Mercury Retrograde Spring 2016
Posted on April 25, 2016 in Announcement
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By
Henry Seltzer
for ASTROGRAPH Horoscopes
Important Dates and Aspects:
Mercury Stations Retrograde on April 28 at 10:20am PDT at 23º36 Taurus - Similar degree as Eris/Uranus in Aries, & Chiron in Pisces
Recent New Moon conjunct Mercury - May 6 at 7:10pm PDT
Sun conjunct Mercury & Transit of Mercury - May 9 at 8:12am PDT - Takes place when Mercury's orbit passes between the Sun and the Earth, and Mercury is seen as a small black dot moving across the face of the Sun.
Mercury trine Pluto - May 12 at 7:51pm PDT
Mercury conjunct Venus - May 13 at 12:11pm PDT
Mercury Stations Direct - May 22, 6:20am PDT at 14º Taurus - Inconjunct Saturn, trine Jupiter (Jupiter / Saturn square returns to near exact)
Mercury Escapes Shadow - June 7 (23º Taurus, again).
Mercury Retrograde is a time that has become notorious for missed connections, miscommunications, and malfunctioning electronics, among other seeming drawbacks and headache-inducing circumstances. However, when awareness and mindfulness are employed, this downtime can be a very rich time as well, urging us to slow our activity, tune in, and to be truly present with ourselves and our issues. The themes that are encouraged for Mercury Retrograde are anything beginning with 're.' Re-organize, reflect, relax, re-communicate, rewind, etc. It is a time when it is highly beneficial to plan on turning inward to pause and take stock of all the tremendous growth and evolution that has been happening within and all around each of us. It is generally not a good time to start a brand new project, make impulsive purchases, or sign a new contract. The astrological thinking is that the matter will dramatically alter once Mercury turns direct and especially after escaping its shadow.
This retrograde period begins in the fixed earth sign of Taurus, on Thursday, the 28th of April. Taurus is all about the physical, manifest realm, ruled by Venus — representing love, beauty, connection, and earthly delights. This presents an opportunity to re-evaluate the area of material possessions and the ways that these impact upon your life, including, but not limited to, finances and money concerns. Perhaps what will begin to become clearer for you are the areas in which you are able to ground your ideas into reality, versus the areas where it is more challenging for you to do so.
With Mars simultaneously retrograde at this time as well, it may feel like things are moving very slowly indeed, and that there is a disconnect in putting your mind into matter. You could be somewhere off in the clouds instead. If you can tune in and follow your intuition, you may find abstract information more accessible than usual about where the flow of energy is easeful for you, and where it is getting stuck. Taurus is very much about embodiment, so that you gain by tapping into your bodily system for clues about where best to put your time, and your attention. Where things feel good to your senses, you might continue to follow, and move in that direction. Where things feel stagnant, clogged, or stuck, it may be wise to give those places some extra love and attention. It is no use forcing things. Utilizing curiosity in asking why those places in your life are not flowing in an easeful way could provide some clues. The simple act of placing your gentle awareness in these areas can do wonders to begin clearing out blockages that are holding you back fro the fullest expression of who your really are.
The first important thing to note about this retrograde period is that the degree at which Mercury stations on the 28th is in close aspect to the Moon, Uranus, Chiron, Eris, and the lunar Nodes. This sets a tone that has been building in these prior weeks for internal exploration, and for understanding your current life transformation, and that now is amplified by Mercury's station. A key question to ask yourself throughout this time is: What in your life is being 'shaken up' so that you may see something more clearly, heal yourself, and come into greater alignment with your deepest sense of soul intention? 'Shaken up' can look like circumstances changing very suddenly, expecting one outcome and getting another, conflicts in your relationships, feeling overly reactive, breakdown, and crisis. When these things happen, life is asking us to PAY ATTENTION, to see what is underneath the surface, and to examine more deeply our underlying motivations. Here is a profound opportunity, in this Mercury Retrograde period to bring greater clarity to relationships and to existing patterns that are no longer serving you.
Also during this retrograde period, the Taurus New Moon of mid-day May 6th features a semi-sextile aspect between Uranus and Mercury. The Moon also conjuncts Mercury by evening — or later that night— and touches this off again. Because this aspect is part of the New Moon, this influence sets a tone for the whole lunar cycle of thirty days. Mercury in contact with Uranus symbolizes a strongly intuitive understanding of where you might need to look more closely into where, deep down, you want to be heading. Tuning inward to the frequencies of emotion, and body sensation, will prove helpful.
Another important date is May 9th, when Mercury is conjunct to the Sun, which is also known as the Transit of Mercury. In astronomical terms, this takes place when Mercury passes between the Sun and the Earth, and Mercury can be seen as a small black dot moving across the face of the Sun. Astrologically speaking, this represents one peak of the retrograde period, and could provide a better chance for introspection than for the outward expression of your energies.
Mercury trines Pluto on Thursday, May 12th. This configuration will be helpful for seeing into the depths of yourself and others, especially in regard to the underlying patterns that need to shift, because they are preventing flow or creating stagnancy somewhere in your life.
The next day, Friday the 13th, Mercury crosses paths with Venus, making an exact conjunct. Our minds turn more towards our relationship connections, as well as bringing up issues around worth and value, whether that be inner self-worth or more outer concerns like money and resources, though energetically the two are generally linked (as within, so without.) This is also a time of questioning that authority holds all the cards, versus going it more free form.
On Sunday, May 22nd, the day after the potent Full Moon, Mercury stations to direct motion, in very close inconjunct to the withholding energies of stern Saturn in Sagittarius, and in trine with freedom-loving Jupiter. We will not get any reprieve as yet, especially because Saturn will add a layer of sobriety, and responsibility, as well as at times a serious attempt at revising our methodology in these areas. The best approach will continue to be that we watch and wait for better timing to make a definitive move.
This late spring Mercury Retrograde journey ends on June 7th, when it escapes the 'shadow period', of its already-traversed degrees, returning to the same degree of 23 Taurus, where the retrograde began nearly six weeks earlier.
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