Think-work – Mercury Conjunct Saturn

Mercury conjoins Saturn in cardinal air Libra on Thursday. This dynamic aspect will reward preparation, and today is not too soon to start thinking of it. We can start with the three things a conjunction means in general and how those meanings correspond to what you should be aware of now. It would also be wise to consider both sides of the potential when Mercury and Saturn get together in the same degree of the same sign. In your own life, the protocol will come down to reading your own mind and the actions of others carefully and in collaboration.

There are three things to remember about conjunctions. Most obviously, the aspect is a merger of archetypes. Mercury, the innermost visible planet, symbolizes the mind made known. Saturn, the most distant classical planet, represents a defining limitation. Together they can represent disciplined and focused thinking. There is also a converse tendency for inhibition and doubt. While nearly every aspect in astrology has at least two sides, this one is among the most polarized. That’s the first thing to be aware of going into the week.

Another thing to know about conjunctions is that they are the start of a new cycle for the objects involved. Mercury comes around to Saturn annually, so their reunion is not rare. Rather, it is context that determines how auspicious this particular beginning may be. Mercury is now approaching Saturn more deeply into a more crowded Libra than this time last year. In addition, there will be a pronounced flow through the air and fire signs towards the end of the week, denoting an open channel between intuition and reason. One constant going back several years is the ongoing and intensifying epochal implications of what is going on in cardinal signs as a whole, and that is the second thing to be aware of.

It’s important to view more frequently recurring aspects as part of of astrology’s long-term big picture. We live in a time when that picture is well defined for those open to see it. Uranus in cardinal fire Aries indicates an energetic and radical departure from the patterns that have characterized our personal lives for many years. Pluto in cardinal earth Capricorn implies that the personal changes will result from a thorough and irresistible transformation of the cultural institutions that determined those patterns. This year’s conjunction of Mercury and Saturn in cardinal air Libra clearly tells us that the big picture is both clarifying and intensifying. Yet somehow, awareness of what we are in the midst of remains elusive for many. That is where the third characteristic of conjunctions comes in.

The final thing to remember about conjunctions is the probability of an accompanying blind spot, a plain truth hidden in plain sight. With two planets so close, the archetypes they represent can’t see each other clearly. Such a merger in Libra is, by implication, relational.

It is not unusual to lose sight of self in a personal relationship. It is even more common to be unable to distinguish the identity from the job, the nationality, the religion, the race or whatever role is imposed by defining limitations from the outside and accepted by our minds as real on the inside. Mercury conjunct Saturn in Libra addresses exactly that issue. Oddly enough, the blind spots and their consequences are best resolved through relationship, the healthy kind.

We all intuitively understand that it is better to be self confident than self conscious. Yet the conditioning to which we are attached frequently brings us to choose the lesser alternative. We all know instinctively that it is preferable to put our energy into self discipline than to self doubt. Yet we allow ourselves to be defined rather than choosing to define ourselves. The third element of awareness for the conjunction of Saturn and Mercury is a way out of those blind spots through the perspective of others.

At a time when we are caught between an inner life facing the rigors of personal metamorphosis and impersonal institutions resisting inevitable transformation, we need to bridge the gap with a certain type of human-to-human connection. Now is the time to start by knowing the defining limitations in your own mind. Fence off an emphasis on power and dependency. You get enough of that from the faceless already. Refrain from conflict and contention; the world has a bumper crop of that for you to deal with. Above all, do not discourage yourself.

Instead, read your own mind. Know your values and listen for others who share them. Figure out what inspires your trust and show it to others. Once you have sorted the gold from the dross, cultivate those relationships by comparing notes and sharing a loving counsel. That is how to navigate the Mercury-Saturn conjunction this year, with an eye on the big picture.

Offered In Service           

16 thoughts on “Think-work – Mercury Conjunct Saturn”

  1. mystes: Thank you for the support and suggestions you offered to carrie. The “tilt” allegory is well taken.

    Carrie: May you be blessed with a solution that matches your hopes rather than your fears.

