords are create, deny, destroy…and that generally applies to whatever the ‘status quo’ of your life is.

Considering the way Pluto tends to symbolize where starry-eyed, ‘me starring in my own mental movie’ visions tend to meet up with reality, with Pluto in retrograde into September and Jupiter’s impending romp through Cancer moving into position to oppose Pluto from mid-July until early September, we are all being set up for one of those Great Seasons of Change.

Into which comes Mercury. And yes, I know – I got all wound up with the Jupiter in Cancer thing. But it is interesting that in one single run Jupiter is going to hit zero and go all the way to 20 Cancer before turning bringing all back into retrograde (consolidation of gains or losses) mode come early November.

Oh yes…and that would be happening just a few days beyond the November 3rd solar eclipse. So, remember how I said a while ago that Saturn going retrograde at 11 Scorpio in February drew a “dotted line” in the metaphysical sand the other end of which was November’s 11 Scorpio Solar Eclipse?

In that process, Jupiter’s entering Cancer is something like starting a snowball rolling. For good or bumpy, whether you’re in for a heck of a ride or getting snow-rollered over, this would be celestial gravity beginning to gather its karmic momentum.

Surely you understand my being so intrigued?

Another thing about Jupiter in Cancer: this is a combination known for 'endings,' which in an odd sense goes with Cancer as a sign of culture, family, experience of childhood and hearth, home and nationality as our 'roots' in the sense that they are what we build on.

And thus life leads us into a new phase which reflects Cancer at the bottom of the 'natural' zodiac wheel as a time when we finish up one phase of life and begin to build anew. For some, this will herald a period which includes hitting a new 'bottom' which yes, may be painful - but which may also represent an emotional reality we need to know in order to build a life or life structure which will be stable and stand the tests of time (time being the Saturn province greatly signified by Capricorn, the opposition sign to Cancer).

 Jupiter being eclipsed by three of its moons

(photo credit: NASA, JPL-Caltech)

That this ingress is marked by Mercury's station suggests that the whole of this Jupiter-in-Cancer passage is aimed at, or which will evolve as a growing 'mental' awareness. Or a consciousness of what mentality is and means. And maybe how some 'old' way of thinking or 'seeing' life needs to be surrendered as your present 'actual' in favor of recognizing and utilizing a more 'present' form of mental emotionality so that your life can become more in sync with everything (and everyone) with whom you interact, allowing you to build that 'better world.'  

As for the specifics of Mercury's station, 23 Cancer – the degree Mercury is going on station at – is known as a point where either our strengths or weaknesses (speaking of celestial gravity) come to the fore. There is an equal danger of overstepping your own bounds, abilities or the limits of propriety as there is an opportunity to make good on your talents.

As Jupiter enters 0 Cancer, Black Moon Lilith is sitting there a 1 Cancer: another sign that we may ignore society (or social responsibilities) or get caught in being too caught up in our own cause. With Pluto being smack dab between Industria and the ‘it’s complicated’ nebula we know as Facies, the likely focus for all has to do with what you have – or haven’t done well enough. The likely meaning here is that those who have bailed on making an effort will now begin paying some price, while those who have tackled some complex project will begin seeing results – or at least what it will take to get the job well and done.

Of course, since this is Pluto in Capricorn we’re talking about, there will be a few who in having avoided doing their work properly (or doing any work at all) will now realize there’s an avalanche heading their way.

 An avalanche in progress (lower center) on Nuptse in the Himalayas

(photo credit: Iwe Gille, April 2005)

Create, deny, destroy…those Pluto bywords are Pluto bywords for a reason, y’know.

Meanwhile, Mercury is going retrograde exactly conjunct Pollux. And since Pollux is the ‘thoughtful’ Gemini emblem which signifies giving (or giving in) so that the ‘important things’ are preserved, this is just another indication that this is a time of fateful choices…past or present.

