Mercury Square Uranus: Solutions Love Problems

Transcript:

Hey everyone, this is Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology and today we are going to take a look at Mercury's upcoming square to the planet Uranus. So this is a pretty exciting aspect. And one that has a little bit of history to it, you might remember that when Mercury stationed to turn retrograde in Aquarius most recently, it was also right around the same degree that it's at now and squaring Uranus. So this is a transit that's coming full circle in a sense, let's take a look at it. And we're going to break down the archetypal combination today.

So here is mercury making a square to Uranus. And we'll see that this square perfects Wednesday, February 23, push it forward to Thursday, February 24. And you're going to see the two planets coming together. So it'll perfect tomorrow and you'll be able to feel it into Friday, even Saturday as the planet is moving just to without about three degrees away from Uranus by Sunday. And then at which point, it's starting to get into a conjunction with Saturn. What's so interesting about this to me, first of all, Mercury Uranus is a fun transit. I think there's lots of exciting combinations to get into today. But also, if you look at the the point at which these two planets are making their conjunction, it's a pretty interesting one. We take this back a little bit, you're going to notice that when Mercury reached its station point, it was at about 10 degrees of Aquarius, and as it was doing so it was almost in a square with Uranus. But it didn't reach the square it refrained meaning it turned retrograde. This was about the middle of January. Now it's been moving backward. So since then, we've seen Mercury go through a conjunction with Pluto once toward the end of January turn station and turn direct around the beginning of February moved forward again through a conjunction with Pluto by right around the 10th of February, and then enter Aquarius again about the middle of February and now it's coming all the way back to actually pass through the square with Uranus that it almost hit at the outset of the retrograde.

So when I consider all of that, I think to myself, the one thing that this transit has behind it that's really interesting is the feeling of something that's been in the works for a while. So there's more of a history behind this aspect. And to me that means that the significations or promises of this transit are just a little bit more exciting to consider. I mean, all transits have something good to offer. But this one has the feeling of something that almost happened but then sort of didn't. A process is taking place. Now we're going back to the same place we started. And we're hitting that aspect that that almost perfected at the outset of the retrograde so if you think about things that have been in the works since the beginning of January, starting to see maybe some breakthroughs or you know, the feeling of something that's been in process reaching a decisive moment or something like that. And that may be just a general signification based on the timeline of this particular square to Uranus in horror area astrology for example, when a planet is about to aspect and other but stops just short of it refrains and turns retrograde, it often means that things are about to happen, but then they they refrain, and there's a delay and some maybe they'll get back together. They get back together again later, for example, in a horary if someone says Will we get back together, we've broken up or we're separated. And you see that aspect. Refraining, you say, No, you're not going to get together right away. There's something that will temporarily continue to separate the two of you. So the refranation will prevent the thing being asked about from perfecting if we consider that as something that was happening around the beginning of January, and that now it's finally happening. That's where I think there's there's just a lot of room for creative interpretation about how that could actually show up in our lives right now. So that's the first thing I wanted to say.

Next, what I want to do is just take a look at some of the archetypal combinations. One of the things that mercury and Uranus is known for is problem solving. Wherever there is the feeling of something that is impossible, intractable an obstacle that you can't figure out how to get around or how to deal with mercury Uranus is a wonderful transit when it comes to being able to say, Okay, I've got an idea about how to deal with this I've there here's a solution to a problem. It often appears very suddenly, and unexpectedly. Have you ever had that moment where you're staring at a problem? You know, maybe you're, for me, it tends to be, you know, when I have to organise something, like if I have to organise the garage, for example, and it's like a Rubik's Cube, you know, where am I going to put stuff? Or where's the best place for this to go? You know, it's like, A, we're packing the trunk of a car. That's another one that drives me crazy. So it'd be so much easier if we just didn't pack as much. Do you know how it goes when you have kids too. So you're sitting there and you're staring at a problem and you're like, I can't figure this out. This is I'm you're just nothing's happening. And then all of a sudden, the answer appears, that is a very Mercury Uranus like moment. And so I would not be surprised, especially given the history of this transit, if something that you've been thinking about stuck on, even maybe unconsciously, at this point, something that you've been getting tripped up by, suddenly, there's a a solution, a workaround a fix for the bug in the system, I would not be surprised to see that sudden feeling of a problem, you know, vanishing into thin air because of a great idea that suddenly appears.

