Mercury-North Node at 7 Scorpio

Venus over Otter Lake from Goddard Bay by Darren Baker

A ‘heads up’ in case you care...planet Mercury (that scamp) is going to be exactly conjunct that lunar North Node which none of us seem to take so kindly to as of November 3 at 1:51 in the morning UT/+0 time.

Which would put it just some hours before the eclipse. Sounds like confluence…and yet, I’m never sure whether to be gleefully fascinated or frightened as all get-out when I see one of these harmonic notices scribbled across maps of our heavens.

Leaving that to be what it is, Mercury (which if you remember is in retrograde) will remain in its 7 degrees of Scorpio through the whole of November 3rd (UT/+0) eking backwards into 6 Scorpio at about half-past nine in the evening. (Yes, that means 9:30-ish in the UT/+0 zone.)

The degree 7 Scorpio is a degree of enduring, almost imperceptible motion capable of changing entire landscapes, natural or social. There is a deceptive sheen to all things 7 Scorpio, the most common illustration of which is the astounding task which in the hands of a Master somehow looks so simple that…well! Surely anyone can do that, right?

No.

There is a huge positive and equal negative to this degree – as there are to most things astrological. And yes, there are often four (one per element) degrees which embody various concepts like ‘as much good as bad.’ So 7 Scorpio is just one of those degrees.

Except that it’s the ‘as much good as bad’ as experienced in the water (read: emotion) department.
And this is Scorpio we’re talking about.

The Nodes always represent relationships. So the energetic of November 3rd is greatly about Mercury (communication, information, ideas) as being experienced or thought about in conjunction with relationships. That would be relationships personal, relationships business, relationships philosophical – all of it.

Indeed, this is a busy time – and convoluted or complicated where not exactly busy. But that’s not the heart and soul to Mercury-North Node, and certainly not with Mercury retrograde.

Not to mention all of this happening not just days before an eclipse, but where the eclipse is going to hit. (Within conjunction distance, anyway.)

At its best, this is a revelation – the flowering of some understanding as if by epiphany.

At it’s worst, this is the realization that things just made known are not in your favor.

These effects will be more or less apparent depending on how your chart answers to the degree 7 Scorpio with the essence of this moment being Mercurial: a matter of thought, ideas or about the quality, frequency or context of communication.

With this comes the North Node, the relationship marker which is about what we should do…as opposed to what we might like to do, find comfortable to do, find easy or even personally feasible to do. The premise of the North Node has, no doubt, given rise to many a questing tale where some hero undertakes the job no one else wants to do. Or the job they don’t think can even be done.

And that’s the thing about the North Node which may come to us today in whatever form or format: the North Node asks that we try…despite what others say, despite what we ‘know,’ despite any misgiving we may have.

But when you combine this idea with an eclipse…? The solar eclipse is its own emblem in its own right, and it has an intrinsic meaning. To add a North Node-Mercury conjunction is that is to add a sincere commentary that it is through our relationships and how we relate to our world…the way we see things or communicate / don’t communicate who we are to others or communicate with others or hear what they actually say as opposed to what we want to hear.

Having to hear is one very true Mercury-North Node concept. And yet…when we get to a situation of necessity, that begs us to ask whether this is simply ‘new news’ or whether we’ve been reluctant to hear others…or that niggling little voice inside…or our better sense…in making our changes.

One, this conjunction says, must be worthy of the other. To evolve apart from our world is no better than being a slave to its unfeeling ministrations. If all the many intense Scorpionic tests are imbedded in this conjunction – even just for the day – then the question becomes whether we are willing to understand that people come to us and become part of our lives to enhance that life not through agreeing with us, but by getting us to think and test our own boundaries…particularly those we accept as ‘good enough’ when we know we can do – and be better.

The Mercurial touch here (of course!) is likely to be of the self-revelation type since Mercury is in retrograde. So this is about understanding something beyond all else. Something we learn through interactions. Or about relationships or a particular relationship. This is about what we didn't want to know or see about ourselves.

Retrograde, remember? This Mercury/North Node is not about "them" - it's about each and every one of us and what we experience because we know them, or through direction interaction with them.