But let’s not think all will be easy. Queen of all things unexpected and stunningly provocative, Eris at 22 Aries is in square to Mercury’s station. And with Eris conjunct Pelion (the ‘mountain’ we have yet to climb) things are not easy.

In fact, with fixed stars Arcturus and Spica (the brilliance of leadership) at 24 Libra, there’s something of an implied t-square here…

…one with Mercury’s station point at it’s ‘t’. Since this t-square isn’t formed by full-fledged planets (Eris is a dwarf planet) it may be a bit more subtle than some – unless 23 Cancer coincides with something in your natal chart, that is. But the general ‘object’ here is working past where you are (the Cancer point) to a place where you can be effective in your life. Where your brilliance and stand-out qualities really show.

That would be the Spica (brilliance) and Arcturus (leadership) point of this station. With Eris at it’s starting place it may be easy to be daunted by what it’s going to take to get where you want to go – that being the Pelion part.

Of course the good thing is that once Mercury stations and goes retrograde, we all get a couple of weeks to work behind the scenes and figure out which options will work best.

Considering all…the Nodes being at cross-quarters and Jupiter plus Mercury…? To me that sounds like at least a couple of weeks (and maybe more) of getting a better grasp on things as we recognize what is really (South Node in Taurus) worth going for.

Getting there will require doing a few things we aren’t sure we know how to do yet - that's the North Node in Scorpio part of our challenge. But with Jupiter moving into the sign Mercury's station has us focused on (at least internally) all bodes well providing we’re willing to open our eyes, our mind and our hearts to not just who we are...but who we can become through asking ourselves to take on building a bigger and better world which then can become our life's basis for operation.
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Mercury Retrograde: Small Planet, Big Effects

Asemic grafitti: an abstract calligraphy painting by Matox (Nuno de Matos)

(photo credit Matoxvisual, Oct 2010) 

Have you ever wondered why Mercury retrograde is such a big deal? It’s the first astrological item I ever heard being discussed by news anchors.

Anchor #1: The 405 Freeway is a mess….

Anchor #2: Well, it’s Mercury retrograde – what do you expect?

Is traffic really worse under Mercury retrograde? Or given the Mercury retrograde tendency to ‘hear’ our own thoughts…(hopefully to review them, not that such a thing always happens)…are we just more prone to wanting to project our opinions on how life should be on the world?

This isn’t such a far-fetched concept, if you look at the many charts of successful people which have  Mercury natally in retrograde. We’re used to thinking of Mercury retrograde as a time to go back over our ideas. When we should take time to ‘straighten things out,’ whether what’s being ‘straightened’ is the course of a relationship, our thoughts on something once we do a little reading on it…even our closet.

Writers often have Mercury natally retrograde. I don’t have a collection of programmer charts (not tagged as programmers, that is), but I’ll bet that programmers and all sorts of people in the kind of ‘design’ job which requires testing viability (like engineering) have Mercury in retrograde.  

Retrogrades are the energy of the planetary symbolism turned inward. In other words, we’re not interacting with someone else or some external entity on something, we’re dealing with ourselves.

So for those who want to go around talk to themselves, I can think of nothing better for you than Mercury retrograde.

For the rest of us? Well, it’s kind of ‘meh…’ You know...tolerable, but maybe a bit inconvenient? During Mercury retrograde, time seems to slow down. Things seem to take forever. But since time doesn’t actually slow down in the big sense, what causes that sense of would it hurry up, already?

That must be us. And that’s exactly what’s going on. If the Gemini concept of Mercury is the mental part and the ‘getting things in order’ part of Mercury is the Virgo part, we ‘hear’ ourselves wanting things to get into order. During Mercury retrograde, we will hear our thoughts…and goodness knows, we may even listen to ourselves!

And through that…sometimes there comes a revelation. A greater or deeper understanding of ourselves. Or how maybe someone out there isn’t just bizarre-o…maybe they’re reacting to something in us.

