By Len Wallick
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Mercury will station retrograde on August 20 or 21, depending on your ephemeris or where you live (the difference is a midnight vs noon ephemeris). This past weekend, Mercury entered its echo phase at 5+ degrees Virgo. Also called the “shadow” phase, it indicates a boundary: the point at which Mercury will station direct when its impending retrograde is completed. This is the furthest back it will go. In its retrograde pattern, Mercury crosses the same degrees three times — first direct (like it’s doing now), then retrograde, then and then of course it crosses back over the same degrees again in direct motion.
The retrogrades come in patterns. This will be the third consecutive Mercury retrograde in an Earth sign. The previous one was in Taurus from April into May of this year; before that one in Capricorn, starting in late December 2009 and extending into January 2010.
The echo phase means more to some people than others, though clearly there are retrograde effects that begin around this time. Some of that depends on your personal natal chart — but in truth that does not matter. Like the seasons, this is a cycle that can affect anyone.
Mercury is the ruling planet for the signs Gemini and Virgo. If, for example, you have your Gemini Sun on your natal ascendant squaring a stellium of Moon, Mercury and Venus in Virgo, you probably have already drained your bank account, lost your credit card, had your smart phone hacked, shredded your hard drive and burned up your car battery. For most of us, however, the shadow period is but an intimation — a gradual ramping up of retrograde synchronicity that culminates in the last few days before retrograde station. And there are folks whose lives are like this every day.
Those last few days before Mercury stations are commonly referred to as the “storm,” when most of us are most likely to have the type of experience commonly associated with Mercury retrograde — that being the invocation of Murphy’s Law as regards to things associated with communication, transportation, electronics and finances.
It might help to think of the Mercury retrograde as a hurricane-type experience. First the surf gets gradually higher — that would be like the echo phase. Then the tidal surge, the part that often does the most damage, would be like the storm phase. Then comes the actual hurricane itself with its relentless winds putting us in our place. The middle can actually be a respite before the back end of the storm deluges us.
Given that this retrograde will take place in Virgo, a mutable Earth sign ruled by Mercury, it is not too early to put the surfboards away and start getting prepared. Given the context, it may do well to begin that preparation by examining our relationship with money. What is that context?
The big picture of the cardinal T-square has a lot to do with the relationships between individual human beings and the structure of the established order. Money is a time-honored means by which the established order can exert control over and extract energy from production and exchange of material goods within its structure.
The cornerstone of the cardinal T-square is Pluto in the early degrees of Capricorn. Among other things, that placement has been interpreted as heralding the transformation of social structure on a large scale with consequences that will last for a long, long time.
Look at the last time Pluto was in Capricorn: the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the discovery of Uranus. Empire out, empire in. Money was a part of all that. As a result of what seemed to be unlimited resources and creative ambition, the currency of the United States quickly gained prominence. As a result of a mismanaging monarchy, followed by social upheaval and then by Napoleon blowing the French wad on war, it took France a century to return to prosperity.
So, for purposes of not only the impending but also the long term, we should probably start thinking about money relationships of all sorts right now — starting with inside of us. How do we feel about ourselves when we’re broke or in debt? What happens to our mood when we acquire some money unexpectedly? What’s the feeling when we purchase something? Did anything like those feelings exist before human beings invented money?
Reinforcing the proposed approach is the fact that a mutable Earth sign is concerned with material things and what material thing is more mutable than money? The Sun itself makes ingress to Virgo just a few days after Mercury stations retrograde. Finally on that very day the personal planets Venus and Mars conjoin in Libra, the sign that represents, among other things, the seeking of balance in relationship.
Examining our material and monetary relationships with an eye towards the long term is indicated not only by Mercury in its echo phase. There is also yesterday’s cardinal point square between retrograde Jupiter and retrograde Pluto. This aspect is still within arc seconds of being exact, although beginning to separate today.
