Mercury retrograde in Taurus

Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio

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Bottle by Kati Horna

Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio

The first week of May marks a turning in the seasons as the Sun reaches fifteen degrees of Taurus, placing the Sun midway between the Aries equinox and the Cancer solstice. In the northern hemisphere the corresponding blossoms of Spring herald the transition toward Summer and the seasonal festival of Beltane. Just like Beltane is a pivotal point in the year, so will the Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio on 5 May signify leaving one phase of life behind for another. Though the Lunar Eclipse at 14º58’ Scorpio is penumbral and so will not result in the face of the Moon turning blood red, shadows will nonetheless obscure the light of the Scorpio Moon. With the watery nature of the eclipse accentuated by Mars, Saturn, and Neptune also occupying water signs, emotional purging may be necessary as unsettling emotions and memories emerge to be released and washed away.

The shadowy cloaking of the Moon’s light in the watery depth of Scorpio will have a dissolving effect upon the places where we have held onto fixed perspectives that have perpetuated problems. Since the Moon will be eclipsed on the side of the South Node while being overcome by shadows emitted from the Sun on the side of the North Node, the inner processes of disintegration and decomposition passing through can ultimately lead to the arising of regenerated forms of growth that can become sources of support and stability in the season ahead. Yet the penetrating absorption of the Scorpio Moon may soak up toxic, painful, or confusing feelings that will need to be dissolved as part of the process. James Hillman in Alchemical Psychology wrote that it is our “weeping, bleeding, sweating, urinating” that brings our alchemical Salt “out of its underground mines. It appears in our moistures, which are the flow of salt to the surface . . . Moments of dissolution are not mere collapses; they release a sense of personal human value from the encrustations of habit.”

The eclipsed Moon in Scorpio will be separating from a square with Pluto in Aquarius, a trine with Saturn in Pisces and an opposition with Mercury retrograde in Taurus while applying toward an opposition with Uranus in Taurus and flowing trine aspects with Mars in Cancer and Neptune in Pisces. The opposition between the Lunar Eclipse with Mercury retrograde and Uranus in Taurus is chaotic and could involve sudden plot twists to negotiate. Yet the tension with Uranus also means that some of the dredged-up material could lead to valuable insight and creative breakthroughs that dislodge us from stagnant and stuck patterns in need of letting go. Some of us may need extra time for rest and recovery, while others may need to engage in vigorous activity to help move the energy; one way or another we will need to have remedies and coping strategies ready in case we must attend to anxieties or disruptions to our nervous systems.

The nodes of the Moon are intersections between the ecliptic (the apparent path of the Sun that forms the zodiac belt) with the arc of the Moon’s orbit. The nodes of the Moon indicate the places where eclipses happen whenever a New Moon or Full Moon forms in close proximity, but they also mark dynamic points of change in lunar orbit. When the Moon passes through her own south node, it means she has descended from northern latitude to cross the ecliptic en route to traveling as far south as possible within her orbit. The descent of the Moon’s orbit during the eclipse is further mirrored by the Moon occupying her fall in Scorpio where she is brought into low lying places of subterranean depth. The Moon in her fall of Scorpio feels things intensely, necessitating a descent into buried, previously hidden material. Remarkably, the wayward path of Mercury retrograde will also be taking the star of Hermes from north to south across the ecliptic in the days surrounding the eclipse. Altogether there is clear symbolism of descent into inner depths where we will encounter material in need of releasing, emptying, detoxifying, purging, or decomposing.

Personjae by Remedios Varo

The Scorpio Lunar Eclipse is the final eclipse to occur in the sign of Scorpio within the series of eclipses that have been forming dynamic tension with Uranus in Taurus since 2021. Each eclipse has occurred in either the same sign as Uranus or the opposite sign, increasing the volatile nature of Uranus within collective and personal events. The first eclipse to occur in the same sign as Uranus was the Taurus Lunar Eclipse in November 2021, followed by a Taurus Solar Eclipse in April 2022, a Scorpio Lunar Eclipse in May 2022, a Scorpio Solar Eclipse in October 2022, and a Taurus Lunar Eclipse in November 2022. Whereas the Taurus Lunar Eclipse on 8 November 2022 formed a close conjunction with Uranus, the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse will be forming a close opposition with Uranus. The years since 2020 have coincided with accelerated collective changes, with the Uranus eclipse series amplifying disruptions to old orders of security and stability. Following the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse, there will be one final Lunar Eclipse in Taurus on 28 October 2023 and so the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse will initiate us into the final installment of the story. The personal changes that have erupted in correspondence with these eclipses have been disorienting and exhausting for many, yet in keeping with the nature of Uranus they have also unlocked new sources of creative vitality and direction. As collective systems and structures continue to shape-shift, be curious about your own metamorphosis and explore the ways in which new pathways and opportunities are opening up.

The Scorpio Moon will be eclipsed in the inwardly directed, watery home of Mars while the Moon will be applying toward a flowing trine aspect with Mars. There is mutual reception between the eclipse and the red planet, as the Moon is in the domicile of Mars and Mars is in the domicile of the Moon. Combined with the Moon and Mars additionally forming trine aspects with Neptune in Pisces, there will be a watery triangle formed between the eclipse, Mars, and Neptune. Mars in Cancer can be both creative and protective, yet prone to emotional overwhelm that can make its aggressive expression unhinged and erratic. With the ruler of Mars becoming eclipsed, it will be important to calm nerves and refrain from escalating stress and conflict as much as possible. The influence of Neptune can allow imagination to run wild, which can be positive when focalized on creative expression. However, the distortions of Neptune can make us imagine present dynamics in ways that needlessly magnify difficulties or inaccurately project our own issues upon others. It can be an opportune time for noticing the ways in which your own internal issues are being projected outward through your relationships.

Mars is applying toward a collaborative sextile aspect with Ceres retrograde in Virgo at the same time that Ceres is stationing direct. Ceres will station direct one day after the eclipse while forming a sextile with Mars and a tense opposition with Neptune in Pisces. Ceres stationing at the same time as the eclipse amplifies the presence of Ceres and her multivalent meaning. Issues of food, food shortages, labor strikes and unrest are all topics we can expect to continue surfacing in the news. Due to stationing, Ceres will not form her final opposition with Neptune until 10 June 2023, and so an extended period of Ceres and Neptune holding a tension that could amplify themes of illusion and idealism will follow the eclipse. Ceres in her Greek form of Demeter brought both agriculture as well as the Mysteries to humanity, and so themes of underworld descent and inner revelation will also be amplified by the stationing of Ceres.

Mars applying to sextile Ceres could coincide with actions taken to protect or advocate on behalf of people suffering from food or economic crises as well as issues over mothers, children, land and labor. On personal levels, we can also imagine how Mars passing through a sextile with Ceres can be likened to an initiation of Mars by the Goddess. Ceres in her retrograde journey often brings up issues of grief and trauma and how they intersect with our attachment issues within relationship. Ceres stationed retrograde on 3 February 2023 in Libra while forming an opposition with Jupiter in Aries, and so it’s worth considering where the torch of Ceres has guided you through your own internal darkness since then. Ceres stationing indicates a shift of forward momentum is on the way, yet during the eclipse Ceres will be more in a place of recovery and collecting herself to begin moving forward again in the week ahead. Whatever inner wisdom and awareness of past wounding that Ceres has gathered can be passed along to inform the journey of Mars.

Naruto Whirlpool, Awa Province by Utagawa Hiroshige (ca. 1853)

Venus in Gemini will be separating from a disorienting square aspect with Neptune in Pisces during the eclipse, having formed the exact square with Neptune on the day before the eclipse. The tension between Venus and Neptune can boost imaginal exploration and creative expression in some ways, but can also distort issues in ways that amplify the confusing obscuration of the eclipse. There may be realizations that bring about difficult feelings of disillusionment, yet the dissolving nature of the eclipse can be helpful in washing away false projections in order to realign with the deeper truth of circumstances. Venus will enter the watery sign of Cancer a few days after the eclipse on 7 May, offering a period of increased opportunities for sweetness and pleasure within relationship.

Since the eclipse is forming a watery triangle with Neptune in Pisces and Mars in Cancer, its worth considering the larger scope of how the eclipse is situated within the trajectory of Saturn and Neptune in Pisces drawing closer to one another in the years ahead. We are only at the beginning of acclimating to Saturn and Neptune sharing the waters of Pisces, yet numerous collective events that have occurred since Saturn entered Pisces indicate ways in which their shared influence is already being felt. Saturn is not at home in water signs, and the excessive coldness of Saturn is increased by the cold, internal nature of water in ways that can lead into states of depression and emotional overwhelm. Yet at the same time, the dryness of Saturn is tempered by the moistness of Pisces in ways that can accentuate creativity and the synthesis of ideas, influences, and inspiration together. However, since the dryness of Saturn that helps establish restrictions and limits is also being lessened, we will need to make sure we are tending to our own containment and maintaining the necessary boundaries and limits in our lives.

Marsilio Ficino wrote that the reason Saturn excels at discovering and retaining things is that it pulls us down to the center of individual subjects, from the external to the internal, from the circumference to the center; yet while forcing investigations to the center of individual subjects, at the same time Saturn leads us to contemplate the highest realm, because Saturn is the highest planet. As the nocturnal, inwardly directed moistness of Saturn will pull us down into imaginative depths, we will need to be careful to not sink too low into the melancholia of a downward spiral that makes it difficult to stay afloat. The contraction and consolidation of Saturn within the imaginal water of Pisces will call for preservation of our dreams and ideals while we navigate the dissolving and disillusioning influence of Neptune occupying the same sign. Some cherished ideals of the past may need to be washed away, yet underneath the waves new vibrant visions will also be discovered.

In many ways we can associate the extended period of Saturn and Neptune in Pisces with the solutio alchemical phase, with the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse and Mars in Cancer accelerating and deepening our initiation into their dissolution. The solutio phase involves the dissolution of solid, differentiated matter into its original undifferentiated state, known as the prima materia. One of the reasons water is associated with spiritual regeneration is due to the alchemical concept that substances cannot be transformed until reduced to prima materia. Old forms of security and stability will be dissolving, yet within the stirring of Saturn in Pisces new forms will also begin coagulating and emerging with time and attention. As we are only at the beginning of adjusting to Saturn and Neptune it can feel especially confusing, but the more we can begin adjusting now the better we will be able to flow with the tides of change they will be bringing in the years ahead.

Ritual by Norman Lewis

Mercury will continue to slowly move backwards in retrograde motion during the week following the eclipse, ultimately stationing direct on 15 May. Make intentional effort to be mindful in the days surrounding Mercury’s stationing, as Mercury’s return to visibility in the sky before dawn will correspond with meaningful messages arising into awareness. The second half of May hosts astrological transits that can activate significant developments and new opportunities, and so utilizing the final period of Mercury retrograde for adjusting routines and personal structures will help prepare for an influx of growth. Mercury will station direct while forming harmonious sextile aspects with Venus in Cancer and Saturn in Pisces, initiating a period of forward momentum that will support dynamic creativity combined with focused, practical application.

