What Mercury retrograde is good for

Modern life depends more than ever upon a wide variety of modes of communication and travel, areas of life that are ruled astrologically by the planet Mercury.  The more we depend on these things, the more we are affected by Mercury traveling retrograde.  All planets except for the Sun and Moon retrograde, but other retrogrades don’t have the same impact or occur as often.

Planets of course don’t really move backwards, but they appear to change direction from our perspective on earth depending on where the earth is in relation to that planet and the Sun.

Mercury/Hermes rules both Gemini and Virgo, and in ancient times was associated with the Magician (as in the Tarot Magician) who unites the realm of the mind with the realm of the craftsman.  He is connected with the principle of alchemy, and in mythology he was the one who crossed borders (or dimensions) in order to carry the messages of the gods from one to another.  He was the only god that was granted free passage in and out of the Underworld.  Mercury therefore depicts our journey from the world of spirit to matter and back again.

A facet of Mercury is self-reflection: our ability to examine situations and the way we are affected by them.  In alchemy, Mercurius intervened in order to unite two opposites by transforming each end of the opposition into the other.  In this way we use our mind and consciousness (Mercury) to balance oppositional forces within the chart, or in our lives.  Mercurius was envisioned as standing between Sol and Luna, or between Spirit and Soul, providing a mediating function between yin and yang.

In the sign of Gemini, Mercury represents the ability to take in all points of view without judgment and is able to entertain two opposite ideas without a sense of contradiction.  But in Virgo, where Gemini is currently located, Mercury is more discriminating and separates one thing from the other. In both cases, the flexibility and adaptability of Mercury helps us to process our experiences – to learn from them and to integrate them into our understanding.  Retrograde Mercury helps to facilitates this process.

When Mercury is retrograde, it’s a time for reflection and assimilation rather than movement.  Mercury retrograde is a great time for:

• Go back and review your journals or goals from past years.
• Begin a journal or a creative writing project, especially if it’s a memoir or family history.
• Edit or re-write a book or article.
• Rebalance your stock portfolio
• Examine your business or work life and see where improvements can be made.
• Call an old friend that you haven’t seen for a while.
• Review and re-do your will or other agreements.
• Update your website.
• Meditate more.
• Clean out closets, garages and basements.

  Be cautious when:

• Writing and be sure your backup your files and computer.
• Double check and confirm appointments
• Installing new software or phone or email system.
• Beginning a new regime of some sort – diet, exercise etc.
• Entering into contracts of any kind.
• Planning travel or beginning a trip
• Making a major purchase or investing in the stock market

Lynn’s Skywatch for September is posted

The newsletter has been delayed and will probably come out Thursday morning, so there’s still time to sign up!   If you’re not already on my mailing list and would like to receive a translation into English of this monthly report, please sign up in the sidebar or on my website.

Meanwhile, here’s a tidbit to take you into the beginning of September , and here’s a link to the entire article:

Thankfully, the intensity of this summer’s planetary alignments is beginning to lessen as the planets in the early degrees of the cardinal signs begin to separate (if you’re new to Skywatch you might want to read through the June, July and August issues to read more about the cardinal alignments that have inspired so much change and drama).  As September begins, Saturn and Pluto are still within range of their challenging square formation, creating tension and conflict that manifests both internally and externally. But by the end of the month they will be out of range of each other and that will ease the stress considerably.

Still, Pluto is virtually at a standstill now in preparation for its change of direction later in September, so its influence is powerful throughout the month.  Pluto represents the power of destruction and regeneration, forcing us to recognize anything in our life that doesn’t serve our higher purpose.  Pluto will be there to remind us throughout September that even though the intensity of the cardinal alignments is fading, we must still be open to surrender where necessary in order to continue to evolve. Once Pluto turns direct on September 14^th we will start to see more movement in our lives.

Once again we find the elements out of balance, with a predominance of air and virtually no water (the only planet in a water element is Uranus which has retrograded back into Pisces, and because Uranus is so dry this is somewhat like negative water).  Water is the element that provides us with a flow and a connection to feelings and emotions, and when water is in short supply and air predominates we have a tendency to stay “in our heads” and be cut off from the heart and the feeling nature.  Of course how greatly you are affected by this will depend on how the elements balance in your own chart.

