Mercury storm and some ‘catch and release’ from Pisces

We’re entering the Mercury ‘storm’ phase now, the two or three days on either side of Mercury’s station direct at 4:03 pm on Sunday, March 17. We’re also in the midst of the squares being made by the Sun and Venus to a host of minor planets in Sagittarius and Gemini. In other words, the sky is shifting quickly, but in ways that might make your mind feel a little slow and your emotions especially changeable.

Photo by Amanda Painter.
Mercury storms are kind of like snowstorms, right? Well, no, but hopefully this storm from a couple weeks ago was the last major one of the season, since spring officially begins in six days. Photo by Amanda Painter.

Sometimes the Mercury storm days can be even more challenging and wiggy than the actual station when it comes to communication difficulties, electronics acting up and travel snafus. Remind yourself to take things slowly, anticipate delays and allow the creativity of Pisces to suggest work-arounds as needed.

Mercury is closing in on a near-miss conjunction with Neptune when it stations. Along with Mercury’s slower apparent speed in the days around the station, it’s that proximity of Neptune that could equal some mental difficulty, since Neptune tends to diffuse whatever other planetary energy it encounters. The difference between when you’re using logic and when you’re working with illusions could get a little fuzzy.

At the same time, that may point to leaning on your intuition a little more than usual through the weekend — and the continued presence of three other major planets in Pisces (the Sun, Venus and Chiron) lends assistance there. In fact, Mercury is currently about halfway between Chiron and Neptune, and will pass by Chiron a couple of weeks after its near miss with Neptune. Both intuitions and illusions encountered over the next several days will likely point to something deep you need to address, and you’ll get the opportunity to do so by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, the Sun and Venus in late Pisces are running the gauntlet of squares to planets and points of all sorts in Sagittarius and Gemini for the next week or so. As Len Wallick so eloquently explained on Tuesday, these encounters — while potentially challenging or tense — are giving us the opportunity to encounter deep shadow material, air it out, embrace it and move on in quick succession.

Think of it as ‘catch and release’ astrology. The idea is to recognize what you’re feeling, take whatever action is needed to own what is yours, offer to the goddess Venus whatever is not yours, and allow yourself space to receive some self-directed compassion.

Noticing what frustrates or upsets you is the first step, but it doesn’t need to be where you hang out. It can point you to the next insight if you’re willing to look beneath the surface and receive the lesson. Out of the several aspects Venus and the Sun make over the next couple of days, I’ll mention four.

Sun square Ceres in Gemini is a reminder about ways we can get in the way of what’s good for us when we hold mixed messages about food (and other forms of nourishment). Notice when you’re not feeding your mind and spirit, and remember that Ceres became the goddess of agriculture after establishing the seasons — which are regulated by the Sun. We’re on the verge of spring in the Northern Hemisphere, with its longer days and planting season; how can you also begin ‘lightening’ up what you take into yourself?

Venus square the centaur Ixion in Sagittarius asks, what do you do with second chances in love? Are you sure you’re acting with integrity? If you’re being given a second chance to receive, are you letting the love in?

Venus square Pholus says, watch out for small triggers that could run out of control (as I cautioned for Sun-Pholus earlier in the week), or taking things the wrong way or too far in relationships. That may include ‘too much of a good thing’ if the pleasurable indulgence could jeopardize how you feel about yourself or relates to old, unwanted patterns.

And Venus square Black Moon Lilith (a calculated point related to the Moon’s path of orbit) wants to know how you’re being prompted to accept ‘the real you’. There are both sides to that coin; can you love both the side you like and the side you don’t?

As we move through these encounters with ourselves, Mercury is still pointing us inward through Sunday to help us see what we need to understand a little better about ourselves.

17 thoughts on “Mercury storm and some ‘catch and release’ from Pisces”

  1. Thanks Amanda for the second chance with l ‘ asteroid Ixion you are too strong, the champions these Centaurs in the art of his true inner listening ”
    Good week to you all 🙂

  2. Greenstar – think the same goes for you, that you’re moving into a new space, it’s happening to me too. It’s scary, but beautiful….

  3. kazaa, “I can’t process words (not good, as I write for a living)” – that’s really positive, it means that you’re moving into a new space, that you’re letting go. Really play with it, trust it.
    Hang on in there, gals!

  4. I concur with everyone else who has posted here….this Merc Rx was particularly intense and challenging. I have a preponderance of water in my chart so I was hoping this might be a pleasant time, instead I’ve been surprised to find that this was an incredibly difficult passage. I didn’t realize how much I rely on the mundane astrology to help me ground the imbalances in my own chart. The new moon was incredibly intense as it also happened that the whole planetary party was happening on the root of my chart. A couple of family crises gave rise to some of the deepest grief work that I’ve done since my father’s passing. Painful words and realizations emerged which began dissolving of family ties that have been in place for 5 decades or more. Money and car problems galore. A crisis of resources triggered a crisis in self-worth and self-esteem. Questions about my worthiness abound. No creative inspiration for many moons and doubts about my creative core seems to loom larger each passing day.

    It feels like trying to swim alone at night in a sea of molasses wearing a wetsuit made of lead chain mail. Getting kinda tired of it.