The most significant astrological event of May occurs the day after Mercury stations direct, when Jupiter enters Taurus on 16 May. Jupiter has quickly moved through Aries after entering the fiery home of Mars on 20 December 2022, following an additional stint from 11 May to 28 October 2022. While Jupiter in Aries supported accelerated growth and courageous risk taking, the pace of Jupiter will considerably slow down within the fertile, earthy terrain of Taurus. Jupiter in Taurus patiently tends to long-term goals that will foster increased stability and security over time. Jupiter in Taurus loves being surrounded by beauty and favors the tangible and sensual over ungrounded ideas. With both Mercury and Jupiter visible as morning stars heralding sunrise each day in Taurus, it will be an ideal time to construct a garden to contain and nurture the fruits and flowers of your imagination.

6 of Cups by Pamela Colman Smith

Scorpio 2 Decan

The Scorpio Moon will become eclipsed in the second decan of Scorpio associated with the Six of Cups card illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. The image reveals the virtuous innocence of receiving through giving, which connects with the Sun and Jupiter being the rulers of the second face of Scorpio. With the Moon becoming eclipsed within the second decan of Scorpio, on one hand it will be important to tend and contain inner processes to avoid adversely impacting  relationships with our own emotional purging and purification. On the other hand, we may need to reach out for support or be willing to offer our support and presence to relationships in need of care and nurturance. T. Susan Chang in 36 Secrets brilliantly broadened the scope of the personal relationship within the Six of Cups to the “alchemy of sacrifice” between generations and lineages. Chang wrote that “each of us shall pass, but our lineage shall live forever . . . the only prize is the love we bear for one another from one generation to the next.” As the eclipse within the second decan of Scorpio is occurring during a period of accelerated collective change, be mindful of the larger implications of personal choices and the importance of making caring decisions and nurturing actions that keep the livelihoods of future generations in  mind. 

Austin Coppock in 36 Faces ascribed the image of “An Apparatus for Mutual Distillation” to the second decan of Scorpio, describing it as a face in which mutual distillation within relationship allows for matters to be passed back and forth as in an alembic, “growing increasingly rarefied and potent.” Coppock wrote that while “it is easy to imagine these dynamics between romantic partners, all relationships which rely on trust and continuous exchange generate such circuits.” Coppock’s description of ideal relational exchanges rooted in trust also brings to mind the antithesis of broken trust and toxic relational dynamics that can also be found in the second decan of Scorpio. Indeed, Coppock warned that we need to be careful to whom we bare ourselves to, because the “virtuous circuit of exchange can become vicious in this face . . . the process of dual cultivation becomes one of mutual degradation, each destroying the quality of the other with each pass.” Coppock noted that “fixity of relationship is a key characteristic of this decan,” as the second decan of Scorpio “concentrates and fixes the passions generally” and establishes “fixed relationships with people, places, and areas of study.” An eclipse in the second decan of Scorpio may bring disruption to previously fixated dynamics, but by working through the deeper issues at play the necessary renegotiation and renewal will result.

The Hellenistic text 36 Airs ascribed the Titaness Leto to the second decan of Scorpio. Sister to the starry, divinatory goddess Asteria and mother to the twin lights of Artemis and Apollo, Leto’s presence in the decan where shadows will obscure the light of the Moon reveals the need to protectively nurture whatever we wish to bring into the world. Leto had to flee and take refuge on an isolated island unattached to the ocean floor in order to escape the wrath of Hera, who had made all lands exclude Leto from entry due to her anger over the affair between Leto and Zeus.  It was said that the twin offspring of Leto would stabilize the new order of Olympian deities, and so her persistence in nurturing the birth of Apollo and Artemis additionally supported the birth of a new collective age. In this time of great global shifts and collective thresholds, Leto is a fitting symbol for taking the necessary steps to give birth to the world you wish yourself and the generations to follow to inhabit.

In contrast, twelfth century astrologer Ibn Ezra in The Beginning of Wisdom wrote that within the second face of Scorpio there “ascends a woman who has left her house; she is naked and has nothing on and she is entering the sea.” Perhaps this image is most fitting of all for the powerful purging, purification, and dissolution present in the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse. Although the image presents a solitary human figure, she is also immersed in deep relationship with the potent regeneration of the Sea. As the power found in the second face of Scorpio involves distillation and cultivation from intimate exchanges, the mutual support of relationship will be the vessel to tend and drink from in the coming weeks. Though the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse may dredge up difficult material to process and release, the deep cleansing that may ultimately result can help in drawing us closer within mutually supportive dynamics and enduring bonds of support.

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References

Chang, T. Susan. (2021). 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. Anima Mundi Press.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.

Hillman, James. (2014). Alchemical Psychology. Spring publications.

Solar Eclipse in Aries

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Multitudes by Norman Lewis
Audio recording of Aries Solar Eclipse article

Solar Eclipse in Aries

“You, darkness, of whom I am born– / I love you more than the flame / that limits the world / to the circle it illuminates / and excludes all the rest.

But the dark embraces everything: / shapes and shadows, creatures and me, / people, nations–just as they are.

It lets me imagine / a great presence stirring beside me.

I believe in the night.

The Night by Rainer Maria Rilke

Anyone who has been in the presence of a total solar eclipse knows the strange, otherworldly experience of the bright light of day becoming consumed by the darkness of night. In an instant everything changes. The blackness of night suddenly overcoming the light of day evokes an eerie threshold, with a palpable sense of liminality felt in the moment. In astrology, eclipses involve the symbolism of thresholds in which endings occur in some storylines while new beginnings burst forth from others. The Aries Solar Eclipse on April 19 or 20, depending upon your time zone, will coincide with a swiftly shifting, accelerated pace of change that could feel overwhelming. Yet by creating space for slowing down when possible and mindfully attuning to the interplay between internal and external change, we may align our trajectory with the propulsive currents so that we may discover new sources of inspiration and creative directions to develop in the weeks following the eclipse. As the Aries Solar Eclipse will be followed by a Scorpio Lunar Eclipse on 5 May, in order to fully embrace a new direction we will need to come to terms with what needs to be shed and released from the past.

The lunar nodes demarcate eclipses whenever a new moon or full moon conjoins them, as the nodes are the intersection between the apparent path of the Sun with the orbital arc of the Moon. As the word node comes from the Latin nodus or “knot,” there is a symbolism of unravelling that comes with eclipses. Within current events we can witness how knots that bind together aspects of society unravel while we also can feel how the knots binding together our inner multiplicity into different forms of identity also become loosened to enable a reweaving of presence. The unraveling of associated feelings can be difficult, yet the process can help dislodge us from places we have been stuck while making us aware of vital feelings that have been repressed or ignored. We may also realize how we have been projecting our fears in ways that have kept us tied up in a limiting pattern from the past, while gaining clarified awareness of vibrant new directions to pursue.

There are multiple ways in which the Aries Solar Eclipse can usher in a potent season of new beginnings. Since the eclipse is aligned with the North Node of the Moon it signifies new forms and desires gestating within us that can feel simultaneously inspiring and confusing. The Aries Solar Eclipse is also at the final degree of Aries, emphasizing the importance of new directions and intentions that coincided with the previous New Moon on 21 March that took place at the first degree of Aries. The emphasis on the full range of the fiery, cardinal sign of Aries is the reason we can expect a rush of quickly changing events to coincide with the eclipse. As the Solar Eclipse is also the first eclipse in a series of eclipses that will be taking place in Aries and Libra in the next two years, we have additional symbolism re-emphasizing the likelihood of important new directions emerging within the rush of events. A balance will need to be struck between making sure we are not rushing too quickly ahead while also making sure we are not overly cautious to the point that we refuse the call of an important path. It will be important to discern what you are consuming and make the necessary time and space to digest and integrate the elements that will bring nourishment and foster the growth you wish to pursue.

Due to the solar eclipse taking place at the final degree of Aries, the Moon will be separating from a conjunction with Jupiter in Aries while applying toward a close square aspect with Pluto in Aquarius. The Sun will be eclipsed within its exaltation of Aries, at the same time the Sun will be preparing to exit from its exalted status to enter Taurus, a zodiacal sign that offers no special status to the Sun. As a result, we can expect stories of people with exalted status within society having a fall from the heights of fortune, fame, authority, or power. More importantly, we can also consider how certain dreams, visions, or ideals that we have exalted in the past no longer carry the same luster for us. The catalyzing square between the eclipse with Pluto means we will need to pay attention to places where we are holding on too tightly to past attachments, ideals, or identities that need to be laid to rest. Rather than resisting the regeneration of Pluto, be curious about however you are feeling you need to shed past identities or goals or make significant alterations to previous plans and ambitions. Pluto has only been in Aquarius since 23 March and is only at the beginning of a twenty year journey through the sign of the Water Pourer. The Aries Solar Eclipse will bring crucial lessons in how we have been adjusting to the tectonic restructuring brought by Pluto entering a new sign.

The eclipse forming a square with Pluto has a strong connection with the origin eclipse in the Saros cycle family that the Aries Solar Eclipse belongs to. Eclipses come in families known as the Saros cycle, with the origin eclipse of each family beginning at either the south or north pole and then tracing a serpentine path around our world every eighteen or so years, moving ahead eleven degrees of celestial longitude each time. The origin eclipse of the Aries Solar Eclipse’s family took place on 3 October 1103 and formed an opposition with Pluto. Due to the opposition with Pluto as well as that the origin eclipse was at the midpoint of Venus and Mars, Bernadette Brady in Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark described this series as “a very sensual family of eclipses, ranging from sudden sexual passions and lust to birth and procreative drives.” Fitting for an eclipse series connected with Pluto, Brady wrote that this eclipse family “is not subtle, and can catch people off guard and confront them with their own very deep passion which may have been hidden for many years.” Brady’s analysis of the eclipse family themes that stem from the origin eclipse resonates with the ways in which the clash between the Aries Solar Eclipse and Pluto can uproot buried desires.

Eye of the Storm by Norman Lewis

Although the Solar Eclipse is the first to take place in the signs of Aries and Libra, the transiting lunar nodes are in Taurus and Scorpio where they will remain for another three moths. As a result, during 2023 we will have a transitional year in which we will experience the first two solar eclipses occurring in Aries and Libra while we also experience the final two lunar eclipses occurring in Scorpio and Taurus. Thus while new stories associated with Aries and Libra will be beginning this year, we will simultaneously need to be resolving storylines associated with the eclipses in Taurus and Scorpio that began toward the end of 2021 when there was a Lunar Eclipse in Taurus on 19 November 2021. In between the Aries Solar Eclipse on 20 April and the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse on 5 May we will need to address emerging issues with the realization that some elements will need to be resolved or released as part of a larger process that will also be bringing us into closer relationship with inspiring new directions.

