Down with Mercury Wrecko! Up with Mercury Respecto!

 

Rodin’s “The Thinker”

 10 More Ways to Celebrate Mercury Retrograde

March 12 – April 4, 2012

(23^o Pisces 51’ – 6 ^o  Aries 49’)

© 2012 by Joyce Mason

All Rights Reserved

Another Mercury Retrograde is right around the corner! It almost always sneaks up on me, and I find it difficult to practice what I preach about setting aside time to reflect on the Mercurial issues in my life because I haven’t planned for it. This time I’m giving you—and me—a heads-up! Here’s another chance to make the most of this recurring period of mental rest, while learning to appreciate its charms.

Mercury rules Gemini. Think of how charming a Gem can be, the social butterfly of the zodiac. (Also consider how challenging it would be for a Gemini to have his or her flit-about wings clipped or talkative nature shooshed.) Yes, Mercury Retrograde’s charms are sometimes difficult to see for its frustrations—but frustration comes from bucking the tide. Aside from the usual first step of checking out where this Mercury Retrograde falls in your chart, here are some suggestions to help you flow into the rethink, reconsider and retrench mode that are on point with Mercury Retrograde. Welcome one more chance to slow down, go inward and experience mental calm.

1. Give Mercury a place of honor on your altar. I found a postcard of a museum sculpture of the Winged Messenger, and he holds a prominent place on mine during every Mercury Retrograde. Since I’m a writer with a Mercury-ruled Sun, he lives there more often than not. If you have a prominent Mercury or an emphasis on the Mercury-ruled planets of Gemini or Virgo, you might want to consider making Mercury a permanent resident in your sacred spot. Whether moved in or “just visiting,” make Mercury visible as a god or archetype deserving your respect. Just as we are quiet in church, the quicksilver god simply asks for his 3.5 weeks of reverence a few times a year.

2. Thank Mercury and your higher power for the wonder of your mind. List all the things your mind does for you. Tell your mind you’re so appreciative; you’re giving it a few weeks off from firing like an automatic weapon. Follow through. Record the results.
   
   
3. Rediscover meditation. Meditation usually aims at getting you out of your mind chatter, at reaching a state of no-mind. If you already meditate regularly, experiment with some new meditation techniques. If sitting in the chair without wiggling or talking to yourself in your mind is a chronic challenge, commit to sitting 10-20 minutes a day in the silence during Mercury Retrograde. About mid-way through this Retro, write down what you’re learning from this practice.

4. Appreciate the Mercurial people in your life. Who in your life has a strong Mercury or planets in Gemini and Virgo? Write down their names and which of their Mercurial qualities you like and which ones you don’t particularly care for. What do you learn about your feelings toward a “good working” Mercury?
   
   
5.  Reintroduce yourself to your own Mercury.  Now, do #4 about your own Mercury. What parts of it do you like? Not like? Example: I find it very annoying, how my Mercury in Libra is so indecisive about little things.  I bought half a pound each of two kinds of ham at the deli recently, rather than choose one over the other. On the upside, I do relish how it enables me to see all sides of an issue and want peaceful, loving, connected communications that are fair to everyone in the conversation.
   
   
6. Find out which of your friends have natal Mercury in retrograde. Discover how they experience it, and what their experience has to offer you for when you are experiencing this condition temporarily. What do you discover to help you during the current or future Mercury Rx cycles?
   
   
7. Follow your dreams for hints on how to focus your Mercury Retrograde. When you know the symbol system of astrology, you may find it creeping into your dreams, even if you don’t see glyphs or people wearing a t-shirt or jewelry with their zodiac sign. For instance, during Mercury Retro, you might find yourself running and running but getting nowhere. Or you might find yourself talking a lot but no one’s paying any attention to you. Those are pretty in-your-face signals to run around or talk less, two of the hallmarks of a well spent Mercury Retro.
   
   
8. Reconsider your next short trip you have planned. What are your goals for it? Does what you have planned actually meet those goals? Is the timing right? When Mercury goes direct, make any adjustments that are necessary based on this reflection.
   
   
9. Reflect on thinking as art. Spend some time contemplating Rodin’s The Thinker or any other artwork, movie or song where thinking or reflection is the theme. What do you think The Thinker is thinking? What do you learn about thinking and yourself?
   
   

10. Review your relationship with busyness. I shared previously how helpful I have found the work of Maria Nemeth, a psychologist and professional coach who focuses on all aspects of  personal success. Maria made her mark doing seminars to help people learn more about the topic in the title of one of her books, The Energy of Money: A Spiritual Guide to Financial and Personal Fulfillment In one of her recent presentations I attended, Maria talked about how our addiction to busyness keeps us from asking ourselves meaningful questions about our lives. (When I shared this with a dear friend, her one-word response was identical to my own: “Busted.”) Our busy minds send us to the Busy Place. If we do nothing more during any Mercury Retrograde than to pause and ask those questions we’re too busy to ask at other times, we will enhance our lives and discover the greatest gift of this recurring, retrograde cycle.

