Mercury initiates retrograde motion from an Aries conjunction with asteroid Vesta on Monday morning. The Mercury-Vesta conjunction will be at the mid-point of a sextile between Venus and Chiron; Mercury-Vesta is also opposing an asteroid auspiciously named Pandora. Together, Mercury, Vesta, Venus, Chiron and Pandora will compose an aspect called a yod. The shape of the composed aspect will be that of a peace symbol, but your experience is more likely to resemble opening a can. Right about now would be a good time to read the label.
The several days before Mercury reverses direction are called the storm and it’s a good time to read what is going on in your life. The Mercury storm is like the tidal surge before a hurricane. It’s an experience that gives you information about what the ingredients of the retrograde period are likely to be.
Every Mercury retrograde has different ingredients, but some themes are more likely than others. Among the most prevalent paradigms is the discovery of that which has been concealed or otherwise escaped notice. The revelation of information is one of the fringe benefits of going back over the same ground.
While real planets do not really reverse course, they do catch up and pass each other. When Mercury begins to catch up and pass us, we see it in the sky as going back towards the Sun. On the zodiac circle, that translates as going back over the same arc transited in the previous two weeks or so (not incidentally, in the direction of the advancing Pisces Sun), and taking extra time in the process (in this case, it will be 23 days). Because Mercury corresponds to the means of mind, retracing its steps symbolizes the positive potential of repetition and review as an alternative to the more negative reputation for reversals or delays. It’s analogous to reading the same book again, picking up on what you missed the first time, or practicing a piece of music over and over, becoming more proficient.
Such audits do not happen by themselves. Unless you approach the inherent opportunities of retrograde with purpose and devotion, the contents of its can are more likely to be a rude surprise than an empowering discovery. Fortunately, the asteroid Vesta is well positioned to encourage you.
Vesta is in a position to express from strength right now. It was discovered while both Sun and Mercury were in Aries, and you might say that this impending Mercury retrograde begins in Vesta’s wheelhouse. Like most asteroids, Vesta’s name serendipitously corresponds to its observed archetype of dedication and devotion. Merging that archetype with Mercury’s mental connection supports the idea that you should dedicate and devote your thinking to discovery and development over the next month or so. Venus and Chiron further reinforce the efficacy of that approach.
From its Taurus rulership, Venus exacts a sextile to Chiron’s powerful Pisces placement on Sunday. When Mercury shifts into reverse, it and Vesta will be at the midpoint, precisely splitting the distance between Venus and Chiron. If sextiles indicate encouragement, which they do, then the midpoint is where you can find the purpose being endorsed. Venus, firm in its earthy domicile, absorbing the full depth of Chiron’s holistic ocean, supports seeing the big picture and the long term regardless of uncertainty. Chiron, historically influential in Pisces, supplements the Venusian abundance of sustenance and compassion. Given the powerful symbolic suggestion (Pandora) literally opposing Mercury at the beginning of its retreat, each one of us will be called upon to exchange all of the vision, focus, nourishment, courage and kindness we can muster in order to heal a pernicious wound that has persisted for thousands of years.
Opposing Mercury at its Aries retrograde station will be the the asteroid Pandora in Libra. The very name evokes one of many ancient myths that have criminalized the feminine in order to justify male supremacy. Recent events in the United States and abroad clearly indicate that we are experiencing the storm surge that precedes the purging of poisonous patriarchal propositions so that humanity can survive. It’s no coincidence that those who support the propagation of war and persist in promoting the plunder of our planet are one and the same with those who secretly fear and openly oppress female sexuality. We can no longer allow that correspondence to be concealed or escape notice.
Pandora the asteroid will be the apex point of Monday’s yod and its namesake myth will be the literal point of opening as Mercury’s retrograde commences. The question is whether the container we are opening will hold worms or wisdom. Pandora’s position indicates both a promising potential and a weighty responsibility for each and every human being when it comes to the contents of that can.
