?Lucy, I?m home!?? So said Ricky Ricardo.? And, ?Lucy, you?ve got some explain? to do!?? When this planet of perception and communication looks like its spinning backwards, we get time to explain ourselves to ourselves.? I must stipulate that this article is for those who have an introspective bent.? No introspection, no understanding and you might as well go watch your favorite reality TV show.
Mercury begins to slow down at least a week or so before he actually looks like he going backwards.? Also, he enters his shadow at this time.? The shadow indicates that you?ll see him at these degrees of the zodiac again.? Scorpio lives for and through the ?shadow?.? This Mercury retrograde will have what you?ve repressed showing up in your daily lives, often in ways that you cannot control or predict.? Look to your relationships.
It is that time again that all the Gemini & Virgo folk have to give their nervous systems (and overactive brains) a break.? The planet of communication, travel and perception slows down to get us to pay attention to our intentions behind our speech and outward expression.? These energies affect us all but in varying degrees.? Aquarius people tend to have overactive imaginations too, so these Mercury pub crawls can get them to admit their penchant for jumping to conclusions and feeding worse case scenarios.
DRAMA, CRITICISM AND INVOLVEMENT
The blend of airy and sociable Libra with deep water (think Lake Superior) Scorpio give a heightened awareness of rational observing of how humans connect.? Eric Michael Dyson and Kim Kardashian were born on this mix of energy, this shift from Libra to Scorpio.? Both affect the society they live in, but from markedly different perspectives.? The former is a professor and an outspoken critic of all things political.? He is also a minister and MSNBC contributor.? The latter is basically famous for being famous, through a sex tape (definite shades of Scorpio).? Her 15 minutes of fame have been stretched to years.? Whatever you may think about her, the influence of this air to water cusp can glean the most from society through recognizing untapped potentials others may take eons to perceive, and even longer to understand.? However, you may judge Kim, her ability to promote herself through media (social and traditional) is almost unparalled.? A major power of Libra is to create new forms of relating and Scorpio maximizes these relationships into different forms of currency (money, power, status and beauty, etc.)
Libra and Scorpio are concerned with getting along, putting one?s best face forward in order to get as many social contacts and opportunities that come from these relationships.? Of course, Scorpio may take the longer and more cynical view than Libra, but once this concentrated water sign trusts you, it is extremely loyal.? This Mercury retro is teaching all of us to contemplate the value of each peer relationship.? How adept are you at giving and taking?? Do you know how to receive?? Can you place your ego aside as perceive what?s in another?s best interest, even if you happen to personally disagree?
Mercury Retrograde Asks (and in Scorpio/Libra DEMANDS) Deeper Questions
How can you deepen your understanding of those who differ from you?? Is empathy off the table before you begin the conversation?? Has your privilege taken over judging the ?other? through your own perspective without active listening? ?How have you been using others as a palette for your own experience? ?YOLO aka You Only Live Once, really and seriously? ?This kind of short sighted belief underscores the worse of the Libra/Scorpio connection. ?This air/water mix does some of its best spiritual work when it considers all possibilities and perspectives no matter how foreign to the initial imprinting.
Libra is a sign where we are called to learn balance.? Often times, healthy relationships are a reflection of an integrated higher and lower self.? Higher do not mean better; higher indicates larger, broader and more encompassing.? Higher selves demonstrate a willingness to not only suspend disbelief, but a lack of defensiveness and insecurity about what you may not know, may not ever know about another?s reality.? The mix of starting mind/air & Libra and concentrated soul/water & Scorpio demand INVOLVEMENT AND RISK.
Mercury insures you know what, more importantly who really matters.? How sharing makes for a better life.? Hermits need not apply unless you are willing to play a limited role in your own spiritual evolution ala the Pisces age we are leaving.? Astrological ages move backwards through the signs.? The last two thousand years of the Pisces Age is giving way to the Age of Aquarius (let the sun shine in, shades of Leo, opposite Aquarius).? Please note this is an air/water mix.? Goldschneider and Elffers in their excellent coffee table book entitled, The Secret Language of Birthdays, call this cusp, Sensitivity.? And, they likened it to a mind/soul who is 77 years of age.? The cusp of Involvement (previously known as Drama & Criticism) parallels a mind/soul who has reached 49 years of age.? Most whole life insurance policies begin to extract monies after this age.
It is important during this Mercury retrograde to study this age that you were born in, that is, with which generation do you identify?? No matter how many times I hear the span of time in the middle 20th century connected to the ?Baby Boomers?, I do NOT identify or orient myself in a ?free love and narcissistic training ground? (if any Baby Boomers take offense, well, you be loving the drama that emanates from being really understood).? It does not take one to be born from 1946-1964 to marinate in narcissistic tendencies.? I have found that these wounded ?me only? projections to center in those who have strong fire Aries, Leo or Sagittarius (you?re so vain/I bet you think this song is about you) with extreme Pisces (who me, couldn?t me while hand is in cookie jar).? The point is to heal any and all wounds.? And, Mercury, the psychopomp aka guide of souls to the underworld (and out, hello?), does just this when he appears to move backwards in our most friendly skies.
Stay tuned for how it affects you personally through your Rising and Sun Signs?