Mercury retrograde August 2011
Mercury retrograding through Virgo is a time of reorganization and shuffling through the papers and details-writing and planning your long lists. As Mercury moves back through Leo we have a chance at getting realigned with a clear fixed purpose with focused concentration on strategic planning and problem solving. Leo represents leadership and the stock market and all eyes are on the “US” and global political leadership in the current economic volatile downturn. As Mercury opposes Neptune, we have the added confusion and muddled thought processes. This becomes even more precarious with Neptune just retrograde back into Aquarius from Pisces. These degree points are critical which gives an added point of contention.
This is no ordinary everyday Mercury retrograde. With Mercury oppose Neptune you can be sure that seeing is not believing and plenty of spin doctoring is going on with smoke and mirrors and risks of insider trading. Mercury went retro in the early degree of Virgo August 3rd and began to oppose Neptune and with the cardinal Mars Uranus Pluto Saturn grand square still in its configuration it was a minefield out there as not only in the shadow of Mercury but also lined up with the hazed and dazed conundrum of Neptune and the edge of Mars that built to a tsquare to Uranus square Pluto and now Saturn which is critical energy full of aggravation, impatience and snarly setbacks.
With Mercury retrograde back in Leo we had a few very tragic stage collapses with fatal results. Performance is Leo ruled so it shows the weak structure formed through Mercury retrograde oppose Neptune. We are also still seeing all this uncertainty (Neptune) and concern around the money markets and debt (Pluto) as Mercury retrograde has everyone in the throes of fear and reminders of the past and the recession we are trying to put behind us which further became apparent as Venus squared Jupiter and will continue as the Sun and Venus begin to oppose Neptune by August 22 just as Mercury begins to move forward on August 26.
With Standard and Poor’s downgrading of the US credit rating, don’t shoot the messenger becomes an appropriate term. The US with its Saturn return is at a critical stage to get its financial house in order so as to avoid repeating history of another crash not unlike we experienced with the last Uranus square Pluto in 1930 with the Great Depression. With Mars reaching a square to Saturn this week, and straining Neptune, confidence in the markets will continue to slide.
On August 13 we had an intense full moon on the Pluto Uranus midpoint. On the plus side the nodal axis in good aspect to the Sun is always a fortunate shift. On August 17 the Sun Venus and Mercury were in Leo around the 24 degree mark building to oppose Neptune in Aquarius. On Aug 22 the Sun and Venus moved to oppose Neptune and into Virgo just at the degree point where Mercury retro began as Mercury now reaches its stationing phase at 18 degrees Leo where it will move forward on August 26. This Mercury degree point is critical as it stations at this degree all week in its turnstile movement forward hitting the midpoint of Uranus Pluto, an extension reach from the Full moon -this adds to much pressure with jarring and shaky energy where we see some rumbling with earthquakes, wind (tornadoes) and electric storms (Uranus) and Hurricanes (Uranus, Neptune).
It’s very common that once Mercury moves direct, events, accidents become more prominent as the energy is changing direction. This period starting on Aug 22 will coincide with Mars square Saturn creating a semi square to Sun Venus and sesquisquare to Neptune. It’s another snaring Thors Hammer which will show some frustration and more snags, miscommunications, mishap, fogginess, confusion, unforeseen misses in general etc. Neptune connects with water and Hurricane Irene is stirring up the East Coast along with a few Earthquakes (Uranus) as well as another devastating tornado that ripped through Goderich, a beach town off Lake Huron in Ontario.
Neptune also rules drowning and mishaps and activities by water and boating-policing on the water seemed more rampant; certainly much activity around sailing. Whenever Saturn and Neptune join up in any aspect (here in a sesquisquare, a minor aspect though still apparent if it hits certain degrees, a repeat of in March 2011), you can see troubled waters, depression, apathy, listlessness, melancholy-health issues with the skin (Saturn), immune system (Neptune). This sadly became very apparent with Jack Layton, our newly victorious NDP leader who succumbed to his cancer and died on August 22. The New Moon on August 28 is a welcome grand trine in earth as Mercury is once again in forward motion. This energy should mitigate any serious repercussions and bring back a sense of recovery and sustenance.