Scorpio is, among other things, the zodiacal land of tough love. Under a heavy Scorpio influence, it's hard just 'to love' freely and openly. Scorpio is the sign of passion yes - but it's also the sign of heartache and heartbreak unintended and otherwise.

With Scorpio, there's always something. If you have a planet in Scorpio you know that it represents an area which for you oozes drama. Even when you try to ignore that subject the ignoring becomes an issue.

With Scorpio, something always makes the thing downright complicated. Right people aren't right, right activities don't feel like we imagine they should, the very thing yearned for so often feels unrewarding.

It is ours to listen...and hear through the veil, through the permeable barrier of dimensionality to that place where we instinctively comprehend the very thing which seems so hard and the sense of its existence.

Scorpio is the essence of the medicine tasting bad. And with Scorpio here expressed through what we think of our relationships, our ability to relate and how well we even relate to our thoughts (or whether our thoughts have even the remotest bearing on reality) this is the Scorpio way. Once we get past thinking of the Scorpio thing not as That Which Is To Be Avoided but rather That Which Can Be Learned From (or About), then we make progress.

No, we won't always think those 'Scorpio Things' are 'right.' But whether they're right or wrong, learning about what they are and understanding from that why they work well for us...or maybe even why we continue doing things which don't work but rather alienate us from others is a way forward now. Maybe we don't like someone. Okay - why? Do they remind you of someone you knew and didn't like? Do they embody something you wish you were doing in your own life? And you don't want to deal with the reality of why you would rather do anything rather than go after what you really want because your real goals would ask you to step it up and take on new challenges?

Scorpio is many things to many people. At every level however, the test of Scorpio - here given to us mentally and experiential is meant to evoke an emotional response.

It's through our responses that we will now recognize what relationships really are. And aren't. And what really matters to us, whether or not somebody else approves of it or not. That is Scorpio's mission: through relationship to force us to identify who we are and get us to solidify our hold on ourselves through the process of being in the presence of others...or sometimes, a single Other.

It's not that easy. Scorpio is relating as medicine, a medication of our own making which hits us only in the guts that we know are most sensitive. Here applied through the nodal energetic which moves through our connections, our connective efforts and our connectivity of manifestation, who we are with and who we are to others...through what we are willing to hear or think or ignore, deny or accept...through all of this we will carve a path at its best will embrace us while liberating our insight through heartfelt and quixotic, challenged efforts, all of which force us to care, lest we lose ourselves altogether to some nebulous fear of being who we truly are.

Sometimes we only realize that through things which happen to others. Or what we feel helpless to respond to. 

We respond deeply to the blindness and hurts of those we love.

However we need to be 'gotten to' so that we will (Mercury) think about things we need to think about as part of the greater (solar eclipse) process of changing and being changed by things going on in our world...those are the things which are likely to happen now.

Or be somehow preoccupying your (Mercury) mind.

Or maybe you're thinking about (nodes) relationships more or differently in light of what you've (Mercury) learned about yourself, the way you think or communicate (or don't think or communicate!) with others...or something you've learned about yourself in relationship from someone else. Or from some other relationship.

Mercury/North Node: our relationship to the concepts which work for us in the long run.

Mercury/North Node in Scorpio: our relationship to whatever works for us in the long run either as experienced (and/or) learned through interactions with others.

Considering the solar eclipse...

Mercury/North Node in Scorpio as part of the solar eclipse complex: our emotionally challenging (even difficult) relationship to the concept that 'what works for us in the long run often requires difficult, even painful emotional self-confrontations as we struggle to achieve true autonomy and thus independent security (and a basis for further satisfaction) based on our most authentically individual convictions...in other words, those capable of inspiring support through sheer honesty.'

It may not be achievable, but that would seem to be the theme here.

What can I tell you?
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Mercury-North Node: A Scorpio Confluence

Planet Mercury as photographed by Mariner 10
(photo credit: NASA)

As something of an 'oh, by the way...' as we get our New Moon in Libra, Mercury conjuncts the North Node.

Now, maybe you remember a couple of weeks ago when Saturn did it's Node-conjuncting thing? I mentioned it in passing - the dates being affected were September 11th through September 20th.

