Mercury Retrograde

 

September 3, 2004

 

http://cainer.com/ericfrancis/sep3.html

 

Hello Eric:

I am feeling a little confused at the moment. Back in 2002 I went through a difficult emotional time, my marriage was in a very bad place, my father died and it was looking like my mother was going to follow him. I ended up seeking therapy to help me through this time of my life and thought I had managed to do so successfully. However, just recently I have started feeling the stirring of emotions that are similar to those back in 2002 but this time there does not seem to be any apparent reason for my feeling this way. Is this a typical Mercury retrograde experience, and if so, do you have any advise on what it the best way to manage such experiences? My birth details are March 16, 1955 at 5:00 p.m. in Perth, Western Australia.

Thanking you,

Denise

 

 

Dear Denise,

Sometimes difficult emotional times have an outer-world connection, such as the circumstances you describe. And almost always during those experiences there are important transits that tell the story. Then time goes on and, depending on how our charts are set up, a new set of influences moves in - and that is what is happening. Presuming we're looking at the same chart, you are now experiencing Pluto going over your Moon; Saturn is also going over your natal Jupiter-Uranus conjunction and (significantly) moving into your 12th house; and you are about to experience your Chiron return in the spring of 2005. If the current (just ending) Mercury retrograde has done anything, it's just woken you up to influences that have been very powerful much of the year.

 

These are all important transits, which say that you are reaching the close of a major era of your life -- decades long -- and getting ready to move to an entirely different level. I would propose that what you are going through now is really an extension of the events of 2002, or that you view them that way. If you found counseling to be a process that offered you help and comfort, then I would strongly recommend that you look your therapist up and spend some time there each week.

 

The Chiron return, beginning at age 50 or 51, is a major life transition, and yours is going to be particularly important. An astrologer not reading Chiron would likely get similar information from Saturn going into your 12th house and eventually crossing your ascendant; that would roughly coincide with the approximately two or three year process that usually comes with the Chiron return. But Chiron is being very specific in your case and Saturn is filling in more of the background on the story, which is essentially that you need to focus on your growth, your life, your spiritual development, and leave other people to their processes as much as possible. There are many hidden aspects of your nature you have yet to discover, and many to free yourself of.

 

When working with Chiron, if a client is approaching an important Chiron event for example, one of the first things I do is check some of the other major Chiron transits that have occurred in the lifetime. What I suggest you do is take each of the following dates I'm going to give you and work with them separately. Write down the conditions and events of each of those times, the important people and what happened to them, and so on, and develop each date separately.

 

I must emphasize -- please read this paragraph twice - we are not looking for big events; rather, we're looking for the conditions of your life at the time of the transit, including what was happening with people around you. There may be big events; there may not. If you are unsure of any time, start with writing down your address, consider who your partner was, what job you had, and so on. Give this project time to ferment - a couple of weeks will do.

 

Then, once you have the dates journaled out, see if you can identify a theme that runs through the different time frames. This is the creative part. What story to they tell? How would that story complete? This will help us understand what your Chiron return is building toward.

 

Here are some dates to work with. I will include the name of the transit, for reference, taken from the Aureas Ephemeris (published in France, http://aureas.com, which by the way gives Chiron, Ceres and the lunar apogee): - Autumn 1977, Chiron at 3-4 Taurus, your first Chiron square [also, discovery of Chiron]

 

-- Spring-Summer 1984, Chiron in Gemini, at your Midheaven

 

-- Summer 1991, Chiron in Leo, opposite your natal Chiron

 

-- Summer 1993, Chiron in Leo, in your Ascendant

 

-- Autumn 1997, Chiron in Scorpio, square your natal Chiron

 

If I were working with you in a counseling situation I would also inquire about the conditions of your life at two years old.

 

That's a start. Please let me know what you learn.