The thing you have to remember is that mercury Uranus, for as much as it is a problem solver tends to be a combination that also attracts problems, when you can't have a transit that is all about problem solving. Without there also being some kind of weird attraction to problems. That's why you have to be careful because on the flip side, this transit is also about the, almost the kind of Rebel Without a Cause motif, where there's a sense of looking for things to be wrong, just so that you can rebelliously are defiantly flip the script and do something original and different. Sometimes, in other words, there's a kind of wayward, restless, distracted quality to this transit and mercury, Uranus is kind of like that person who you're like, hey, let's have some dinner together. And the person's like, Ah, so on original, you know, like, dinner, and you're like, what, what, you know, it was like that person who's always got to look at things as if they are problematic and need a brighter, more original idea or solution. I remember, I had certain friends, you know, when I was in high school, and if I liked a band that was just popular on the radio, I was like, hi, I love that song by The Counting Crows. The Counting Crows, you know? How trivial? You know, that's not very sensibly indie, you like the bands that everyone likes. That's a problem. Like, okay, it has to be so original all the time, that you could never like something that's simple and easy, and maybe lots of other people like so mercury, Uranus similarly, sometimes just gravitates towards problems simply so that you can revel in the the intellectual, you know, the intellectual hubris, or I've got a bigger, brighter idea, so you have to be a little bit careful of that energy to but also, very similarly, Mercury Uranus is an incredibly inventive combination. Necessity is the mother of invention. Is that the right phrase, I hope I'm getting that right. But the gist of it is that like, of course, it makes sense that mercury Uranus would if you know mercury, Uranus always likes to have an original idea than an Mercury Uranus is also related to inventions, it stands to reason that mercury Uranus will also be attracted to things that are old and outworn.

And in need of improvement, or, you know, there's some necessity Oh, I have to figure out how to do something and I have to come up with a solution or I have to come up with an invention. Remember, Mercury's in a Saturn ruled sign co present with Saturn, for the inventiveness of this transit goes hand in hand with the feeling of, you know, things that are old or broken or outworn, or some need or necessity to invent something. And, you know, sometimes that's going to be just wonderful, the breakthroughs, the inventiveness, but on the other hand, it's like you know, we don't always have to fix what isn't broken. And you know, this can happen Such a restless sort of way word restless quality behind it, this transit, that you're trying to reinvent the wheel, you want to be careful about that. On the other hand, Mercury Uranus is about original thinking and original ideas that somehow move the story forward, push the plotline forward a little bit more. And that is going to come along with the clash between old ideas and the status quo and new ideas and the future. murky mercury, Uranus can be incredibly over. What I want to say, like to linear can be incredibly linear.

Progress only means going forward, nothing in the past is worth anything, it's all about pushing some kind of future ideal. And sometimes that is going to be similar to you don't have to reinvent the wheel. There's good things that have existed for a long time that are time tested and new does not always mean better. So those are the tensions you'll feel with mercury Uranus. Sometimes you're going to notice that mercury Uranus brings up the does like playfulness, and something that is ground breakingly, original and inventive and also playful. And that's one of my, perhaps my favourite aspects of this combination. It's the feeling that novelty and newness aren't just a matter of getting rid of the old but also about playing on a riffing off from something old. For example, one of my favourite things that I I get distracted by you know, on Instagram, is I like watching occasionally I like watching DJs, who remix songs from my childhood with maybe songs that are more current into something really original. So also, the idea of playing or riffing off from things that have been done before or things in the past, tweak them and make them new. That's one of the really interesting potential synthesis. That's there with with mercury Uranus. Okay, so I am not going to be told what to think. No way. That's the mercury Uranus dynamics. So mental intellectual independence.

I suspect that, you know, in the news and media, I'm not really paying attention most days, but in the news and media, you might, you may find that questions about rights, dignity, independence, resistance, or defiance to authority that these themes stand out mental independence comes along with a resistance to being told what to do or think defiance comes along with an exploration of what constitutes authority. So these tensions get triggered with mercury, Uranus. And the thing that I want to say is this. If we think we can make our way through life without tapping into any wisdom, any tradition, any sense of the 1000s of years worth of human history and experiences come before us, it has nothing to offer us that we know better, that we live in a subjective bubble where only our own opinions and subjective experiences have anything to do with truth, that truth is purely personal, changing on a dime, and up to me 24/7 Then we're lost. You know, we're lost if we can't draw any wisdom from the past, from elders from, you know, from history, from people who know more than we do. And people who have authority in areas that we don't, we're just not humble, if that's the case, we're not being real.