And I don't know about you, but that turned out to be one real mind-cruncher of a time for me. And well they might, as the lunar nodes - north and south - represent an 'intersecting' of our lives with life around us.

Physically the nodes are where the Moon's orbit around Earth intersect the path of the Earth around our Sun...as diagrammed here...

...thus, since the Moon is our 'intimate life' - be that either our 'feeling life' or life as an individual as juxtaposed against everybody else in 'this life' (aka on Planet Earth)  - or as a moment in our life against the whole OF our life.

It's a conceptualizing of Moon/Earth cycles against Earth/Sun cycles as an important personal version of the microcosm versus the macrocosm thing.

So when Saturn, the energetics of which create 'earned growth' (aka rewards) and limitations (depending on how we use it) encountered the nodal influence, that was worth noting. And like I say...I had one heck of a week. Much emotional fur did fly and I thought at one point that I was going to burst like an overfilled water balloon being attacked by a porcupine.

It wasn't pretty. But it was very Scorpio and served to advance the 'Scorpio eclipse cause' (one shudders to think) which is all about situations which will dredge out that which affects us most scarily.

With Saturn (being ruler of Capricorn and primary ruler of Aquarius) we would tend to experience these energetics in a worldly place...maybe in business, maybe through our societal connections, maybe through income. And then we had to add in wherever our personal Saturn is - which with me is in Scorpio and the 7th house.

So yes, I had a kerfluffle with someone I feel close to. No, the relationship is not physically intimate, but the emotional connection feels intimate and it was neither of our finest moments. Both parties met up with their Saturnine "OMG!!!" quotients.

Like I say, it wasn't pretty.

At that point in time, Saturn and the North Node were at 8 Scorpio, a degree which evokes both our intelligence and our blind spots - which given human nature, can cause problems.

(Ahem. Point made?)

This time, Mercury is the...uh..."activating factor." (Is that a nice enough way to put it?) Mercury in Scorpio can be the heart and soul of penetrating insight. Then again, it can be the urge to penetrate somebody (or something) without concern for the niceties of getting permission.

This may work well for psychics, intuits and empaths, but let's face it, the reality of this reference is all about the fact that our (nodal) relationships...or our (nodal) relationship to the world could be in for some slow burn time. There's likely to be a lot of 'headaches' of the emotional and entangled kind. Anywhere or everywhere where we either ARE mixed up with others or where we SHOULD be mixed in with others (physically, mentally, emotionally, financially, etceterally...) is the venue.

And noooooo, it's not "them." The situation which arises may ask (in true Scorpio style) that you interact with them, or that you absent yourself from them (which is a reverse-quotient form of interacting) but the one thing we cannot do is assume that this is just about us.

It isn't. There may be some temptation to think of your life as some mental desert island, but that would be a Scorpionic mistake. No matter what we'd like to think, Scorpio is never just 'about' us. What it is, however, is about OUR ability to tolerate and deal with interactive dynamics (particularly those which foster emotionalism or emotional reactions).

All our vulnerabilities arise when prodded with a Scorpio stick. (Or stinger, take your pick.)

Given that this is Mercury we're talking about here - the venue is thought-choice-communication. With the North Node in play, it's what you should do on the HUMAN level, not what you "should do" on a societal level. We often get these things turned around, but since Scorpio falls before (societal) Aquarius in zodiacal order, it's pretty plain that the quality of person we ARE contributes to the building of the society which provides for us and everybody else.

To neglect dealing with our Scorpio issues, therefore, is to bring a 'lesser evolved' version of ourselves to the societal party - or to relationships or our job or whatever else - and thus to diminish the quality of everything.

Oh yes...one other thing to think about here: the less we are able to grapple with our Scorpio 'stuff,' the greater the likelihood that we will associate with other people who are incapable of dealing with their Scorpio 'stuff.'

Like attracts (and likes) like, remember? And thus - say in a workplace - the insensitive boss who is incapable of connecting with others hires the insecure employee and try as they may, the whole of the company structure (and its product) slowly decays.

Decay is, after all, a Scorpio word. 