Pull out the first diagram we asked you to make in yesterday’s Daily Astrology installment. The one with the cross in the circle with the planet names written over the ends of three of the cross extensions. On that diagram you will see Jupiter at the top next to Uranus, both in Aries. Pluto is to the right in Capricorn. The angle that connects them, one-quarter of the cross, is a right angle; 90 degrees. That’s a square aspect.
A square indicates some sort of tension that requires a resolution. It is usually felt internally although a failure to resolve it can be expressed externally as frenetic behavior. Any difficulty in resolving a square’s tension can usually be traced back to a failure to act. Action is what squares ask us to provide.
Jupiter tends to be associated with magnification. It is also considered to be a benefic, a bringer of good news. Retrograde will tend to bring out the flip side of a planet’s qualities. With Jupiter in retrograde, the thoughts, ideas and events being magnified may not be such good news. With Pluto also being in retrograde, the awareness required for constructive action may find itself confounded by a sense of mystery and even fear. Also there may be a feeling that there is no choice, that we are swept up in events over which we have no control.
That’s where working with Mercury today can help us get a grip. We can focus on our own thoughts and feelings with some clarity and detachment. That focus can help to establish a foundation of awareness that can be built upon in the next few weeks. That awareness can prepare us for action when the “all of us together, all at the same time” expression of the cardinal T-square begins to make itself felt through the tension between retrograde Jupiter and retrograde Pluto.
I want to mention two other related developments in today’s astrology before we wrap up. First, today is the first full day for the asteroid Juno’s placement in Leo. Asteroids are not used by all astrologers. For those who do, the sense of their use is that they are interpreted in a rather straightforward manner.
Juno, of course, was the spouse of Jupiter in the Roman pantheon, also his sister (they were both the progeny of Saturn). As such, she enjoyed a position of power and influence. Jupiter’s predilections towards philandering, however, were the fly in the ointment. When he was unfaithful she felt her power and position to be threatened. She had very little recourse towards him, so she tended to vent her jealous rages on his extramarital partners and their progeny.
So, in astrology, the asteroid Juno is interpreted as having to do with the more unpleasant consequences of a rocky relationship. In headstrong Leo, we may expect Juno to be rather uninhibited in its expression, especially today and tomorrow as it occupies the first degree where Mars spent several weeks while in the process of stationing forward last March. This may go against the grain of the imperative to seek balance in relationship as represented by Saturn in Libra, still functionally conjunct Mars.
One may fairly posit that our modern relationship as individuals to money has some parallels to the relationship of Juno and Jupiter. Money provides some power and influence. Making a purchase makes a change in the material world, something is transferred from another’s possession to ours. If we find ourselves frustrated in our relationship to money, or are jealous of those who have more of it, we find ourselves caught up in the undertow that runs counter to the quest for balance. We may want to consider whether lashing out is in our best interest in the long run. After all, those who have more, have more to lose. This is something to factor in as we practice the proposed Mercury echo protocol.
Finally, the Moon provides us with some support today. Just past the last quarter (which, as you remember, is a square aspect to the Sun) it occupies the middle degrees of Taurus today. Taurus is a fixed Earth sign. Recall that the middle degrees of the fixed signs are the halfway point between the first degrees of cardinal signs. Therefore the Moon’s placement today gives us the opportunity to find a foot-hold and gain grounding as regards to the cardinal T-square planets. It may be ephemeral, but today is where we always find ourselves and Luna is offering a place to get a solid start in becoming aware and deciding how to act.