Overseeing this transitional year of eclipses will be the volcanic intensity of Pluto, as Pluto will be in range of a square aspect with the transiting lunar nodes during all four eclipses whether they take place in Aries, Taurus, Libra, or Scorpio. Ever since Pluto entered Aquarius on 23 March the tension of Pluto forming a square aspect with the lunar nodes has been in effect. However, the Sun becoming eclipsed while forming a square aspect with Pluto will pull us more deeply into the dynamic. Pluto is at the southern bending of the lunar nodes, a place of unconscious depth befitting the nature of Pluto. Though the eclipse will amplify desires for growth and new directions we can associate with the North Node of the Moon, Pluto will nonetheless demand engagement with the solutio dissolution of the South Node of the Moon in Scorpio. There may be a need to grieve what has to be released and let go in order to move more fully into the pathway opening up ahead. We may notice as old attachments and identities dissolve within the dark waters of Scorpio, a more authentic presence will begin to coagulate into clearer form as we experience a disintegration of the places where we had become fixated or stuck. Whatever the case, Pluto will be calling us to attend to our emotions and whatever emotional process we need to traverse before rushing ahead too quickly.

Pluto will continue to be a major influence over the forthcoming eclipse season due to stationing retrograde on 1 May while being in close orb of a square aspect with the lunar nodes. After Pluto stations retrograde, both Pluto and the lunar nodes will continue to move slowly retrograde together so that they will continue to remain in range of a square aspect for the rest of 2023. Pluto will not form an exact square to the “mean” calculation of the lunar nodes until 3 August 2023 and an exact square to the “true” calculation of the lunar nodes until 22 July 2023, and so whatever process we can notice is brewing between Pluto and the nodes will continue to develop with increasing intensity in the months ahead. As Pluto will be stationing retrograde in the first degree of Aquarius where the grand conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn took place at the end of 2020, Pluto will be drawing our attention to the places where we have been giving away too much of our power and the places we need to take our power back. Pluto can ultimately guide us through a process of developing a more secure sense of empowerment in navigating through the various collective crises that will continue to morph and mutate in the months ahead.

It’s further worth noting that the Solar Eclipse at 29º50’ Aries is opposite the degree where Venus formed her superior conjunction with the Sun last 22 October 2022 at 29º26’ Libra. The Libra conjunction between Venus and the Sun was groundbreaking, as it was the first to occur in Libra since 1879 and initiated a new era of solar conjunctions for Venus in Libra that will occur over the course of the next century. Consider the seeds of new desires and creative directions that were planted at that time, and how the current phase of Venus shining bright as an Evening Star is illuminating your present relationship and manifestation of those desires. Even if you must deal with difficult events associated with the Aries Solar Eclipse, pay attention to how your experiences are bringing you into deeper contact with what needs to be changed or altered within your relationships and creative expression to make your essential creative desires a reality.

Rhythmical (1930) by Paul Klee

The Aries Solar Eclipse is ruled by Mars in Cancer, placing the red planet in the watery home of the Moon at the same time the Moon is eclipsing the Sun. Mars in Cancer possesses extremes of creative expression yet the extremity of its emotional expression can become particularly unbalanced when under the influence of a potent eclipse. Fortunately, Mars in Cancer is not engaged in any difficult aspects during the eclipse and instead is in the middle of harmonious and dynamically creative aspects with Uranus and Mercury in Taurus. The creative sextile aspect between Mars with Uranus can fuel and motivate our drive for pursuing the inspiring creative directions that emerge from the blackness of the eclipse.

As previously mentioned, since North Node eclipses as well as eclipses taking place in the cardinal, fire sign of Aries indicate a surge of activity accelerating in speed, we can expect to have to navigate fast moving events in the wake of the eclipse. Yet Mercury will be bringing key messages, omens, and signs indicating ways in which we will need to slow down and apply focused mindfulness to our experience. Mercury will station retrograde at 15º37’ Taurus a day after the eclipse on 21 April while also remaining in orb of a harmonious sextile aspect with Mars in Cancer that will become exact on 23 April. The three weeks of Mercury’s retrograde that begin on 21 April can be utilised for breaking habits that are inefficient or holding you back from moving to a new level of development. Notice where you have blindly followed structures and rules that are no longer in your best interest, and find ways to reorganise and implement more effective routines. Since Mercury will station retrograde in close proximity with Uranus in Taurus at the same time that the Taurus Moon will be moving in between them, we may receive visions and messages of liberated paths to pursue at the same time we deepen awareness for what needs to be changed in order to gain greater freedom in pursuing our most essential creative desires.

Greater clarity may be gained when Mercury forms a conjunction with the sun on 1 May, while Pluto in Aquarius intensifies by stationing retrograde. Listen for messages in dreams and synchronicities that Mercury will be providing, which can help in seeding ideas to develop in the months ahead. In the three weeks following the Aries Solar Eclipse, Mercury will move backwards through Taurus in retrograde motion until stationing direct at 5º50’ Taurus on 14 May 2023. Mercury will ultimately station direct at the same time that Jupiter in Aries will activate the eclipse by reaching 29º50’ Aries on 15 May 2023. Events connected with the eclipse that will be continuing to develop will have a close affinity and relationship with the forthcoming period of Mercury retrograde in Taurus, and there will likely be significant developments occurring once Mercury stations direct at the same time Jupiter activates the eclipse degree. The more we deepen into relationship with the process Mercury retrograde wants to guide us through, the more effectively we will be able to take advantage of the opportunities that can come in mid May once Mercury stations direct and Jupiter activates the eclipse degree.

4 of Wands by Pamela Colman Smith

Aries 3 Decan

The Sun will be eclipsed by the Moon in the final degree of the third decan of Aries, associated with the Four of Wands tarot arcanum illustrated above by Pamela Colman Smith. It’s not clear who the figures in the center of the image are, if they are performers being celebrated or celebrants participating in communal festivities. What is clear is the lovingly decorated garland filled with vivacious blossoms and the combined symbolism of a bridge and large castle in the background: the figures are in a centering and protective place from which to express their creativity and charisma. T Susan Chang in her book 36 Secrets described the Four of Wands as a “temporary refuge” and “safe haven” similar to Rivendell in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a moment to take comfort and refuge from whatever ordeals you have been enduring. Although Aries is the domicile of contentious and combative Mars, the third decan of Aries is ruled by Venus and Jupiter, the two traditional planets most associated with fertile growth, sources of abundant pleasure, and creative vision. 

While Venus is not naturally comfortable in Aries, she is capable of manifesting success and achievement in the third face of Aries despite it being an environment suited for the fiery assertiveness of Mars and the radiant grandeur of the Sun. Austin Coppock in his book 36 Faces ascribed the image of “The Burning Rose” to the third face of Aries, attributing to it “the power of art to overcome hostility,” and “the power of the spirit to unify and seduce, to motivate and to bond those of confluent passions.” Coppock further noted this decan requires “the martial heat of the battlefield,” as it is the battle-ready ferocity of Aries turned toward artistic performance and charismatic presentation that gives this decan its power “to create a commonality of spirit even in the most hostile conditions.” Yet Coppock also pointed out that the bonds formed within this face require its burning intensity to endure, whereas less intense passions are needed within longterm relationships. Thus it’s a face of “peak experiences” and “inspiring unions amidst life’s greatest struggles,” a place where “bonds are forged and spirits raised,” a decan which “grants the charisma to motivate and attract.”

With a potent eclipse extinguishing the light of the Sun in the third decan of Aries, we may need to explore the dark underbelly of our ambitious dreams of creative success and achievement. Henrich Cornelius Agrippa in Three Books of Occult Philosophy wrote that within the third face of Aries “rises the figure of a white man, pale, red hair, and dressed in red, with one hand wearing a gold bracelet and holding forth a staff. His likeness is as if [he is] restless and angry, because he cannot perform the good he wishes. This image confers talent, tameness, joy, and beauty.” When having to contend with overwhelming events associated with the eclipse, we may feel our own version of the restless anger of the figure not being able to enact his wishes. Though the eclipse may inspire grand visions of future opportunity, we will need to remain patient and accepting of our current circumstances as part of working toward our desired outcome.

In contrast, the image for the third decan of Aries found in the Hellenistic text Liber Hermetis wears a gold crown with glistening emeralds decorating her belly. She is full of magic and her staff has the heads of four serpents facing a polarity of directions. Her garments of dark rose are lined with golden strings and she seems to possess grace rather than the fury over constraints described by Agrippa. Her image suggests a figure of inner knowing who is in contact with the Eros of desires gestating within her, while remaining centered and grounded within the present state of her circumstances. The mythic figure of Eros is resonant with the third decan of Aries, as the Hellenistic text 36 Airs ascribed Eros to this decan. Indeed, the capacity of Eros to arouse passions into creations that inspire collective forces lies at the heart of the decan’s meaning.

While some spiritual lineages place Eros as a primordial, hermaphroditic deity at the dawn of Creation, later traditions made Eros into the cunning son of Aphrodite who constantly stirred up the troubles brought forth by lust in both mortals and gods with his bow and arrows. Whether you must contend with the troublesome shadow side of Eros or the more productively generative side, the darkness of the Aries Solar Eclipse will invite deeper relationship and intimacy with the many sides and colors of the deep Eros found within your inner psyche. May you be delighted by what you discover.

If you enjoy my writing please consider supporting my work through a monthly subscription on my Patreon page. Take a look to see the benefits and learning opportunities you will receive as a patron! 

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References

Agrippa, Heinrich Cornelius. (2021). Three Occult Books of Philosophy. Translated by Eric Purdue. Inner Traditions.

Brady, Bernadette. (1998). Predictive Astrology: The Eagle and the Lark. Weiser Books.

Chang, T. Susan. (2021). 36 Secrets: A Decanic Journey through the Minor Arcana of the Tarot. Anima Mundi Press.

Coppock, Austin. (2014). 36 Faces: The History, Astrology and Magic of the Decans. Three Hands Press.

Mercury Retrograde in 2023

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Sarrah Christensen invited me to speak on her One Sage’s Podcast to speak about the meaning of the Mercury retrograde periods in 2023 occurring in earth signs. We talked about the meaning of Mercury and the synodic cycle of Mercury in general, including the meaning of Mercury taking on the role of a psychopomp when retrograde. There is also a lot of focus on the Mercury retrograde period in Taurus in April and May 2023 as well as the retrograde periods of Mercury in 2023 being in earth signs.