At it's best, this is a day when you could really have a great 'clearing of the air' with yourself or somebody else. You could establish - or rewrite some 'rules of the road' in your life or for what you will or won't accept in any kind of human(e) relationship - business or personal, platonic or intimate. Errors can now be mended and feelings rekindled into passion IF (you knew there was an 'if,' right?) ...if and ONLY if we are willing and able to be honest.

Starting with ourselves, that is...but that has to be transferred out there at least for contemplation. And that's where the Scorpio Factor comes in. As I have said before and will no doubt say many times again, Scorpio tends to manifest as situations which daunt us and scare us and provoke much anxiety (and from there, trouble and problems of every kind) not necessarily because of what somebody else is going to do or not do. No, the real issue with Scorpio is how we feel about ourselves, and whether our self worth and self respect and sense of satisfaction and inner security is able to risk being known. Or whether we can risk having someone disagree with us.

There are those among us who are addicted to agreement. The whole idea of someone not agreeing with them gives them hives. This is not about having a preference - this is about needing others to 'be like me' or think the way that we do.

That's a sign of Scorpio problems. Scorpio is all about brokering agreements with everybody and anybody based on learning who they are and finding common ground (if there is any) and if not, figuring out what everybody can work with.

The successful harnessing of Scorpio requires give and take - which is why its negative aspects include control, possessiveness and jealousy.

On the Beach -- Two Are Company, Three Are None

(woodcut by Winslow Homer, published in Harper's Weekly, August 17, 1872)

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HOWEVER...even there, it's all a matter of who we deal with. As pointed out in a conversation I had with a friend rather recently (or at least quasi-recently) there are ways to exert control and have it be entirely well received.

You just have to pick your areas of control and find somebody who doesn't want to control 'that.' Successful marriages are built on this sort of thing and it's why the old saying 'opposites attract' has some real and substantial merit.

This comes more into focus as we think through what Mercury in Scorpio is all about - which at it's base is inherently about the ability to negotiate.

This is just a one day transit, but it's worth trying out if you're in need. It's also a day when communications are likely to stick with you, and when important pieces of mail (or email) may show up.

The degree of this conjunction is 7 Scorpio, a degree which is all about learning how and where to be vulnerable in order to explain one's rationale of position. 7 Scorpio is thought of as a mysteriously powerful degree, though people who have it active in their natal chart will like as not be quick to explain it's not a bed of thorn-less roses.

The secret here is to look beyond the obvious, the norm and the externals to the true nature of gift, of potential and of quality. And with the North Node in this degree for the whole of October...AND the whole of November...AND half of December...evidently we all need to do the North Node thing and do what we should - not necessarily what is easy.

The timing of all this - not to mention how it involves the North Node brings up our current eclipse season. Considering this is happening in Scorpio, the November solar eclipse (at 11 Scorpio) is the likely metaphysical reference, implying that as part of our 'eclipsing' of our old self, the considering of relationship factors and the nature of our relationships...maybe even our success with relationships...is part of this process.

And that makes sense, when we think about Scorpio. We cannot have a truly meaningful relationship with anyone without some risk. Without being willing to invest something and through that investing, be vulnerable to our own sense of whether we're secure with our Self.

That Saturn is sitting at 10 Scorpio (in conjunction with this meetup) asks that we own our emotions and acknowledge them, but mind them as well.

But as we say all that, let's be aware of what the North Node is - or rather, is like. The North Node is like riding a bike up a very big mountain (think Everest) and nobody likes their North Node work. Unfortunately for us, this is the metaphysical equivalent of eating your veggies before you get dessert...and don't go into any of that 'I don't like broccoli' hoo-hah, because the universe doesn't care.

The North Node is the heart and soul of maturing in our own eyes. Through taking on the tasks described by your North Node, you empower yourself...and lore tells us that only to the degree that we invest in that empowering do we allow ourselves the true and fullest measure of meaningful success.

So, maybe you want to think about it?

Or talk about it?

This is a date which in particular focuses on relationships. Relationships new, old and in particular, phases of relating which - in particular - call upon us to find the courage to be honest - and vulnerable - with our Self.