Libra is the only sign represented by an inanimate glyph, a set of scales indifferent and without prejudice, created with one purpose, to find equality and balance. As our minds retrace the past in parallel with Mercury’s retrograde, the discoveries we make will provide the information to be weighed, but scales do not read themselves. Any device created by humans is subject to abuse regardless of its intended purpose. We have had enough abuse on both the personal and political levels. To establish the foundation for a new paradigm instead of repeating an old one, each of us must consciously determine that our thoughts and service, our aptitude to nourish and our power to heal will be directed to open a new epoch sustained to the benefit of all and at the expense of none. Let the peace symbol prevail.
Offered In Service
Len is available for astrology readings. You can contact him at lenwallick [at] gmail [dot] com.
Thank you again, Len. “What did you look like when you lived the dream?” — wow, is that a poignant moment to ponder. (Back to Be’s 2003ish suggestion; the beginning of a barren time, post-“living the dream”.)
And I will work my curiosity. It’s what keeps me vital, to be sure. Thank you for regularly inspiring more of it.
Mandy: Thank you for reminding me of that movie, i see (or rather, saw) what you mean. Thank you also for your reverie about Sun in Taurus, that something to hold on to, but i’m inclined not to get ahead of myself and cross that bridge when i come to it.
aword: Thank you. Mercury-Vesta transiting your Moon-Eris at the retrograde station can be a question: What would you look like without an ego? (or something like that) Or it can be a recollection: What did you look like when you lived the dream? (or something like that). Retro at the sextile (whether closing or opening) just means you get a chance to do it three times, does it make sense to you how that could be? Your curiosity is not toxic – please don’t go there, please do not let somebody else’s judgement of your curiosity be your own. Work that angle to make a discovery (which is what curiosity is for).
I’m also looking forward to Sun entering Taurus. Malachi 4
“Surely the day is coming: it will burn like a furnace (solar flare?). All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire….. (Mercury/Uranus/Moon/Eris/Vesta in Aries? T Node conjunct Juno in Sag?).
……the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings (Mars forward opposite Neptune/Chiron).
And you will go out and leap like calves released from the stall (end of April is usually when the neighbours bring their cows and new babies down to our pastures for the season). I do love to watch them leaping and playing!
Every time I look at this set up I see the movie The Fifth Element.
At the beginning the archeologist is de-coding a trine with a woman at the bottom. A snake is coming through the trine to Earth.
They have to go to the Gemini cruise ship to retrieve the stones (May 20 Eclipse 0 Gemini).
Upon reaching the temple at the end, the four elements are in place and activated, resulting in a forcefield emanating from the woman (Divine Feminine) to destroy evil.
At the Venus Conjunction in June I see Venus/Sun in Gemini (Air), with Mars in Virgo (Earth), Neptune/Chiron in Pisces (Water), and Moon opposite in Sagittarius (Fire). Divine Healing Through The Warrior Goddess Of Love.
Thank you again, Len.
1. GREAT picture — cable guy and plumber at the same time. lol! so great! I will carry this snapshot in my wallet.
2. Ah – and that extra yod finger Mercury/Vesta is happening on my Moon/Eris. — so that means much more to ponder, eh?
3. Aha! excellent, got it. and “yes”.
4. oh gooooody! I get to learn something else new: Natal Pandora is in Sagg…Pandora hit the sextile then went into reverse motion which she still is in. Is this an Opening? (can’t find anything via “google” on opening/closing retro.)
5. Yes, Libra (Pandora) to AQ (Chiron) stage-right. fascinating. Now I just have to work at a better understanding of that paradigm that is Pandora and her gifted Box (and is that representative of my own curiosity being toxic? Oh no! I Luuuuuv my Own Curiosity! intense and trouble-making tho it may be.)
6. More fascination and will definitely use this as pre-sleep re-read so as to enable dream-time deeper understanding while the getting’s good. I am totally one with Lost Information.
PS. It’s fascinating too, that Be has mentioned in the Daily Astrology her question of “where were you 2003-4 because that moment hits all of the above 1-6.. :)!