Chiron and Neptune are still within a degree of each other, and although they will not reach an exact conjunction they are certainly still involved with each other and putting continuous pressure on us to reach deep within the soul (Neptune) in order to pull out any unresolved wounds and hurts (Chiron) that will facilitate our personal evolution and help us to become fully healed beings.  These two spiritual teachers bestow personal wisdom and a sense of balance that can only come from this healing process of the soul.

The only major planetary formation this month is the second phase of the conjunction of Jupiter to Uranus.  These two planets first aligned in May 2010 in Aries; this time they meet in Pisces at the 29^th degree.  The 29^th degree is an ending of one sign and the beginning of something new, and with both Jupiter and Uranus at the end of Pisces, the end of the zodiac, there is a strong feeling of completion here.  Pisces inspires us to transcend our day-to-day existence and find something more magical…more mystical in our lives, and while Jupiter gives us the confidence and expansive attitudes to accomplish this Uranus provide the mechanism to make the change.  There is great potential here to break out of any boxes in our lives that we find ourselves in but it’s important to align with the truth within us so that we don’t fall into Piscean delusion and illusion.

Uranus tends to be impatient and desire results NOW, and Jupiter expands that tendency even more.  Pisces, however, obscures the facts and forces us to rely on our intuition and messages from Universal Truth, so care must be taken in order to get the most out of this planetary cycle.

Thoughts on the upcoming Uranus/Pluto square

The big “Cardinal Drama” of planetary configurations this summer included the beginning of the challenging square of Uranus to Pluto – a cycle that will build over the next few years and culminate in 2013.   Uranus and Pluto combine in explosive ways that challenge and overturn (Uranus) the existing power structures and destroy (Pluto) any way of life that is no longer working.  Uranus is the planet of modernism – Pluto is in Capricorn, the sign of conservative values and social mores.  Uranus tiptoed into Aries, the sign of the warrior, this summer and has now retreated into Pisces where it will stay until next spring.

Uranus in Aries represents the war (Aries) for individuality (Uranus).  Under this influence we are seeing a breakdown (square to Pluto) of  pride of nation or a sense of belonging to a government.  This is partly due to a massive increase in migration that took place while Pluto was in Sagittarius (the sign of travel and movement through diverse cultures), resulting in an increasingly diverse population in virtually every country of the world.  Battles for national identity (Pluto in Capricorn) are taking place in Europe, where children African and Asian immigrants are struggling to take their places in countries that have become home, but where they are not really accepted.

This increasing diversity is likely to give rise to a continuing struggle between various groups of humans that don’t understand each other and live by different values.  We are seeing this more and more in the United States, a country whose diversity gave it the description “the melting pot.”  But this is also becoming more and more evident all over the world.  European countries, with an increasing number of Muslim immigrants, are banning Muslim clothing.  White middle-class Americans, led by the self-described “whitest guy you’ll ever meet,” Glenn Beck, are claiming they will “take their country back” from the minorities and non-Christians (who now number about 25% of the population, down from about 13% before Pluto’s journey through Sagittarius).

All of this mixing and non-melting in the pot is likely to give rise to increasing fervor and rage next year when Uranus and Pluto start to move closer to their square formation (the aspect won’t reach exactitude until September 2012, which I’m sure is a coincidence.  Uranus seeks social justice and liberation, and the liberation movements in coming years are likely to necessitate some major transformation in the way we all view our cultures.

The Astrology of Glenn Beck

Glenn Beck has emerged from a minor and cartoonish character of conservative and religious unrest to become a force to be reckoned with in the Republican party. Beginning with the Tea Party rallies last year, he has built a movement that culminated this weekend with a crowd of 100,000 people in Washington at the Lincoln Memorial, to restore America’s honor and return it to the ideals on which the United States was founded.