I know I talked some about this the other day. But it's so important - and so likely to get pushed aside because of how hard it is to do and the many other things which are of concern at the moment that it bears remembering.

And yes, discussing. So maybe if I discuss this with you, you'll discuss it with yourself - and with whomever else really matters.

That's the crux of the thing: how we relate to relating.
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Mercury into Capricorn: A Big To-Do About Doing?

 

 The Grand Cross described as Mercury enters

Capricorn on January 13, 2011 at 11:26 (am) UT/+0

What with Capricorn being the traditional sign of commerce, government and durable success, to have Mercury entering Capricorn in year’s early days sounds pretty good. After all, the Mercurial quality of ‘activity and communication’ is a plus in negotiation, commercial transacting and the sort of focused efforts which go a long way towards producing accomplishment...right? 

Absolutely right.

So to have Mercury entering Capricorn on January 13th at 11:26am (UT/+0) is a definite positive.

Right?

Well, yes. But....there is the fact that with the North Node sitting right there at 1 Capricorn there’s a whole lot of discussion, transacting and effort needed. There's a lot which needs doing. There's a lot which is in progress and which needs to be considered in terms of the facts involved.

Maybe more to the point, because nobody (read: NOBODY) likes doing North Node things, all this is a problem. And this isn't about people not knowing what needs doing or how to do it. They simply don't want to.

So there are the things we don't want to do on our lists,  those things we don't want to need to do on our individual and joint lists. And there are things we don't want to know how to deal with on those lists.

Hear the implied note of reluctance warming up here? Or maybe that's just plain stubbornness.

Whatever it is, the astrological figure describing this moment of Mercury moving into the worldly world of Capricorn doings is a rather grand Grand Square: Mercury/North Node facing off against Betelgeuse (ease) conjunct the South Node (what I like to do)…which right away brings in a petulant tracery of I’ll do this because I CAN. Or because I WANT do to THIS...but not THAT. 

Whether all same comes with the ‘nah-nah, nah, nah-nah’ and sticking out of the tongue...? Well, that's just decoration here. Sort of emotional buttercream frosting of the most childish short - the childishness being brought in courtesy of Cancer. Cancer always calls out old habits and in particular, childish habits. Or sometimes just those time honored 'this is the way we've always done it and by gum, that's good enough for me' sort of thing.

Ever notice how people are all for modernization and updating until it isn't their favorite subject or going "their way"? That would be very Mercury/North Node versus Cancer South Node.

 ESO's Very Large Telescope photograph of astrology's fixed

star Betelgeuse, a supergiant red star which is so big that if it was

at the center of our solar system it would probably fill the whole of

our local space out to the orbit of Jupiter. That's big! (photo credit: 2009)

It's also perhaps to consider that this moment is also brought to you by a background framework courtesy of  fixed star Betelgeuse. Betelgeuse being all about an 'ease of doing,' when combined with the 'what I know how to do (don't strain my brain!)' South Node suggests that this  moment and Mercury's several weeks of moving through Capricorn will be filled with one situation after another built on themes which mentally (Mercury) ask us what's worth changing?

And as that happens, we will not want to focus on it. And never mind that, but the idea of biting any bullets personal (Cancer), professional (Capricorn), national (Cancer) or governmental/rule of law-ish (Capricorn)...though it may in (Capricorn) reality be needed, it sure isn't (Cancer) appealing!

Looked at from the other side, these weeks ahead may also become big ones for the nay-sayers and pronouncers of doom. You know, everyone from the nothing good ever gets done, so abandon all hope and grab what you can while you can types to those announcing the end of the world.

You'd think humans would be tired of that 'end of the world' stuff...it's been going on for literally thousands of years. It there had been ancient newspapers, ancient members of ancient populaces would have been reported as announcing the end of the world on a regular basis.

It's just what people do. Why? Heck if I know - it's probably some sort of instinctive acknowledgment of our mortality. And we all do know that when things are bad, there's nothing like company in one's misery, right?

Seriously...even optimistically, we can expect to hear a lot of about 'a need to take care' and 'let's not make a bad thing worse.' There's going to be a whole boatload of reluctant to do what it takes to fix problems at the core.