Being a Gemini and having my Mercury in its ruler Gemini, I think (Mercury) I am allowed to wax lyrical about the ramifications and rigmaroles of anything Mercury related with all its proclivities, roundabouts and revolving doors! If you ever got caught in a revolving door and came out where you entered, you know what I am talking about. I can always find material around Mercury retrograde. Lots of blunders, slips of the tongue, slip my mind and forgetfulness. In relationships and the love department it’s often the poltergeist scenario of ex’s returning (“they’re back!”).
It’s also not a good time to start dating someone at this time, start a job or sign a contract. Because my 3rd house of communications is ruled by Mars you can bet most of my issues are surrounded by potential accidents often with angry encounters with others with Mars in my 7th house. I always know when things get testy I have a date with the gym or some type of need for energy release or I attract the rage like flies whether in an accident or someone biting my head off. I have had my share of them mostly recreational riding my bike and on skis but also just as a pedestrian.
Rollerblading around the sea wall is an activity not without its hazards though. There is a protocol to the traffic as the path gets pretty congested on these summer days and it’s not uncommon to find others blocking going the wrong way. One of the signals that goes awry is the passing point. When you want to pass, you say on the left or the right which with mercury retro often gets flipped so when you are passing someone on the left and say you are on the left they immediately veer out to the left instead of the right. Mercury retro is akin to Murphy’s law.
As I am cruising along, there another almost incident/disaster with the floater planes taking off in the bay. As one was taking off I heard another just passing over coming from the other direction which seemed sorely timed flying very close going straight at each other just missing each other?…oooops!! Great spectacular scene that would have been for the tourists as the cruise ship leaves its port. Of course seemed no one noticed but me. Another almost travesty was a new barrier was put on the path which I was not ready for so when you are pumping away on your blades used to a certain route coming across this road block bump at last second was edgy to say the least. Of course nature was out in full blown view with the raccoon family making way over the path as a trail of traffic was disrupted and some crazy cyclist was whipping around the corner with everyone stopped which he wasn’t prepared for and went for a good fly then nose dive off his bike. Had I been there any later I might have had hit the same road block.
What really throes or sometimes literally throws me!.. is how people can be moving forward on their bikes or blades but be looking behind them and not what is in front of them? I live in a neighborhood where bike riders don’t obey any traffic signs-stop signs particularly. A few days later I venture out for a stroll figuring I might be safer on foot. It’s a building first quarter Moon knowing it’s an edgy energy riddled with pushy aggressive agendas as it also strains Venus and creates a tsquare with Jupiter. Of course the Moon is elevated on me so I’m the perfect target for a bike to almost ram into me as he soars through the stop sign! And no sooner after a frisbee misses my head by a hair after I had a nice stroll at the beach where the seagulls aggressively came after me and my fries!
I had a perfect Mercury retro moment and mess up making my morning coffee as I bought decaf coffee by mistake and couldn’t figure out why I was so spaced out and dragging my feet around with headaches, grumpy, immovable, dense and slow. So I go the nearest coffee shop which I never do especially the herd stops and of course drivers are swerving, swooning and spinning and skidding to a halt to get their next fix stop, the herd running to carry their very own plastic cup they can graze on while gripping it as sure as it’s a fixture attached to their hand.
Never mind, I decide to go check out this other neighborhood and all the coffee haunts. It’s a real arty bohemian area I love to visit far from the herd grazing. Of course I had me a nice cuppajo and kicked started my motor again and re juiced my flow and became the blathering blabbing Gemini that I am -this very keeping for a Mercury chatterbox especially when recovered from caffeine depletion. These unique coffee shops are so relieving and soothing opposed to the pedestrian corporate nonsense on every corner so stale, sterile and boring with no flair, color or panache. These herd businesses nauseate my creative flow. One notable and very unique coffee shop had a sign outside with coming soon Tim Horton’s. This horrified me as this spot is just so anti anything of this sort but soon discovered to my relief this was an intentional joke while noting the very colorful graffiti all over the sign.
August 21 we reach the last square of the Sun Moon before we move toward the next New Moon on August 28. This creates a tsquare that activates the opposition of Sun Venus oppose Neptune as the Moon squares Neptune. A dreamy day with this Neptune infusion, we can feel all the ramifications of Neptune such as daydream drifting into other worlds, imagination running wild, a perfect day to lie in the grass or sand or floating in the water gazing up at the big blue sky-an escape to get caught in a time and a place and retreat into our latest music mix mine being an Allman Bros pick “Blue Sky”…“it just keeps on flowing it don’t worry bout where its going”and “Dreams”…”an instrumental piece to press replay…again and again.