Offered In Service
As to actual money, I can’t say, but I have found that my place, which my grandfather built 90 years ago, is like Aladdin’s Lamp. The place is 90 years old, and things need repair, but because someone has lived here all this time continuously, nothing that’s breaking now hasn’t broken and been fixed before, so I have all these “outdated” tools that work perfectly for fixing my “outdated” (at least that’s what Bank of America said when I asked for a loan and they refused me) home. I needed a roof for a cistern, I wanted metal that wouldn’t warp when it got wet like the plywood one had, well, on the property (5 acres) was a sheet of roofing metal that, once I cut it in half with some “outdated” metal shears, was nearly perfect size to make the roof and saved me money at the hardware store. No, it’s not a perfect fit, but it works and looks way better than the warped weird plywood cover. Things like that have been happening. My well broke, it’s too expensive for me to fix, I have cisterns that my grandfather used for rainwater, I’m getting rainwater in those, saving money on electricity because I’m not running those 3 pumps for the well, it just goes on. I know it’s common sense stuff, and not all that earth shattering, but since I have been looking for a better job for months and have had really no luck yet, I’m finding that I can make do with what I have because I actually have a lot just kind of lying around. And Chiron is coming back to where it was when I was born too, so maybe that’s helping me be willing to try to make this work and to not give up because the money kind of isn’t there, I don’t know if Chiron “does” that, but something is going on there.
Len, you also have to watch out for yourself and protect what is rightfully yours, without hurting others in the process. Have to follow instructions, and that is probably virgo territory. No-one has the right to steal what isn’t theirs, whether by intention or oversight.
Patty,
Thank you for sharing your experiences on the weird ways of money. In many ways money is like magic – you gotta believe and/or be fooled.
Thanks, Len. I like how you called it a winning streak. It isn’t in the strictest sense of the word; we haven’t increased our income or even the hint of it at all but my Dh and I have changed and all of these changes are so positive that I DO feel like I am on a winning streak.
Yes, I have felt that Chiron return for some time now. I am so very lucky that I have cool people here at PW who show the way for things like that.
Money has been a big theme for me since the eclipse on December 31, unknowing to me at the time. A lot of the issues I’ve run up against are where someone is cheating. Two sins – crimes of commission and crimes of ommission. The crimes of ommission seem to be the big factor – where unknowingly one person, group or organization cheated someone or another group, out of money. The ommission was in not doing homework or research to make sure the people’s money was being handled correctly. Follow? In a larger sense, it seems to follow with how congress has handled our money as well. If I was a church auditor, I’d be looking at the books for this kind of thing right now.
In once particular case, I have been , trying to correct retirement records where I work. For one person in particular, I found his email dated 12/31/2009 outlining his career path to another person (one of the sinners of ommission) to try to correct a wrong-doing. he was actually handed a bill and told he owed thousands of dollars because of being wrongly overpaid. At the 2nd eclipse (capricorn), I was given a note and asked to request his records. The note didn’t have his name spelled correctly, so I ended up not getting the records until March (around the mercury retrograde). After much research, I discovered what had gone wrong, and subsequently corrected not only his records, but many others. It lead to a full audit that is still on going. The manager who told me to request his records also told me to make a correction, and then 2 days later said he thought about it and decided it had been handled correctly. I said, “wait a minute! You can’t make this stuff up as you go along!” and we argued. That was when I started doing my own research and discovered how many people were impacted. Whistleblower status saved my job I’m pretty sure, but it is iffy.
So the interaction between me and the one particular man has been quite magical really. Having access to his file I looked up his birth date and ran a chart (unknown to him) . His Lilith is exactly conjunct my sun; my lilith is exactly conjunct his sun. My North Node is conjunct his eros; his north node is conjunct my first house. My verte is conjunct his nessus, exact and conjunct my progressed sun exact. His part of fortune is conjunct my sun exact. My part of fortune is conjunct his sun. We’ve never met, but right from the start I felt like I OWED him something. He is a Gemini man, so the cancer/capricorn energy has hit him pretty hard and all along I’ve suspected there was a lot more going on than I was aware of.
It will be interesting to see how it all turns out. Evidently I’m lucky for him, but I’m might suspicious of the nessus conjunction. Because of where he lives, I’m nearly positive there is a huge past-life connection. I almost started crying the first time I heard his voice. I’m six years older than he.
So this mercury retrograde will likely have another impact, but virgo is meticulous and i suspect the issues will be neatly addressed – not haphazardly as has been done in the past. Mercury retrograde reviews what has been done, and makes course corrections. That’s my experience.