Why? Because that's not fun. That's not sexy. That's not exciting. That's not even comfortable. And if there’s anything people want to hold onto in difficult times, it’s whatever sense of personal comfort (ease) they still feel they have at their beck and call.

Not to be outdone (or maybe underdone) here, this Mercury-Node-fixed star dynamic is being challenged by Athena/Lust-Uranus-Jupiter-Scheat in late Pisces facing off against Juno/Makemake in Virgo – with Makemake in retrograde.

In the Pisces quadrant, we have one background piece: fixed star Scheat, a star notorious for symbolizing “public disapproval”. So there’s just a lot of that going around – probably rather in the mold of the famous Groucho Marx lyric from the movie Horse Feathers which has Groucho proudly announcing ‘If you’re for it, I’m against it! If you’ve commenced it, I’m against it!’ 

 The poster for Paramount Pictures' 

1932 film 'Horse Feathers'

This is the background of the mass emotional consciousness (Scheat in Pisces) of this moment which is being set off by the presence of Uranus (change) and Jupiter (knowledge/understanding).

People want change. But they don’t want to deal with change. They particularly don’t want to deal with the dispassionate focus it would take to understand what kind of change would work (and why it would work) and all they’d have to learn, agree to and deal with personally as a part of change (Athena/Lust).

Opposite this Pisces grouping (the 600 pound gorilla in the room) we have Juno/Makemake: the need and desire for strong guidance. Given Makemake’s current state of retrograde we know means a willingness to stand for, learn about and master that which will work (and not just what sounds good). And that starts with us. We need to prescribe and take our own heavy duty prescription as people who in the end, are all part of a system. The haves and have not's die just as dead when it comes right down to it. The yearning for the 'good times' is not just about our good times.

Those who want what feels good and requires little to no effort of the putting-my-own-nose-out-of-joint type - they should be the first to fix the big picture. It's not 'what was' or what 'should have been' it's what is and what can be. But that can't just be for one: Capricorn is Pluto's sign of residence for some time to come - and if you think this is tough to deal with, just wait until Neptune hits Pisces!

 

  

And we all know what fun Neptune can be, right? 

Meanwhile, it doesn't do any good to think in terms of 'glory days’ or any other form of idea. That was a theme, an ideal - and with some, an addiction - drummed up while Pluto was in Sagittarius. It was good for the time. Wherever Pluto is, we get a big dose of that dynamic. So with Pluto in Sagittarius were were inspired to try new things. To push back limits. To be inspired by Sagittarius' incredible power to envision, aim for the stars and to deal with everything which stands in your way!

But then Pluto moved into Capricorn, land of reality. From heated inspirational ideals into the land of reality - the shift felt cold. For many, reality hit with a thud.

Yet in the long run, there's nothing wrong with reality. It's just what is. It's reality you can build on.

It's just that bridge which is a bit of a bitch, yes. And as Mercury moves from the hyper-imagery of Sagittarius into the more clarified actualities of Capricorn, some will feel the effect is chilling. Or hard (as in "hard reality). But it is to remember - you can only build for the long run with facts and in reality. That's the Capricorn plus - it's intrinsic strength and power.

Plainly the more we resist reality, the deeper and danker the problem gets. But that just causes us to resist and dig ourselves in, searching for that upwelling seep…that last vestige of ease and comfort we were so SURE was going to last.

Pisces: idealism vs. illusion. Fantasy vs. inspiration - the emotional as a positive when it's shared...or at least not simply or always about you and only you. Pisces indicates a collective.That can be a small collective (I and thou) or a family or a community or a class of people or a gender – whatever. But when we turn any Piscean concept into a personal thing, Pisces becomes an addiction, a confinement, an addiction to a limiting confinement or something of that ilk.

So there are all the negatives. But there are a ton of positives here if we’re willing to work for it. IF we’re willing to do our part to be the person who gets the right reaction considering the greater (Piscean) circumstance.

Mercury in Capricorn can be a time of great advances; Capricorn is a cardinal sign all about responding to the times and doing what needs doing. But we have to be willing to show some hard core conviction, some ‘take no prisoners’ sort of determination. We have to do what needs doing simply because its there to take on and the prospect of doing nothing is worse than dealing with the heck of a slog involved in tackling the beast.

