Overnight into Wednesday morning, Mercury returns to Scorpio at about 3:03 am EST in retrograde motion. About three and a half hours later, the Moon follows up its eclipse of the Sun by occulting Mercury in the last degree of Scorpio. An occultation is an eclipse-like event in which one astronomical body passes exactly in front of the other. In this case, the Moon briefly covers over Mercury. It’s rather perfect, actually.
Mercury is moving backwards, returning to the deep end of Scorpio’s emotional, transformative pool. Mercury retrogrades are review periods anyway; when they involve moving back and forth between signs, the sense of returning to an earlier time or deeper place within to peel back a layer is often more tangible.
Today, just as Mercury dives back into Scorpio — already the repository for many of our most cherished taboos around sex, death and money, and associated with their related secrets — the Moon provides some cover. Mercury gets to slip in the back door while a shadow is being cast. And who knows what lurks in the heart of Scorpio? Yep, that’s right: the shadow knows.
Moon-Mercury conjunctions (an occultation is just a special type of conjunction) generally allow the consciousness and feelings to work together, especially if it occurs in a hospitable sign. Scorpio can be a little challenging for the Moon. Mercury, however, acquires power, quickness and sharpness in this sign. It seems that beneath any perceived brooding or moodiness this morning, you may have an opportunity to cut right to the heart of a matter — or at least perceive some clues about how you’re really feeling about it.