we are in mercury retrograde territory again! mercury entered his front end shadow on 7/24- entering into the degree that he will eventually make his way back to and station direct at on 9/5. the front end shadow of mercury covers all the territory he will transit over a total of 3 times- so this is a time to pay attention to what is arising and coming into focus as insights into the upcoming mercury retrograde journey and what it means for you personally (and also all of us collectively) is incoming!
mercury’s front end shadow occurred when mercury was trine uranus and quincunx chiron (7/24)- bringing the rebel and revolutionary and the Wounded Healer into focus. this gives insight into the coming Underworld journey of mercury as one that is revealing of Truth and forcing us to see where old wounded patterns are holding us back from seeing Truth, living Truth and initiating change.
mercury retrograde is a time to rethink, review and revise matters. we have a chance to go over the past, deal with it and tie up loose ends so we can move forward and onward with resolution. with mercury in virgo part of what we are dealing with regards health, well being, work, service and our inner work and self adjustments needed. this is a great retrograde journey for doing personal work- be it shadow work, therapy, shamanic journeys and more. the insights we can get into ourselves and our stuck places can be positively golden IF we are wiling to turn within!
mercury’s retrograde station is on 8/12- and he does so very closely opposite neptune. the mind that wants to be rational, logical and clear can be confused by neptune’s influence. things are not as they seem with much going on behind the scenes. we have to be willing to ask a lot of questions and get honest with ourselves and others. watch out for denial, delusion and deception. be honest and do not omit the Truth or it can come back to haunt you! the exact mercury/neptune opposition is not until 9/19- just after mercury moves out of his back end shadow. so this energy is with us for the coming 2 months- and we need to be willing to access discernment AND our intuition to get to the Truth.
there are few aspects that get made twice during mercury’s underworld journey that we want to pay attention to. first of all mercury links with venus twice- 8/10 and 8/28. this helps the mind and heart relate to each other and supports us in communicating with others from a place of compassion. sharing our thoughts and feelings is key. mercury also links with vesta twice- 8/1 and 8/11- bringing focus to our thoughts, communications, insights and discernment. vesta asks us to clearly see, clearly communicate and clearly live the Truth. there is a purity of intent involved with virgo- yet with neptune’s opposition looming we need to be willing to question our intent and our motivations that are running us from behind the scenes (also that of others!).
of course we cannot look at this retrograde cycle without noticing the 2 mercury/mars conjunctions (9/3 and 9/16- the first in leo, the last in virgo). mercury/mars is fiery and feisty. this can be great for speaking up, initiating actions and being decisive- but it can also exacerbate tendencies to impulsivity, reactivity, selfishness and aggression. it’s interesting to note that mercury triggers the solar eclipse degree on 7/24, 9/2 and 9/7- while mars triggers it on 9/3. with the exact mercury/mars conjunction on 9/3 we have these two triggering the eclipse in significant ways. pay close attention to what you hear, say or read during this period of time. the Truth has a way of coming out and it may not be pretty. the good news is that the Truth can set you free- so if you are willing to face the Truth you can find yourself moving through major transformation right now!
with mercury/mars opposing neptune (exact 9/19 to 9/24) right after the back end shadow ends on 9/19- there’s a need to be really focused, precise and discerning in all matters during this retrograde cycle. it is not easy to see what is real and what is illusion, what is Truth and what is purposely twisted or misleading. questioning things without falling into apathy or confusion is important, but not necessarily easy.
