Mercury Turning Retrograde in Aquarius

Transcript:

Hey everyone this is Acyuta-bhava from Nightlight Astrology and today we are going to take a look at Mercury's upcoming retrograde in the sign of Aquarius. So this is a retrograde that has a couple of key features one of them being that it is opening its retrogradation in a square with Uranus, who is also turning direct right now. And as Mercury changes into the position of the Morning Star, which is always what it does when it Retrogrades going from evening star to Morning Star, it will make its visibility it will become visible I should say, as the morning star as it's going through a conjunction with Pluto, it will turn direct still within the engagement range of a conjunction with Pluto and then just as it's turning direct, it will go back through a conjunction with Pluto. So this is a pretty powerful retrograde cycle for Mercury given the importance of the other planets that mercury is hanging out with throughout the cycle. So let's pull it up and take a look at it and maybe talk a little bit about some of these key features and what to watch for.

Alright, so here's the real time clock and start off by noticing that M ercury is stationed see little s on my solar fire programme here. Mercury is stationed and is doing so not an exact square but close enough squared to the planet Uranus so you can see Mercury stationing in the square with Uranus in an engagement with but not exact conjunction with Saturn as well. So it's bringing up a little bit of that Saturn Uranus dynamic this Mercury Retrograde cycles which is one of the reasons it's a more potent cycle. Every Mercury retrograde cycle is different you know you can have three retrograde Mercury Retrograde cycles a year and each one of them are going to look completely different from the other. This one obviously starting off in the Air sign of Aquarius finishing in Capricorn both Saturn ruled signs. There's a lot of Saturn in the mix of this retrogradation but also Uranus Uranus plays a pretty key role as this Pluto. So let's watch what happens. So there's Mercury closing in on the conjunction with Saturn but it stops it refrains called the refranation. Before two planets can come together one of them turns direction. And Mercury is refraining from a square to Uranus to technically so we're seeing mercury. No, I'm just going to begin to turn around and go backward. Let's watch what happens here Mercury is turning retrograde. And we're going to see one of the bright points of the cycle is of course, when it moves through the exact conjunction with the sun, January 23, you're going to see that cazimi moment, that can be a powerful moment of transformation within the cycle. And then we're going to see to my mind what is the most important moment of the cycle, which is when Mercury's retrograde and crosses over the conjunction with Pluto. So we're going to see that you can just back it up here about a day, January 28 through the 29th. Right in that range. Mercury crosses Pluto in a conjunction. And let's highlight that so you can see there's the two of them. And the reason that I think this is a big moment - there are a couple of reasons.

One is mercury is just about to appear as the morning star gets to about 15 degrees and starts appearing as the morning star. So it's right in the phase where it's about to change positions. Now it's rising right before the sun comes up. It's also happening as the sun is coming over the initial retrogradation point but perfecting the square to Uranus. To me, this is a moment of catharsis and breakthrough within the retrograde cycle that we should all be watching for. So we'll you know we'll definitely come back to that. This is at the end of the month. Now, if we continue, we're going to see that within a couple of days. Mercury stations This is right around February 3 Now it's the morning star. And it turns direct right as the sun conjoined Saturn. So now the sun is hitting Saturn, so you're gonna see the sun sort of doing its own thing but right at key moments with mercury changing direction. So mercury will then go back forward and cross over Pluto one more time by February 11.

So to me these are the key points of the retrograde cycle and they suggest a few things. First of all, let's start off with maybe the most obvious piece of symbolism. Mercury moves towards Saturn sees Saturn, you kind of have to imagine it like this in my opinion, sees Saturn says way, way, way way. Wait. Okay, wait, I'm just gonna, I'm gonna stop, I'm going to chill out. And I'm going to, I'm going to turn around and go the other direction. Let's just say that Saturn, among its many significations represents an impediment of some kind and negation, a block, some kind of set or some kind of moment of potential polarisation between one thing and another. Well, before hitting that critical moment, Mercury decides to have a think about it, you know. And because it's doing so changing directions in a square with Uranus, one might suggest that this retrogradation cycle has something to do with looking at a problem from a new perspective, or attempting like creating a new approach to solving a problem or a new way of doing something or a new way of looking at something. I drew an eaching hexagram this morning, and the hexagram that came back was number 39, which is sometimes called obstacle. I'm going to read you a little excerpt from iching 123 dot com, which is one of my favourite eaching translation sites.

In the time of difficulty and proceeding, remember, this hexagram is called obstacle. It is advantageous to be in the southwest, the clear plains, but not in the northeast, ie the mountains, signifying choosing a smoother path rather than seeking challenges. Or it is advantageous to be flexible rather than rigid. It is advantageous to meet a person who can lead them together through their plight, or it is advantageous to undergo difficulties together with a person who can influence one's future to persist is auspicious. So, first of all, you have the idea of something like, you know, brick wall mountain sitting in front of you. And the hexagrams advice is that, you know, you might want to be careful in ploughing ahead trying to go over a mountain. So you might want to think of a way of going around or adapting some kind of flexible approach when you meet with an immovable obstacle. Does that not sound like mercury sitting in front of Saturn, and turning retrograde in a square with Uranus, the god of invention and the God of you know, the eccentric orbit.

