September 24th ~ October 1st

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending. ~ Maria Robinson

Mercury stations this week, on the 26-27th depending on where you are located. Up until this point it appears to slow down, till it finally appears to stand still, or station. After this date it will appear to retreat and retrace its path for 3 weeks, in what we refer to as its retrograde phase. Mercury is pretty important to us in our mundane everyday lives. And so we are more aware of its phases and stations, as they infiltrate our daily lives. Mercury as it approaches its retrograde station is compelling us to slow down, turn down the noise in our outer lives and try to tune in. Unfortunately our outer lives do not go on hiatus for 3 weeks. We still have to get to work, hold meetings, keep our appointments, and make decisions on a daily basis.

And that is the rub. We need to get to work on time, but the transportation is stalled, the alarm didn’t go off, and we stumble down the stairs as we hurry out the door. And if we had only checked our email we would have seen that the meeting we had scheduled was going to be delayed any way, so there really was no need to hurry. It will certainly seem as if the circumstances of our life are trying to get us to slow down, reflect, revise, make sense of all that we have been trying to perceive and process in our minds. 

Mercury is our window to the world. It has domain over our perceptions, such as sight, hearing and sensing. And it also has domain over our ability to process the information that we receive, and how we engage and interact with our environment as a result of that. So it also has domain over things like language, communications, and everyday common sense. 

Mercury is retrograde every 90 days. It tends to be retrograde in the same element for about a year, then transitions to the previous element the year after. In 2021, Mercury has been retrograde exclusively in the air signs, beginning with Aquarius in February, then Gemini in June, and now Libra. The air signs are signs of communication and have to do with the way we relate to others. These are signs of understanding, learning and comprehension. And as Mercury has been retrograde through each of these signs, there can be opportunities for us to reprocess, assimilate and review what we are trying to learn and understand about the world that we live in. In this way, these retrograde periods, albeit annoying at times, are actually quite important for our personal growth and development. 

These are not generally good times to start new things. What often can seem like a really great idea while Mercury is retrograde will have its faults revealed later on when Mercury is direct again, causing us to need to revise our plans or change our mind. If you are starting something new, the retrograde period could feel like a learning curve, or riddled with delays, or where things don’t really seem to click or fully make sense until Mercury is finally direct again. It’s a bit like swimming upstream. Or having to take a few steps back before you can move forward again. 

When Mercury stations direct again on October 18th, it will be within range of a trine to Saturn. It kind of feels like we are going back, needing to review and revise and relearn, in order to gain greater clarity and understanding. In order to clarify our plans, our objectives and goals, we are first being asked to cull out that which is no longer valid for who we are now, or where we are now, and embrace a more holistic, and broader vision of what we can be. 

Mercury in Libra can be indecisive. It sees the value of both sides of an argument, of going in this direction or that. But as Mercury stations retrograde this week it is also square Pluto, compelling many of us to face some hard truths, that we can no longer avoid or deny. This can be about the stuff that we no longer need and may in fact be holding us back and preventing us from growing. These may be old dialogues that we tell ourselves, habits that no longer serve us, or old ways of thinking. Pluto shows us what still needs to be transformed or changed in our perspective so that we can create better, more reliable ways of doing things, and interacting with the world we live in. 

Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real. ~ Cormac McCarthy

Mercury trine Jupiter is trying to connect us with a much broader vision, by trying to show us that we don’t have to keep doing things the same way, and that there might be better ways of doing things, or of having a more accurate perspective. This is a transit of growth: casting out what no longer fits us now, and opening ourselves up to a world of possibility. 

Jupiter has been retrograde since June and will station direct on the same day as Mercury, on October 18th. While Jupiter has been retrograde it has been trying to connect us with and reenforce some of our core values and truths. Mercury/Pluto truths can sometimes be painful, embarrassing, or regrettable. Especially if they start peeling back the scabs of some old wounds that hadn’t thoroughly healed. It’s the stuff that we usually don’t want to look at. But we must if we want to grow. Mercury/Jupiter on the other hand is trying to connect us with our highest truths, and our own vision for the future. Jupiter is here to inspire us. And then when Mercury approaches its trine to Saturn in October, that’s when we are being asked to think in terms of what we can do to make our hopes for the future, a closer, more achievable reality. 

Some questions we can ask ourselves with the upcoming retrograde phase of Mercury: 

What have you outgrown, and no longer serves the person you are now, or wish to become?

What are you needing to rebuild, renovate, or renew? 

What can you change in your perspective, in order to better accept your current circumstances for what they are? 

And if you were to connect with your own best vision for the future, what would that look like for you? 

What the retrograde phase of Mercury is useful for September 26/7th thru October 18th:

• Unfinished Business: Starting new things can be riddled with delays, learning curves, and having to do things all over again later. There can sometimes be the feeling of ‘returning’ to something or somewhere you were before. But these periods are really good for ending things that are no longer serving the person we are or hope to be. They are also really good for finishing projects that have been stuck on the back burner. This is when we add the finishing touches, edit that manuscript, tie up loose ends, and remove the clutter from our minds. Review, edit, reevaluate and revise.

• Stress Reduction: Stress can increase during the retrograde. In Libra we can often feel indecisive and trying to weigh too many things. Libra is a sign of moderation, restoring the balance, and finding the center in the middle of the storm. Be preemptive and focus on those techniques and modalities that help you to reduce stress, while cultivating positive coping methods and mental habits.

• Reunions: People can return from the past along with your memories. Libra is a relationship sign, and we will be reevaluating all of our partnerships and connections. And that will include those relationships and connections from the past.

• Reflection: This is when we process and assimilate all that has occurred up until this point, distilling the essence of what we have learned.

Challenges:

• Communications: Can go awry. Words come out all wrong. Mail gets lost. We send that email foe editing it. Messages are not received or are misunderstood. You feel like you are not being heard, and things get lost in translation. Make sure that you are being understood, and that you have all the facts before making a decision or jumping to conclusions. Be clear about agreements, and prepared to have to revise them later on.

• Technology and transportation can go awry. Things need to be fixed or replaced. Not usually recommended to purchase new equipment at this time. Get a warranty if you cannot wait.

• Delays and changes in plans: Much of what occurs has this way of slowing us down, and asking us to turn the focus from our outer world, and turning it within. This can be annoying in our everyday lives. But it serves a purpose. Be prepared. Give yourself extra time to get places. Bring a good book. Or better yet, make use of down time and delays to reflect, review and reassess. And know that changes are okay, including giving yourself permission to change your mind.

For next week’s horoscopes, click below:

HOROSCOPES

Image: “Libra” by Johfra Bosschart

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