Mercury recently reached maximum elongation as an evening star on 11 April and so is slowing down in preparation of stationing retrograde on 21 April. Now is a great time to attune with Hermes and notice what aspects of your life you would like to change, reconfigure and release as we approach the upcoming retrograde period. Mercury will station close to Uranus in Taurus in between eclipses, and so this will be a particularly potent Mercury retrograde. This is a great podcast episode to listen to in order to prepare.

Mercury Retrograde in Gemini & Taurus

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Gold ring with Hermes (late 4th century B.C.)

Mercury Retrograde in Gemini

To tell the beauty would decrease, / To state the Spell demean, / There is a syllableless sea / Of which it is the sign.

My will endeavors for its word / And fails, but entertains / A rapture as of legacies- / Of introspective mines.

Emily Dickinson

Ever ready and restless, slippery and sinuous, Hermes is usually imagined as constantly on the move in between places and thoughts, making the necessary connection at the same time his sleight of hand trickiness takes something away. Yet when the star of Hermes stations retrograde, the stillness of Mercury magnifies mindfulness more so than movement and activates wordless revelation rather than wordiness. Synchronicities, signs, and omens take center stage when Mercury stations retrograde, as the pause in the fleet footed messenger’s movement typically delivers vital messages to guide our entrance into a liminal portal of time that can bring about major revisions in storylines. As Mercury will station retrograde in Gemini in between eclipses that activate the radical tension between Uranus and Saturn, the intensification of Mercury’s presence will facilitate attuning to how to most effectively flow and adapt to the life changes emerging from an especially potent eclipse season.

Mercury will station retrograde on May 10, embarking upon a three-week journey in which the star of Hermes will backtrack from 4°52’ Gemini until stationing direct at 26°05’ Taurus on June 3. As Mercury retraces the zodiacal terrain from twenty-six degrees of Taurus to five degrees of Gemini, personal material in need of deeper engagement will become excavated, bringing opportunities for insight that can catalyze significant growth and foster breaking out of stuck patterns. As part of the process, however, we may need to return to longstanding issues in need of release, reworking, or reintegration. After passing through a phase of putrefaction and purification that will be especially intense leading up to Mercury’s union with the Sun on May 21, we may experience renewal on the other side as Mercury returns to forward motion in the beginning of June. Mercury first crossed 26°05’ Taurus on April 26 and will not move beyond 4°52’ Gemini until June 18, creating almost two months of mercurial focus in this range of your natal chart. 

When Mercury stations retrograde he descends from view as an Evening Star following sunset into an invisible phase during which he takes on an underworld role of psychopomp, dredging up whatever issues need our attention. Mercury’s stationing always demarcates an important shift in storylines, however this time it will be taking place during a time period especially ripe for groundbreaking change due to Jupiter entering Aries on the same day that Mercury stations retrograde. Jupiter’s entrance into Aries on May 10 means that the star of Zeus will no longer be inhabiting his nocturnal, watery home of Pisces where he can sink deeply into imaginative, boundless vision. The borderline between Pisces and Aries is perhaps the most catalytic in the tropical zodiac, due to zero degrees of Aries demarcating the intersection between the celestial equator of our planet with the ecliptic. It’s a point of dramatic change and material manifestation, and so with Jupiter entering the first degree of Aries we can expect the changes that have been building in the background to take form as we also experience a speeding up of events.

Fortunately, Mercury is stationing retrograde in one of the most potent sections of the zodiac for the star of Hermes. Within the first five degrees of Gemini, Mercury possesses four out of the five essential dignities for planets: domicile, triplicity, bounds, and decanic dignity. The quicksilver connectedness of Mercury stationing here is ideal for carefully minding the ingress of Jupiter into Aries, surveying the scene for all of the signs and synchronicities mixing and intermingling in surrounding landscapes. Mercury retrograde in Gemini holds vast potential for turning over every facet of the experiences emerging, looking at events from every angle possible, polishing thoughts through rumination and careful contemplation. As Jupiter’s entrance into Aries kindles the fire needed to take a propulsive leap forward, Mercury will tease and probe with a mindful presence ready to peer under the surface of appearances and flexibly facilitate the necessary mutations and shifts.

Mercury (ca. 1538) by Andrea Schiavone

In Between

“Give, and it shall be given unto you / is still the truth about life. / But giving life is not so easy. / It doesn’t mean handing it out to just some mean fool, or / letting the living dead eat you up. / It means kindling the life-quality where it was not, / even if it’s only in the whiteness of a washed pocket-handkerchief.”

from “We Are Transmitters-” by D.H. Lawrence

After Mercury stations retrograde on May 10, the star of Hermes will slowly shift into backwards motion while applying toward an invigorating sextile aspect with Jupiter in Aries that will become exact on May 19. While the collaborative sextile aspect between Mercury and Jupiter can facilitate harmonious growth, it will be taking shape during an extremely volatile astrological period. In between the stationing of Mercury and its exact sextile with Jupiter there will be a total Lunar Eclipse in Scorpio on May 15 that will be forming an intensifying square aspect with Saturn in Aquarius. As the previous Solar Eclipse in Taurus was conjoining Uranus, the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse catalyzing Saturn means that this particular pair of eclipses hold immense potential for unleashing pivotal turning points in storylines that change everything. As a result, the building sextile between Mercury and Jupiter can help guide awareness to release what needs releasing and reorder what needs reordering as we undergo a period of accelerated chaotic change within collective and personal events.

Notably, Mercury will be entering its most intense phase of putrefaction and regeneration as the Moon turns blood red during the Scorpio eclipse. As Mercury gets closer and closer to its purifying conjunction with the Sun on May 21, the increasing proximity between Mercury and the Sun will amplify the capacity of Mercury to burn off aspects of personal patterns that need to be let go so that we can find our way to a more vibrant and renewed presence on the other side of the Mercury retrograde period. Mercury can help in attending to whatever issues become stirred up by the eclipses so that we can better understand how to situate ourselves within whatever life changes we are experiencing. Although the symptoms of larger changes taking shape may feel intensely disruptive, Mercury retrograde in Gemini can help unearth and understand the information found within the symptoms that increase awareness for the inner parts and issues of ourselves that need our attention so that we may more fluidly adapt to the external shifts occurring.

It’s further significant that Mercury will ultimately station direct on June 3 while forming a square aspect with Saturn in Aquarius as well as an opposition to the degree of the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse. As a result, whatever issues of personal boundaries emerge with the activation of Saturn by the eclipse will be especially important to pay attention to, as Mercury will ultimately bring us back into an intense encounter with Saturn at the end of its retrograde. Mercury’s retrograde journey has the potential to help us regenerate boundaries within our personal relationships so that they maintain a healthy protectiveness while also remaining capable of flexibly shifting as needed. However, since Mars will be applying toward a conjunction with Neptune in Pisces during the eclipse, we may need to pass through a phase of amorphous fluidity in which personal boundaries and structures mutate before coming into more solid form once Mercury ends its retrograde journey in the earthy, fixed sign of Taurus.

In between the Scorpio Lunar Eclipse on May 15 and the purifying conjunction between the Sun and Mercury on May 21, Mercury will be empowered to help us empty and let go of whatever needs to be released so that we have more space available for an influx of new developments and growth instigated by Uranus, the Sun, and the North Node of the Moon being together in Taurus. At the same time that Mercury will form its harmonious sextile aspect with Jupiter in Aries on May 19, there will also be a conjunction between Mars and Neptune in Pisces on May 17 and a flowing trine between the Sun in Taurus with Pluto in Capricorn on May 19. Altogether these aspects can help us work with the powerful mental facility available with Mercury retrograde in Gemini so that we may find the thread to follow through the volatile changes occurring that will lead us to a more authentic and inspiring path moving forward. While some elements of life may need to be sacrificed as part of the process, the active connectivity of Mercury in Gemini will be a great aid in bridging between the known and the unknown.

Pleiades (1885) by Elihu Vedder

Son of the Seven Sisters

Not knowing when the dawn will come / I open every door; / Or has it feathers like a bird, / Or billows like a shore?

“Dawn” by Emily Dickinson

Mercury will be reanimated by uniting with the Sun on May 21. The reseeding of Mercury in solar light occurs as Mercury aligns in between the Earth and Sun by zodiacal degree, as close to us in orbit as possible for Mercury within its cycle. Known as the inferior conjunction of Mercury, it’s a moment of clarifying rebirth that can enhance realization and seed new ideas for the Mercury cycle ahead in which it will transition into becoming a visible Morning Star. While Mercury is within one degree of conjunction with the Sun, even more so within sixteen arc minutes of its solar conjunction, there can be empowerment for tasks associated with Mercury since it is enthroned upon the solar chariot. Older astrological texts named this moment of Mercury’s rebirth cazimi, or being in the heart of the Sun. It’s the cyclical moment when Mercury enters what Demetra George has named the “sanctum sanctorum,” or “the innermost holy chamber of the mystery initiations” found within “the protected space at the heart of the Sun.”

Mercury will enter the heart of the Sun at 00°43’ Gemini near the projected zodiacal degree of Alcyone, the brightest star within the Pleiades star cluster. In the birth story of Hermes told in the Homeric hymn, Mercury is the child of Zeus and Maia, one of the seven sisters of the Pleiades: “Maia, the modest daughter of Atlas, bore [Hermes] after joining in love with Zeus. The company of the blessed gods she shunned, and she dwelled in a shadowy cave where the son of Kronos used to lie with the fair-tressed Nymph in the dark of night . . . and neither immortals nor mortal men knew of it.” The secrecy of the affair between Maia and Zeus that gave birth to Hermes reflects the mysterious secrecy of Mercury during its reanimation by the Sun. It’s important to make space to sift through thoughts and feelings and allow the deeper meaning of insights to emerge in unexpected directions. Mercury becoming reborn in such a powerful place for the star of Hermes has enormous potential for reseeding ideas and visions we will be able to carry forward with our work and presence long into the future. The Pleiades influencing Mercury can open portals of perception into insights formerly hidden from awareness, insights we may continue to clarify until Mercury eventually returns to visibility as a Morning Star in the beginning of June.

There are several supportive astrological aspects surrounding the inferior conjunction of Mercury that portend positive growth and integration eventually emerging from whatever internal process we engage with. Mercury’s conjunction with the Sun is forming a harmonious sextile aspect with Jupiter in Aries, while at the same time Venus in Aries is forming a sextile with Saturn in Aquarius and Mars in Pisces is forming a sextile with Pluto in Capricorn. While Jupiter and Venus together in Aries can inspire leaps of desires and accelerating toward goals and dreams, the intensification of Mercury retrograde in Gemini reveals that a deepening into full presence is required in order to comprehend the larger implications of our present growth process, seeing through appearances into the heart of the matter.