Same goes for an oil investment we made several years ago. I thought the money was just gone, but it turns out the company that bought the wells had simply not done their homework or the seller had not provided all the information (sin of ommission). Might actually see some profit one of these days (although I have my doubts).
Carrie,
Congratulations on your winning streak. You deserve the credit. i’m just on “deep background”. You may want to also consider Chiron. If you check your natal chart you will probably see that Chiron is returning to where it was when you were born.
That transit can go either way. You are having a good experience with it because you are taking charge of the situation and making the needed changes. Michael Jackson did not handle it so well. Keep up the good work.
emily – You do not give the impression of a slow learner. Would bet a dollar to a donut that you are top drawer. Thank you for sharing your dreams. Interesting to dream of beds while you are (presumably) in one.
Len,
You said, “Also there may be a feeling that there is no choice, that we are swept up in events over which we have no control.”
Before the big inner changes that have been happening within my husband and I and our relationship with ourselves and each other lately, I would have said that sentence fits me. That’s not to say I don’t feel the swept up feeling about outer events; I do. It is just that for some reason (let’s guess why :::laughing:::) both Dh and I have been changing AND things are coming to us that are facilitating that change. One of the changes is about our perception of money.
Recently, I came into contact (via my kids’ friends no less) a woman who handed me a book that, before these changes, I would never have even bothered to read. It would have reminded me of the usual typical “how to get everything you want ” kind of metaphysical book. Yet this time, for some reason, I began reading it and was amazed because it reiterated the very thing you said (paraphrased) here and in that e-mail to me: my focus is my reality. If you hadn’t said that already and I hadn’t also heard it from another source, this book would have been left on a shelf, unread. The book puts it in a different way but it is essentially the same thing: if I focus on what I don’t have, I keep not having it. If I focus on what I need and having that need met, it will be met. It is a subtle difference but the book helps with exercises that help redirect the focus on having or doing as opposed to not having or not doing. These synchronicities are astounding. These things from you, Eric, the book and other places have changed how I see my life.
Back when I was 14, I was in Fort Huachuca, AZ and I used to kill time by throwing a ball up on the roof and hitting it back up there…over and over. I got really good at this. Fast forward to a year later when I was in Okinawa. I was a member of the only five-girl vollyball team that won every game played against the six-girl teams in the school….that stuff I did the year before just killing time prepared me for the team to come a year later. That’s just ONE type of instance where something seemingly insignificant is later found to have significance. I could name others. The reason I related this story is this: my husband and I have been wanting to take our kids to Europe to enrich their lives and open their minds like ours were when we went as young people. Yet financially we have been in a hole for too many years to count. I was also worried about trying to travel because my weight caused me to have difficulty walking. Here’s the thing; this year I suddenly found a program that causes me to lose weight fast but in a healthy way that doesn’t involve invasive surgery. I chose to do the program because of something my doctor said way back when I was pregnant with my twins….yet another connected thing that back when it happened, I had no idea how significant it would be. It has changed my relationship with food. So I have lost over 60 lbs in two and a half months and still losing. Suddenly it dawned on me; this might mean we will be taking our kids to Europe because the weight loss is finally actually happening for the first time in my life when I am 50 years old. It may be the significant precursor that I usually don’t see until a later development shows me the significance of it. Then I find my relationship with money is changing…..can you see the writing on the wall too?
I am getting excited because these changes are happenign fast, happening to both my Dh and I, are bringing he and I closer and giving both of us a feeling of hope where before we felt like the universe’s cat toy. Amazing stuff, this. Now for me to do the next thing on my change-list; I must write because I feel compelled to do so.
Thank you for being a part of the change and for helping with the solution to some very perplexing issues of today. You always keep giving out the most useful tools at the best time for them. Your timing is impeccable. I don’t even know you but I love you to pieces for your generosity and the love that shines through everything you write. {{{{{{Len}}}}}} <—-cyber hugs.