  5. This feels and is awful. One car has transmission problems ($$$$). The other stalls for no reason after warming it up first ($$$$). An appliance blew up so bad early Thursday morning that it blew a house fuse so now a quarter of the plugs and switches don’t work in the house and we have to replace the fuse and the appliance ($$$$). One tire needed replacing on the van Tuesday ($$$$). The check sent to the state revenue department to clear a mistake THEY made is taking FOREVER to clear my account and be posted against the charge they levied on us when they credited the check where it really belonged; to the person who paid the tax bill last year. The department credited that payment to us in error and direct deposited to our account last month. I had to re-apply for Snap and Medicaid during Merc Rx because of the timing of when I was supposed to reapply and they seem to now need MORE paperwork than usual which forces me to do twice the work and make two trips and sit for HOURS (It was over 3 hrs Tuesday; how can anyone get that much time off work?) twice.

    I am ready to be done with Merc RX and hope nothing ELSE goes bad Sunday when it stations direct. It costs me money I need elsewhere every time and costs me stress and hassle and takes up time I don’t have to spare. Time for reflection? I would if I wasn’t so busy trying to deal with the crap it throws me. This week was no spring break and next week promises to be just as crazy.

    :::sigh:::: We have two more of these Merc Rx’s to get through before it starts up all over again next year. Meh.

  6. well, bear in mind kazaa (and others feeling the same) that mercury is conjunct neptune right now and for its station on sunday. it’s a “near miss” conjunction — that is, they never quite get into the exact same degree — but it is *definitely* in effect. so that’s totally an image of the slippery, foggy feeling you describe, especially when it comes to putting words to your emotions right now.

    are there any non-verbal (as in, artistic or intuitive) forms of expression and self-inquiry you can engage in this weekend? that tack might feel a little more productive or comprehensible, but i can’t make any promises. 🙂

    also, on the other side of mercury right now is chiron. whatever pain that’s being released, however unspecific it seems, is probably tied to *something* old and deep ready to be healed, and as mercury moves past chiron in the next couple weeks, things may fall into place a little more in your understanding of what it is.

    i guess i’d say document what you can of your inner landscape and emotional storm, even by non-verbal means. chiron likes documentation, and mercury will be retracing these same degrees in the days after the station — but in forward motion, which might make things feel more comprehensible.

    this mercury station and storm will take a while to unfold — so let yourself go slowly as things surface, if you can.

  7. I’m definitely getting the changeable emotions. It seems that I don’t really know who I am, and am struggling to make sense of how I feel about things. Both my parents are Piscean and the energy is not being very nice. It almost seems that being in touch with my emotions just makes things worse…

    Having said this, I had a chance encounter with someone on a similar spiritual path to myself a week or so ago, and her simple and powerful faith reminded me of how helpful it can be just to trust in the universe. Maybe that will be of some use to those of us having difficulty with all this Pisces.

    Best wishes to everyone. 🙂

  8. Thanks, Amanda and Lizzy! Lots of internal pressure giving way to deep stuff welling up and taking me by surprise, again and again. I suppose crying is healing (it does feel that way), but what’s startling is that I am normally good at introspection and articulating (esp writing) to myself exactly what’s happening and why, while now it just feels like a big blur of only semi-comprehensible grief. I can’t process words (not good, as I write for a living), or even see straight. Back under the duvet for the weekend. Tell me when it’s over!!

  9. Kazaa,this seems to be an intense time of shedding and releasing. I went through absolute hell last week – have finally turned the corner. I trust and hope the same will happen to you soon. Good luck! ((()))

  10. kazaa — yes, it sounds like your chart is taking these squares and the Merc storm personally, so to speak. i’m not sure what else i can say from here, but i wish you some luck in finding some useful insights amidst the chaos and difficulty.

    since it’s your sun, moon and rising sign that are being affected, it seems all the most potently-felt, significant and personal aspects of yourself are feeling it: ego-consciousness or your “core” (sun); your inner emotional life and perhaps childhood factors (moon) and the aspects of yourself that are most obvious to others / your first natural reactions (rising sign).

    hang in there!

  11. It’s been a storm all right. For no apparently reason, it has been a tsunami of tears in this last week and a half – not to mention a broken boiler and a vomiting child. I’ve got little water in my chart but am Sag sun/moon, Gem rising. I’m curious as to how the current squares could be articulated through this filter? All I can say from here (and words are uncharacteristically failing me these days) is “help”.

  12. Ah! The game of Four Questions! I like it. I shall come away with the golden ring no doubt, thanks to you Amanda for tutoring me in the answering of the riddles.

  13. “Noticing what frustrates or upsets you is the first step, but it doesn’t need to be where you hang out. It can point you to the next insight if you’re willing to look beneath the surface and receive the lesson.”

    Oof. Thank you.
    I need to keep reading that, like a freaking mantra.

  14. Amanda: Thank you for the “catch and release” metaphor, so appropriate for the sign of the fish, and so comforting during a “storm”.

    And yes, Lizzy, in agreement as regards the photo and the depth it evokes.

  15. Thank you so much, Amanda, for this wonderful blog and your precious advice, and the heartachingly beautiful photo.

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