So first of all, I get the feeling that this retrogradation for all of us may have something to do with choosing a unique or novel approach to something, it may not appear right away, and it may emerge rather slowly. Why? Because we're also seeing mercury in a Fixed sign fixed signs in my experience for Mercury's retrogradation, there can be some, you know, major events and shifting or turning points that you know that the station can be a little chaotic like every Mercury Retrograde station, especially when stations in first turns retrograde, you know, shit can hit the proverbial fan or whatever. But fixed signs are often more process oriented. It's deeper, you call them deeper, samskaras, it's touching on areas of our life or mind that where the patterns are more entrenched and deeply held. And so in my experience, the Retrogrades really of any planet, but especially mercury, will address something you know more quickly the retrogradation cycles, you know, only weeks long, but in a Fixed sign maybe a little bit more slowly, maybe a little bit more process oriented. How does the implementation of a novel approach unique, creative, flexible, adaptive way of looking at things or thinking about things slowly take shape over the next three or four weeks. Remember that as this retrograde cycle goes on, Mercury also goes into the Morning star position, which generally means that mercury will become more assertive about something. You know, you could say broadly speaking that an evening star Mercury is a socialised mercury. It's doing its things in the marketplace with an awareness of how other people think and feel and how to adapt and get along. The morning star Mercury is a little bit more like blasting a trumpet on the gates of a city right as the sun is coming up. It has more of an assertive feeling behind it.

Before this is all said and done, we may end Need to assert ourselves or communicate something more boldly or implement something that often happens on the Morning star side of the Mercury Retrograde transit. But to me, this one has to be well thought out, it has to be adaptive, it has to be flexible. Because the whole cycle starts as it's running into Saturn, hitting Uranus and saying, Okay, I need to spark a creative idea for dealing with something that's a little bit rigid or inflexible or a wall or a potential for polarisation, or something like that. So Mercury's going retrograde, but don't forget that it's also going to hit the conjunction with Pluto into the cycle here, let's remind you of that one time with a real time clock. So, Mercury's retrograde will take Mercury over Pluto between the 28th and 29th. So that that conjunction with Pluto, as it's becoming the Morning Star, it happens right about the time that mercury is also appearing as the morning star. This can also mean that something we've been working on underneath, or behind the scenes or things we have been probing perhaps deeply into the unconscious or into researching something or Yeah, working behind the scenes. And then all of a sudden, we make an announcement. And that that thing that we've announced or that thing we've decided upon, suddenly comes out Morning Star hitting Pluto, there's kind of eruption of pent up energy that mercury seems to be expressing.

But I would be cautious in two ways. One of getting overly excited. The opening of the cycle, remember starts with Mercury, making a square to Uranus, okay, I've got a new idea. I know, I've got a way that I can work through something or around something or got a novel approach. Try to implement it too quickly under the initial retrogradation phase, which can be very Maverick and Renegade and rebel like. And you could get in trouble because you need something of the whole cycle to think things out with mercury Retrogrades as Mercury Retrogrades through the sun, for example, because me and then immediately goes into the conjunction with Pluto by the end of the month, I think that you're going to need to gather more research. And there's things that we're going to find in the process of this Mercury Retrograde that are going to add to our understanding add to our creative or novel approach. So I would be really patient with this retrograde cycle, in terms of the moves you're making, or the ways that you're having to adapt, you could very easily in the next couple of days be hit by some flashes of you know, keystrokes, who creative genius insights, the lightning, the lightning flashes and the light bulbs that suddenly illuminate and we can say, Oh, this this thing.

But hexagram 39 coming up is important because it's basically saying you have to take a measured approach, you have to adapt, you have to be flexible, but you also have to be cautious, because this hexagram sometimes also refers to a cautious and measured approach when facing an obstacle, or even the hexagram sometimes suggests that one is having to deal with like a limp like you have a you have a broken foot or something and you're having to limp along with something and so you have to be much more careful in how you navigate. So carefulness, caution, adaptation, flexibility, creativity with solving a problem or with moving around something that seems immovable or impassable. If you go too quickly, that's not cautious. If you're too conservative, that's not inventive enough. So you can't the hexagram is sort of like saying, Look, you have to find a way around something, you have to be cautious and inventive at the same time. That's a very unique set of skills. Many of us like the inventiveness because it hits on speed and excitement. Many of us are cautious, maybe because we like the practicality or we like being rational about things. So how hard is it to blend those qualities of being innovative, and careful, inventive and inspired, but also cautious and measured. That's the overall advice that the I ching is giving to us when I asked it about, you know, well what do you think? Dear Oracle, what do you think about the signatures of the planets in this retrograde cycle?