And that beast isn't some 'thing' ranged against us. It's our own reluctance to face ourselves, our preferences, our egos.

 'January' by Leandro Bassandro (c. 1595)

For those still on the fence, this Grand Square (the configuration described here) describes a set of choices which feels difficult, but which can be dealt with simply by aiming for what needs doing. The temptations are weakness and unwillingness against strong arguments about what will or won’t work. Those arguments may occur around you or in everyday life or, particularly as Saturn goes retrograde later this month, be something you need to deal with within your own psyche.

No matter which way the debate goes and who poses it, the most difficult thing to overcome and the easiest thing to do is to hand off personal power because (for whatever reason) you ‘can’t be bothered.’ That may be to take the time, or to become acquainted with the problem. There are dozens of reasons we could come up with.

The point here is that given this particular configuration, the power you give away – like as not – will end up in the hands of those who won’t care. They won’t care about you or any ‘cause.’ They won’t care about anyone but themselves. Your disinterest or disgust or ignorance or lack of ambition, that’s what those who don’t care about your welfare feed on.

Polly want a cracker? Polly want to be a cracker?

Mercury will be in Capricorn until early February, moving into Aquarius as Venus – which is currently in Sagittarius – moves on into Capricorn. For those who dig in now, February will become a time of capitalizing on today's efforts.

For those who don’t dig in or who prefer doing what they’re used to, what’s easy and all the rest…for them, February becomes a time of being told ‘how things are going to be’ by those you have surrendered power to right now and going forward.

Mercury enters Capricon

 Francois Rude - Mercury

Have you been feeling scattered? Too busy to bear? Have things and people been appearing from out of left field and disappearing into nothingness without rhyme or reason?

Well, I hope you enjoyed it, because that was Mercury in Sagittarius! And as of December 1 at 12 minutes past midnight (UT/+0), Mercury abandons fiery Sagittarius for earthy Capricorn, ushering in a couple of cooling weeks of focus, clear cut needs and getting things done.

But only a couple of weeks, mind you - Mercury is going retrograde come December 10th. And considering that, we are all on notice that as the calendar page turns, Mercury is going into 'slow-down' mode.

That makes for an odd combination. Mercury moving from fast-paced (even hasty) Sagittarian mode into the cool, calm (sometimes even icy) and collected 'what's the fact here?' Capricorn style of operating is in itself one heck of a deceleration. It's not precisely a matter of  pace...it's one of style and perspective.

Sagittarius is unbounded. Sagittarius sees few limits except for those its sees as mandatory (i.e., necessary even when annoying) guidelines. Sagittarius embodies the exploring vibe. The experimental vibe. Sometimes the over-the-limit vibe.

(Just what we need right before the holidays, right? Not!)

Against this, Capricorn is all about structure. Capricorn is the very manifestation of accomplishment. Under Capricorn there is less allowance for experimentation and a greater need/demand that what gets done produces concrete (earthy, earthly and quality) results.

In the natural round of the zodiac, both signs are worldly and public; they're about being in and of the world. But they're in different quadrants: Sagittarius is on the right side of the horoscope wheel and therefore about responding to what happens. Capricorn is on the left side of the wheel and thus endemically about pro-active choices and making things happen.

Holding that aside for a moment - and though it seems seems a little counter-intuitive - in the week prior to Mercury retrograde, typically things feel 'urgent.' It's as though we're reluctant or unable to deal with the very idea that matters are about to shift from situational (direct motion) to internal and contemplative (retrograde motion). So don't be surprised to be feeling like you just HAVE TO get things done. Or if others keep spouting such at you.

For science fans, a moment on 'is this reasonable?' Answer: yes. (I know...did you think I would say no?) But the concept is pretty plain when we think (you, know, employ the Mercury component?) on what retrogrades actually are.

Pure and simple, retrogrades of any planet are about a period of time when that planet is on the other side of the Sun from Earth. Thinking of it as thus being 'out of sight,' it's not a huge, giant leap to say precepts associated with such a planet (or whatever waves of geomagnetism or spatial distortion said planet generates by existing and moving through space)...that the direct line of effects which are generated (and symbolized) by that planet are for the period of retrograde, 'interrupted.'

