After the eclipse, before Mercury direct: look and feel

Today is Monday, December 12, 2011. This weekend’s total lunar eclipse — and an eclipse season dating back about a month — is behind us, but we remain in a delicate moment. On Tuesday, Mercury, a planet associated with the event (which was in Gemini, ruled by Mercury) stations direct. If the eclipse was a moment of transparency, you can anticipate that continuing as Mercury slows to a stop during the next 48 hours, and switches to forward motion. Mercury stations often arrive with that property of ‘the truth revealed’.

Meanwhile, this eclipse has changed some things, including some deeply significant ones. Take a deep breath and look around your psychic landscape for a moment if you haven’t already done so since Saturday. Does it look any different? Feel different? Can you account for what specifically has changed? Notice the factors and notice how they may still be in motion. Another layer of truth is likely to come out with Mercury stationing direct. Plus, these stations always require a few days of adaptation and perhaps a few extra conversations to clarify what is what.

But — let’s review a bit, so far. Chances are the air feels a little more relaxed than it did on Friday. That Gemini Moon over the weekend seemed to amplify whatever mental tension was building, but ever since it moved into domestic, nesting Cancer – the sign it rules – you may have noticed that your emotional flow has softened your thoughts considerably.

Are you feeling the sense of flow or release? It could have to do with the release of anything from ancestral baggage you were finally able to recognize as not your own; to a messy relationship; to a goal you have long been working toward or a debt paid off. Don’t think that you didn’t ‘do the eclipse right’ if you’re not sure. Whether you experienced a dramatic release or something imperceptibly subtle, you are somewhere other than where you were before – and that landscape has been one full of shadows and profound inner searching for many of us.

The period of Sun in Sagittarius has, for some, been a perfect confluence of energies for creating feelings of paranoia; for others, it has been a deliciously deep investigation complete with unexpected, and timely, revelations. Wherever you find yourself on that spectrum, it might be a good time to pause and consider the difference between fear and paranoia. After all, Mercury stationing is always a good reason to pause, or at least to slow down your thinking, reactions and driving by a notch or two. Notice how close to the edge the world feels, how much of the time.

Paranoia — a common emotion these days, and uncontrollable for some — is not merely fear, which is a bit like standing on a ground divided in two parts and noticing both at the same time: the safe area and the scary area. In that case, we can see that the fear is within us and still make out the reality around us without blaming others. Paranoia, on the other hand, is fear that has taken oven the whole ground; there’s no point of reference. It is projected outward as though it is doing the projecting itself: paranoia kind of leads us – seemingly taking the lead – attaching itself to rationales and causes without a second thought.

There are a lot of reasons to be afraid in this world; there are also a lot of reasons to deal with that fear as the manageable thing it is. If you are feeling something like fear or paranoia, gather your facts, and have the conversation. Seek the truth, do not assume. How likely are potential repercussions? Or, how likely are they to be some sort of blowback of guilt – for example, over standing up to power (or the desire to)?

Here in the last couple days of Mercury’s trek backwards though Sagittarius – made while the Sun was moving forward in the same sign – we have a chance to consider what we have learned about ourselves. When Mercury stations direct, it will cover the same segment of this sign for a third time. You can think of the first time (in direct motion) as the discovery phase. Next was a sort of inquiry stage. Or it might have felt like a recovery phase – both in terms of ‘covering again’ as well as ‘reclaiming’ and ‘healing’. Now we get to apply what we have learned, moving slowly at first, along with Mercury.

The shadow stirred up by these planets encountering the centaurs in Sagittarius (plus Nessus in Aquarius) and the Great Attractor may have made you uncomfortable or feel overwhelmed; it may have simply been fascinating. Either way, chances are you have learned something valuable about yourself over the last three weeks. Give it a chance to settle in and integrate.

Be aware that Mars squaring the Great Attractor today may bring an element of frustration as you try to apply your new insights. Mars wants to drive toward its goal or desire. But the Great Attractor, despite its pull, won’t let us get close to it. Keep an eye on any keen desire for something unattainable. The square aspect suggests this tension is something for you to work out for yourself, rather than put on anyone else. Be gentle as you work out what it is.

The Sun, for its part, is square Ceres and sextile Nessus. A Sagittarius Sun square Ceres in Pisces emphasizes the conflict, however false, we may feel between nourishing our higher selves versus nourishing the collective. It may feel like they are at odds, but if the nourishment is genuine, it will flow in both directions.

The Sun’s current sextile with Nessus in Aquarius is opening the flow of energy between the family cycles you may have been working through in these weeks (especially those that may have been abusive or related to sexual themes). Now that we are post-eclipse, this is likely an opportunity to apply what you’ve learned about those cycles to your healing process. You’ll need to be watchful for any tendencies to turn any of the darkness against yourself, especially since Mercury has not sorted itself out yet. If you start to feel your thoughts or actions veer off in the direction opposite that of healing, remind yourself of the word of the day: PAUSE. And then adjust your course, facts and data by your side, eyes taking in both sides of the ground.

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