The Dance of Mercury and Jupiter

Now that Mercury has gone retrograde in Sagittarius she will be dancing closely with Jupiter that has just moved into that sign. Around the time of the winter solstice, they will be in a tight conjunction.

Mercury like Sagittarius and it’s ruler, Jupiter, is all about communications. Indeed, this can be a very chatty holiday season for better or worse. The worse would be everyone digging deep inside to air EVERY single issue they have against EVERY family member from the beginning of their time on Earth! The better would be to inwardly assess both sides of the communications issues with family and friends – yes, including your own errors, and making your mind up to make amends.

Let’s hope we all go for the better and all have a happy Thanksgiving!

 

Mercury in Retrograde in Virgo!

OK all of you Mercury Retrograde lovers this is your chance! The planet has just retrograded in the constellation of Virgo. Now this is an interesting combination. Mercury, of course, is the communicator – the ancient messenger from the gods. Virgo can be quite reticent. Virgo does go for “blab and show.”

What better time to assess words that don’t need to be sent? What better time to check your words before you send them out into the universe? Apply the Virgo precise analysis  to the words you are about to say and see if you will regret them once they are let loose.

Wouldn’t our crazy current world all be better if we watched what we said before we said?

Backdrop design of sacred zodiac symbols signs geometry and designs represent concept of astrology alchemy magic witchcraft and fortune telling

 

 

OK IT IS ALMOST OVER –

I know – I heard it all and it has happened to me. My computer was so bad last Friday that I had to reboot ten times to get it to do anything and to do it all at once. This Mercury retrograde was long and ugly but today – YES TODAY- Mercury stations direct which means she stops her seemingly backward movement. Tomorrow, July 2 she starts heading in the right direction again. Send off the fire works. 

This year has been fraught with distant planet “battles” and we will have another skirmish in July. On July 4, the Sun opposes Pluto and then makes a square to Uranus on the 8th.  This is the tail end of the Grand Cross of April that brought us the Malaysian plane and the Ukraine. June’s squares brought up Iraq again. What will July bring? I don’t know. However, I do not like crosses and squares to all of those change planets around a national holiday. Then again, maybe the disaster was the Hobby Lobby decision. It will only remain a disaster if we don’t remember it on election day, however…the best way to change things is by getting thee to the polls, no?

🙂



The Joy and Healing Possibilities of a Mercury Retrograde.

It takes the Sun 225 million years to revolve around the Milky Way center. Keep that in mind because now I have to tell you that Mercury will retrograde from June 7 to July 2 this year. See now it is not 225 million years in retrograde so no worries! 

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that I hate the doom and gloom energy that surrounds so much of astrological writings these days. Retrograde periods are a good time to go inward and explore that energy in our chart. We have an aversion to slowing down and assessing our talents in this society as we think we need to be always “on point.” We are so “go, do, move, be.” Instead of “think, assess, learn who you are and improve the inner self!” Retrogrades tell us to go within, assess and improve. As much as we moan about them, retrogrades are necessary evils. They are pointers to areas which need improvement in our lives. We have the choice of complaining or doing something about our issues!

With her permission, in fact, it was her idea; I am sharing the chart of Mari McCarthy, the dynamo behind CreateWriteNow, www.createwritenow.com.  Mari’s mantras are Create Your Life Write Now with Mari, and Journaling for the Health of It! She is a no nonsense journaling coach who helps motivated people who want to do to the work to get the most of their lives. She is a teacher who lives the lesson every day and has turned her Mercury retrograde around and now shows others how to do the same.  



Mari was born with her Mercury retrograded in her fifth house, the house of creativity and expressing our inner talents. With the Mercury in reticent Capricorn, an astrologer would immediately say this is a person with self-expression problems, someone who does not want her voice heard or cannot make it heard. That was the beginning of Mari’s story but not her current story. Through intense introspection, hours of journaling work – which she now teaches her client, and sheer courage, she has found the karmic and current life roots of that retrograde and has more than set that Mercury energy on a direct path again.


While as a child, she was afraid to express herself, always allowing others to be her voice Mari is now a fierce advocate for herself. She has literally found her voice – her singing voice – that she never felt had value and she has taken to the recording studio.

She didn’t stop there, however. Mari also has applied her journaling energy beyond “just” finding her voice and now is literally journaling her way back to physical health.  (Notice that Capricorn, ruler of her retrograded Mercury, opens her sixth house of health.) She wouldn’t let the health problems caused by this energy debilitate her and every day she is on a return path to wellness.

Mari has not only reversed her Mercury retrograded action, she has taken her lessons learned and paid them forward to people willing to do the work with her.  It is a classic case of karmic lemons into lemonades.

Mari and I became instant friends, having found each other through our work. One of the things that made me like her so quickly was that she didn’t give off the energy I see so often of “oh I can’t do anything because I have this retrograde here and that retrograde there.” Instead she was glad to see the retrogrades so that she could concentrate her energy on them. She had already been doing so much work on herself and now she said the chart was truly like a road map. Creative music to my ears!

So instead of complaining about the inevitable problems of a Mercury retrograde, use that inward energy to do that inner work necessary to correct your expression issues. While you are at it check out Mari’s website, CreateRIghtNow.com.

