Tag Archives: Zodiac

Nov 26 2012

As of Today, Nov. 26, 2012, Mercury is Retrograde No More… At Least for the Next 3 Months!

I’m delighted to let you know that Mercury is going Direct in Scorpio today as of 5:48 PM Eastern Time. I can hear you shouting “Yay!!” as you jump up and down… No more Mercury Retrograde until February 23, 2013! I’m saying that just as a reminder that Mercury turning Retrograde is a very regular cycle in our lives that occurs every 3 months – 4 times a year – and it stays Retrograde 3 weeks each time. This is an example of the natural inhale and exhale, ebb and flow of life – of two steps forward, one step back, of needing rest after forward motion. Learning to move gracefully and fully engaged with that cycle is a terrific goal to have. (See my article “Mercury Retrograde: The Unlikely Healing Gift” for insights on that.)

This Mercury Retrograde for me has actually been quite smooth and fruitful… perhaps that’s the result of consciously working in accordance with the energy, or maybe, I’ve just been lucky this past 3 weeks. Trust me – I’ve had my share of truly DOOZIE Mercury Retrogrades! Whatever the reason for the ease of this one, I’m looking forward to the next 3 months as Mercury moves forward to see what will bloom fresh and new in my mind and how I will determine to express it to others.

Time-lapse image showing Retrograde motion in space.

Bear in mind that we will be in the “shadow” of Mercury Retrograde until Dec. 14. This simply means that Mercury goes back over the same degrees of the Zodiac it covered while it was going backwards, until it ends up where it started. During this time, the next 19 days, you might expect whatever came up during the Retrograde to resurface. (For this kind of retrospective, it’s helpful to know what degrees of Scorpio and Sagittarius the Retrograde covered – it began at 4 degrees of Sagittarius and moved back to 18 degrees of Scorpio – and where those degrees are in your birth chart – and what days over the past 3 weeks specific things happened. Always helpful to keep a journal for things like this so you can look back and find patterns or witness lessons learned or simply life experienced.)

I love watching annual trends with these kinds of Cosmic escapades. Last year, 2011, Mercury went Retrograde on Thanksgiving Day. This year, 2012, on Thanksgiving we were in the throes of Mercury Retrograde – just a few days before the end of it. And next year Mercury Retrograde will be over almost 2 weeks before Thanksgiving. But we’ll have a Retrograde Halloween! That sounds like the perfect time to communicate (Mercury) with those already gone before us (Retrograde).

Have fun in your forward journey all!

 

NOTE: Here’s a wonderful video that shows Mercury Retrograde motion astronomically – a space view of how we see Mercury Retrograde. Fabulous!

From the YouTube Video explanation:

Please watch in Full screen HD-mode! This animation shows from GEOCENTRIC point of view (Earth’ observer) how the innermost planet Mercury moves on its small orbit direct, than suddenly appears to move retrograde (backwards) and turns direct again. The red grid marks the ecliptical plane, in which the Sun and most planets move more or less. The figures indicate the 30° intersection of the ecliptical grid, so 0° longitude is the beginning at the vernal equinox = 0° Aries, Every further 30° step is the next astrological (tropical) sign of the zodiac, so e.g. 30°-60° = Taurus, 60°-90° = Gemini and so on. The movement for Mercury is shown for 2009 and 2010 covering two of its retrograde periods, which take about three weeks and occur four times every Earth year. Mercury’s orbit is shown in orange colour (ellipse). The panel on the left corner is in German and displays the calendar date of the animation. The timestep is 1 day per trail and computation. This is how the apparent retrograde motion of planets actually appears and happens. Stars and other planets are excluded in this animation. The animation was generated with Redshift 7 Premium by USM Media. More explanations will be inserted into the animation soon.

Aug 10 2012

Mercury Retrograde is Over… Breathe, Smile, Move Forward & Prepare for the Future

Mercury is Direct! Time to step forward…

 

As of August 8, 2012 at 1:40 AM, while most of us in this part (EDT) of the world were sleeping, Mercury once again began his forward motion, freeing us to get on with it. This Mercury Retrograde was apparently a humdinger (translation: CRAZY!) I heard from so many people who were struggling with all kinds of things… and everyone had one question: When will it be over??

So now it is. 