And Then We Saw the Daughter of the Minotaur by Leonora Carrington,

Mercury Stationing in Taurus

And again my inmost life rushes louder, / as if it moved now between steeper banks. / Objects become ever more related to me, / and all pictures ever more perused. / I feel myself more trusting in the nameless: / with my senses, as with birds, I reach / into the windy heavens from the oak, / and into the small ponds’ broken-off day / my feeling sinks, as if it stood on fishes.

“Progress” by Rainer Maria Rilke, translated by Edward Snow

Mercury will move backwards into Taurus on May 22. A day later on May 23 there will be an exact sextile aspect between Mercury retrograde in Taurus with Mars at the final degree of Pisces, just before Mars enters Aries on May 24. Simultaneously, the Gemini Sun will be in an exact sextile aspect with Jupiter in Aries. Altogether, especially due to the ingress of Mars into Aries on May 24, the return of Mercury into Taurus will take place within an astrological climate otherwise indicating a speeding up of events and acceleration of storylines. Mercury’s time in Taurus is thus fascinating due to the sign of Taurus slowing down the tempo of Taurus on top of the fact that Mercury will be literally slowing down in speed in order to station direct in stillness on June 3.

Mercury’s movement into Taurus is further important due to Mercury no longer being sovereign in his own domicile of Gemini and instead occupying the home of Venus. Venus will initially be in Aries and passing through a supportive sextile aspect with Saturn in Aquarius when Mercury enters her earthy domicile of Taurus, creating an opportunity to perceive what lesson that Saturn has in store for Mercury as Mercury heads into a catalyzing square aspect with Saturn. Less than a week later on May 28, Venus will join Mercury in her home of Taurus and as a result will be able to supply her full arsenal of pleasurable, creative, and artistic resources for Mercury to engage with. Mercury’s movement through Taurus will slow down the pace of mental pursuits and focus minds on more practical and tangible concerns, such as how to reorganize and restructure whatever material and relational concerns have been undergoing a metamorphosis. Making the process incredibly deep will be the presence of Pluto, as Mercury will form a flowing trine aspects with Pluto in Capricorn on May 25 (the trine between Mercury retrograde with Pluto is the second of a three part sequence: the first was on April 28 when Mercury was direct and the third will be on June 10 after Mercury shifts back into direct motion).

The week after Mercury backtracks into Taurus will bring a major shift in movement: on May 29 there will be a conjunction between Jupiter and Mars in Aries one day before there is a New Moon in Gemini on May 30. The Gemini New Moon will announce the stationing of Mercury, as the star of Hermes will be barely moving during the lunation and saturating the astrological atmosphere with his presence due to simultaneously returning to visibility as a Morning Star during his heliacal rise at dawn. A few days later Mercury will station direct on June 3 at 26°05’ Taurus while forming a square aspect with Saturn in Aquarius and in range of an imaginative sextile aspect with Neptune in Pisces. Moreover, Saturn will also be stationing retrograde at 25°15’ Aquarius on June 4. Thus the end of May and beginning of June is a time for making it real and bringing into form whatever changes have been brewing as both Mercury and Saturn take on an amplified presence at the same time they will be catalyzing changes through their square aspect. Saturn will bring its penetrating gaze to bear upon whatever work and plans that Mercury has been developing. Knowing this ahead of time, be prepared to face and pass the tests and challenges you can expect Saturn to bring. It’s a powerful moment for bringing the unmanifest into manifestation and initiating the work needed to build a strong foundation of support for future growth.

A week after Mercury stations direct the star of Hermes will still be in the sign of the Bull at the same time a liberating conjunction will take place between Venus and Uranus in Taurus on June 11. Since Mercury will still be in the domicile of Venus and beginning to pick up speed during this time, the union of Venus with Uranus will accelerate developments with dynamic power that may feel volatile while also full of emancipatory propulsion. There will be a lot of empowerment for growth available to utilize due to Mercury simultaneously passing through his final flowing trine aspect with Pluto on June 10. As a result, we can expect the stationing direct of Mercury and shift into forward momentum to unleash major currents of change once Mercury begins to pick up speed and begins to distance himself from the presence of Saturn.

Silver ring with Hermes (late 5th Century BC)

Gemini Returning

Mercury will return to his airy home of Gemini on June 13, a day before the Full Moon in Sagittarius on June 14. Mercury will then reach maximum elongation as a Morning Star on June 16 at the third degree of Gemini a couple of days after the Sagittarius Full Moon, a few degrees away from where he formed his inferior conjunction on May 21. The maximum elongation of Mercury demarcates another threshold to cross, as it initiates us into the phase of Mercury speeding up as well as accelerating our capacity for integrating the many inner changes that took shape during the retrograde. Gary Caton described this solar phase of Mercury as being similar to the rubedo phase within alchemy in his book Hermetica Tryptycha. As we work to integrate the insights and changes in perspective realized during Mercury’s retrograde journey, Caton noted that we should expect to endure a phase of chaotic volatility as we make a commitment to embody a new presence of being.

As a result, the slivery Sagittarius Full Moon on June 14 will announce the return of Mercury to his swift, direct motion as a Morning Star in which he excels at making mental connections, asking questions, and bridging ideas and material resources. As the Sagittarius Full Moon will be forming a sextile aspect with Saturn in Aquarius and a square aspect with Neptune in Pisces, it will interestingly aspect the same two planets that Mercury did when it stationed direct on June 3. When Saturn and Neptune become activated we need to reconcile the dream with the reality, and so Mercury in Gemini will help in attuning with whatever changes have been happening and the adjustments that will need to be made to securely ground developing visions into tangible forms.

Mercury will move past the zodiacal degree where he originally stationed retrograde on June 18, a couple of days before the Summer Solstice in the northern hemisphere and the Winter Solstice in the southern hemisphere. As we collectively cross one of the most important turning points of the year, Mercury moving quickly direct in Gemini will be able to draw upon the many lessons learned over the course of the past month of retrograde movement to help us reorient and plan for the season ahead. With an easy ear, loquacious lift, and ready response, Hermes will once again, as always, be present to help humanity as we collectively cross yet another crossroads.

If you enjoy my writing please consider supporting my work through a monthly subscription on my Patreon page. Take a look to see the benefits you will receive as a patron – in addition to the normal benefits patrons receive, I have a new Oak Branch tier featuring an astrological learning group that will be meeting monthly and exploring various astrological topics and techniques on an ongoing basis.

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References

Anthology of Classical Myth: Primary Sources in Translation. (2004). Edited and translated by S.M. trzaskoma, R.S. Smith, and S. Brunet. Hackett Publishing Company, Inc.

Caton, Gary. (2017). Hermetica Triptycha: The Mercury Elemental Year. Rubedo Press.

George, Demetra. (2019). Ancient Astrology in Theory and Practice: a Manual of Traditional Techniques. Rubedo Press.

Mercury Retrograde in Taurus & Aries

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Fingal_s_Cave,_Island_of_Staffa,_Scotland_by_Thomas_Moran,_1884-5,_High_Museum_of_Art

Fingal’s Cave, Island of Staffa, Scotland (1884) by Thomas Moran

Mercury Retrograde

For one throb of the artery,
While on that old grey stone I sat
Under the old wind-broken tree,
I knew that One is animate,
Mankind inanimate phantasy.
— W.B. Yeats, A Meditation in Time of War

In the cool air of twilight as the Sun descends below the horizon, Mercury begins its journey into the underworld as a retrograde planet.  While changing into the role of a psychopomp as fluidly as vespertine colors transfigure into the darkness of nightfall, Mercury retrograde opens us to a liminal perceptual space which offers guidance in between life transitions and the crossing of thresholds.  Mercury delights in the part of a cunning guide of soul during its retrograde phase, beguiling all with unforeseen twists best handled with intuitive receptivity to direction.  On April 9 Mercury will begin its retrograde within the earthy home of Venus, a twenty four day passage that will take it back into the fiery home of Mars where it will hold lengthy counsel with Uranus.  As Mercury will station retrograde less than a week before the current Venus retrograde ends with Venus stationing direct, there is an incredibly volatile atmosphere at the beginning of Mercury’s retrograde which will require constant focus on recalibrating the connection between our perceptions and translation of meaning.

Within the rulebook of astrology, Mercury refuses to be caged in by categorizations of gender or preference for day or night.  However, since Mercury begins its retrograde period as an Evening Star, it finds accord stationing in Taurus since the nocturnal sign of the Bull is both the exaltation of the Moon and the domicile of Venus.  Mercury stationing retrograde in the inwardly receptive sign of Venus will lead us to find meaning through our subjective sensual faculties as we will be drawn into our corporeal senses and instincts.  Fittingly, Hermes in myth is bound to the fertility and life force of nature, a seductive mediator who reveals the spiritual found in the profane and the profane that may be discovered in the spiritual.

Mercury caduceus by Bradley

Mercury caduceus glyph by Bradley Naragon

Hermes was born in a cave, a fitting origin to his destiny as subterranean caves were the temples of our ancestors where Spirit was received in the flesh.  In the instinctual sign of Taurus our Mercurial capacities turn within so that our diverse senses take precedence over rational analysis.  Similar to how Mercury in alchemy conjoins the animating spirit with its earthy body, the full bodily perception available with Mercury in Taurus brings nonverbal insight into the world-creating spirit concealed in material forms.  Along these lines it is fascinating that Taurus is the heliocentric South Node of Mercury, for Mercury does not move at a fast pace in Taurus but rather sustains a slowly churning rhythm grounded into the sensuality of the moment.  The plodding, patient, and thorough movement of Mercury in Taurus also helps bring awareness to practical considerations and focus on developing and nurturing work and relationships toward their full potential.

In popular astrology there are many warnings to not start businesses, sign contracts, make important purchases, initiate relationships, or basically make any major life decisions while Mercury is retrograde.  It has also become common parlance even among those with minimal astrological understanding to not only complain about Mercury being retrograde, but to blame all technological mishaps and communication breakdowns on the phenomenon of Mercury appearing to move backward through our zodiac.  However, Mercury being retrograde is not a cursed anomaly but rather an essential aspect of Mercury, as essential as sunset is to sunrise.  Very successful businesses, contracts, and relationships of all sorts can begin during Mercury retrograde, but it is more important than normal to pay attention to our intuition with regards to the choices we make and the ventures we begin.