Retrograde Rest Stop

Mars and Saturn [1] also will remain retrograde through this entire Mercury Retrograde period. With three planets appearing to move backwards in the sky, we have a considerable cosmic signal for a slowdown. It makes sense on a certain level that we would have this rest period to gather our resources before the changes brewing in 2012 break through to become more obvious and demand more of our time and energy. Right around the corner is the first exact square between Pluto and Uranus on June 26 at 8 degrees of Capricorn/Aries. The next exact square occurs September 19 at 6 degrees. The Cardinal signs are turning points, and even with intelligent guesses of how this energetic will affect us personally; with Uranus involved, there will probably be elements of surprise and things we didn’t see coming. Rest up to embrace change and have your personal resources at the ready for fast evolution, both inside of you and outside in the world.

In keeping with Mercury Retrograde’s prescription for reprising things, here’s the original 10 Ways to Celebrate Mercury Retrograde post, if you want to reread it. Now you’ve got 20 ways to celebrate! I hope I haven’t sent my readers who share Mercury in Libra with me into choice overload! (Pretend you’ve got Mercury in Aries. Pick one, any one. Roll with it!) There are no wrong choices, only different paths to Mercury Respecto.

~~~

Photo Credits: Le penseur de Rodin © patleem - Fotolia.com; Rest Stop Sign © Michel Bazin - Fotolia.com

Note: [1] I recommend this excellent article by Jeff Jawer on the current Saturn Retrograde cycle, Saturn Retrograde in Libra: Relationship Review.

LAST THREE DAYS! Comment Contest. Don’t miss an opportunity to win a free mini-reading or $50 off a full reading in this Valentine’s month comment contest. Comment on this or any post on The Radical Virgo to be entered into the drawing.

E-BOOK SALE. Also ending with February is the Valentine sale on e-books, extended to the end of the month. Buy now for the best discounts this year!

Moonwalk: Aries

© 2011 by Joyce Mason

All Rights Reserved

Author’s Note: This article is time sensitive, especially the section, This Aries New Moon. Please note the influence of Mercury Retrograde, March 30 – April 23.

I’m writing this in a hurry! That’s what Aries Moon does —launches headlong into the next adventure. For Aries, it’s not a Moonwalk; it’s a Moonsprint.

In fact, I imagine this Ram Goddess pictured to be lingering in one of the few rare moments of quiet where Lunar Aries might actually pause and let her fiery nature simmer. The occasion? Looking up at the Moon to contemplate her next new birth. That might be a pioneering journey to the Moon itself, the launch of a new company, or any other start of something big. She is the world’s expert at start-ups. During the boring, mundane, daily routine phase of projects, she’s not so hot. If your plans are stuck, let her put a match under the stick-in-the-muds that can’t get it off the ground. There’s a movie title, Failure to Launch. Aries Moon is Failure to Stall.

Whether male or female, the Ram Moon is ruled by the yang or male energy, the assertive side of nature that sparked the Nike slogan, “Just do it.” (S/he needs the Nikes running shoes for the Moonsprint.) The Aries Moons I know talk fast and suffer no fools. They are not long on the P-word—patience. (Read my humorous piece, God Is Not an Aries, which may apply even more to Aries Moon than Sun when it comes to the impulse to get on with it.)

These folks are doers. They are only happy when they’re making something happen. The best way to understand what makes Aries Moon tick is to realize is that this Moon sign is the King or Queen of New Beginnings. Aries starts the zodiac, the season of spring, the time when new seeds are planted—the natural New Year. Imagine that energy ruling your feeling life. You’d feel best being first, being on time, being #1—you get the picture. That launch thing? Aries Moon is a firecracker and the spark that ignites the rocket launcher.

About the pyrotechnics. We are talking hair-trigger temper in many instances—or at least until this Moon sign matures from explosives to sparklers.

A number of Aries Moons I know frequently sound a bit angry, edgy, and tend to throw their weight around. Their best offense is a good offense! And I mean offense both in terms of plays in football or life, as well as offense as in offending someone. I recall the wake left by an Aries Moon I know, a man who also happened to have several other Rambuctious planets to fan the flames of his Aries Moon. After he had come into a room and thrown his considerable weight around, demanding immediate attention, one person asked, “What was that?” Or at least the strong one left standing that could still walk and talk! (The others were still peeling themselves off the floor from being Rammed into and run over.) Don’t pick a fight with this person unless you can put up a good one, and there are some Aries Moons that love to fight so much; they’ll egg you on just to be able to get their adrenaline fix/release for the day—and maybe a few slugs in, verbal or otherwise. Extreme cases? Yes. But good to be able to identify so you can duck or head for the fallout shelter.