And just now, so you know what else is going on, the latter days of this Mercury Retrograde and until about Monday, August 13, Mercury is in a bit of a challenging aspect with Neptune. These two are dancing at about 150 degrees apart, a Quincunx… which means the dance is more of an attempt to keep in rhythm and off of each other’s toes. Neptune diffuses the workings of the mind, lending a day-dreamy quality and not much impetus to perform. Neptune can also lend confusion to mental processes and keep communications off the mark of reality. It can make the mind easily distracted and long for peace. So if you’re one of the folks who is still experiencing the proverbial pebble in her mental shoe, don’t fret. This too shall pass. 😉

I’d like to mention a couple of other things that go along with the happy Mercury Direct news. For the future. 

1. When Mercury is Retrograde and you feel like you can’t get anything to cooperate in order to get things done… it is a message. Try to listen to it! The best possible recourse is to stop trying to get that particular thing done in that particular way and surrender to the energy. Walk away for a little while to gain perspective. That doesn’t mean to stop doing everything. It just means to stop hitting your head against the same wall when particular things obviously aren’t going to move for you. Surrender. If you’re at the airport and you’ve just heard the announcement that your flight is delayed and you’ll miss your big meeting – well, decide to enjoy the extra hours of free time you’ve been given. You can’t change the delay – but you can change your attitude around it and turn it into a blessing. Or if it’s a project related wall you’re banging your against, change your tactic – meaning, instead of trying to push something into existence, do a little more research instead. Review whatever it is and take it slowly. Relax around it and allow inspiration to come. Mercury, especially when Retrograde, likes to dip way down into the subconscious and retrieve golden nuggets buried deeply within the psyche and then bring them up to the surface to assist you. Let that process happen! The end result will be much richer for it. And you won’t have to keep re-doing things to get them right. And please, if your computer crashes and you have 24 hours before it will be repaired – go outside or meet a friend. Enjoy life without a screen to sit in front of!

2. After Mercury goes direct there is a “shadow” period during which Mercury retraces his steps over the same degrees across which he went retrograde. This is important to understand. To illustrate, this retrograde Mercury began traveling backwards when he was at 12-and-a-half degrees of Leo. Keep in mind that there are 30 degrees to every sign (and 12 signs, so that makes 360 degrees total to make the complete circle of the Zodiac, which is actually the Ecliptic, or the apparent path that the Sun and planets follow). So Mercury went backwards from 12.5 degrees back to 1.5 degrees, covering a total of 11 degrees in reverse. Now that he’s moving forward again, he must go back over those same 11 degrees, from 1.5 to 12.5 to get back to the place he started when the retrograde began. Savvy? So during the shadow period, you may revisit things that you thought you’d put into their proper place that need your attention to be finally set right. Also, during Mercury’s Shadow, move forward and start getting things done absolutely. But still, don’t force. You are meant to pay particular attention to that ground that’s already been covered and be sure that your t’s are crossed and your i’s dotted and that the fine print has been read or written properly. Use your intuition to know how far you can go how quickly. The current Mercury Shadow is in effect until August 22, 2012. And don’t let this news dampen your spirit… get out there and do! 

3. Every Mercury Retrograde affects every person differently. Where and how the retrograde impacts you depends on where Mercury is transiting around your birth chart. So each person will have a different response and a different place where the energy is the strongest – and where Mercury will play the most tricks. I did actually have one client who said this Mercury Retrograde was a piece of cake! She was the only one, but there it is. 🙂

4. Don’t be afraid of Mercury Retrograde. It is a gift! When you’re afraid of something that’s coming you build anxiety around it and your anxiety focuses your response and your expectations – and hence, the outcome. Focusing on fear creates the anxiety which in turn creates the self-fulfilling prophecy that something negative will occur. Instead, as you anticipate the Retrograde, think of it as a time to restore your mind. A time to amp up your meditation practice or sit quietly in nature or to focus on appreciation of what you’re already accomplished or to curl up with a good book in the evenings researching your next big dream. Mercury Retrograde is an opportunity to step away from the fast, forward push that you’re generally engaged in. Get a calendar and learn ahead of time when the Retrograde periods are coming and plan accordingly. 

And now celebrate! I hope you’re feeling refreshed and ready to skip down that new road of possibilities!

And with the New Moon in Leo coming up one week from today on Friday, August 17, I hope you’ll join me for the Free New Moon TeleClass & Meditation where we’ll be covering how to get real with your creativity and doing a beautiful guided imagery meditation all about Leo energy! And please remember that if you join this free call you’ll get Great Gratitude Offer which is 20% off when you schedule a consultation with me before the next Full Moon. So happy Mercury Direct and I hope to “hear” you on the call!

In case you missed it: Mercury Retrograde, The Unlikely Healing Gift