Affecting October, November, and December 2022 – Demonstrating Our Effective Service to Society.

Mercury goes direct in motion at 2:07 am PDT on October 2, and speeds up for the next 10 weeks. This shows a quickening of the ability to coordinate, put things together, understand the whole and the parts, the process and the larger cycles. It is now stationary at 25 Virgo, affecting that area in our lives for 3 months to come.

Mercury, or Hermes, "the Guide of Souls," is also known as the Divine Trickster, as well as all lesser models. What does Mercury going stationary direct at 25 Virgo mean? Perhaps it would be useful to take a look back on what the last Mercury direct station brought us since early June 2022.

You will recall that the last time Mercury went stationary direct in February it was at 27 Taurus which was the second of this year’s hybrid element Mercury retrograde periods that begin in Air signs and end in Earth signs. The first Mercury RX of 2022 began at 11 Aquarius and went back into Capricorn; the late Spring 2022 RX began at 5 Gemini and went back to 27 Taurus, and this one began at 9 Libra and is now at 25 Virgo.

This retrograde period began at 9 Libra, helping us review the recent new developments in our lives related to Libra things and ideas, and gave us a new look at how well we’ve understood the higher truths and potentials of the larger Aquarian cycles at work wherever we have 1 Aquarius in our charts. We’ve now done a journey through parts of our past, remembered many things about people and ideals which may have changed our understanding of those people and events, and gotten a different perspective on many Libra and Virgo things these past 3 weeks. From here we move forward into a new expression of these energies which will echo for many months to come.

We’ve now re-traced ground that we first saw via Mercury’s first pass from August 20 through September 9, and re-examined via the RX from then to now. An important point in time will be when Mercury goes back over 9 Libra on October 16, because then it moves into unknown zones, carrying all its RX lessons forward until its coming December 2022 retrograde when we review what we’ve learned related to this year’s theme which began with Mercury’s direct station on that degree in February 2022. We’ll discuss the themes of recent and coming years in a future Mercury retrograde article, since each year has a specific theme associated with Mercury’s direct and retrograde stations.

Now we face 4 months of being guided to our Soul using the qualities of 25 Virgo. How we use those realizations to coordinate the qualities of that degree into our lives over the next 4 months will show us a different way of finding individual spiritual effectiveness within our unfolding group work.

We should all start seeing, hearing, and understanding things that point the way to some Mercurial fulfillment related to how we have been and continue to be guided to our Soul. Given that it falls at 25 Virgo, that area of our chart will be the focus of where the past gives way to the future.

The Sabian Symbol for Mercury’s Direct Station

The Sabian symbol for the 25th degree of Virgo is “A flag at half mast.” In The Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, 25 Virgo is said to be a symbol of “The ability to carry a task through to consummate completion,” “deference to past achievement,” and “cultivation of public spirit.”

In The Astrological Mandala, he says this degree involves “the social acknowledgement of a job well done and a destiny fulfilled.” This is a symbol of the recognition an individual can expect from the social or cultural group they belong to after they complete some form of duty or responsibility of value to that community. He states this is a degree of “social immortality,” or identification with an archetype associated with the function performed.

He further explains that this is a degree of “finding one’s place in history,” or cultural memory, as long as one’s task is carried “to its ultimate fulfillment.” This is a degree of finality of some form of service where we are given “public recognition.” He says it falls in the span of "Experimentation,” and it’s the final degree of the emotional-cultural level of the scene of Education in the Act of Stabilization.

According to Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, the degree is one of “the sure rewards that stand ready for whatever proves of worth.” He states “the highest of everyday values for the common (person) are created in a public service which has its first compensation in the individual’s self-fulfillment… (as) some measure of immortal contribution to history.”

He continues with “reputation is the subtle coin by which personality creates an enduring wealth for everyone, to be preserved no less in death than life.” He offers us the keyword of RESPECT. He states that when operating in a positive manner, this degree is "achievement in a full transcendence of selfhood.”

From this symbol, it seems the next few weeks will help us see clearly how to be efficient in something which educates us or others in transforming the focus which will help us see some task we need to do, or have done, which allows us to receive recognition, or something we need to carry to completion in the future that will make our mark on our world. This is the light of experimental education on the social or emotional level, with a promise of cultural immortality for those who do a service the collective needs.

From Here We Move Forward

25 Virgo is now a launch point for entering into a new (and somewhat familiar) realm in the Gemini and Virgo areas of our chart via Mercury’s placement in the Taurus decan of Virgo with an extra dose of Mercury. We now move forward, having done our time of going inward to find a reconnection with our spiritual Source in relation to our sense of worthwhile service. We now have a new understanding of things past and present in our late Virgo and early Libra chart sectors.

Mercury now begins to chase the Sun toward their next Superior Conjunction, bringing all its reflections and reviews into the NOW. We’ve finished the last of this year’s “Air to Earth” retrogrades, and have new ways of understanding our Gemini and Virgo areas, as well as our late Earth and early Air sectors of our charts.

We’ll close today with a reminder that although Mercury is now direct and won’t be retrograde again until December 2022, the retrograde we’ve just experienced will affect the coming months until the next Mercury stationary retrograde in late December at 25 Capricorn. At that point we’ll have a look back at what we’ve discovered since early September, as well as the entire year, since 25 Capricorn was Mercury’s direct station in February 2022. That theme involves “transcendent security” found in mundane ways which are comfortable and enjoyable.

Of course you can find out more about past, present, or future retrogrades by getting your copy of my book A New Look At Mercury Retrograde. Here's the Amazon link to where you can order A New Look at Mercury Retrograde to check out possible ways this Mercury retrograde effect could play out over the next 4 months. That link will also allow you to order an ebook copy on Kindle, or you can go to B&N’s nook instead. Just make sure you get the 2016 2nd edition with the book award on the cover and not the 1997 Weiser first edition.

In part 2, we'll continue to examine what we can expect over the next 3 months now that Mercury is direct.

Reprinted on crystalwind.ca with written permission from Robert Wilkinson. Copying this article to other blogs is strictly prohibited. It is copyright protected. 

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