Weekend Astrology: Mercury stations retrograde, and more

We’re about to begin the fourth inner planet retrograde of 2012 — Mercury stations retrograde in Leo at 10:16 pm EDT Saturday. This will be an eventful retrograde because Mercury will cover the early degrees of Leo, putting it into aspect with many planets — Venus, Chiron, Uranus, Pluto, Ceres, Jupiter, the lunar nodes and Neptune. Then on Aug. 8 it will turn around and aspect most of those planets again, moving in direct motion.

Many aspects means many points of contact, and where Mercury is involved, plenty to think (and talk) about. With Mercury retrograde, the subject matter becomes inwardly focused and will tend to have an orientation on resolving the past. You may find yourself reviewing the past few months, reconsidering how you feel or what your opinion is, and making some decisions about what you want.

Consider also that Mercury stations retrograde while sextile Venus in Gemini. A Mercury-Venus sextile is said to represent harmony between the mind and feelings, a tendency toward musical and artistic talent, and friendliness. Given the strong pressure you may be feeling from the squares the Sun is making to Saturn and Eris, a little harmony could go a long way. As mentioned Wednesday, Sun-Saturn-Eris (with minor planet Varuna conjunct the Sun) equals tension between independence and relationships — particularly regarding where one locates one’s identity.

You really do want to be free. You’re going to find out who you are in relationship to someone, and take a chance on whether your reality can actually be supported by the relationship. Remember, you don’t need any relationship for you to be you; it’s a matter of priorities, such as authenticity or the question of security.

This is not a dichotomy as much as it represents an order of operations. Anyway, being inauthentic never actually resulted in being more secure on the planet, at least not for long.

If you’re hemmed into a situation you want to get out of, but are not quite sure how to do it, the thing to remember is that this has gone on for a while. Even if you decide you want to take action, it would be better to avoid that the weekend Mercury is stationing; rather than lurch, spend the next few days sorting out the issues, and see where you stand by the middle of next week. Mercury stationing retrograde tends to shake out information, which you will then need to evaluate.

Also, note that the Mercury-Venus sextile is more subtle than the Sun’s squares, and it may take some conscious choice to look for and cultivate the sense of harmony. Leo rules the heart, however, and Venus is the goddess of love. If you can let Mercury (your mind) see into your heart of hearts, whatever action you take to resolve the tension of the Sun’s squares will at least feel right.

The hardest part may be acknowledging that you can actually hear what your heart and mind are harmonizing about. Add the Mars-Pluto square (from Libra to Capricorn, exact July 17) to the inner noise already present, and you might get impatient if you’re hearing a tune in a new key. Mars is also approaching an opposition to Uranus in Aries. That will only add to the tension, and it could precipitate events prematurely — definitely keep your cool if the pressure is on. There is a path of correct action; let the astrology feed your courage and resolve while you use your mind to figure out what is best for you to do — and please, aim high.

Keep one eye (or ear) on what you value most to guide your actions in the direction of response, growth and healing rather than reaction and drama from now til Tuesday. Mercury’s retrograde through Leo will be more useful (enjoyable, even) if you’re doing reconnaissance and not immediate damage control.

Leo is also the sign of gold and the gold standard: the reference by which we measure material value, and by metaphor, spiritual value. In its conceptual form (as an astrological sign) it could represent both, and the retrograde could be a valuable time to sort out some of your material values in our time of profound change, and what we think of as economic crisis. It would be helpful if we acknowledged how much of that economic crisis really amounts to a crisis of values.

That’s to say: what’s really important to us, and do we do anything about it? Do we see our spending habits as a reflection of our values? Do we recognize that we exert power every time we direct our cash flow? Mercury will be trekking through the central aspect pattern that’s influencing all of us right now — the Uranus-Chiron-Neptune-Pluto configuration. Mercury influences our individual thought patterns, and now it’s in a long phase of contact with something much bigger than any individual. This is a fine opportunity to consider where we really stand — and an invitation to change our minds about what we learn.