Lots of things change during Mercury retrograde. And though they may change out in the world (yes), the more important things are probably those which we change in our own head, self and lives.

The first of 2013’s three Mercury retrogrades (some years have four, this one only has three) begins on February 23rd, which happens to be your astrologers birthday. (Yes, I have big Mercurial doings planned for this year!) Mercury’s average retrograde being twenty-one days long, this one is going to be a touch longer than average, as it doesn’t end until March 17th (which will make this retrograde 23 days long).

Probably most important to all of us, this retrograde is wholly in Pisces, the sign of all things which provoke, evoke and try to get us to feel our feelings so that we can become aware of why we feel the way we do about things.

This is not some cosmic trick. Pisces is not about trying to emotionally yank the rug out from under you. Pisces is the sign which brings us back to our humanity at isn’t most humane (and sometimes inhumane) point: our emotionality.

People live in their emotions. We like to think we don’t, but we do. And it’s really only to the extent that we are comfortable with our emotions - and emotionally comfortable with our life (which is an entirely different thing) – that we are able to harness our abilities and create the life we really want.

You know, the one which would be emotionally satisfying.

People who can’t handle their emotions are constantly on the run. Constantly rejecting others for fear what they feel will create a need to (gasp!) feel something emotional. Or (heaven forbid) show compassion.

And yet, among the arcades of the great, those who have shown they can make the tough decisions in spite of being a caring person who touch us most deeply.

As human beings, we know we need to feel. We know we need to be okay with what we’re feeling and why we feel that way and why we do or don’t value things …and other people as we do.

One of the hardest things we ever face is trying to understand how someone who does something incredibly heinous can like bunnies. I know that the first time I found out that some of the Nazi architects of the ‘Final Solution’ had kids and dogs and liked gardening, I was left gasping in my agog-ness.

Pisces is the last sign of the zodiac. Like the other three 4th quadrant signs (Aquarius and Capricorn), it’s a sign about universality which only works in our individual lives if and to the extent that we understand the universal need or right or feeling. Those who fail the Pisces test often retreat from life. Or get abandoned by it. Pisces is the sign of the hermit and the guru, addiction and incarceration, solitude and loss, loneliness and nirvana.

Some of those things are great. Some are terrible. And every item on that list is the cause or effect, the provocation or manifestation of emotionalism gone right or gone wrong. And it’s really as simple as this: we love the guru for caring about us and taking the time to teach us. We pity the addict (whatever they may be addicted to) and loathe the criminal for not understanding the value, the need, the humanness which caring about others is.

That’s Pisces.

Mercury is going retrograde at 19 Pisces a degree which is all about the success or failure which comes of grappling with this need to be human and to live a life which is equally humane to yourself as to others. There are texts which speak of 19 Pisces as being specifically a degree which tests our materialistic limits. And to that end, we may now be seeing (or you may be experiencing) critiques or outcomes which have to do at some level with the balance in your life between ‘things,’ ‘money’ and human need…or the need to be human (depending).

With Mars just behind and asteroids Photographica and Amor just ahead, there would seem to be a bit of a ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ quality attached to this moment, but that probably depends on personal charts. But for sure, for sure – with this 19 Pisces station being in trine to the North Node at 20 Scorpio there is something about a ‘should’ in relationships which life is calling your attention to.

On the other hand…if the North Node is at 20 Scorpio, that means the South Node is at 20 Taurus. And if the North Node is a trine to Mercury’s station, the South node is a sextile.

 
And lookie there…Sedna’s sitting right there at 22 Taurus. How cute. How quaint! How ‘do I do what I want…or do I WANT to do the thing which will work long term?’

No, not cute at all. Mind pretzel-ing? Maybe. But cute? Probably not. After all, Saturn just went retrograde as the Sun entered Pisces, the tale of which was told in the last three posts. (Yes, life is apparently a celestial soap opera.) The (Sun in Pisces) emotional (Saturn) repercussions or consequences for what we’ve done right or wrong in our lives is still rattling our mental cages.