February – Retrograded Mercury – The Winter Season of the Planetary Cycle.

 OK I am telling you now and I don’t want to hear the complaints – remember, one, it isn’t my fault and two; there are benefits to a retrograde. Nothing in the universe is all good or all bad – there are gifts in every placement.

 Mercury is going retrograde on February 6 while it is still in Pisces and does not get out until February 28thwhen it is in Aquarius.  Yes, it is the entire freaking month but again I didn’t do it!

Before the freaking out ensues over missed messages, screwed up computers, phones that go wack-a-doodle, travel plans disintegrate, remember there is a benefit to that retrograded or backwards energy.  When Mercury is in retrograde, it is a time that we must slowdown in order to prevent disaster. What is wrong with that?

Mercury in retrograde is a time when we can rethink situations – old habits, old response mechanisms.  In this day of instant communication and immediate responses – what is wrong with a bit of introspection? Use the “backward time” of Mercury to reassess old through patterns and responses to learn where you can improve.

While this may seem counter-intuitive, think of this retrograde period as a great time to restart a stalled project. Is your closet half-organized and half-frightening disaster area? Fix it now.  Do you still have holiday cards from 2012 to complete?  Dive in.



In a society that looks only forward and insists on relentless pushing forward there is really nothing wrong with slowing down and going through some checklists. Think of a retrograde of the winter season of a planet. Winter is a time when we are supposed to hibernate, rest and prepare for the rebirth of spring. We don’t do that anymore. We live in the same speed all of the time – it isn’t healthy.

If you are having a “bad” retrograde period, take a breath and figure out where you are pushing too hard. That is the area you need to reassess – pull back and clean up before you charge ahead later.

NO – Mercury Is Not in Retrograde But……………..

it might feel like it. I have gotten several calls from people complaining about blown circuits and miscommunications and computers getting Biblical on them. The repeated refrain is, “Is Mercury in retrograde again?” Nope. Actually the answer is just the reverse, we have too much Gemini energy roaming around and it is overloading the circuits.

Right now we have Mercury in it’s natural ruler of Gemini as well as Lilith, Jupiter, Venus and, of course, the Sun. That is a lot of quick, verbal energy flying through the air in very close in, personal planets. If ever the adage, “Think before you speak” is beneficial it is now. Slow down, calm down and remember Mercury is fast and will be moving out of most of these signs by the end of June.

Saturn Turned Inward

Saturn is making its slow, deep turn retrograde in Scorpio where it will remain until earlt July. 

This is a perfect time to explore your limitations and fears. Where Saturn is your in chart is where you feel restricted.  A retrograde is already an inward motion – we are to take the energies of that planet and explore and examine their meaning.  With a retrograde in Scorpio – the most intense and inward looking planet – we are getting a double influence of energy demanding that we do some deep exploration.
Where is Saturn in your natal chart? Where is it by progression? Examine those houses and see the issues that you haven’t addressed, where are you over-committed, where have you been unable to say “No, I need that time for me.”  Basically, where do we feel at loose ends in the areas controlled by these houses?

It is easy to blame problems on retrogrades but when we use the energy and the transformative power of a sign as powerful as Scorpio to find what structures you need to build to make your life run more efficiently.

Get Your Ooky Spookey Hats On: A Pisces Stellium

March is Pisces month!!! More than usual, we have a Pisces-Palluza this month. Mercury is part of a Pisces stellium that includes Neptune, Venus, Chiron, the Sun, and Mars! (A stellium is five or more planets in a house or sign or both!) This is a great time to get in touch with your subconscious; to take a ride on the Astral Railroad. This is a great time for healing that taps into the deeper recesses of the mind, to do dream therapy to take that spiritual “risk.”  Healing that uses water is also something to consider now – any type of water rejuvenation vibrates well to Pisces. 

Just don’t get lost in the escapism that Pisces can bring – the procrastination or the feelings of be put upon and “martyred” by someone or something. 

Use this time for the benefits the Pisces can bring which is an amazing awareness of the spiritual realm that is all around us. 

Road to Forever - Arlene Weinstock
“Road to Eternity” Courtesy of Arlenew.com


 

Full Moon Tonight

Tonight, February 25th is the so called “Ice Moon,” the February full moon. Of course, if you live in the D.C. area  you get no snow or ice or winter…but I digress.

A moon is “full” when it is furthest from the Sun. As you can see in the chart below, the Moon is tucked away in the 12th house and all the way across the chart, the Sun is in the 6th. When the Moon escapes the light of the Sun it can shine most brightly over us.

The Moon is in Virgo in the 12th, the house of secrets. Remember too the we are in a state of retrograded Mercury. So please, please watch for communications missteps, words not said or words expressed in anger instead of peace. This is the time to think twice before criticizing and bringing up old hearts and to really, really think before you speak!

Yes Mercury Is Going Retrograde Tomorrow!

and will stay that way until March 17 – so get ready for the communication problems, the cell phone issues.
Also, this is a time to beware of signing contracts. Be sure to leave extra time to get to work and just slow down. Retrogrades are times to go within and examine issues. Mercury issues are communication, learning and exchanging information. How do we do that? Can it be improved. Make the retrograde work for you!