During Mercury retrograde the orbit of Mercury comes in between our Earth and our Sun, bringing Mercury as close to us as it ever gets.  In the resulting amplified atmosphere of Mercury, it is vital to maintain keen awareness into the synchronous interplay between sights, sounds, and other senses within our environment.  It is further paramount during Mercury retrograde to pay attention to gut instincts and the symbolic meaning of omens and other oracular messages that cross our path whether from our nightly dreams or daily travels.  Our inner life will need tending especially during the first week of the Mercury retrograde in Taurus, as Mercury will be ruled by a Venus that is also retrograde but in the process of stationing direct.  Since Venus is in her exaltation of Pisces while simultaneously forming a catalytic relationship with Saturn, our sensual perceptions will receive sharp and potent messages and we will need to navigate an inner sea of emotions that can become turbulent at times.

great work le triomphe hermetique

from Alexandre Toussaint de Limojon de Saint-Didier’s Le Triomphe Hermetique (1689)

Mercury rules the first face of Taurus where it stations retrograde, giving Mercury greater natural aptitude to do its work of interpreting and communicating meaning.  The astrologer Austin Coppock in his book on the decans 36 Faces noted that the Mercurial first face of Taurus holds resonance with the thorough and patient planning necessary to develop future harvests.  Mercury is under the full influence of Venus at the beginning of its journey as it is in both the home and the bounds of Venus, with Venus at a standstill in her exaltation of Pisces.  The fact that Mercury initially moves retrograde ruled by Venus retrograde, with Venus forming a conjunction with Chiron and a square with Saturn, cannot be overlooked or downplayed.  It will be necessary during the initial movement of Mercury retrograde to face the truth of our external reality as well as our full interior realm of feelings without denial.  Whatever needs nurturing, adjustment, alteration, or rebalancing will be revealed if we are paying attention, and with the gained awareness we can begin to modify our decision making and development of goals.

Since Mercury is also stationing in the exaltation of the Moon and close to the specific exaltation degree of the Moon, it is compelling that its retrograde begins with a waxing gibbous Moon on its way toward a conjunction with Jupiter in Libra and an especially dynamic Full Moon in Libra the following day.  Not only will the Full Moon at the beginning of Mercury’s underworld journey be conjoining Jupiter, but the Sun will also be united with Uranus while the Full Moon itself forms a challenging square to Pluto in Capricorn.  In short it will be impossible to miss the messages Mercury intends to send at the beginning of its retrograde, as significant illumination will show up in both collective and personal events revealing what was previously hidden or unclear.

As Mercury will move all the way back into Aries where it will eventually station in conjunction with Uranus, the fact Mercury retrograde begins with a Full Moon that connects both the opposition between Uranus and Jupiter as well as the square between Uranus and Pluto is pivotal.  Jupiter at the time of the Mercury retrograde is volatilizing the square between Uranus and Pluto, having recently moved away from an exact opposition with Uranus to form an exact square with Pluto.  As a result it’s not so much that unexpected developments are going to be appearing out of nowhere during the first phase of the Mercury retrograde, more that a fresh perspective can be revealed toward storylines that have been developing over time.  Mercury in its psychopomp role can provide the guidance needed to discern our next step if we are paying attention, helping us find our place within the tumultuous shattering and shifting of collective structures occurring all around the world.

The Mercury retrograde in Taurus also serves as a finale for the transit of the lunar nodes through Pisces and Virgo, with Mercury serving as the ruler of the transiting North Node of the Moon.  Mercury will station in range of a trine to the North Node of the Moon in Virgo, and when Mercury unites with the Sun at the heart of its retrograde it will also be closely trine to the North Node of the Moon.  After Mercury stations direct on May 3, the true nodes of the Moon will shift into the South Node of the Moon in Aquarius and the North Node of the Moon in Leo on May 9.  The lunar nodes have been in Pisces and Virgo since 12 November 2015 (true node calculation), a time period that has lived up to the mutable sign significations of immense change, endings, and transitions.  While its possible that the Mercury retrograde will coincide with circumstances bringing up a review or reflection upon the life changes that have occurred since November 2015, it is also likely that opportunities and boons will present themselves enabling us to integrate final lessons and make new choices resolving our experience with the Virgo North Node.

marlene-seven-roasting-cinnabar

Roasting Cinnabar (2017) by Marlene Seven Bremner

Mercury in the Heart of the Sun

That Light who’s smile kindles the universe,
That Beauty in which all things work and move,
That Benediction which the eclipsing Curse
Of birth can quench not, that sustaining Love
Which, through the web of being blindly wove
By man and beast and earth and air and sea,
Burns bright or dim, as each are mirrors of
The fire for which all thirst, now beams on me,
Consuming the last clouds of cold mortality.

— Percy Bysshe Shelley, from Adonaïs: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats

Mercury enters the heart of the Sun on April 19 or 20, depending upon your location, the moment in which Mercury unites with the Sun at the exact degree of the zodiac.  When Mercury retrograde unites with the Sun, labeled its inferior conjunction by astrological texts, Mercury is aligned with our Earth in between our orbit with the Sun, as close as Mercury ever gets to us.  This moment is experienced as a rebirth of the Mercury archetype within our lives, and at the time of its union with the Sun, Mercury is said to be in its seat of power, like an empowered Hermes taking a turn behind the reigns of our solar chariot.

Venus in Pisces rules the union between Mercury retrograde with our Sun, and significantly at the time of their union Venus will have recently stationed direct and will be applying tightly to her final square with Saturn in Sagittarius.  There is a fascinating relationship between Mercury being cazimi (at the heart of the Sun) and the Venus retrograde of 2017 for the Venus retrograde began with Mercury cazimi in Pisces while direct, meaning that Mercury was on the other side of the Sun from us.  As Venus begins to move direct again as a Morning Star, we once again experience a regeneration of Mercury, this time with Mercury close to us in orbit.  The harmonious relationship between Taurus and Pisces is part of the reason why Venus is considered to be exalted in Pisces, as their relationship supports staying true to one’s inner values while dissolving blockages in support of making the needed alterations to manifest inner visions.

The sabian symbol for the first degree of Taurus where Mercury’s inferior conjunction occurs is “A CLEAR MOUNTAIN STREAM” with the keynote of The pure, uncontaminated and spontaneous manifestation of one’s own nature according to Dane Rudhyar.  The union of Mercury and the Sun being ruled by Venus in a tight square with Saturn may make it difficult to picture spontaneous manifestation if you hold certain astrological dogma in mind, however in truth there is no reason that spontaneous authenticity cannot arise in response to the cold necessity of Saturn.  Mercury is being purified within our central light of Spirit fire at the same time Venus in her exaltation degree is calling us to take accountability and integrity into expression of our deepest love.  Within clear boundaries of structure, instead of feeling repressed or hemmed in there can arise an improvisational display of our primal creativity.

Mercury retrograde at the heart of the Sun also occurs during a last quarter Moon in Aquarius on its way toward an eventual New Moon in Taurus, the inner home of Venus, as well as with Mars at the final degree of Taurus.  Thus though Mercury is at the first degree of Taurus and Mars at the last, both are still within the domain of Venus in her exaltation of Pisces.  The powerful Venusian influence upon this moment further amplifies potential to reveal inner desires and values needing to emerge into awareness, with the last quarter lunation helping us dislodge from old preconceptions. In addition, it means that shortly after Mercury unites with the Sun a mutual reception between Mars and Mercury will begin through Mars entering Gemini, the airy yang home of Mercury, and Mercury crossing back into Aries, the fiery yang home of Mars that forms a harmonious sextile with Gemini.  Fittingly, we can still discover Venus in the relationship formed by the signs Mercury and Mars will enter as traditionally in astrology Venus has always stood as the symbol underlying the meaning of the sextile.

Matta Being With

Being With (1946) by Roberto Matta

Mercury stations with Uranus

What constitutes the training of the hand?
I shall tell what constitutes the training of the hand.
One suspects something is wrong with transcribing signs
But the hand transcribes only the signs it has learned.
Then it is sent to the school of blots and scrawls
Till it forgets what is graceful. For even the sign of a butterfly
Is a well with coiled poisonous smoke inside.

Perhaps we should have represented him otherwise
Than in the form of a dove. A fire, yes, but that is beyond us.
For even when it consumes logs on a hearth
We search in it for eyes and hands. Let him then be green,
All blades of calamus, running on footbridges
Over meadows, with a thump of his bare feet. Or in the air
Blowing a birchbark trumpet so strongly that farther down
There tumbles from its blast a crowd of petty officials,
Their uniforms unbuttoned and their women’s combs
Flying like chips when the ax strikes.

Still it’s just too great a responsibility to lure the souls
From where they lived attentive to the idea of the hummingbird, the chair, and the star.
To imprison them within either-or: male sex, female sex,
So that they wake up in the blood of childbirth, crying.

— Czeslaw Milosz, Sentences (1963-1965)

This particular Mercury retrograde is especially jolting, catalytic, and compelling because Mercury will spend an extraordinary length of time in conjunction with Uranus in Aries.  Truly out of the ordinary, Mercury will spend over three weeks from April 20 through May 16 in range of a conjunction with Uranus in Aries.  There will two distinct phases of Mercury uniting with Uranus, the first from April 20 through May 3 when Mercury is retrograde and invisible under the beams of the Sun- during this period Mercury will unite with Uranus on April 28.   Mercury and Uranus combined brings sudden awareness that can synthesize previously fragmented strands of thought and analysis instantaneously in the flash of the moment.  In the process of being purified and regenerated from its recent union with our Sun, Mercury in this period has not taken visible form and similarly our Uranian insights and revelations may feel more unconscious and not clearly seen.

28 April 2017 looks to be a pivotal day not only because of Mercury uniting with Uranus, but also because on the same day Venus will re-enter the sign of Aries.  As Venus re-enters Aries, she moves away from her square with Saturn in Sagittarius at roughly the same time Mercury is forming a trine with Saturn (Mercury retrograde will trine Saturn exactly on April 24).  It is compelling that as we have been dealing with Saturn in square to Venus all month long, we end up with Mercury combining with Uranus in a trine to Saturn.  As a result we can receive revelatory ideas into how to make minor modifications as well as major reformations into the issues dredged up during the time of Saturn in square to Venus.  It could feel like breakthrough insights are intensifying in our subconscious, ready to burst through into our conscious awareness with blazing comprehension.

After Mercury stations direct on May 3 it will emerge in the sky above the moist dew of morning, heralding the return of solar light at sunrise as a Morning Star.  Making the atmosphere more electric, the Moon in Leo will form a fiery triangle in our sky with Mercury, Uranus, and Saturn on May 3 when Mercury stations direct, increasing the likelihood of inspirational insights entering consciousness that address whatever challenges we have been dealing with.  Mercury visible and direct will form another conjunction with Uranus on May 9 and a trine with Saturn in Sagittarius on May 11, with a Full Moon in Scorpio falling in between these aspects on May 10.  Although Mercury is not seen as having essential dignity in the third face of Aries, Mercury emerging direct as a Morning Star does resonate with the diurnal sign of the Ram that is considered to be the exaltation of our Sun.

In addition, as Mercury stations and moves direct as a Morning Star while in Aries it will be in mutual reception with Mars moving forward through Gemini, with Venus co-present at the beginning of Aries.   As Venus retraces her steps through the previous section of Aries that she moved retrograde through in February and March, there will likely be some unexpected developments to contend with.  However, Mercury united with Uranus while in trine to Saturn supports a ready mental faculty that can swiftly respond and initiate new structural supports to help stabilize whatever has become volatile.  Mercury up at the crack of dawn, crowing like a rooster, is in an invigorating position of immense curiosity and exploration that can open us to a flow of creativity in response to life.