And caged or not, you can’t say ‘mentality’ in the astro-world without getting into the whole Mercurial soup.

With Mercury going retrograde on Saturday the 23rd at 9:42 in the morning UT/+0 (which will still be Friday night if you happen to be in Hawaii or some equivalent time zone) there is a going into/coming out of station effect to consider…and given our two days before, two days after rule that would take us back to Thursday the 21st (do your own time zone warps, please) and forward to February 25th.

And that Saturn thing? Saturn having gone retrograde late on Monday the 18th (UT/+0) would give it a ‘station window’ which extends to February 20th.

Are you getting where I’m going here? Let’s remember, we’re trying to fit giant celestial things into little man-made boxes. Days…hours…time zones…do we really think the universe gives a twinkie about those things?

What I’m getting at here is that the Saturn Station Effect may very easily overlap the Mercury station effect. Especially since Mercury’s ‘run up’ to its station tends to feel ‘pressured’ anyway (the human race being so very prone to acting like White Rabbits in Alice in Wonderland anyway)…the whole of this week would seem to be a-sloshingly awash in water sign doings.

Sun in Pisces. Saturn going station/retrograde in Scorpio. Mercury going station/retrograde in Pisces.

And on the other side of the Mercury station we’re headed into…just over yandrow there’s a Full Moon in Virgo.

So if you were thinking things were going to get less emotional once you get through the weekend, maybe not. They may change tone, yes. Virgo is, after all, an earth sign.

Some of us will no doubt hit the mental bricks this weekend and figure a few things out. Others among us will do their darndest to dart by problems like tiny fish avoiding predators in a tropical reef. A lot of the who-does-which about this having to do with your natal chart, it’s a pretty likely bet that whose who DO have major water sign placements (including you Cancer types…what, you thought you could sidle off and go eat a coconut?)…the water sign folks are going to be doing the breast stroke or dog paddle or simply hitting an undertow (sorry if that’s the case) before the weekend of the 23rd/24th moves through.

But then comes a week which, staring with that Full Moon moment, is likely to grab all those who hung ten when the surf came in.

(Yes, I’m doing a whole kowabunda recitation here.)

Let me just put it this way…by the end of this week, the Sun, Mercury, Mars and Neptune are all going to be in Pisces with Saturn coagulated in Scorpio. Next week will see Venus join the Pisces party, which means we will then have SIX planets in water and two in retrograde.

Which two? Saturn and Mercury. And by the beginning of March, Mercury will have retrograded back to the point where it’s trining Saturn not just by sign but by orb…then (on March 6-7) by degree.

This is serious stuff – literally. When linked astrologically, Saturn and Mercury equal “focusing on the idea” …or possibly the situation. With both in water signs, the first thing which jumps to mind is Matters Fiscal. For those of who are in business, this is prime time territory for discussions, negotiations and doing whatever it takes to get your business house (or life) in order, lest you get caught with your proverbial flippers down as Mars moves into Aries just before Mercury goes direct.

Remember: where Pisces is concerned, the most important thing is getting on an even and realistic keel with yourself. Your smooth sailing depends on your understanding not just why you’re doing what you’re doing with/in your life, but that you really agree with those ideas right down to your spiritual DNA.

Above all, don’t kid yourself. Don’t play games, don’t put on airs, don’t make excuses…this is the time to get honest with yourself. And yes, maybe others.

But first, think it through. That’s the Mercury Retrograde in Pisces thing to do!
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Mercury's Station and the Retrograde to Follow

 A statue of Mercury perched on the Commerce Bank Building in Bilbao

(photo in public domain)

Mercury’s going retrograde on November 6th at 11:05 in the evening UT/+0 time makes its moment of going into retrograde early evening on the east coast and mid-afternoon on the west coast.

November 6th is, of course, Election Day USA.

So what does it mean for Mercury to be on station and going retrograde on the date of an election?