i leave you with the star sparks meditations for the degrees of mercury station retrograde on 8/12 and station direct on 9/5. take note that the meditation for mercury’s station direct is the same degree of the solar eclipse- so this meditation carries extra potency. read and assimilate wisely <3 may we all “be (the) warrior who moves beyond all fighting and resolves the disputes internally” (ellias). so mote it be! ~dh p.s. below is a table with exact dates related to mercury retrograde. STAR SPARKS by ellias lonsdale MERCURY RETROGRADE DEGREE- 12 virgo Virgo 12 A dog sniffing a dead animal Being hyper-aware of whatever component or element is lurking, is lingering, is waiting it’s chance to pounce, in order to ruin everything. Being given over to the soul mood of extra-careful preparation and plans, in attempting to get around the messy, smelly, entangling, and engulfing parts of life. Trying extra hard to be good, to be on top of things. Identifying with sober responsible roles and cycles. Extroverting into a mind set of doing whatever it takes to neutralize the negative, and optimize the positive. The dual mind generating what it fears and trying to outwit itself. When we do prepare and take extra care and make sure, we function with less wobble and more precision. Yet we also subtly undermine everything we’re trying to do. The subconscious mind is working overtime here to constellate shadow, to bring up the very things the conscious mind wants out of the way. In essence, we circulate at too shallow a level. We end up going against the depths and working for surfaces. All because we allowed ourselves in the first place to believe the petty notion that our life should work and that our primary concern should be to make sure that it works. Such an innocuous idea casting such a great shadow. We learn eventually that holding anything in our mind as a model of perfection, an ideal of how it all should look is the great mistake. It brings on all the compulsive behaviors. We get distracted into trying so hard to watch the picture. Once we recognize that we are up against ourselves and our own mental projections, we can perhaps break through to the place of admitting that one side of mind is crazily doubtful and fear-struck and the other side is captured by the need to take care of and reassure that terribly traumatized side of us. We can cultivate a third aspect. This one appreciates the sensation, and the efforts to keep life dancing to a fine time. But the third voice is spacious and open and serene and no longer pushing it. MERCURY STATION DIRECT 29 leo - also the DEGREE OF SOLAR ECLIPSE Leo 29 A broken sword Defiance of law and precedent. Advocacy of something which can only be grasped when duality is no longer the basis for how we see things. Aspiring to a way of life which we must earn by great suffering and perseverance. Insistency on the spirit of the law and outlasting the letters of the law. Coming to a realization, almost a second birth keyed to everything that awaits us through grace, through moving inside of deaths, and through becoming at one with spirit in the most unlikely places and times. A formidable journey to undertake. Made to go back and relive each side of every dispute. Rights and wrongs, goods and evils, praise and blame. Needing to burn out the karma of the polarities. Showing everybody in the vicinity what it is like to be warrior who moves beyond all fighting and resolves the disputes internally. A mission taken up with a passion. Definitely likely to fail. The odds are all against anybody freeing themselves of history and habit, routine and assumption, partisanship and ego. Yet this is the path of the impossible. We are after a miracle. Nothing less will do. We go through this for ourselves and for all the world. We are met by Christ along this way and this encounter may be the determining one. Once we do get far enough to find the Christ Within Us, what we have sought becomes attainable. But it is only from that place of true peace that we can take our own multiple duality’s and liberate them from going against each other endlessly. Along this journey, we know before we start what the victory is like, we see what we are signing up for. It is foolhardy, crazy to take this one on. But if we are strong and inwardly unswayed by opinion, we can make the claim to free self and world of their most poisonous blockages. It simply requires deep guts and a faith to move every mountain. MERCURY RETROGRADE DATES just before head into shadow- 7/21- mercury conjunct NN 25’30 leo 7/24- FRONT END SHADOW BEGINS mercury 28’29 leo trine uranus mercury 28’37 leo quincunx chiron (uranus chiron on 7/29) ***mercury triggers eclipse degree*** 7/25- mercury into VIRGO 8/1- mercury conjunct VESTA 8/10- mercury in virgo sextile venus in cancer 11’19 8/11- mercury conjunct VESTA 8/12- mercury stations RETROGRADE 11’38 virgo stations OPPOSITE NEPTUNE, conjunct VESTA 8/28- mercury in virgo RX semisex venus in leo 8/31- mercury backtracks into leo (**9/2 mercury triggers eclipse degree) 9/3- mercury RX conjunct mars 28’43 (**mars triggers eclipse degree 9/3) 9/5- mercury direct 28’25 leo (eclpise degree is 28’53) (**9/7 mercury triggers eclipse degree) 9/9- mercury into virgo 9/16- mercury conjunct mars 7’13 virgo 9/19- OUT OF BACKEND SHADOW mercury opp neptune 12’26