Beck talks a lot about the Bible in his speeches – about Moses and Jesus and the founding fathers. (Beck, a Mormon, seems fascinated with the idea that  the book of Deuteronomy in the Bible (in which the Ten Commandments are found) was  instrumental to the development of the ideals of the Founding Fathers to which we must return. Much of this is mythology, but it’s worth noting that Deuteronomy is one of the most violent and vindictive books in the Bible, which is no small feat. There are many threats against the enemies of the Israelites, but also against the Israelites themselves who disobey the Commandments. It’s safe to say that religion is crucial to Beck’s world view, and a return of America to the conservative religious values of the mid-twentieth century.

Glenn Beck (born February 10, 1964, Everett WA, time unknown) was born when the Sun was in Aquarius, the sign of the rational thinker with radical new ideas. But his Sun is in a triple conjunction that includes Saturn and Mars as well. The Mars influence energizes him but also provides frustration – it can be difficult to focus one’s energies. The Saturn influences puts the brakes on and creates blocks and disappointments, and also suggests a deep loneliness especially in childhood.

Ironically, Beck has the same square of Neptune to the Sun that President Obama has. Neptune instills in us a longing to merge in a union with the Divine – to transcend this ordinary reality and become a part of something more beautiful and transcendent. However, this aspect can also make it more difficult to see this person for who he really is, just as we see with Obama. There is a blurring (Neptune) of the sense of Self (Sun) that can be confusing, and we also sometimes see changes as these people shapeshift from one identity to another.

Like all individuals born between 1962 and 1968, Beck’s chart includes a conjunction of Uranus to Pluto – a uniting of the radical revolutionary (Uranus) with the planet of destruction and regeneration (Pluto). Uranus/Pluto people have a deep desire to do something meaningful with their lives – the principles of radical change and destruction of the status quo that were at work in the 1960s when Uranus and Pluto were conjunct in the sky become more personal in these charts. For Beck, that Uranus/Pluto combination opposes Chiron, the wounded healer.

Chiron/Uranus oppositions generally reveal an extremely sensitive nature – emotionally sensitive, and energetically sensitive. This aspect creates an energetic imbalance that requires personal healing work to overcome, but we often see alcoholism and drug addiction as individuals attempt to medicate their nervous system. Beck admits to having smoked pot for fifteen years, and he also snorted coke and drank heavily for much of his life up until his conversion experience.  The opposition from Chiron to Pluto suggests a deep and dark early wounding of some kind, and a tendency towards depression as the wounds of the soul (Chiron) demand to be healed.

Glenn Beck had an extremely difficult childhood (source here). His mother was addicted to various medications and also suffered from manic depression, and his father left the home when Beck was 13. His mother died in a drowning accident two years later which was likely a suicide. In 1994, just after Beck’s Saturn return (when Saturn returned to the same degree of Saturn in Beck’s chart it also set off the triple conjunction that includes his Sun and Mars), he contemplated killing himself just like his idol, Kurt Cobain.  At the time transiting Pluto, the planet of destruction and transformation, was in a challenging square to his Sun, Mars and Saturn.  Pluto transits often bring about a Phoenix-like regeneration in which we are reborn from the ashes of disaster.

We don’t know Beck’s rising sign, but I suspect it could be Leo.  Most individuals which this kind of deep intense suffering do not choose to go on radio and television, but Beck exhibited a desperation to be noticed from the earliest days which is a hallmark of an afflicted Leo persona.  He performed in local theatre and went on the radio as early as the age of 13.  A former colleague said that “he was great at being a grandstanding, pompous idiot and shaking the brushes for attention.”  Another former partner said “Beck was always desperate for ratings and attention.”  Beck’s obsession with ratings and popularity would add to the validity of a Leo ascendant as well.

Beck has embraced this story of personal triumph over devastating personal tragedy, and this story is echoed in his chart: the personal tragedy (Chiron/Pluto) that results in a radical turnaround (Uranus) and the goal and desire to transform the status quo of the culture (Uranus/Pluto).  Beck is often mocked for his tears during his radio show, but I would venture to say that these tears are real.  His story, for him, is extremely personal and vivid.  The dual emotional whammy of Saturn/Sun and Chiron/Pluto pack a powerful punch, and while he’s not always very clear about the details (Neptune square Saturn/Mars/Sun) he has staked out a niche where the rawness of his emotions set him apart from the rest of the talking heads at a time when a segment of Americans (primarily white and middle class), sensing that they are quickly becoming a minority in this country, are filled with fear about the change and desperate to go back to the security of a time that never really existed.