I’ve done a substantial amount of research on release dates for movies and the subsequent box office take. And when it comes to movies, planetary stations indicate marked effects. All things being equal (Mercury operates not alone in this solar system, after all) the most general thing to report is much ballyhoo and strong initial attendance.

Considering this Mercury station is taking place in Sagittarius, that could indicate all sorts of people coming out to vote, which is a good thing! But also considering this station is in Sagittarius (a sign which with Mercury can indicate overstepping, overstating and sloppiness) this could be a sign of problems or challenges at the polls…added to which there is always the idea that Sag is the sign of legalities.

(Hanging chads, anyone?)

The dates associated with this incoming Mercury retrograde were etched in blogful digital ink a handful of blogs ago (yes, ‘handfuls of blogs’ is a measurement). In case you missed that, here’s the chart:

But that isn’t all the juice. First of all, Mercury is going retrograde at 4 Sagittarius – a degree which besides being square my personal Sun (I protest!) is one of those deceptive degrees which are just fine so long as we aren’t challenged. But when we are – oooh, baby, does that fur fly or what?

(Just for the record, I know protesting won’t do me much good.)

The good news – especially with this degree getting so potently activated on Election Day USA – is that 4 Sagittarius is known in lore as a mental and no physical degree. Much shouting, snarling, yelling may be heard. Opinions – some visceral – may well get voiced. And yes, those short pithy words so favored by the annoyed are likely to be heard.

But even more than that, what this Mercury ‘turn’ on this date at this degree would seem to indicate is a realization, a recognition of what others think and what the world is ‘doing’ (or what it approves of) in spite of what we as individuals may think.

You may love that…you may hate that…and that’s totally your choice, opinion, option and all the rest. But if you want to make the best of this retrograde period…and the time which comes after this retrograde period, you’ll at least heed that which you’re being shown.

That’s all very Sagittarian. Sagittarius can certainly manifest as belligerence and trying to insist on your perspective, belief or point of view. But the purpose of Sagittarius (and the related 9th house) are to highlight that which you have to take into account and deal with if you are going to reach your (10th house/Midheaven) goals.

In everyday life Sagittarius is the testing ground. It’s where we gather samples and statistics. It’s where we take the poll and learn what the majority is for or against. This is the sign about trial runs and seeing if that flag, that idea, that Spruce Goose will fly.

The front section of the Huges H-4 Hercules (popularly known as the 'Spruce Goose') as it sits on exhibition in Long Beach, California with an old vehicle in the foreground helping give a perspective on the airplane's mammoth size.

(photo credit: Triddle)

Sometimes it does fly but you still decide that’s not what you want to invest in. Sometimes you figure out that there are still a few bugs to be ironed out of the process. Sometimes you realize you’re going about the right thing in the wrong way – or the wrong thing in the right way.

Sagittarius is the theory of ‘things foreign’ because it’s the first of the last four signs of the zodiac (the global quadruplicity) and thus about where our world intersects with the world…as conceived of in the Sagittarius polarity of our personal Gemini mentality.

Fortunately for us, this is not the fact, this is the theory. Sagittarius is a fire sign. And Mercury is always the ‘idea’ the ‘mental’ aspect of the doing, the operation, the method, the schedule, the duration of the act-or-effort. So whatever happens now, we have (theoretically) the whole of this Mercury retrograde – until November 26th – to think things through.

Then we need to act with whatever we learn now, or whatever we’ve learned just recently…or whatever we learn during retrograde….in moving forward from there.

That Juno is conjunct Hidalgo with both in exact opposition to Jupiter from 14 Sagittarius to 14 Gemini underscores everything and anything which has to do with ‘minding how you go about things’ – with a particular emphasis on not going overboard.

Or dealing with where you may have already gone overboard. Or where you were thinking to go overboard in the days and weeks which are coming up.

Mercury’s going station/retrograde in square to Chiron and Fomalhaut (in early Pisces) also makes this a time when we don’t want to think about vulnerabilities…but when we should.