On the plus side, you’ll never find anyone who falls in love more quickly and befriends you with more loyalty. Passion rules Aries Moon and creates a vessel for accomplishing great things in the world because of that zeal and fire. If you’re in love with an Aries Moon, the trick in the Romance Department is to keep the love fires burning. That thing about not being so hot when it comes to the mundane parts of projects also applies to his or her love life. If you can’t keep your Aries love object sparked, you may find him or her wandering off to the next new and exciting romantic adventure. And your ability to deal with conflict in a positive way is a must.

Remember, if you’re in love with a Mars-driven being, both anger and sex are ruled by this same planet. Aries Moons not only love a good argument; they often find it so simulating, it’s foreplay.

Aries Moon characteristics stand out most when contemplating the opposite Moon sign, Libra. While Libra is comfortable and fed by partnership, as the Moon feeds and comforts us all, Aries Moon tends toward being self-centered and going it alone—unless you can make him or her always feel like s/he’s your Number One. If s/he doesn’t have a lot of other planets that are oriented toward the interpersonal, Aries Moon can often be happy flying solo—in-between hot, short-term romances. Libra Moon wants peace. Aries Moon likes to stir it up. Libra Moon has a strong sense of justice for all. Aries Moon cares what’s in it for him or her.

This often wild and wonderful individual is unique and quite a treasure, if you don’t take a tendency toward lack of tact too seriously (another opposition to Libra). If you keep your sense of humor well polished, you will love Aries Moon—whether or not you are one! I speak from experience. I have several planets in Libra and find my Aries friends, both Sun and Moon, balance my Scales and add a big shot of adrenaline to my life.  My first love—my adoptive mom who raised me—had an Aries Moon that both scared the scrap off my Libra planets and entertained me in a way that still has me laughing, almost daily, and she’s been gone over 30 years. Mom was an Italian-American, a “bottle redhead,” someone I have often called Chicago’s answer to I Love Lucy—except that she had Ricky Ricardo’s temper. No one could hug, encourage me, or fire me up quite like her. I’m sure her vitality rubbed off on me and plays a large role in why I’m so “high energy.”

For those who don’t already own an Aries Moon, let’s try one on.

Aries Moon Role Play

Now that you’ve reacquainted yourself with some Aries Moon characteristics, let’s imagine what it would be like to “play Aries Moon” this month, colored by the Aries Sun/Moon conjunction. (If you actually have Aries Moon, play anyway!) Think of things you want to get off the ground in your life. Imagine you could put on a Ram mask or costume, like the woman in the opening photo and abracadabra! You have Aries Moon! Review your vision of the month ahead and ask yourself:

1. Of everything on my plate, what needs to be cooked in a hurry? What has to get done by May 1st?
   
   
2. How can I light an Aries fire under it? I am a fearless Ram, an Amazon (if a woman), and I will focus as pointedly as the arrow of the Mars glyph for the next four weeks on ….
   
   
3. Which Aries Sun or Moons in my life can I consult or observe to give me that fiery, pioneering Aries courage?
   
   
4. How can I turn on my Inner Pioneer and not only get it done but also allow my creativity such free rein, moments of genius come through?
   
   
5. Forget work for a minute—is this a good time to spark some romance, either with an existing love or to look for a new one? Spring has sprung; love is in the air. Should I go for it?
   
   
6. What does it feel like to be: hot, first, Number One—brilliant? If you’re one of the more modest signs, permission granted to bask in fiery You-ness and leave tact and humility for another time.
   
   
7. Drink in all the bursting blooms of spring, the shift of weather, and decide of playing Aries at this time of the Natural New Year might become one of your permanent “New Year’s Evolutions.”

This Month’s Aries New Moon

Click on chart to enlarge

Now that I got you all excited about playing Aries Moon this month, I’m going to have to put the kibosh a bit on your impersonation of a Man or Woman from Mars. As you can see by this month’s New Moon chart, a pack of no less than six Aries planets is led by Mercury Retrograde. What do we do with that, just when we’re all stoked to try our hand at living the life of a lunar Ram? These are my thoughts.

Mercury is retrograde this time for 3½ long weeks, March 30 – April 23. Its retrograde arc is from 24-13 Aries. Individuals with Cardinal signs (Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn) will be most affected.

The key areas of life Mercury Retrograde affects are communications and the tools related to it, commerce, and short-term trips. It’s not the time to “go forward,” especially with something new—just what Aries Moon wants to do—now! (What, slow down? Shift into reverse?)