Of course, the other extreme is true as well, which is that if we can't think for ourselves, and if you can't think for yourself, then you're not ever going to have a real personal experience of any of the great ideals or truths that you're approaching or considering. It's something about, there's a, you know, guru in my tradition, who said, you know, Faith without reason is just sentimentality. But reason without faith is dry mental speculation. And so somewhere, there's a balance between taking the wisdom and trusting the time tested authority expertise of others in our lives, while at the same time Being someone who questions who pursues truth through the lens of our own personal dynamism, you know our own experiential matrix. But we pit the two against each other sometimes like they have nothing to do with one another. Well, I'm either a purely subjective sovereign being who makes up truth as I go, or I'm just taking someone else's word for everything. James Hillman liked to say that, you know, the biggest symptom of a lack of imagination are people who can't embrace and hold contradictory truths. They see all their contradictory truths, so only one can be true. But the opposite of a great truth is often another great truth. And there's something to be said about defiant, original thinking, not listening and not taking someone else's authority, just for the sake of it. And simultaneously, being humble enough to accept that there are people who have walked paths that we haven't know more than we know. We can do both. And sometimes, you'll be duped into thinking it's one or the other when it comes to Mercury, Uranus, because it brings up this transit does these tensions I like strong powerful words, declarations, unexpected news that excites liberates inspires the feeling of emancipatory thoughts, ideas that pop up and sparkle, and ignite. There's a sense of Mercury, Uranus, thievery. Mercury, Uranus, like the fire theft of Prometheus, I'm going to steal this progress. I don't care whether it's moral or ethical progress at all cost, or someone trying to hold back or illegally take or steal someone else's intellectual property or belongings or cyber identity or something like that. And you often with a sense of there being some justification behind it, well, I'm entitled to something. There's often for example, some sense of nobility among thieves, right? Robin Hood, I'm stealing from the rich to give to the poor, or I'm justified in taking something because of the larger ideal behind what I'm doing a hacker who hacks because they don't like the system and can justify, you know, maybe doing real damage to other people, because they're, they're driven by some idealism. So that kind of thing can also come up, justified, thievery justified acts of what I want to say defiance.

There's a general emphasis on things like electronics technology, mental dexterity. With this transit that you'll, you may notice, people often switch cell phone providers or buy a new laptop or something like that the need to change things up on the level of technology, buying a new car. Those are a few of the things that you may watch one a more mundane way. You will see people with words and ideas, clashing about what is the most original, exciting, brilliant or smart, and there will be the equal sort of Promethean fervour and zeal. It's not, it would not be surprising to be suddenly finding yourself in some fight about what is truly a liberating thought. What is truly the most egalitarian supportive humanitarian view so the clashing of ideals in the arena of intellectualism, that's a big one, potentially from Mercury Uranus. I want to close today just after giving you a feeling for this transit, of some of the shadows and then a little bit of the I Ching The shadows are going to be the restlessness mentally the the feeling of not being able to sit still the the need for progress at all costs. Resistance to authority that becomes pathologically authoritarian the justification of unethical thing For the sake of a cause these are some of the shadows that I would watch for impatience. The good idea, but in impatient execution of the idea the eaching hexagram that came up is modesty. And I think this is really an interesting read about modesty. The fourth line of hexagram 15, in particular was changing, and I thought was an interesting hexagram.

First of all, to get modesty. Listen to this particular changing line: The person maintains their modesty in the proper perspective, they do not avoid responsibilities, abuse, the rulers confidence or conceal the subordinates merit. And here's a quote that the author provides from Carl Jung, modesty and humility are not signs of an inferiority complex. They are highly estimable, indeed admirable virtues and not complexes, they prove that they're fortunate possessor is not a presumptuous fool, but knows their limitations and will therefore never stumble beyond the bounds of humanity, dazzled and intoxicated by their imagined greatness, advanced the work through temperate well considered actions without exceeding your authority. And you see, there's something about this transit that it's so dazzling and can be so right about things that it forgets that it doesn't matter if you're right, but lose your humanity, your kindness, your patience, your humility in the process. By the same token, this particular line of the I Ching, it also says that, concealing something about yourself, concealing the merits of other people trying to hide things, because you think, Oh, it needs to remain humble, can actually be more about show than it is about actual humility. Humility sometimes means doing things that will bring some attention to you. But that you, you know, you ought to do. And you have to bear with and deal with the awkwardness of the attention and the challenge the tension of trying to remain humble despite it. That does not mean that you're saying, Well, I have to remain humble and just accept this greatness. You know, that's not what we're saying. What we're saying is that sometimes, there's a sense in which the actions that have to be done will draw attention to you. And the challenge will be to remain humble despite it. But it would not be humbled to avoid right action purely because it will draw some attention to you. Sometimes you just have to deal with it.

