Mercury is about to cross the point where it will resume direct motion in mid-December. We are thus entering the echo (or shadow) phase before Mercury stations retrograde on November 24. Whether you prefer the evocative term “echo” or the more orthodox “shadow,” there is validity to be found in both phrases. Over the next several weeks our opportunities will derive from consciously integrating the two characterizations. In your life that process will entail going beyond simply responding to your perceptions to considering how you may assume as much responsibility for your cognition as you do for your action. We can begin with a review of the corresponding physical reality.
Mercury is presently catching up with our planet and will pass between Earth and Sun in a month or so, essentially lapping us from the inside lane. While that is going on, it will appear to us that Mercury is slowing down from one night to the next, eventually reversing its motion before it conjoins with the Sun. That will be a false impression. The misapprehension has its origin in how we are naturally inclined to perceive what we see in the sky.
Our physical senses are attuned to the scale and nature of our physical existence. Eyesight, hearing and tactile sensations efficiently inform mind as body moves under its own power over ground. We are not so well equipped to detect the continuous motions of our planet. Earth seems to be a stationary surface. Hence, it is natural to assume that we are looking at the sky from a fixed center of reference. Intellectually, however, we know that Earth is moving. To reconcile that knowledge with what our senses tell us requires a conscious exertion. Fortunately, most of us have some experience we can apply to that effort.