Oh Len, works for me, indeed!! Thank you from both the bottom and top of my heart. The middle too.
And on a side note – relationships indeed! blind spot!! oh were they as simple as everything else – “everything else” being oh so easy indeed, I wish the relationship thing would just leave me alone and I could focus on “everything else” which is oh so easy!!! (she said laughing — because “everything” is ABOUT relation-ship, isn’t it?? sigh.)
Hugging Scorpio: You are most welcome.
Carrie: Thank you for sharing your experiences, they are very pertinent. The world needs more women of wisdom. By the way, i tried taking a brain orientation test once but they could not find it, much less its orientation, still looking (gotta be around here somewhere).
KathyC: Thank you for your kind words, i hope you are correct in your perception.
aword: Thank you for the clarification. Please forgive me for being so dense, but it is a good thing to avoid misunderstanding from the get-go. In answer: (1) Yes, it’s valid and a big “can do” to compare composed aspects on the natal when they repeat in transit. That’s because composed aspects (tight ones anyway) are rare. If you think about how seldom two objects will be in aspect to the degree, add a third, fourth and fifth and it’s like trying to get your cable guy to arrive at the same time as the plumber. (2) Monday’s yod has the extra finger with stationing-Mercury-conjunct-Vesta opposing Pandora AND splitting the Venus-Chiron sextile but some objects in common (and their aspects) is another reason to make the comparison to your natal yod valid. (3) Let’s start with transiting Pandora square natal Ceres. Given transiting Pandora’s retrograde motion right now, this aspect could last a couple months and is an internal tension between two mythical paradigms for the feminine, The (Pandora) Patsy and The (Ceres) Activist. Does resolution mean refusing to be a victim? (4) Transiting Pandora sextile natal Pandora. Is this a closing (preceding return) or opening (following return) sextile? Can’t quite visualize. If it is the closing sextile, it’s the last furlong before the Pandora return and the last chance to get things in order for the return. If it’s the opening sextile it’s the first milestone to pause and look back at what the Pandora return hath wrought. (5) Transiting Pandora trine Chiron (Libra to Aquarius, right?). This is an opportunity to dispassionately and analytically examine how the Pandora paradigm has played a part on your broader relationship patterns, where personal and public relationships overlap. (6) Overall, this Mercury retrograde is a chance to recover some lost information about those overlapped relationship patterns, both what has fed them and what has de-stabilized them.
Please, how does that work for you?
Hi Len, thank you.
I’ll try a re-state and re-ask to see if I’ve a real question here:
Transiting Pandora squares natal Ceres. Natal Ceres is the apex in a yod of her own – natal Pandora and natal Chiron are the fingers.
(which means transiting Pandora is both square natal Ceres and sextile natal Pandora).
Is it a viable astro-thing-to-do to study how a (transit) formation – such as Monday’s yod – hooks into a natal formation* by way of a square plus a sextile and planets-in-common?
(*in this case a natal yod which includes two of the same “planets”; Pandora and Chiron)
–or is looking at “formations” in this way creating an un-useful complexity?
Thank you 🙂
I applaud in your direction, Len.
I was just thnking this morning how *they* get loud before they burn out… like a light bulb gets more prominent just before it blows.
Len, you are such an amazing light for all of us! This makes things so clear. Thank you so much!
It is no surprise to me that a couple of things have happened in the last few days which connect to this writing of yours. First, a sometime acquaintance of mine, (whom I greatly admire) has apprised me of a local women’s pagan group starting in April for 9 month, (a gestation). She invited me and my oldest daughter because my daughter has expressed interest in Paganism. I dipped my toes in those waters back in my twenties and that started my healing to a stronger person. Yet the all female groups felt off balance and the mixed groups seemed to have some pretense going on. Fast forward to the present and things have changed in my perception of both genders. Despite my always feeling more comfortable around men, I have been finding my path slowly turning to women in my life for the first time and it is not feeling as alien as it once did.
