Bi-quintiling the Moon, Pluto and Chiron, but is otherwise un-aspected
It may feel, at times, an inconvenience to pause, take stock and reflect a little more deeply on certain scripts, patterns, themes and happenings in life, when there is so much on, so much information bombarding your mind, so much to look at/ understand/ read/ process/ answer and so little time to do all that needs done. Taking time, you know is good; you know is necessary; you know is intrinsically part nature, but… and there is the but AND resistance, since you have been brainwashed into thinking, imprisoned into believing that to turn inwards means there is a problem and you have issues, straight jacketed into a narrow use of your mental energy by an education system that states you have no right to a ‘real’ opinion until you have at least a PhD. It is no wonder that many, who have turned to astrology for guidance, dread the phrase – Mercury is turning retrograde, since it means, quite simply, that “Mind has turned inwards”.
Inwards is a Yin state, and in a world addicted to being Yang, it is not surprising that this thrice annual loll is considered to be deeply misunderstood in terms of its true meaning and opportunity. Yet myths are hard to bust and even within the astrology community, this valuable inner space has been reduced to soundbites about ‘stuff going wrong’, ‘contracts not to be signed’, woolly thinking and decision making, when in actual fact this time truly represents a time wherein the mental component of our collective consciousness is preparing to let go mental scripts and patterns that are no longer necessary; to review the mental health of a particular dimension of consciousness; and to lay the foundation for a more conscious expression of a particular aspect of consciousness.
That is all.
However, you are indeed entitled to continue to believe in fear, doom and gloom and that the cosmos was constructed to provide us with deeply frustrating experiences of losing our keys, our digital data, our phones and whatever else we use to write, communicate and sign. For me, I see this time as particularly valuable. Imagine what music would sound like without any pauses or spaces between phrases? Imagine what a novel would read like, without any punctuation marks or spacesbetweenwordstoallowyoutoreadandabsorbwhatisbeingwritten???? And so pauses in nature are necessary, just as loops in time offering you a chance to review, with a maturing vision, patterning from a differing angle.
Mercury retrogrades three times a year, in the same way that all planets from a geo-centric perspective retrograde for a good part of the year, bar Mars and Venus, who have their own relationship with pausing. Since Mercury symbolises our mental function, it’s ‘apparent’ change in direction to track back over space already traversed, reflects a time wherein you can review how a particular style of thinking and specific scripts within your mind are operating. This coming July and August, 2018, Mercury spends a longer time than usual in the tropical sign of Leo, a sign that reflects the desire to turn inwards and to nourish, sustain and keep lit your inner flame, that spark of confidence that is so readily extinguished by a world we have created that would prefer to harness your energy and time for its own purpose, leaving you lacking in confidence and belief.
This coming Mercury retrograde concerns an almost undistracted inner reflection on the ways in which you hold back from clearly articulate your opinions on things that you truly believe in. Have you the confidence to speak from your heart, without egoic attachment to the outcome of any interaction, so that your dialogue is heart-felt and has heart filled meaning? That is no mean feat to achieve considering that the person with whom you are interacting also has heart-felt longings, desires and a need to speak from their own heart! But are they on a path that merely seeks to express their inner world so that they gain approval, that they attract more likes on their social media account, that they can feel justified or vindicated that they are right, putting you in your place?
One of the by-products of being the children/ grandchildren of a generation who had no voice in the 1950s and early 1960s has been to encourage our offspring to believe in themselves; to encourage them to speak from their heart and to follow their dream; that they are brilliant and can do anything. Sadly, this has spawned a sense of entitlement, along with an obsessive focus on ‘self’ – how wonderful, how beautiful, how amazing MY life is, as exemplified by an entire generation that lives life through the lens of a camera. Each of the zodiacal signs has a less conscious and more conscious way of showing itself and the less conscious expression of Fixed Fire, or Leo, is insecurity about self, thereby compensating by focusing exclusively on the appearance of exterior confidence, exterior glam and success. However, the deeper expression of confidence comes from a ‘knowingness’ of purpose and walking, without needing re-assurance, a deeply creative and self-determined path. Not an easy thing to do when you live within an education system that has been designed to limit your freedom and to keep you focused on the future so that you can apply your creative energy into stock piling so you have enough to survive when you retire.
The importance of this ‘pure’ Mercurial retrograde lies in the fact that you can explore, without much distraction, the thought patterns that have prevented you from spending time alone and developing a relationship with yourself, by yourself. This aloneness can foster a deeper relationship with yourself and your mind and can help you more consciously understand what jOy means to you; what lOve means to you; what activities brings out the best in you, so that you walk confidently with a smile in your eyes, exuding presence and not needing validation or acknowledgement from anyone in your life. But to do that means to retreat from the world for a while; to do that is to find a place of stillness so that you can ‘ask’ for illumination on those scripts and patterns that distract you from being true to your heart; and to do that means cultivating a still mind, one that does not berate yourself for focusing on you and your needs.
The highly charged emotional energies that have surrounded you over recent weeks have, ironically, got you to focus on what you have created and given permission to exist in your life, and it is true that you have been more reflective of late than would be normal. Therefore the ‘weather’ is permissive of a deeper reflectiveness up until the 9th August when the ‘tides’ alter and become more pro-active. From the 17th July your mind is naturally in a state of quiet contemplation as it prepares to turn away from the illusions of the material world on the 26th July (a reason why it is more appropriate for Yin-orientated mental activities than Yang-ones), focusing instead on matters of a deeply personal and private nature. During this time, it would be useful to hold a space for all those people you have sought validation from, looking particularly at the underlying reasons that exist within you that have prompted you to give away your power. As this process gets deeper, more ancestral and more spiritual from the 1st August, to dive into the patterns that exist within your family and tribe that have contributed to this script in your life would feel appropriate. During this time, you could hold a space for an ideal that will help you strengthen your inner-confidence and belief to arise would be something I would encourage you to do, as it will be revealed around the 9th August.
On the 9th, the mood shifts, as the old thought-patterns are burned away in a healing and cleansing flame of healing and in its place, you are encouraged to commit, in prayer or meditation, to the idea that has arisen in your consciousness that will support you to move forward in a more self-assured manner. It will take several days to get used to that new script and from the 9th until the 17th August, take your time and be patient as this new ideal takes its time to discover ways of growing. This will feel like a private and almost unseen process, but from the 19th August onwards you will start to feel increasingly more proactive and visible with this inner journey, as you will be offered the opportunity to live from your heart and to speak confidently from your heart.
Remember to speak confidently is not to impose onto the world, but to merely know something to be true. This is not arrogance. This is not hubris. It is merely a knowingness that for you it is truth. It does not mean the world will like you or indeed support you. But it does means that you have more confidently defined your boundaries; that you know yourself in a clearer manner and therefore you can interact with the world in a way that does not drain or disappoint you, as your ego no longer requires acknowledgement or approval.
I wish you well with this inner journey and that you plant a seed that yields a more confident and self-assured you on the 9th August.
