By Len Wallick
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This particular Mercury retrograde seems to be taking shape nicely. There is the usual stuff. E-mails seem to be having a problem getting through with dispatch, if at all. Voice mail is answering the phone more often than not. Communication seems to take that extra effort and those additional clarifying words required.
This time however, there is that noticeable edge to it. Do you notice? Frustration finds less equanimity and considerably more anger. Judgment has become a comfort zone. Above all, impatience has become pandemic. It as though many of us are channeling a small mammal under the influence of a controlled stimulant. What’s up with that? Check it out. This particular retrograde, Mercury is not alone. Mars is in the house. It goes deep.
Fascinating how a collision can sneak up on you. Dig it, Mercury, retrograde in Taurus is applying to square Mars, direct in Leo. They are each moving at about the same speed in opposite directions and will exact the aspect this coming Sunday. Let’s break it down.
An astrological chart is a circle, or rather two concentric circles. Planets are distributed on the chart according to where they are from our perspective here on Earth. Between any two planets there is a geometric relationship, the number of degrees you need to go around the circle(s) to get from one to another. That relationship is called an aspect. Since everything is moving on the circle(s) the aspects are always approaching (otherwise known as applying) or moving away (separating) from what is often but not always a brief moment of numeric exactitude. The applying part is usually considered to be a form of building to a climax. The separation is usually considered an unwinding.
Some aspects are considered to be more auspicious than others. Because a circle has 360 degrees and there are 12 astrological signs, each sign gets 30 degrees. That’s the outer circle, by the way. Therefore aspects that are multiples of 30 are those usually considered to carry the most weight. There are exceptions but, like the inner circle, we can leave those out for our purposes here. Thirty times three is ninety and that amount of separation is the aspect called a square. Like Eris and Joan Jett, squares have a bad reputation. By the same identical token, that is precisely the sort of superficial, unconscious reaction we need to stop practicing right about now. The future is all about the squares (and i don’t mean Durward Kirby). We need to get ready.
Sure, the external presence of an astrological square frequently finds synchronicity with internal phenomena such as discomfort, tension and stress. Think about it and that’s not always bad. It’s almost impossible to be complacent when you’ve got an itch. A square compels us to pay attention and, beyond that, to do something. When the phenomena is internal, there’s no running away. The only option is to do something that will gain relief.
With a square between Mercury and Mars, not doing something will often find concurrence with headaches, tummy aches and other so-called nervous disorders. This goes on until something physical breaks down or until the nervous disorders are acted out and inflicted on to other people. It’s usually considered nice to share but that sort of behavior would, like a social disease, be the exception.
With this particular aspect, however, inaction is not usually the problem. It’s how one acts, how consciously and with what timing. Therein is the challenge and the potential. Stop thinking consciously for just a moment and Mercury square Mars will find us jumping to conclusions that reveal the default positions of our fearful, prejudiced, injured selves.
This is the time to stop and think deliberately. Do we have our facts straight? Does our reasoning make sense? Are our actions going to get a supportive response or stimulate resistance, resentment and/or conflict? Where do we want to put that energy? Have we made the slightest effort to consider somebody else’s position, their feelings? Ask yourself those questions and by the time you are done there a good chance the ambient vibe will not be running you.
One other thing we can’t forget, both Mercury and Mars are re-tracing degrees already transited. Mercury for the second time, Mars for the third. Take a sniff, can you smell the past? That’s the underlying note of fragrance that lingers after the “cookbook astrology” retrograde stereotypes waft away. That’s the scent that won’t wash off after we have gained control over the hyper-stimulated mind. There is a Proustian quality to this little dance of Mercury and Mars. The smell, the taste, is provoking a deja due, is it not? Could that be where some of the anxiety is coming from?
There is no need to be anxious. We are not destined to repeat the past. Whisper, my friend. Witness in awe. As surely as we can take charge of ourselves in the moment, we can take control of the moment in ourselves.
Offered In Service on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day
Um well, i take it back. I DO remember the last time I was such a pig-in-mud and it was oh, September/November-ish 1976.
Yes, thank you Len. I have recently come to experience almost all of my anxiety as echos, nothing current going on to create that negative stress. As such, they (the anxiety attacks) hold no substance except for a slight ringing in my ears, which slips into the ethers often quick as it came.
Just finished Finals. Awesome. Totally Awesome. Can’t remember when I’ve been more like a pig in mud. 😉
Len,
Now that Gov. Brewer of Arizona has signed the immigration bill for that state (today @ 1:32 PM, Phoenix) I’m wondering about this Mars/Mercury square and a possible nullification of it. A chart for the signing has a Earth Grand Trine between Moon, Sun and Pluto conjunct Ceres, in addition to the square. Also Saturn at 28 Virgo is trine Venus at 28 Taurus.
I can’t remember if the Sun or Saturn is supposed to represent the “leader” in a chart for an event. Either way, they are both in earth signs, and would the leader be the President or the Governor? Pres. Obama has already expressed his lack of enthusiasm for this state’s enactment of the legislation.
A couple of minor planets (or more) have caught my eye. Juno, a defender of the disadvantaged, and all about equal rights, is square the Moon, which I assume would still represent the “people”. Juno at 3+ Gemini is also conjunct the nasty Apophis also at 3+ Gemini, and they are in the 10th house. The Moon in the 1st house at 1 Virgo 17 is also opposed Chiron at 0 Pisces 8. Also, conjunct Chiron is an asteroid called Hebe at 0 Pisces 5, and Martha Lang-Wescott says of Hebe “Service personnel (waitresses, secretaries, receptionists, bartenders, etc.;) service attitudes; waiting-on others; enabling (facilitating the egocentric, emotionally immature or demanding behaviors of others); codependency.”