Mercury Rx at Astrological Musings

This morning I wrote a long and well-thought out post about the 20-something generation.  Unfortunately, I made a big and stupid error by tagging that generation as the Pluto in Sagittarius generation.  Thankfully, I have brilliant readers who emailed me right away and called this to my attention.

Many of you know that in the best of times I am prone to typos and sloppy errors.  I like to blame this on my Gemini ascendant which is all too ready to move on to the next project.  But when Mercury is retrograde we tend to pay less attention to details which is why we often end up making big errors.

I’m just glad I have sharp readers who catch my mistakes before my articles get circulated in the wider world and cause me major embarrassment!  Especially with Neptune transiting my Midheaven and confusing my image in the outer world.

What’s the opposite of Supermoon?

Astrologer Richard Nolle coined the term Supermoon to describe the Full Moon at perigee when it’s closest to the Earth.   Last night’s Full Moon was at apogee and at its furthest from Earth, so the Moon appeared about 15% smaller than usual.

The influence of the Moon does appear to be more intense when it is at perigee and therefore appears larger, so perhaps last night’s Minimoon did not pack as powerful a punch.

Heidi Montag’s breast problem

Heidi Montag is a reality TV star who is best known for having had eleven plastic surgeries in one day at the age of 23.  She is a self-confessed plastic surgery addict.

Back in January I wrote about Heidi in the context of Saturn (challenges) in Libra (beauty).  Heidi was a beautiful young girl who had her first cosmetic surgeries at the age of 21 including her first breast augmentation.  But that initial augmentation wasn’t enough, and last January she went for the “legal limit” of breast augmentation (who knew there was such a thing?).  At the time she said she would have liked to have even bigger breasts, but just one week after the death of her plastic surgeon in a car crash, Heidi is reporting that she is “desperate to go back to normal.”

Heidi (born September 15, 1986, time unknown, Crested Butte, Colorado) has the Sun in Virgo which as we all know can be somewhat perfectionistic.  But that doesn’t tell the whole story of Heidi’s desperate ploy for attention and breasts. Heidi’s chart shows a tight conjunction of Venus and Pluto, both in Scorpio which is an astrological “double whammy” connecting the archetype of beauty and attraction (Venus) to the underworld of death and destruction (Pluto).  This is a very difficult psychological placement that engenders a fear of rejection and can indicate someone who, especially when young, feels very badly about themselves and their attractiveness.  The degree of plastic surgery that Heidi has had amounts to self-mutilation, which is a common Venus/Pluto problem.

Beauty is a funny thing.  You can be a very attractive person to others but feel horrifically ugly to yourself.  Or you can be a rather plain person who feels great about yourself, and the light of attraction shines from within.  Physical beauty is just geometry and proportion, but true beauty is the light of the soul.

Heidi’s chart also shows a  Grand Cross in mutable signs. The mutable signs (Gemini, Pisces, Virgo and Sagittarius) lack a purpose and direction – they are adaptable and flexible, but in the tension of the Grand Cross the individual can have trouble finding a path and sticking to it.

The Grand Cross includes potentially painful square from Chiron (the wounded healer) to her Sun, suggesting a wound (Chiron) to her sense of self (Sun).  Jupiter, planet of expansion and optimism, is also in a challenging square to Chiron, and opposite her Sun, a double aspect that creates a need to be larger than life (Jupiter/Sun) yet damaged by the wounds of life (Chiron).  Uranus, planet of radical behavior, is also involved in the Grand Cross which suggests sudden changes of direction and disruption.

This is a challenging array of planetary aspects that force an individual to work through deep emotional issues on the road to spiritual wholeness.  It is not a planetary system that can be cured by better breasts but requires psychological and spiritual work, and the development of a stronger sense of Self and a commitment to refrain from destructive relationships and life decisions.