It’s a timing thing. If you can hurry up (what Aries Moon likes to do) and start those projects before March 30 when Mercury shifts into retrograde (1:48 pm PDT, adjust for your time zone), then you can use the Mercury Retro period for revising what you began when Mercury was still direct. Example: I’m giving several presentations in April and May. All my slide shows are started—or will be—before the Quicksilver God shifts gears. Mercury Retro is excellent for all “re”-things, including revising (editing), revisioning, reconsidering, and the fun re-things like recreation and relaxation. If you can get your new things started before the shift in Mercury’s direction, you can review, revise, refine, and reconsider with the zeal of a Ram, knowing that when Mercury goes forward on April 23, you and your projects will be ready for the second stage of launching. (Even rockets to the Moon launch in stages.)

When Michael Jackson did his trademark dance backwards, it was known as Moonwalking. Here’s your chance—Aries Moon or Ram Moon for a Month—to learn how to use your Nike sprinters in their full range of direction and speed, including slow and reverse. Go ahead and Moonwalk, knowing that life is full of low-speed zones and it’s part of the rounding out of the Aries character to learn to accept the slowdowns that sometimes become full-out stops, if the low-speed zones are not honored (like by the police stopping you for speeding). To experiment with what it feels like to have an Aries Moon during a time like this is to experience the challenges a native Aries Moon feels, but in a compressed time span, including those irritating slowdowns.

Another thought: If you’re “playing Aries” in a month when Mercury is Retro, you are using Mercury Retrograde well by revisioning or reconsidering yourself. If you are “playing” Aries, it’s got the factor of recreation, another positive resonance to the purpose of Mercury Retrograde. Martian Aries energy is met all the time by situations where full tilt boogie is not the best way to operate at the moment, but it doesn’t have to stop you from doing it in your mind, then bursting forth when the cosmic clock is more action-friendly. Then count down to the next phase of blast-off.

Other New Moon chart factors: Mars/Uranus are tightly conjunct. Be careful out there. Things are easily explosive; tempers may flare and be triggered easily. It’s a time where accidents happen more frequently, so be more cautious than usual. Combined with Mercury Retro, it’s a good time check your car for routine maintenance that left undone could be the inadvertent cause of a vehicular mishap. Use sharp objects with care, as they are ruled by Mars while it’s in an unstable condition joined with Uranus.

Saturn in Libra opposes the Sun/Moon conjunction in Aries, which adds the third set of “slow down and live” warnings behind Mercury Retro, and the Mars/Uranus conjunction. This is a time to plan your strategies like a true self-starter but leave the major new doing till later in April.

With Chiron conjunct Venus, there is opportunity for relationship healing. You might need some with the Aries pile-up of planets. Before Chiron, Aries was “the wounder,” and one of the “re” things you can do combined with Mercury Retro this month is to repair and rejuvenate yourself from any relationship mishaps and hurts. With Pluto squaring most of the planets in Aries, there’s yet another theme of a potentially explosive time—but also one where deep change can take root with the spring seeds of new intentions you plant. Be the change, as the saying goes.

It’s interesting to me that the North Node in Sagittarius trines Mercury Retrograde in Aries in this chart. These are the planets of learning and exploring the mind. In retrograde, the prescription for learning this month is inner.

Weaving this all together, the New Moon chart asks us to start projects before Mercury Retro but to play Aries Moon in our minds—to use the pause Mercury Retrograde requests for creative planning and revisioning, for recreation and re-creating ourselves and the next leg of our journey from a mental perspective. All manifestations start in our thoughts, so a Mercury Retrograde when we want to burst forth is actually a blessing in disguise. We get to check our map, along with our safety and navigation tools, to be sure we blast off without a hitch.

North Node in Sag reminds us that this is a journey. As on all journeys, no matter how exciting or far we travel, we have to stop to rest and replenish ourselves. This month’s chart of the New Moon moment suggests we’re in a time that’s wild and woolly in many respects, but we can navigate it by finding an oasis in our minds for rest, recheck, and rejuvenation—and by honoring the wisdom of cosmic cycles and nature itself.

~~~

Photo Credit: Ram Zodiac Woman © Photowitch | Dreamstime.com

Up-Dates! (Literally) 

The Spring Equinox Contest to give Chiron a new tagline has a new deadline, April 24. I felt the notice was simply too short and want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to throw their hats and ideas into the ring. Please help me find an improvement on "the wounded healer." Contest details here. 

My Chiron Research has an extended date, too. You may now submit your personal anecdotes through June 1, 2011. Be a part of the continuing discovery!

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