It is noteworthy that Mercury’s retrograde phase involves stationing in the Earth element and going back to the Fire element, echoing the retrograde that took us across the threshold of 2017 that went from Capricorn to Sagittarius. In August we will experience another Mercury retrograde that goes from Virgo back into Leo.  This transition from Earth to Fire in some ways is like a foreshadowing of the movement from Fire to Earth we will enter in 2018 as Saturn will move from Sagittarius into Capricorn, and Uranus will move from Aries into Taurus.   Some of the shifting adjustments needing to be found during the current Mercury retrograde will have far reaching impact, especially considering that Mercury ends up stationing direct with Uranus.  Early warning signs of what we need to prepare for in the year ahead may enter our awareness at the same time we are finding it necessary to deal with the pressing issues of the moment.

References

Milosz, Czeslaw. (2006). Selected and Last Poems 1931 -2004. HarperCollins.

Rudhyar, Dane. (1974). An Astrological Mandala: the cycle of transformations and its 360 symbolic phases. Vintage.

Yeats, W.B. (1989). The Collected Poems revised second edition. Edited by Richard J. Finneran.  Scribner Paperback Poetry.

Mercury Retrograde in Taurus

/ grayastrology / 30 Comments

Hathor cow woman

Hathor Menat (1390–1352 B.C. Egypt)

Mercury Retrograde in Taurus

Mercury will retrograde in Taurus, the home of Venus, from April 28 through May 22.  Mercury when moving direct through the zodiac is known as a swiftly moving planet of mental connections, discernment, and expression.  Yet the protean nature of Mercury is revealed in its variable speed, as it slows down considerably during its thrice yearly retrograde phase and correspondingly shifts our perceptual perspicacity.  Despite misconceptions in popular culture, Mercury Retrograde is not a time to fear but is instead an essential aspect of Mercury and how we interpret and convey meaning from our experience in life.  During Mercury Retrograde we experience a purifying regeneration of Mercury, and as this particular retrograde occurs in Taurus, we will be immersing ourselves within our bodily realm, discovering how our senses and instincts create our reality. A wealth of supportive aspects to Mercury arise during this retrograde by Venus, Jupiter, Pluto, Chiron, and the lunar nodes, suggesting a soulful windfall can be excavated when exploring the darkness of inner recesses.

Our perception that Mercury is retrograde is rooted in the phenomenon of Mercury’s orbit around our Sun, as Mercury Retrograde always occurs when Mercury passes between our Earth and our Sun in its orbit.  This particular retrograde is very special, as the pièce de résistance is a Mercury transit of the Sun in which Mercury can be seen crossing the fiery face of our Solar Light, as close as Mercury can get to eclipsing the Sun.  As this special inferior conjunction of Mercury conjoins the heliocentric South Node of Mercury, is trine to the transiting North Node of the Moon, and occurs while Jupiter is simultaneously stationing direct in a trine to Mercury and the Sun, the heart of this Mercury Retrograde is fecund with primal potency. One theme will be an uncovering of the inner values that bring us the most alive in our sensual world and to which we can devote ourselves in order to not merely survive but thrive.

While recalibration of inner values will be a theme on a personal level, in the collective with Mercury retrograde in Taurus and forming trines with both Pluto in Capricorn and Jupiter in Virgo, Mercury’s lordship of commerce and mercantile systems will result in significant economic contracts and mergers between various key economic players enacted.  Moreover, significant revelations will come to the forefront regarding economic deals and relationships that had previously been hidden. The impact of collective economic forces on one’s personal life will depend on where one finds themselves within the rising and falling of collective fortune, but this Mercury retrograde nonetheless opens a space to reappraise your flow and organization of finances and the returns you have been receiving on your investment of energy.

On a personal level, the slow steady pace of Mercury through Taurus is opportune for patiently grounding awareness in your surrounding material manifestations and their connection with the values you have been prioritizing your life around.  It will be most fruitful to ask yourself the tough questions and be brutally honest with yourself about the values you have actually been focused upon rather than the values you enjoy talking about or pretending you live from.  Taurus is about survival, and through this retrograde Mercury can guide us into revealing what we have thought we needed for survival versus what is truly nourishing for ourselves on a soul level and requires a commitment to living from with integrity.

Hermes_Ingenui_Pio-Clementino

Hermes Ingenui (Roman copy of 5th Century B.C. Greek)

Men have made me variously keeper of the dawn, of twilight and the wind, have called me Argeiphantes, he who makes clear the sky, and Logios, the sweet-tongued one, have dubbed me trickster, the patron of gamblers and all manner of mountebanks, have appointed me the guardian of crossroads, protector of travelers, have conferred on me the grave title Psychopomps, usher of the freed souls of men to Pluto’s netherworld. For I am Hermes, son of old Zeus and Maia the cavewoman.

— John Banville, The Infinities, p. 14

Star of Hermes

Mercury was known as the Star of Hermes to the ancients who developed what we now call Hellenistic Astrology, and the innumerable significations of the mythic Hermes illuminate our understanding of the astrological Mercury:  Winged messenger of the Gods, God of crossroads, boundaries and thresholds, Guide of Souls, Shepherd of flocks, God of commerce and merchants, Prince of thieves, and the friendly trickster who reveals truths through concealing truth at times, offering unexpected fortune and loss.  When Mercury disappears at sunset with a flash of light after stationing retrograde, transitioning from being an Evening Star to becoming invisible under the purifying beams of the Sun, Mercury guides us into a subterranean realm of perception in which he plays the part of a Soul Guide.

Mercury slowly shifting retrograde, symbolically descending into the invisible underworld, marks a threshold into a liminal space of past identities and perceptual patterns altering to open awareness to vital change and a presence in sync with authentically arising inner life.  Though popular culture tells us to avoid buying anything or signing any contracts when Mercury is retrograde, it is in fact possible to initiate significant action that will not only be beneficial but deeply resonate with one’s Soul.  As Mercury retrograde redirects the functions of Mercury from outward projection to becoming inwardly receptive with our body and unconscious, it is vital to be mindful of how your intuition and inner voice is guiding you.  If the sound of a new venture is bringing inner doubt, this is the type of new endeavor to avoid.  If a new venture instead brings a harmonizing vibration that feels naturally fulfilling, if signs of synchronicity point to the new endeavor being a soulful calling, then this is exactly the type of new project or relationship whose initiation will bring a bountiful boon.

26.8.98

Hathor Mirror (1479–1425 B.C. Egypt)

Mirrors: no one who’s tried to solve you
has yet unlocked your true being.
You, openings in time, its course filled
as if with endless sieve holes.

You, perpetual spendthrifts of the empty hall-,
when dusk approaches, deep as woods . . .
And there the chandelier, like a sixteen-pointer,
leaps your unbreathable divide.

Sometimes you are full of painting.
A few seem to have passed straight into you-,
others you shyly sent away.

But the one loveliest woman will remain
before you, -till across into her untouched cheeks
the clear released Narcissus penetrates.

–Rainer Maria Rilke from Sonnets to Orpheus translated by Edward Snow

Mercury in the home of Venus

With Mercury retrograde in the home of Venus, the mirror of Aphrodite shall reflect our current state of being as well as open a portal to the potential of our Self.  Mercury retrograde periods often bring up the past for resolution, yet can also facilitate a crossing of the threshold that demarcates a new dimension of experience.  Mirroring will illuminate our inner issues most in need of reflection and resolution through the mirror of outer relationships and events, and insight into the illusion we call reality will be revealed.    Going within the etheric field of bodily senses, this Mercury Retrograde in Taurus will metamorphose and reconstruct our inner magnetism that attracts relationships to us, supporting us aligning with more soulfully supportive partners through inner work rather than outer striving.

A day after Mercury stations retrograde, Venus enters her home of Taurus where she stays for the rest of the retrograde and will give strong Venusian support to Mercury.  Hermes in myth is bound to the fertility of nature and sexuality, and similarly as Mercury retrograde pulls us inward into our corporeal senses in the domicile of Venus, desire for sensual pleasures and hedonistic delights of the flesh will arise.  Self-love and making nourishment of optimal well-being in the body through diet, exercise, and luxuriating in the scent of flowery enrapture will be a beneficial balm for whatever worrisome events occur during the Mercury Retrograde.   This Mercury retrograde in the receptive and earthy sign of Venus will viscerally reveal the myriad ways in which we find meaning through our subjective sensual faculties.

When Venus enters Taurus she immediately enters a conjunction with the asteroid Hathor (asteroid #2340), the asteroid that is named for the Lady of Heaven, Lady of Horns, Lady of All.  Hathor is the womb found in the stars, the living, fertile sky that is the source of All. Hathor embodies the triple goddess aspect of mother, lover, and daughter, but is not a goddess fixated on the needs of a partner or sustaining a relationship with an Other.  Venus uniting with Hathor in Taurus as Mercury descends into the underworld at the beginning of its retrograde amplifies the focus on the inner side of Venus that is not outwardly obsessed with relationship, revitalizing our sense of inner needs for joy.  Further fitting for Mercury retrograde, Hathor is a fructifying goddess of rebirth and regeneration, who like Hermes took part in guiding the transition of Souls into the afterlife and here points toward the needs of the Soul gaining greater prominence over the needs of the conscious personality.

Fascinatingly, Mercury stations retrograde while conjoining the asteroid Vesta in Taurus, another significator of devotedly turning focus within rather than being consumed with the needs and expectations of relationship.  Vesta is not virginal in a sexual sense, however, and heralds an opening to sacred sexuality and the reception of spirit in the senses through its union with stationing Mercury.  Nonetheless, since independence and self-reliance outside of partnership is paramount to  Vesta, the conjunction between Vesta with stationing Mercury suggests the inward pull of Hermes will destabilize any co-dependent tendencies occurring in order to help anchor perception into one’s true inner needs and desires.

Mercury also stations while conjoining the blinking, fixed star Algol.  Algol is known as the Head of Medusa and the Head of the Demon, a fixed star associated with the extremities of emotion, whether that be through a voracious sexual union, the velocity of passion poured into a creative outlet, or the intensity of outraged anger.  Again, while this aspect can go along with strong sensual immersion in sexuality, a link with Algol does not signify precedence given to the maintenance of a relationship.  Once again this is a sign of the primal needs of the Self taking precedence, and that the initial focus of this Mercury retrograde is to realign with inner needs outside the expectations of current relationship.

