By Len Wallick
![]() |
Mercury has been retrograde in Taurus since April 18th, less than two days before Chiron made its temporary ingress to Pisces. Today it stations forward in the third degree of Taurus. According to the generous ephemeris resources at serennu.com the exact point is two degrees, thirty-nine minutes, thirty-four seconds. The exact UTC time (on a 24-hour clock) is 22:26:35.
To translate, that’s about 6:26 pm EDT on the East Coast of the United States, 3:26 pm PDT on the Left Coast. As has been noted in this space before, the transition is immediate, Mercury spends no measurable time standing still. Thus we are in the midst of what is usually called the storm phase, when the expression of Mercury retrograde is at its peak.
Hence the highest implementation of retrograde protocol is indicated. Above all, be patient. Distinguish between a thoughtful response and a thoughtless reaction. If you go off half cocked, let it go. Another chance is coming up.
Just as the beginning of this Mercury retrograde had a link with Chiron, so does the station forward. Mercury’s position today is within one degree of where Chiron is situated on its discovery chart. This dance of concurrency continues with a third event. Just before the end of May, Mercury will emerge from its echo phase just as Chiron is entering the exact arc minute at which its own retrograde will begin. Not incidentally, Saturn stations direct to end Memorial day weekend. As the saying goes, one is a fluke, twice is a coincidence, three times a pattern. Mercury and Chiron are in the midst of a pattern involving the astrological phenomena known as a retrograde. Saturn is involved.