Dear Friend and Reader:
As we build toward the first of two Scorpio Full Moons, which I will cover briefly over the next few days and in detail in Planet Waves Astrology News on Friday, I would like to point out one of the subtler dimensions of the Mercury cycle. Thanks to the Internet, everyone knows about Mercury retrograde. In the old days, you thought all that confusion happening at once was just a coincidence.
 |
Mercury is not retrograde, but today is the exact midpoint between the two retrogrades. How can I tell that? Look below and you’ll notice this:
Mercury (26+ Aries) conjunct Sun (26+ Aries).
Mercury is conjunct the Sun six times a year. Three of these times occur when Mercury is retrograde, and three when Mercury is direct. Currently Mercury is direct. And the conjunction happens when we’re exactly halfway between retrogrades.
The whole retrograde cycle takes two months. There is the warmup, called the “shadow phase” or what I call the “echo phase.” This lasts about three weeks. Then there is the retrograde itself, which lasts about three weeks; then there is a second echo phase, lasting about three weeks. That’s a total of about nine weeks, or nearly two months.
You know you’re right at the midpoint of the “direct” phase when the Mercury is conjunct the Sun during the direct motion of Mercury — and that is today. These can be highly unusual days with interesting or strange developments. One of my favorites was when then-Illinois Governor George Ryan commuted the sentences of everyone on death row, precisely during a Mercury-Sun alignment like we are having today.
So watch the news, watch your ideas and pay attention in general. Breakthroughs are possible! Here is the rundown on the next Mercury retrograde, courtesy of Serennu.
Mercury enters Taurus April 17th, then Gemini May 2nd.
Echo phase begins at 12+ Gemini on May 11th.
Stations retrograde May 26th (same day as Neptune!) at 21+ Gemini.
Stations direct on June 19th at 12+ Gemini.
Echo phase ends July 4th!
Here are your full aspects for the day, and your daily oracle, below.
Wednesday 16 April 2008
Asbolus (1+ Taurus) quincunx M87 (1+ Libra)
Mercury (26+ Aries) quintile Nessus (14+ Aquarius)
Eros (11+ Taurus) septile Kronos (2+ Cancer)
Mercury (26+ Aries) conjunct Sun (26+ Aries)
Asbolus (1+ Taurus) trine Pluto (1+ Capricorn Rx)
Mercury (26+ Aries) trine Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Atlantis (20+ Libra Rx) trine Chiron (20+ Aquarius)
Sun (26+ Aries) trine Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Atlantis (20+ Libra Rx) semisquare Hylonome (5+ Sagittarius Rx)
Arachne (2+ Libra Rx) quintile Ixion (14+ Sagittarius Rx)
Apollo (19+ Cancer) quintile M87 (1+ Libra)
Sisyphus (20+ Libra Rx) trine Chiron (20+ Aquarius)
Eros (11+ Taurus) sesquiquadrate Galactic Center (26+ Sagittarius)
Vesta (28+ Pisces) septile Sedna (20+ Taurus)
Atlantis (20+ Libra Rx) quincunx Sedna (20+ Taurus)
Venus (13+ Aries) sesquiquadrate Orcus (28+ Leo Rx)
Sisyphus (20+ Libra Rx) semisquare Hylonome (5+ Sagittarius Rx)
Mercury (28+ Aries) trine Orcus (28+ Leo Rx)
The Oracle takes us back to Oct. 08, 2004 – Leo – Weekly
Unlimited use of the Oracle is available to all Planet Waves subscribers.
The lesson of this time is discovering that you are limited only by what you think of yourself. We could speculate and say this is a positively fabulous universal law. We could also apply it to someone in Iraq and fall short of anything that seems probable; and we could look at how, most of the time, what we (in our society) are limited by is precisely our inability to think in different terms than those with which we were indoctrinated as a small child. I suggest you become reacquainted with the early limits that were branded into you. You’re not bound by them; far from it. But you must know what they were if you plan to get any further in life — and I know you do.