Paint a perfect picture
Bring to life a vision in one’s mind
The beautiful ones
Always smash the picture
Always every time

— Prince, “The Beautiful Ones” from Purple Rain

Though the demonizing of Mercury Retrograde in popular culture can go overboard with projections of negativity, there can be vexing and extremely frustrating experiences with communication and becoming overwhelmed with challenges and setbacks during the backward, trickster movement of Mercury.  With Mercury retrograde in the Fixed sign of Taurus, it is more than likely that we can become quite Bull-headed in our perspective, solidly sustaining a stubborn stance in resistance of changes that threaten our sense of inner security.  Though this Mercury Retrograde never forms a major aspect with the Mars Retrograde concurrently happening, Mercury Retrograde does station retrograde in exact polarity to the degree of Scorpio that Mars will station direct at in the end of June.  Furthermore, when Mercury stations retrograde in Taurus, its ruler Venus is at the end of Aries in the sign of Mars.  The inner fire of Mars Retrograde that burns off the inessential, combined with the Mercury Retrograde absorption into our perceptual core senses, will open stored memories in need of processing that underlie the desires we are consciously working out in the Mars Retrograde.

yaroslav forest

by Yaroslav Gerzhedovich

in time of daffodils (who know
the goal of living is to grow)
forgetting why,remember how

in time of lilacs who proclaim
the aim of waking is to dream,
remember so(forgetting seem)

in time of roses(who amaze
our now and here with paradise)
forgetting if,remember yes

in time of all sweet things beyond
whatever mind may comprehend,
remember seek(forgetting find)

and in a mystery to be
(when time from time shall set us free)
forgetting me,remember me

—e.e. cummings

Memory moves Mercury.  Indeed, Hermes in the myth of his origin enchanted Apollo with a song eulogizing Mnemosyne, Titanesss of Memory and Mother of Muses, played on the lyre he invented from a tortoise shell.  Memories held in the body, the memory of an ideal consummation sustained in the sensual folds of our mind, will rise to awareness in the retrograde rumination of Mercury. Memories allow us to revisit faded fields of passion and sorrow, and though the tactile faculties of our mind can allow the glow of a memory to override full presence in the moment, significant memories in need of processing will make themselves known during the sluggish retrograde of Mercury.  We will not be able to resist certain memories in need of replaying in our minds during this retrograde, but we can do the inner work necessary to transform the possessive side of Taurus that can become overly attached to nostalgia rather than opening to the changes underway.

The Mercurial function turned inward in the instinctual sign of Taurus will facilitate our diverse senses taking predominance in the making of meaning over our rational mind, including those sensitivities labeled psychic for want of a clearer term. Just as Mercury in alchemy conjoins the animating spirit with the earthly body, the prima materia of our full bodily presence will bring nonverbal insight into the world-creating spirit concealed in material forms.  Just as Hermes was born in a cave, just as subterranean caves were the temples of our ancestors where Spirit was received in the flesh, so will we descend to the subconscious place where tomb meets womb and where the death of the past gives rise to a reborn consciousness.

Since Mercury retrograde in Taurus is ruled by the transiting Venus, it is vital to reflect upon the significance that Venus in Taurus will be under the beams of the Sun during the retrograde, getting closer each day to her eventual union with our Solar Light.  Adam Gainsburg in his book The Light of Venus called the phase Venus is in with the Sun during the Mercury Retrograde “Immersion,” stating it is the period in the Heroine’s Journey in which “The Queen of Heaven is pulled away from the world by an inward force, and prepares to rediscover Her divine essence from within.”  As we unearth deeply held memories in the body of our essentiality, we can stop hiding our feelings and shift to a space of directly going after what we want and living from our authentic feelings.  In these ways the Mercury retrograde in the survival-focused sign of Taurus can help build greater self-reliance and resiliency.

Remedios Varo solar music

Musica Solar by Remedies Varo

Mercury in the Heart of the Sun

The REBIRTH of Mercury that occurs during its retrograde through Taurus is not your everyday Inferior Conjunction of Mercury, but rather is the legendary Transit of Mercury that only occurs about thirteen times every century.  The Transit of Mercury is similar to Mercury eclipsing our Sun, except Mercury from our perspective is far too small to come anywhere close to the blackening effect the Moon makes upon the Sun during an eclipse.  Just as the Moon has nodes, and the nodes are the zodiac degrees that mark where eclipses occur, so do all of the planets possess nodes.  The Inferior Conjunction of Mercury occurs on 9 May 2016 at 19°25′ Taurus, which is within a degree of the Heliocentric South Node of Mercury.  The last time the Transit of Mercury happened was in November 2006 when it occurred in Scorpio conjoining the North Node of Mercury, and the next time it will occur will be in November 2019 when it will also be conjoining the North Node of Mercury.

There is an interesting aspect to the Heliocentric planetary nodes in which the North Node of Mars and South Node of Mercury are both in Taurus around nineteen degrees.  With Mars retrograde occurring simultaneously, the heart of this particular Mercury Retrograde activates the full arc of the Mercury and Mars archetypes. The North Node ascent for Mars in Taurus points toward self-reliance and centering within one’s essential values, having the patience and fortitude to live from a core place of integrity rather than losing touch with one’s authenticity through external entanglements and desires.  In contrast, the South Node of Mercury being Taurus reveals inner senses, bodily instincts, sensory impressions, and memories as being the source of the Mercury archetype.  There are very supportive aspects surrounding Mercury when it enters the heart of the Sun, as it is in trine to Pluto in Capricorn, in sextile to the South Node of the Moon and Chiron in Pisces, and in trine to the North Node of the Moon and Jupiter in Virgo: open without resistance to what is arising from within and discover what Hermes has left for you.

MercuryCazimiWRIGC1

When Mercury retrograde unites with the Sun it is directly in between the orbit of Earth with the Sun, signifying a magical moment of new conception for Mercurial functions.  Once Mercury gets to be a degree away from the Sun on either side, we arrive at the potent time of cazimi in which the significations of Mercury are fortified in the purifying solar rays.  This is a beautiful time to initiate new growth or simply meditate or attune within, so plan accordingly if possible for May 9.  This particular union of Mercury with the Sun is even more auspicious because Venus in Taurus is applying toward a conjunction with Mercury when it enters the heart of the Sun, and Jupiter is also stationing direct simultaneously in the home of Mercury in range of a trine to Mercury.

Jupiter stationing direct at this time holds a thread with the previous Mercury Retrograde in Aquarius and Capricorn that occurred in January 2016, as Jupiter stationed retrograde at that time.  The Jupiter retrograde from January 8 – May 9, 2016 has brought opportunities to realign with inner, personal truth, and so this magical moment of Mercury will also illuminate our present sense of Jupiter vision and meaning.  In the collective, one omen of this period has been the death of two Mercurial Geniuses of Music and the Muses:  David Bowie and Prince.

man ray plume

Plume (1942) by Man Ray

Mercury Stations Direct

After Mercury begins to slowly retrograde away from its Inferior Conjunction with the Sun, it begins to transition into its Morning Star phase which will commence around the time that Mercury stations direct on 22 May 2016.  In between Mercury’s union with the Sun on May 9 and its stationing direct on May 22, there is a distinctly powerful timeframe around May 12 and May 13 when Venus unites with Mercury retrograde in Taurus while simultaneously forming an exact trine with Pluto in Capricorn (with Jupiter and the North Node in Virgo not too far away in Virgo to create a Grand Earth Trine).  This period will be full of important messages to decipher concerning the culminating meaning found within Mercury’s retrograde in the domicile of Venus.

When Mercury arises from the underworld with a flash of light at Dawn, the sibyls of Hermes transmit a message to receive as Mercury switches roles into that of a day-focused herald intent on clarifying goals in the light of the Sun.  With unbelievable synchronicity, Mercury stations direct on the same day that Mars enters the heart of its retrograde cycle, being exactly opposite the Sun.  Furthermore, the day before this eventful stationing day, there will be a Full Moon at the 1-2 degree of Sagittarius that hits immediately after the Sun enters Gemini, the solar home of Mercury.  All together, this means that both the Moon and Mercury are bringing indescribable levels of intensity to the meaning found in the heart of this Mars Retrograde cycle: the lesson to be learned, the message to receive, will be impossible to miss.

The period following Mercury stationing direct, when Mercury gains traction in its rousing rooster role of Morning Star, is full of the type of epic astrological aspects that demarcate defining shifts in the collective narrative.  Jupiter in Virgo and Saturn in Sagittarius form an exact last quarter square on May 26, four days after the Winged Messenger stations direct, and this last quarter square also involves Neptune in Pisces forming an opposition to Jupiter as well as a last quarter square with Saturn.  This t-square between Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune signifies an extraordinary change in collective consciousness that will be deeply felt on a personal level, and could very well provoke a sense of crisis. However, the larger message found within these aspects is a reorientation to the authentic trajectory your life can take in the next five years and beyond.  As a result, the Mercury Retrograde in Taurus serves as a vital inner recalibration to the massive change happening.

Finally, the Hathor asteroid again surfaces in prominence in the week leading up to Mercury stationing direct, conjoining the retrograde Mercury around May 16 -17, 2016.  Remembering that Hathor entered Taurus just as Mercury stationed retrograde and initially was moving along closely with Venus, it is compelling that Hathor and Mercury get closer together throughout the retrograde and finally make their exchange in the period leading up to the stationing direct.  The synchronicity of the Hathor asteroid weaving herself significantly within this potent Mercury Retrograde delights me more than words can express in this article.  No matter the grief and suffering you may be enduring at the moment in reflection of everything that has not gone the way you have desired, the presence of Hathor with this Mercury retrograde augurs that joy and exuberance can once again be embodied if you align with the movements opened up by the thrice great trickster and Psychopomp, Mercury.

He whose desire turns away from outer things, reaches the place of the soul. If he does not find the soul, the horror of emptiness will overcome him, and fear will drive him with a whip lashing time and again in a desperate endeavor and a blind desire for the hollow things of the world. He becomes a fool through his endless desire, and forgets the way of his soul, never to find her again. He will run after all things, and will seize hold of them, but he will not find his soul, since he would find her only in himself. Truly his soul lies in things and men, but the blind one seizes things and men, yet not his soul in things and men. He has no knowledge of his soul. How could he tell her apart from things and men? He could find his soul in desire itself, but not in the objects of desire. If he possessed his desire, and his desire did not possess him, he would lay a hand on his soul, since his desire is the image and expression of his soul.

–Carl Jung, from The Red Book: Liber Novus

References

Banville, John. (2009). The Infinities. Alfred A. Knopf.

cummings, e.e. (1994). Selected Poems. Liveright.

Gainsburg, Adam. (2012). The Light of Venus.  Soulsign.

Jung, Carl. (2009). The Red Book: Liber Novus. Edited by Sonu Shamdasani. Norton.

Rilke, Rainer Maria. (2004). Sonnets to Orpheus. Translated by Edward Snow. North Point Press.