Heidi Montag’s difficult astrological chart is one that needs to be met with conscious attention and a desire to transmute painful emotions into personal growth and evolution.  Someone with a challenging chart like this is not doomed to misery – there is tremendous power and potential for transformation embedded in these complex planetary systems.  But it does require a great deal of personal work and awareness of the psychological and evolutionary dynamics that are at the root of the web of emotions and distress.

Musings on Julian Assange

Julian Assange is the head of the Wikileaks website, the site that recently participated in the biggest intel leak in history just as the Cardinal planetary drama was unfolding this summer.  (This very blog was featured on the Wikileaks website last year as one of the sites being censored by the Australian government).

Assange is a fascinating character that I would love to profile, but he has not revealed his birthdate to anyone.  We only know the year of his birth (1971) and I couldn’t find any verification or source even for that.  One article says that Assange quotes his year of birth as being “in the 1970s” because he wants to “keep the bastards guessing.”

The dramatic story of the life of Julian Assange is a fascinating one.  After his mother’s second divorce he was taken into hiding for five years.  He moved “several dozen” times in his childhood and studied science and math at several colleges and universities but never obtained a degree.  In his teens he was a computer hacker as a member of a group called “International Subversives” which was the subject of a raid in 1991.

As a journalist (Jupiter) he has dedicated his life to exposing the secrets of others, but he is remarkably secretive himself (Pluto/Scorpio).  Much of what is written about Assange’s childhood actually comes from a book called Underground about a hacker named Mendax.  Assange was listed as a researcher for the book.  (Source here.)  Mendax/Assange never knew his father and was shuttled around Australia trying to escape her second husband.  Wikipedia reports that Assange moved two dozen times as a child.

Assange has no real home but instead travels the world and lives out of a rucksack.  A former colleague says of him “he’s a weird guy.”   His radical and revolutionary ideals are clearly Uranian, and he calls his philosophy “radical democracy” which takes online activism to a new level – all concepts that are tied closely to Uranus.  Yet he is extremely focus and apparently indefatigable in his efforts to expose hypocrisy and danger, which has a strong Capricorn motif.  The “end justifies the means” thread that runs through his work is also a Capricornian idea.

In any case, the whole idea of Wikileaks and the Assange philosophy of ethical resistance to governmental abuses that he reveals in this video is very tied to Pluto in Capricorn in which the structures of society (Capricorn) are destroyed and rebuilt (Pluto).  This will become even more prevalent next year as Uranus in Aries (radical actions)  moves into place to square Pluto in Capricorn.

For now I think we should not pay too much attention to the 1971 year of birth until it is verified.  Hopefullywe will have at least an accurate birthdate soon for Mr. Assange, and I will continue to report as new information becomes available.  Meanwhile, here is an interview with Assange that may provide additional clues.  To me he has a Sagittarian/Geminian appearance – the youthful expression and pleasant face that belies the intensity underneath.

Dana Gerhardt on Mercury retrograde

I’m pleased to announce a new blogroller – many of you know Dana Gerhardt from her always interesting and entertaining articles in The Mountain Astrologer.  She has a wonderful post about Mercury retrograde that includes this paragraph:

[I]f you honor Mercury now, he just might be willing to rescue you. He did that for Odysseus, slipping him an elixir made from the magical plant Moly (which grows underground and can only be seen by the gods). Moly inoculated Odysseus against Circe’s seductions. She couldn’t turn him into a pig like the others! An amazed Circe figured she’d met her match in Odysseus and immediately released his men and served them all an amazing feast. You can have a good time during the retrograde too if Mercury slips you some Moly.  First you must resist the seductions of your usual ambitions, habits and deadlines. Slow down: a perfect enterprise for this Pisces Full Moon. Don’t think too much or take yourself too seriously. Just listen, play, and let the chimeras of your imagination soak in.

read more here…

Pisces Full Moon, August 24 2010

Copyright 2010 Astrological Musings - Blog Customization by Jeffrey Kishner

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