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 :)