I’m wondering if, in this case, some of the immigrants that could be affected by this bill’s enactment, are represented by this Hebe since he (or she?) is conjunct Chiron who is making us aware, from the 7th house, of possible racial profiling? Chiron and Hebe are also squared by Juno.
Ceres conjunct Pluto has also not escaped my attention and from the 5th house of creativity, could it not be expressed as a disruption of the food service industry? They may be trine the Moon and Sun, but they are also still square Saturn and Uranus.
Never a dull moment, huh?
be
And here I was thinking it was “just” a raging case of PMS.
Well, thank you, Len, this explains a lot – all the more for this square sitting right on top of my own Leo Sun/Taurus Mars square. Not pretty; zen-like patience isn’t my forte to begin with… Am definitely have a harder time than usual suffering fools (and lately there are far more of them hurtling themselves right into my path). At least now I know why 🙂
Hey man, that last line is a kicker, instant aphorism and I mean that in the very best way. Eminently quotable and extremely wise. And possible the very best single piece of advice we can give each other these days and in days to unfold……
thank you.
Thanks Len, that explains a lot. For me. Merc retro is screwing up my computer again; specifically my COM and USB ports. My keyboard port isn’t working…then it is….then it isn’t…then it is. I plugged in my camera to one of the USB ports and my keyboard stopped working….again. I checked my Device Manager only to find little yellow triangles on four devices: my floppy disk controller, my two COM ports and my printer port. The error codes I get say “This device cannot start, Code 10.” Microsuck website says it is either a device driver or something I must download their patch for. I would LOVE to wait for Merc Direct to deal with it (we have been advised not to “fix” things during Merc Rx, right?) but I have a big research paper to finish and two more to type up and the rest of my assignments from my online university classes. Harumph! Yep. Mars is turning up the heat and frustration there! ::::grinning:::: Time for some hot tea and a break to think about what to DO about this issue.
On a good note, my youngest daughter got her braces off today and her teeth look beautiful!
(Typed on the local high school Mac while my daughter edits her film there.)
thanks Len. The tension has certainly been rampant.
This merc retro has been ridiculously about perceptions for me. Like a bad eye witness, I’m convinced that I’ve seen, heard or read something and when I revisit it, I find that I’m completely mistaken.
At first I completely over reacted to these incidences but have decided to s l o w down and take it easy. not always easy with mars involved.
Amanda,
Please accept my empathic sympathy for your experience of these transits. You are not alone. Seems like every Taurus i know is getting quite a workout.
Thank you for letting me know my posts resonate with you.
Durward Kirby was an American “television personality” in the 1950’s and 1960’s. A tall fellow with a crew cut and a deep voice. As i recall he was on a variety show hosted by Gary Moore (a short fellow with a crew cut and a high voice) and also on a program called “Candid Camera”.
len, len, len…
again, thank you!
no wonder i feel like i’m shadow-boxing the wall of my ego to the point of bloody knuckles and feel like shouting at my computer screen, my boyfriend, and my self till my lungs bleed, too.
my small mammal on a stimulant seems to be chasing its own tail…
and who *is* “Durward Kirby”?
*deep breath*
amanda
gongfu.
“Mercury square Mars will find us jumping to conclusions that reveal the default positions of our fearful, prejudiced, injured selves”. Shucks Len, what beautiful writing! I too am grateful for your words. Am living up to my user name these days.
Liz xx
Len writes: “Judgment has become a comfort zone.”
Yeah, there is something about that 90º angle that obscures the view so that we get only half (on a good day, with a tailwind, going downhill) of the story, and think we’ve got enough to extrapolate the rest.
That Merc/Mars square at least is fast-moving, no? Both of my men are embedded in the corresponding signs (Taurus/Leo) – each of them experiencing it distinctly, but deeply. I am literally feeling their dilemmas in my own body, as they represent very different stages of life and power.
Both of them have already been ‘judged’ in different circumstances. My job, as I understand it, is to be aware of the other half of the story, keep it available on the ground of our shared Being (my 8th House function) without shoving it into the picture. Otherwise we just trade one half for another – and where’s the Whole in that?
Thank you, Len, for giving me some space to think this through. . .
M
Well, it WOULD be Mars, wouldn’t it? Nevermind, we have you Len, to put it all into perspective and restore the smile on our face. (I particularly, like Morgana, loved the “small mammel”, and Durwood Kirby bits. Good grief, do any other readers here remember him?)
So, okay, the reason why nobody is there when I answer the ringing phone is because my phones are broken, not that somebody is trying to torment me. I still have one phone left that works and when Mercury turns around I will get some new ones. ..if I still need to. Better that than some social disease, right? Thank you Len for your touch of Venus that has doused the fire down to a flicker.
be
Above all, impatience has become pandemic. It as though many of us are channeling a small mammal under the influence of a controlled stimulant.
Mammal? How about insect? My Damselfly Guide is going nuts right now. Gonna blow the lid off my current life the day Saturn returns to Libra (my birth sign) in July. Big changes in store. I’m excited. Total reinvention.
(Remind me I said that in 6 months, when I’m slogging through some new and heretofore unimagined crisis.)
Thanks for this Len. It helps right now!