Each year Mercury the planet of communication, commerce, transport, language and logic/reasoning starts an apparent Retrograde movement of the planet through the sky. The motion is not REAL in that the planet does not physically start moving backwards on its orbit. It just appears to do so because of the relative positions of the planet and Earth and how they are moving around the Sun.
During the times that Mercury is retrograde, people often notice more challenges with correspondence, our communication as we interact with others. It can also show up in our relationship to our neighborhood, our siblings and challenges with cars, transportation or electric equipment.
The Mercury Retrograde dance will start this year of 2020 in the sign of Pisces/Aquarius, following two more retrogrades periods further down the year within the signs of Cancer and Scorpio/Libra respectively.
Mercury will be in apparent retrograde motion during the following ranges of dates (depending on the time zone, the dates will slightly differ):
- February 17 to March 10 – Pisces & Aquarius
- June 18 to July 12 – Cancer
- October 14 to November 3 – Scorpio &Libra
Mercury governs the signs of Gemini and Virgo in Astrology thus both of these signs as well as those having Ascendant, Moon or that have a strong relationship with Mercury in their astrology charts are more likely to be affected by the transit.
Being aware of our Shadow:
At a personal level, one way of looking at Mercury Retrograde is that it reveals disowned components in our awareness, communication, and interaction with others and with the world around us.
Mercury in Gemini expresses the way that we reach out, interact and discriminate our neighborhood. The shadow of Gemini is Sagittarius. When Mercury is retrograde, it often expresses the negative nature of Sagittarius, thus the tendency is to generalize, anticipate, judge or assume, without checking first to see what is real or not.
Mercury in Virgo expresses the way that we integrate our experiences and recognize the world around us using our mind. The shadow of Virgo is Pisces. When Mercury is retrograde, it often expresses the disowned nature of Pisces thus we can imagine that others will make things happen for us or we could simply disconnect to our inner core searching an outer connection instead, thus becoming victims of our own ignorance.
The blessing of Mercury Retrograde:
We can use these retrograde times to reflect and see where we are being caught in the patterns of our shadow, especially that it’s in these times where be become less conscious thus it’s a good introspection exercise.
Also, the Retrograde period can be a blessing because it mainly reveals what it’s no longer working properly and needs a new approach, or things that it’s important to resolve, fix or address; by being centered we just need to become aware and make the necessary changes down the line.
We can say the Mercury retrograde cycle happens at two levels:
1st – Being more aware of others actions and how they impact us – at this level there’s not a lot that we can do, just to double check things and be prepared for delays or errors that may occur.
2nd – This is a more personal level that we can avoid the consequences of our actions by becoming more centered and being aware that when we are not acting from our hearts there are always some after math that we need to solve or take care. Our wounds and buttons are being pushed in order to become conscious and work with our reactions and not by re/acting from our shadow self.
Mercury in Pisces & Aquarius: February 17 to March 10, 2020
The first retrograde of 2020 is in Pisces. The shadow, the opposite sign is Virgo which suggests that ideas, hopes and expectations may be held back by being caught in details and effort or actions not being taken.
At the moment of Mercury turning retrograde (12:54 am Universal Time), the Ascendant of the moment is in Scorpio with Mars the ruler of the Ascendant just entering Capricorn close to the South Node ( past, karmic point) and trine Uranus in Taurus pulling us towards an intense activity on building and or reviewing a specific life sector and to a larger extend our life structure by releasing past conditioning that keeps us in the past or illusions (Mercury conjunct Neptune) and that is blocking our growth or the new life we want to build. Both signs, Scorpio and Pisces are water signs, learning how to cultivate and express emotions as a way of relating to one another. This configuration can speak about embracing our emotions and use them when we communicate and at the same time being detached (Aquarius) by not becoming overwhelmed as Scorpio can become too intense or obsessive (either black or white) and Pisces can turn to victim-hood in the way we relate to a specific situation. Also, this time can signify that the way we see our life needs to be looked at from a higher perspective so that we are able to see the whole picture before we can understand a certain situation or a person’s motives of behavior. By not being caught in the details, we are able to expand our view, by Zooming out of the “old” ways of thinking and feeling.
With Moon (Sagittarius) forming a challenging aspect with Mercury and Neptune at the time of the retrograde cycle we might encounter situations where our need to feel adventurous and free spirited is going to be put to the test and challenged by our logic in order to leave any illusions of grandeur aside of what is real now or not and to see what’s left for us to work on accomplishing further – leading us to knowing were we are in this moment and where we want to be. By the end of this transit, you will have a clearer vision of when and what needs to be changed in order to accommodate to the transition that is occurring. The only sure thing in this world is that “change is the only constant in life” so open yourself to these waves of awakening by becoming more conscious of yourself and your interactions.
To be more a bit more specific, bellow are the domains of life where each zodiac sign will be triggered by this Mercury Retrograde transit to review and reconsider. This time there are 2 for each sign (look for your Sun sign, Ascendant, and Moon if known):
Aries: relationship with God, self-analysis, letting go of battle & friends, future plans, aspirations, ideals.
Taurus: friends, future plans, aspirations, ideals & career, public image, reputation, social status.
Gemini: public image, reputation, social status & beliefs, principles, relationships with foreigners, studies
Cancer: beliefs, principles, relationships with foreigners, studies & renunciation, power, sexuality, unpaid money, loans.
Leo: renunciation, power, sexuality, unpaid money, loans & relationships, couple, association, marriage.
Virgo: relationships, couple, association, marriage & health, work, colleagues, daily schedule.
Libra: health, work, colleagues, daily schedule & love, children, creativity, hobbies.
Scorpio: love, children, creativity, hobbies & house, family, dwelling, soul.
Sagittarius: family, dwelling, soul & travel, communication, electronic equipment, studies.
Capricorn: travel, communication, electronic equipment, studies & money, personal goods and values, talents.
Aquarius: money, personal goods and values, talents & decisions, self-actions, ambition, physical body, image.
Pisces: decisions, self-actions, ambition, physical body, image & health, relationship with God, self-analysis, letting go of battle.
Here are some activities that is best to pay more attention to and avoid or postpone until the period ends:
- Signing important contracts (best time to review contracts and/or important agreements);
- Buying electronic equipment (including mobile phones or cars, etc);
- Taking any major decisions;
- Travelling (delays, accidents, losing items might happen, etc);
- Buying expensive items (you may see them on Sale after the period end);
- Communicate a new release related to information and/or data.
To be continued…
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