Mercury’s retrograding back into Scorpio on November 14th (at 7:43 a.m. UT/+0) indicates an ‘intensifying’ of focus. Whatever is up for consideration now is likely to strike a note of intensity. Or maybe it simply deserves your full attention. With Venus opposing Eris on the 15th (from Libra to Aries), the combined influence may provoke an ‘enough, already!’ reactions as people either opt for fun or rebel against responsibility.

Which yes, are sometimes one and the same thing!

November 17th comes with a Mercury-conjunct-North Node (at 26 Scorpio) need to consider the ramifications of attitudes, actions, choices – and all that. So don’t cut yourself short! Seeing that Mercury backs into 25 Scorpio and there meets up with Sun-conjunct-Tantalus…WITH the 17th being the date that Mars enters Capricorn, temptations abound, and you may have an opportunity to do something dramatic.

An inner channel in Nanedi Valles on Mars

(photo credit: NASA, Jim Secosky)

Before you do it, ask yourself one question: at what cost?

That ramifications (read: karma) may well be affected here is marked by Moon conjunct Pluto. And since when in Capricorn the Moon is also know to be maybe a bit too assertive for its own good, looking before leaping seems a singularly good idea.

That November 18th has the Sun conjunct North Node conjunct Tantalus at 26 Scorpio with an opposition from Algol-conjunct South Node in Taurus…well, let’s just say it’s easier to want what we want than to be fair (with ourselves and others – the Taurus/Scorpio challenge) about the difference between ‘like’ and ‘need.’

As November 19th rolls around, Mercury’s opposing Sedna signals trying moments and choices which originate in some ‘inbred’ instinct and which feel ‘importantly comfortable’… but which maybe we should let go of anyway.

And that’s about it until the Sun moves into Sagittarius, an event which will happen late on November 21st, UT/+0 time. Just before this happens you'll feel an ambient shift, as if energy is moving or gathering. Is something going to happen?

It may: the Sun moving through 29 Scorpio (prior to shifting into Sagittarius) can feel intense... mysterious... even creepy. The combination of Sun-against-Mercury will get you to think, but don't get too distracted. With Mercury still in retrograde, its unlikely that anything which does happen is lasting...and whatever information turns up isn't the last word on the subject.

Then the Sun enters Sagittarius, which you may feel as the need to catch up with yourself, or maybe your schedule. New things are popping up and your challenge is to shift into a mode to deal with or take advantage of opportunities.

Just choose carefully. With Mercury moving into its station on November 24th, having room (at least mental room) to deal with the important thing.

Mercury goes direct on November 26th. The degree of this station is 18 Scorpio – a degree noted for a sort of isolated form of thinking which is prone to jealousy and/or judgment of others. But since, when we think it through, both sides of that coin (jealousy and judgment) are really about the Self feeling vulnerable or invalid at some level, that sense of the ‘other’ isn’t “about” them – it’s about how we wish we had more priority with others. Or how unhappy we are with ourselves that we haven’t done something. Or given something that best shot.

Just just to make this all seem a bit fairy tale-like (or maybe akin to an Aesop’s fable) on the day that Mercury goes direct (November 26th), the Sun (with Tantalus) will be positioned at 4 Sagittarius.

 The slave Aesop serving Two Priests by Francis Barlow (1687)

You know…the degree Mercury went retrograde at to begin with?

For whoever wins the election, this will like as not be about when they settle into what they need to get done – the hard work which happens after any election settles out and all the associated people move on, get named or thanked…all that. For whoever loses the election, this will like as not be when they begin ‘throwing off’ the enormity of the effort passed in getting on with their life.

For the rest of us, this is when hopefully what we really (Tantalus) crave will (Sagittarius as a fire sign) inspire us to (Sagittarius as a process) work through the glitches, letting go of what doesn’t work in getting on with what we really need to do in order to reach our (Midheaven) goals.
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