  2. Carrie, love… I just read through your predicament. Lordloveaduck! Is it too late for her? Is there any way to *begin* the process of unraveling her malice? If it is unconscious (and it may be), then you know what to do. A little candle magick wouldn’t hurt a thing. And on the conscious side –while doing the other– call her and say that you would love to talk about sharing care of your father, that you appreciate her concern, and wouldn’t want her to be overburdened.

    Then set your boundaries and cheerfully hold them. Leave enough room for symbolic negotiation, but know *exactly* where your limits are. Not fake cheerful, but really there, knowing that the more freaked out you appear to be, the less cooperation you are going to elicit from the rest of the family, eh?

    People are operating at *tilt* right now, as in ~beyond~ their emotional limits. Work the inside thoroughly so the outside is amenable to the feather touch of attention. (Trust me, this is self-administered advice.)

  4. thank you Len for your loving counsel.

    people I trust…..people I trust………
    mm.
    trees are people too right?
    : D

  5. Stellium: What i mean is that it’s always a good idea to get a second opinion from people you trust to be straight with you. Howzat?

  6. choosing to define ourselves—–>way out of those blind spots through the perspective of others

    whaaaa?? doesn’t the first infer we must create our own unique version/vision?

    oh shit. I just read that again. through the perspective of others..meaning other’s feelings? or?
    I wanna get what you’re saying here.
    do you mean how others regard us, to use that to refine our definition of ourselves?

    and perspective of how they feel or think?
    mm.
    ps. this is not written in a combative tone, some of this sounds like shit I’m working on. sigh.

    (bow)
    thank you in advance.

  9. “Refrain from conflict and contention; the world has a bumper crop of that for you to deal with.”

    Thanks Len but that’s already too late. My deceased brother’s wife (who is a nurse and who allowed him to die with bedsores at the age of 50 when he had Complex Regional Pain Syndrome) has decided to interfere with my Father and his care. She visited him at the home and already started making trouble by pushing to be able to take him 100 miles away overnight. She kept my brother morbidly obese (by feeding him junk food for 23 years) and on several highly addictive pain killers which became so toxic at such high doses that he died from them. She even admitted to me that he had a bed sore so deep you could see his bone; baldly admitted it to me after he died. The reason she wants my Dad is because she thinks he has money and she thinks he will inherit his mother’s money. At one point she illegally signed out my younger brother from the hospital when he was 14 and took him to her home (with my older brother) and began giving him a higher dose of his pain meds than the doctor prescribed. My older brother met her after his motorcycle accident; she was the charge nurse on the orthopedic floor but she ignored him until word of a huge settlement got around. Nurses are not supposed to date their patients ( it is against nurse-patient ethics to take advantage during vulnerable times) but she did and even gave him alcohol knowing he was on the antisychotic, haloperidol.

    Now she is trying to mess with my Dad, an 80 year old, lonely and vulnerable old man. I don’t trust her to take care of him if she took him overnight.

    Now I have had to warn his caretakers, remind HIM of her negligent care of his son, and I will have to call my Grandmother and remind HER (she is 97) in case this woman starts calling HER to try to take advantage of her. Her modus operandi is to get the vulnerable and needy person to trust her, get them to let HER care for them, dope them into acquiescence, and then neglect them and collect their money.

    Can we say STRESS? :::deep breaths::::

    Why can’t I just walk away from this?

  11. I really appreciate your words today Len as I have two situations where I must make a decision and the old Libra bug-a-boo, the inability to do so, is dogging me. It is exacerbated by today’s Jupiter, Mars square that creates a T-square with my natal Moon and I am torn between noble feelings vs. practical caution in one situation and forging ahead on my own vs. waiting til all is in place and acting in partnership in the other.

    Your noting of “a pronounced flow through the air and fire signs. . denoting an open channel between intuition and reason” coming up leads me to believe it would be best to postpone the deciding for a few days. (Would you believe that one situation involves a Leo and the other a Gemini?)

    So thank you Len; this really has eased my tension and maybe I can get something done now!
    be

  15. You’re a wise man, LW — thank you for the encouragement to deal with ourselves, and our world, gently. HUG!

    “Refrain from conflict and contention; the world has a bumper crop of that for you to deal with. Above all, do not discourage yourself.”

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