There's no direct (external) line. But the planet still exists. It's precepts are still aspects of our life. So where do we find them? On the inside.

Got it? Good!

And oh (by the way) this also explains why the Sun and Moon never go retrograde. The Moon is never going to be on the 'other' side of the Sun from Earth...and the Sun can't get behind itself. Might happen in some other universe...but not this one!

So...in moving into Capricorn, Mercury is still in a public/visible area of the zodiac, but it has left its receptive-reactive-responsive mode and moved into a means of expression which is more prone towards initiation. And thus, so follows our patters of thought, communication and daily operation.

Sagittarius being part of the interactive zodiac quadrant and Capricorn being part of the worldly zodiac quadrant puts yet another wrinkle on all issues. Where in the past few months a lot of discussions have been about what things (people, rules, situations) do for/to me (you, us, everyone)....NOW the order of mentality is going be more about levels of worldly/public functionality and how the need is to change that in order to create effective change

The difference is greatly scope. The third quadrant is more local than the 4th quadrant: think 'group' versus 'globals.'

Into all of which comes that retrograde thing. Whether people are into astrology or not, you may well have noticed a level of distraction going around during the latter weeks of November. People were into getting things 'sorted out' while Mercury was in Sagittarius but now, with Mercury moving into Capricorn, it's going to be a 'what is all of this about REALLY...?' sort of thing.

Mercury in Capricorn doesn't want to hear the talk. Mercury in Capricorn is not even about being happy with the walk. Mercury in Capricorn seeks results. And not just any results, but results which actually work.

Thus we come to the rub (or at least one of them) as Mercury in Capricorn tends to go very distinctly in one of two ways: maximally traditional...brand new and made functional with an eye to quality. The impulse is the same - it comes from the Capricorn desire for 'whatever' to last a really, really, really long time. Those who fight for tradition are wanting to extend what has lasted while those who are looking for today's quality thing want it to last going forward.

Optimally, something lasts the test of time and is in essence, eternal. Unfortunately, that isn't - and can't always be the case. And in this struggle to do the right thing versus the quality thing versus the thing which is going to last and support/mesh with what else (and who else!) we deal with in life - that's where the 'Saturn behind the Capricorn' meets.

From Earth, the planet farthest away that we can see is Saturn. It thus defines the edge and end and extent of our efforts, our reach, and our aspirations. Thus it is our capacity and our goals...and all the reaching, straining, trying, working, investing in ourselves or knowledge or whatever else we have to do to get where we want to go. It's the precept that for what you earn, so you are rewarded. And how if you don't earn (try, structure, mind your time, deal with responsibilities) you end up limited precisely to the degree you haven't tried, earned, minded the rules, been responsible with your time, structured your efforts...and so on.

Capricorn times often center on structure (structuring) and a deep, inherent sense of time itself. As such, Mercury in Capricorn is a time which can fill us with a sense of what we can do...or fears of having to do without. Capricorn entities (government, judicial justice, commerce) often aim to make us think in terms of these ideas in order to get us to take on responsibility.

And yes, they also sometimes threaten us with everything from what will happen if we "don't" do something - a tactic used as often by commercial sectors who want us to think we absolutely "need" things to governments who threaten citizens with what might happen if they dare think a different way or don't support some government effort, etc.

Because Mercury is already beginning to slow down as it enters Capricorn, the sense of urgency and need to get things done is intense. With Mercury in conjunction with North Node going in, there's an added and really marked sense of 'it's expected' or 'this is something I need to get done' which may leave you struggling against a sense of sluggishness which is hard to define and virtually impossible to escape.

This Mercury/North Node conjunction will be in effect until December 19th, describing the heart of 2010's 'holiday season' as one which suggests that pacing  activities and being sensible all along the line is the very best way to go.

Of course...after December 19th, then we get into the 'hot zone' of this season's eclipses. But first things first! That's a Capricorn mantra and thus a good mindset to be mindful of.

Good Mercurial times to us all!