Mercury into Aquarius | just the 'alternative' facts, jack

A breezy day by Jana Cleve

Mercury moves into "new and unusual" Aquarius today, where he will hang his hat until February 25th. Having Mercury answering to Aquarius ruler Uranus can feel like a mini Mercury retrograde -

information can get skewed as alternatives are presented, opportunities can come through misunderstandings and sometimes it can feel like entire conversations/communications are nothing more than someone's need to disrupt or dispute (not necessarily a bad thing).

All these things can move our story forward now.

Aquarius is detached. It's often easier to diagnose other people's problems and situations and decide what they "should" do than it is to have an objective eye toward our own life.

That little bit, or lot, of distance between us and them makes it possible to see things with greater clarity. Our take on the situation is less guided by our 'feelings'.

Well, for the next three weeks it will be a little easier to apply this same objectivity to our own story - we can take just a little step back and see our own bigger picture, if we want to. Our compassion can get a bit dulled now though.

Ideas that catch people's attention this month will be ideas that are new and unusual. Innovation will blow in the wind like dandelion seeds in the spring. Keep your mind OPEN. And your hands. Your creative muses will literally be tossing stuff at you. Think outside the box - all the goodies are outside that damn box now. New strategies are needed. "Facts" will be up for discussion.

Conversations and communications can be disruptive.

Expect that people's communications will be more unpredictable and even rebellious. Telling people what to do will not go over so well right now - you say "do this" and they "do that". We won't want to be told what to do either. Keep this in mind.

Disruptive conversations and ideas can also come through the Aquarius or Uranian people (remember what I said about Uranus this year!) in our lives. 

Mercury has some easy aspects this month for those open to something else and those who are not so wedded to their existing ideas and language that the smooth flowing meeting with something NEW would be overlooked.

If we notice the pebbles (tapping on our shoulder) maybe we can avoid the rocks (hitting us in the head). If we notice the niggling idea that something could be done/said/written/presented differently and act on it, well, that difference can make all the difference.



Here's a post from the Shopify blog about Idea Generation.

xo all 

Jupiter Stations Retrograde | where have we been expecting/giving too much?

untitled by lover and the wild

Today, Jupiter begins his four month retrograde, stationing at 22 degrees Libra.

Maybe some push forward has run into a red light or a detour or a ditch.

Remember these are natural cycles we are working with - delays are helpful. Yes, even when we are sitting in the ditch, in the hot sun, with an empty water bottle and need to pee.

Maybe there is something ahead of us on the road we are avoiding. Maybe there is something that needs to fall into place, or catch up with us, or slow down to meet us, before we can move ahead.

Maybe there is something we need to fix. Maybe there is something we need to change - with Jupiter change usually involves Jupiterian themes so we could need more education or more experience with something foreign to us or more open-mindedness or more positivity or more faith.

Jupiter is the planet of expansion, the space where more is always more. In our world this doesn't always work so well. Stuff that keeps growing and growing and growing is not sustainable. That's what balloons and bubbles do right before they pop, that's what cancer cells do.

This is good energy to look at areas where we are just expecting (or giving) too much. With Jupiter in Libra, the sign that rules other people, this could be an imbalance, or injustice, within our primary (equal) relationships - partners, clients, specialists, competitors. If a return to balance is needed here - events will conspire to create the space for greater balance. Is that picture in our head of how something is "supposed to look" or how someone else is "supposed to act" helping or hurting us?

This is also good energy for improved focus. Imagine Jupiter's expansive energy (in all directions at once) being drawn backward, it creates the perfect vacuum for us to narrow in on that one particular thing. So, that's what we'll do now.

When our boss calls and says our company did not get that big contract we were expecting and belts must be tightened, it becomes very easy for us to focus on what we need to do right now. So that's what we do. Life doesn't stop. We keep moving. But we are moving ahead from this re-grouped space with a focused purpose. This is the energy of Jupiter retrograde. The expansion contracts. And if we are smart and consistent, we are stronger and wiser four months from now when we expand again from a solid, more condensed core.

This is an annual cycle - this year affecting Libra themes (partnerships, relationships, balance, justice) and/or the themes of our natal Libra house? Where is Libra in your natal chart?

Remember all planets have been moving direct for the last month, which is pretty unusual. We have felt this in the collective as GO, GO, GO - it's all been a bit too much hasn't it? Jupiter rules politics, foreign travel, higher education, the big picture, religion - events will conspire to slow things down with these issues so we can re-look at our expectations here.

xo all