The second thing which connects is that yesterday I took a very good brain orientation test. It was no surprise to me that my results placed me just inside the side of masculine brain; I have long felt rather masculine in my thinking. The thing is, it was less to that side than I thought it would have been. I was rather close to the middle whereas I was more to the masculine side when I was younger. I feel I am working toward a central position which means I think like both more or less equally. That is not something I would have entertained a few years ago. Age and wisdom have changed me and for the better.
This time I will be one of the older, wise women in the group and amazingly I am feeling very good about that. Instead of mourning the loss of youth, I am feeling really empowered by my knowledge and experience. I am older yet I feel and think younger. It works for me.
I had a dream last night that I entered a clearing in a forest and the night sky was lit in turquoise. I saw overhead Jupiter and Venus shining brightly. I heard music all around me as I lay down by this pool. Really beautiful.
Grateful for this Len, it’s great to have help navigating through stuff with awareness to opportunity and experience.
Thanks!
HugS
Huffy: Thank you for your kind words.
be: Thank you for your generous praise. Venus being duplicitous? Not necessarily so. Venus is (to paraphrase Robert Hand) an archetype for the yin, very heavily weighted towards one pole, which complementary energies follow naturally. Lao Tsu referred to the “valley spirit” (assuming my amateur translation is in the ball park), something like that perhaps. Thank you for the heads-up on the trine.
aword: i sincerely want to be of service and answer your question but i’m not clear what you are asking. Please help me with some clarification and i’ll be back atcha.
Transiting Pandora squaring Natal Ceres which is the apex of a Natal Yod the fingers of which are Pandora (on the GC) and Chiron.
Am I right to consider that this Pandora’s Yod gives opening/awareness to further consider natal Ceres in Cancer(hearth), Chiron in Aquarius (community), Pandora on the GC (where we are all heading) considering that transiting Pandora and transiting Chiron are involved in the (transiting) yod?
As well, Merc/Vesta are on natal Moon/Eris for the Pandora’s Yod/Opposition Monday.
Ah – emotional mess will I be? Or perchance – a chance to see inside and re-tool re: Merc Rx?
Thank you Len, as always so poetic and helpful.
Thank you Be for further enlightening me re: Grand Trine. Transiting Pluto on Natal Mars. Transiting Jupiter/Venus opposing natal Jupiter/NN/Neptune.
Something’s different. Can’t see it yet.
xo
Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. These subtle and almost hidden yods always have some bigger program they are working within (represented by major aspects) that they influence in some way; either by supporting or making more palliatable and/or easier to digest. Or they could prod us out of a too complacent pattern by acting as a catylyst. If Pandora’s reputation has any clue to this symbol’s meaning in this case – as the pointing Finger-of-God yod, then maybe the major aspect she’s calling attention to is the harmonious grand trine of Pluto trine Mars trine Jupiter-conjunct-Venus on Wednesday morning. Pretty powerful.
Actually this grand trine also has its start late Monday, early Tuesday when Jupiter exacts his trine to Pluto. Manifesting all this energy could be a political thing, given all the recent resurgence of issues regarding “women’s rights”. “Criminalized the Feminine” as you say Len. “Purging the poisonous patriachal propositions” could very well be the intent of this opposition nestled between the sextile of Venus and Chiron. Absolutely brilliant.
So does this mean Venus is being duplicitous? As part of the grand trine of power while additionally, the power behind the yod (with Chiron) pushing Pandora to produce pandemonium, it might seem so to some. Yet, isn’t this the proverbial “woman’s way”? Isn’t she just working the crowd to get the desired results? How very clever of you Mr. Len, to see the nuances (let alone the yod itself) of this pattern. While Vesta keeps the fire burning, Mercury will re-trace the recent verbiage to its sources and Venus will enjoy the depth and breadth of the Jupiter-Pluto-Mars trine. All in a day’s work you say? Well, maybe for you, but for Venus it’s just part of the plan. We will see what the voters think.
be
Thank you, dear Len, for this wonderful and precious piece on Mercury retrograde. I’ll need to keep it close by in the days to come.