Mercury Retrograde Gets a Bad Rap!
Regroup, Repair, Return, Redirect, Review, Renovate, Renew, Release
Mercury in earthy Virgo turns Retrograde 8/23/23, 3:59 PM EDT at 21deg. Mercury retrograde has gotten a bad rap over the years. Essentially, it’s a natural rhythmic occurrence (3X per year), offering a chance to review past thinking, past situations, or past connections (or all three) based on deeper processing or further information that has emerged. There’s an unfinished quality making it a less desirable time to start something brand new, sign major contracts or have elective surgery. Remember too, how we as individuals respond to energies or events is very different from how these patterns play out in the news. You have choices in action or response.
The current Mercury/Virgo retrograde begins with strong connections to #UranusTaurus by trine & in range of opposing #NeptuneRxPisces (elaboration below)! Expect new revelations & secrets to be uncovered. The plus side includes innovation and creative inspiration and the ability to be intuitive about what is needed in the moment. Your faith may be tested amidst confusion, only to be further strengthened in the end. This Mercury has intrinsic power since it takes place in one of Mercury’s home signs! Mercury/Virgo has a talent for wordsmithing. Seeking accuracy and precision, Mercury/Virgo takes great care in getting the facts right! Very cognizant of how important the details are, this Mercury may be prone to obsessing over little things or being overly critical. Knowing what you want to communicate and communicating clearly is one of the gifts of Mercury in Virgo.
As you look at the attached chart of the start of Mercury Retrograde (which gives an understanding of the nature of the entire cycle), note a large triangle with two smaller ones on each of two sides of the triangle. This configuration is called a kite, a dynamic energy pattern. The large X in the center are the ribs of the kite and there are two interlocking kite formations. There are other patterns in this chart but I’m limiting the lines to those relevant to Mercury, to avoid too much complexity. Suffice to say, it’s a powerful moment in the cosmos and this Mercury retrograde will be more eventful than most. With the kite made up of a Grand Earth Trine, we must deal with the consequence of past habits, words, and actions. There are plenty of surprises, shocks and new “details” or previous details more thoroughly understood. A mutable Mercury brings several key events making life more overwhelming with the attendant need to retreat and recharge from too much information. Once you’ve had sufficient sleep, this Mercury can help you organize matters in disarray, gather the harvest from summer’s end and prepare for cold weather ahead (Northern Hemisphere). It’s significant that the Moon/Scorpio in the retrograde chart is exactly opposite Uranus/Taurus. On a broad level this indicates deep wounds, endings, and transformation. A current example is Lahaina, Maui - in terrible trauma with over 1,000 persons still missing and thousands of homes and businesses destroyed. A devastating event that will take years to heal from.
In other news, we’re seeing a fourth unprecedented indictment of a former President and 18 others in the Georgia election interference case. Within range of the Mercury retrograde cycle, defendants have been surrendering at the Fulton County courthouse. India, the 4th country to land on the Moon has landed its first rocket on a part of the Moon where no one else has before. Days ago, Russia’s rocket attempt to the Moon failed. Yevgeny Prigozhin is reportedly killed in a small plane crash on the way to St. Petersburg. But we can’t be sure that any news coming out of Russia is accurate. Still, as I wrote previously regarding Prigozhin, I believed he was a dead man walking. That’s the way it works under Putin’s rule. Then there’s the first GOP debate with 8 contenders but without the front runner’s participation.
Words relevant to a Mercury retrograde cycle: reminisce, relinquish, remember, reiterate, reflect, rejuvenate, rehabilitate, release, recuperate, recant, recall, refine. Take this retrograde gift to deepen your life in meaningful ways.
Mercury is retrograde three times a year and some years, we get part of a fourth cycle. This year is a good example. We started 2023 with a Mercury Retro, which began in December 2022. We end 2023 and move into 2024 with Mercury Retro, beginning on 12/13/23. Mercury was also retrograde from 4/21-5/15/23. The current cycle goes from 8/23/23 – 9/15/23.