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| everything is illuminated by c paos |
OK, back to the week ahead - see part I here.
So, we have Mercury turning backward on Tuesday morning (also the Moon goes void around lunchtime so get things done and out the door early!). We can imagine Mercury leaning conspiratorially toward us, "OK, we've gone as far as we can go at this point in time - we need to backtrack a bit to recheck a few things, allow the stuff we've lined up with to catch up with us and gain a little more experience".
Stuff ruled by Mercury gets wonky because he is looking over his shoulder - this includes communications, electronics and transportation (think - stuff with fast moving parts - he is the fleet footed messenger, after all).
We get re-routed.
Now, we can try to plow ahead anyway and sometimes things must be plowed through - we will just know that some of the stuff we have plowed through, would have been easier to move through later or we will have to plow through this stuff again when Mercury moves direct and passes over these same degrees.
(Mercury spends about 1/3 of the year either retrograde, preparing to go retrograde or retracing his same retrograde path once direct. 1/3 of the astrological signs are mutable signs (cardinal energy begins, fixed energy stabilizes, mutable energy changes) and mutable energy follows fixed energy. It doesn't follow cardinal. In other words, the natural order of things isn't 1. start 2. change 3. stabilize - it is actually 1. start 2. stabilize 3. change then back to start (with the next season). Without the change/shift/re-do part the whole cosmos falls apart ... literally.)
As he backs up he squares Mars. Now he squared Mars last week, too but last week Mercury was in serious and proper Capricorn and Mars was out of sorts in peaceful Libra. This time they are both in better positions so the square is more potent. We can expect some not so nice things to be said. We can expect some agitation. We may be dealing with the theme of control vs freedom. We'll have to wait on outcomes. Mercury's retrograde in Capricorn this month will expose the cold, hard facts of the situation. This will be good practice for us for the rest of the year.
EXAMPLE for Virgo (rising or sun in whole house astrology) - Mercury retrogrades in your 6th house of work, health and routine and squares Mars hanging out in your 3rd house of communication, siblings, local neighborhood. Maybe your work does not go as smoothly as you’d like. Maybe others challenge your way of doing things. Challenge a Virgo's way of doing things - how dare they?! Maybe your coffee maker breaks down or you drop your cellphone into the toilet - yes, sorry, this could happen, hold on to the damn thing. You could be dealing with an annoying health issue that is back or equally annoying co-workers or employees. By the end of the week, Mercury backs into your 5th house of creativity, children, fun, romance - you may shift your focus from what you need to do (6th house work) to what you want to do (5th house fun), at least for a while. Removing your attention from a work or health issue may be all you can do right now anyway and Mercury wants you to have a 2nd look at something in that 5th house.
Also, we have Venus (in Sagittarius) squaring Neptune in Pisces on Tuesday and conjuncting Saturn in Sagittarius on Friday - basically bumping right into the Saturn/Neptune square we will be dealing with all year (dreams vs reality).
There are a few ways this could manifest for us. We may need to deal with something going on behind the scenes; something hidden or secret. It may even be a karmic situation that needs to be worked through involving Venus issues - love, women, money, values. We could be dealing with Neptune/Pisces themes of healing or addiction, art, spirituality or anything that is hidden away - hospitals, prisons, secret romances, research, etc. Whatever it is we are dealing with it will have us wanting more or feel like an endless opportunity then the options narrow at the end of the week and we see the truth of it.
This week might offer us a midterm exam on how we are doing with the Saturn in Sagittarius transit we are working with until December 2017.
EXAMPLE for Scorpio (rising or sun in whole house astrology) - Venus in your 2nd house of values squares dreamy Neptune, maybe enticing you to spend more than you know you should or give more of your time and attention somewhere than you need to - maybe you ignore some obvious red flags regarding 2nd house issues of money, self-esteem or close relationships. Venus has captured your attention after all and it's hard to stay focused on what we need when we want something more - she's just so damn sparkly! Then Venus cozies up to tough love Saturn at the end of the week and you are confronted with a reminder of where you’ve wandered off the path with this stuff - the bills come due so to speak. Your credit card gets declined, your self esteem takes a hit or you collapse with exhaustion after giving too much to too many. This is more likely to happen if you’ve moved away from your area of primary focus with Saturn in your 2nd house this year : becoming more financially stable, disciplined and certain of what matters to you and what you value!
A key theme for 2016 will be separating the truth from lies and reality from illusion.
This is the ground our brave Venus travels now. Have we tied our hearts to something that is real or something that is an illusion?
xo all, back tomorrow with the rest of the week including Jupiter and destiny :)
3 comments
Hi Catherine, Could you do a brief reading for this retrograde for my chart? I've got a lot of things coming up right now and I'd like to prepare myself. April 18, 1986. Beaumont, TX. If you're busy I understand but I love the way you explain things so I thought I'd ask. Have a good week!
Christine
Christine - Do you know the time you were born by any chance?
- Cat :)
Christine - I'll write here for Taurus which is your sun sign - it would also be your ascendant if you were born at sunrise. Many astrologers, some very well-known and all the column type astrologers like Susan Miller, etc, use whole house astrology and put everyone's sun in the first house and things can be very accurate even for people not born in the morning, so see what might fit with this. If you know your time of birth I'll look for that, too. Usually the general sign reading for Taurus, since you are burning Taurus energy for fuel your entire life PLUS a more specific reading for your actual houses based on your natal chart, is most accurate. Here's a take on Taurus:
Today Mercury is in your career house (10th), he stations retrograde Tuesday and squares Mars in your partnership house (7th). This could be something like discussions or plans for the future may be put on hold as relationship disagreements lead you and your partner (some type of equal relationship) to some kind of impasse.
Then as Mercury continues backward he quickly reenters your opportunities house (9th) and it will be time to take a second look at long distance travel, education, legal issues, wedding, expansion. Certain realities about expansion or these areas may need to be confronted. This carries thru most of January and is a bigger influence than the 10th house stuff.
The New Moon at the end of the week in your opportunities house (9th) could offer up a risky new path that’s exciting and also nerve wracking, but keep in mind that Mercury retro can delay forward movement. There’s NO RUSH.
Venus is in your house of shared resources (8th) - on Tuesday he squares Neptune, bringing something like a surge of dreamy "passion" or maybe the desire to throw caution to the wind and spend what you don’t have (other people's money/ shared resources). You could be tempted to accelerate a relationship or make an unwise investment. The conjunction with Saturn by the end of the week, could bring you up short, as you’re confronted with financial or emotional boundaries. You or your partner may feel overwhelmed (and short-changed) after the initial rush. Go slow, and take care with "other people's money" - debts, taxes, loans, your partners finances and physical boundaries. As your options narrow, which sounds like a bad thing, but it isn't - it's just a smaller, sturdier thing - what is left is the truth. Again NO RUSH.
Jupiter retro (tomorrow's post) in your house of self-expression (5th house) can put romantic or creative stuff on pause as you slow down and take stock of what’s come your way so far. You may need to do more with creative materials or look more closely at certain details or promises in a new romance or creative venture. There could be something you missed (regarding a creative project, new attraction or children/pregnancy) that requires your attention. Again NO RUSH. Jupiter is going to be kissing up to the North Node of destiny later on this month (and off and on thru June) so something about that 5th house is in your "destiny" - this will somehow be about 'expanding what you know' and remember the North Node is in Virgo so we get there with small, measured steps - you are taking something small and crafting it into something better or into something that serves others.
Hope this makes sense. xo
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