I think that's a really interesting and diverse teaching, as well as here, we also have hexagram overall, that saying, it's not being humble is not mean being inferior, or having an inferiority complex. I love that phrase, being humble is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking about yourself less. And how do we do that? When it's raining intellectual insights? How do we do that when it's raining exciting, inspiring ideals and epiphanies? How do we do that we feel like we're on the brink of a breakthrough. There's something so exciting about those times. And it's always when there's excitement, that we're tempted to lose our humility, but you can be excited and humble at the same time. In fact, one of the ways to prolong and actually enjoy the experience of humility, and be truly satiated with the humble the humble approach is to recognise oh, here's excitement. I'm going to make it last by by not jumping off from it as a platform for my ego, but rather, taking it slow.

One of the things that if I had to put it simply, I remember when I was in travel when I was young, it's about 18 years old, and I travelled to Greece and Turkey with my father. It was a like a tour we were taking of the Apostle Paul's footsteps around the Mediterranean for our church. And the food we ate on the cruise. We're on this cruise ship going from like location to location. And I remember the food was unbelievably good, right and there was so much of it, but it was served in courses and it was maybe one The first time I'd ever I was probably 17. And I never really eaten like that, that I hadn't had that nice of a dining experience before. And I remember one of my father's friends who probably had more money, you know, and pet was maybe had more of those experiences in their life. And they said to me, it's absolutely the best food, isn't it? I said, Yeah. And they said, the trick is with classy food and a classy dining experience to make it last. So move very slowly through it. And be sure not to let on to everyone how amazing it is, and you'll enjoy it even more. And I just thought, first of all, as a 17 year old, I remember initially feeling sort of embarrassed and maybe slightly accosted just because of my ego, you know. But then I remember like, as the trip went on, and I watched other adults eating like a four course meal, or what a five course meal or whatever it was. And I just remember thinking like, yeah, yeah, that's right and slowing down.

Similarly, I remember, when I learned to like tea, you know, when I was a little bit older, and I was like, I was like, Ted Last. So if you guys know, Ted Last, so he's like, this tastes like garbage. Like, I don't know why you people drink tea. But I remember learning to like, things that didn't necessarily taste good. You know, and then all of a sudden developing a taste for it. And I think humility is a little bit like that. We think humility is somehow the foil to excitement. But it's not. It's just, it's like learning to, you know, take some bitters after your meal, you know, really good for digestion doesn't taste great, but it's really good for you. It's, there's something about this transit, that suggests to me that if you don't take it along with a dose of humility, according to the eaching reading, that you really won't actually enjoy the breakthrough as much as you could, you would enjoy the mental mental electricity as much as is possible. I don't know about you guys. But I love this stuff. So much. Like what would my week be? I just, I think some days, I just go like, How fortunate am I? How lucky am I that in my lifetime, I have this heavenly language and I can sit back and reflect on the language itself. And it becomes like a prism through which I can meditate upon experience while actually experiencing it. And that's to me is like being told that when you're a kid, you're laying out in the field with your friends, looking up at the clouds and picking out what you see in the clouds that somehow life is actually inherently like that. And that something something of spiritual enlightenment occurs when you get that and start doing that on the regular. And oh, by the way, are there clouds passing in the skies of our lives? Yes, there are.

They're called planets, Gods archetypes. And we sit around and track them. Isn't it lovely? Isn't it profound? I just love it. I was dropping my daughter off at school this morning. Mom's gone on a retreat her first time in six years. And we have a little altar. We set up for her. We say some prayers for her and stuff like that while she's gone, hoping that she has some deep rejuvenation. And I was driving my daughter to school this morning. She said, Daddy, and I said what she said, You talk to the planets and stars. And she asked she'll say this is something that comes up somewhat regularly now. And I said, Yeah. And she said, Well, how do they talk? I can you hear them? And I said, Well, when you make a piece of artwork at home, do you think that it has a meaning or a message to it? Do you think it says something? And she thought about it for a second? And she said yeah, but I guess not with words. And I said yeah, it doesn't say something like out loud. Like I can hear it like you talking. You know, but your artwork speaks it has meaning and there's something there that you want to communicate. That's all the planets are like that too. Oh, okay. six year old totally got it. You know, she totally gets it. And so here we are. And every day really, if we can put remember that same kind of innocence like the sky speaks really it talks to us. Yeah, it does. It has so much to say. Are we listening? Do we have our hearts open so that we can hear it? Because if we do and what a treat what a what arrived? In some ways, I don't even care what Mercury Uranus brings. I don't I'm just I'm here for it. You know, a Come what may just knowing that whatever comes will express this archetype, hopefully in a new way. I couldn't have possibly anticipated that will add to my understanding, because then it feels like a friend that I just keep getting to know someone you just can't stop going out to tea or dinner with that you just love talking to. I mean I'm here for it. I'm here to fall in love with this life here to fall in love with the divine. That's all throughout the cosmos and in the stars. How about you? Alright, that sort of got for today. I hope you guys have a good one and we will talk to you again tomorrow. Bye.