Okay, so I think that that pretty much rounds out the main things I want essay about this retrograde cycle overall. However, there's one more interesting piece of this cycle that I want to speak about almost separately, just as another another way in which I think we can understand the cycle as a whole. So that is also that understanding something about the nature of Aquarius Aquarius, I'm not going to give a full lecture on Aquarius, but just notice that you know, the sun is entering Aquarius, at the same time during this retrograde cycle. And so let me just hold on let's go back here just a little bit. So at the outset of the cycle, the sun has not yet entered Aquarius, the sun has to go through some pretty powerful things to in the next couple of days as Mercury is turning retrograde, the sun goes through a conjunction with Pluto. Could that have something to do with why Mercury has to change directions? It why or what Mercury is shifting its perspective on Sun Pluto is a very powerful moment where our sense of action purpose and ambition can change dramatically because of the encounter with Pluto lord of the underworld who can dredge things up from the unconscious, redirect our sense of purpose and ambition dismantle and destroy things, topple you know topple our pride or our ego. So there's a pretty powerful sun signature here at the outset.

The other thing to watch for is again, as the retrograde goes on, then the sun enters Aquarius. So what can we say about Aquarius overall? And I think of the water pourer, I think about of course I think about Saturn the ruler and I think about the fact that Saturn ruled oppositions and that with Aquarius, those oppositions are almost always ideological in nature. They're mental. In other words, they're intellectual. They're conceptual. And Aquarius makes us think through where we stand in relation to a topic that can we can very easily be polarised over you know, mask or not mask, vaccine or not vaccine or whatever the latest thing is there's always hot button topics or issues. And Aquarius tends to be one of those signs its interest is in what defines progress. You have the light rising in the sign of Aquarius, we're going to be going over this next week when we talk about misconceptions of Aquarius, three common misconceptions about sign of Aquarius, but the light is rising, it's midwinter in Zodiac speak, but the light is slowly gaining day by day, meaning it's becoming lighter, light emerging from within the darkness in the sign of polarisation. You always have questions about what constitutes the brighter or happier future in contrast to the status quo or the past. And so I think, and then always the potential for polarisation.

So for example, when you have a spirit of let's call it ideological fanaticism, this is the way to go. Anything else represents regression or evil or whatever, that can be very Aquarian. On the other hand, the thought about if you're in an organisation, and you need to look at where you've been and where you're going, and and to try to figure out what is the stance that we need to take? What does the future look like in contrast the past so that these kinds of comparisons are hard, stark comparisons and questions about where you want to go in the future. Those are the kinds of topics that can also be activated right now for all of us. And this is deep stuff, because you're going to see, you know, the sun hitting Uranus, hitting Saturn, while Mercury is going through it with Pluto and emerging as the morning star. So the other thing that hexagram 39 says is that, you know, it's a good idea when you face an obstacle, and you'll see you have a limp, and you have to suddenly you face the difficulty of having to try to walk, you know, you can't climb a mountain with a limp, and it's hard to climb a mountain anyway. So you might need to find a way around it. Some people initially will just back off, they'll just say, Hey, that looks complicated and tricky, and it doesn't look it's hard to think that there would be a right way to go or a way that's totally clear or free of danger. So you know, I'm just going to walk away from this.

Initially, sometimes that's the best approach, to walk away from something in order to gain perspective. hexagram 39 is very clear in a number of places in the eaching that you have to find an approach. You have to find an approach the next you have to find a new way of accomplishing something or you have to work through a problem. And it's not easy. And you have to be inventive and cautious at once, but you and you may need to temporarily take a step back in order to move forward in the best way. But you can't sit and wait and not move forward at all. So I in that, to me is very Aquarian insofar as Aquarius always brings up what is the path forward versus the status quo, or where we've been in the past and likes to contrast those kinds of things, especially socially and politically, but also in terms of things like all different kinds of fields science and science and the arts and culture and, but there's questions about the future, and about how to move forward in the right direction, inventive, but not reckless, you know, this is a really unique tension. So, at any rate, I've said enough about this, I hope that this is helpful for you guys. We will be walking through this cycle together at key moments and reminding ourselves of what the cycle is all about. Hopefully, this just gets you sort of prepped, I highly recommend taking a look at the whole sign House position of mercury in in your birth chart. Tomorrow we'll probably preview the sun's conjunction with Pluto because that's going to be happening over the weekend. So that's probably where we're heading for tomorrow. But leave your comments in the comment section. If you have a story about this Mercury Retrograde or about the sun's upcoming conjunction with Pluto. Whatever stories you may have, don't forget, always you can share them use the hashtag grab, tell us the aspect combination and the story, what you're seeing how you're seeing the planets play out in your life. And you remember occasionally we do a storytelling series where I go through some of the aspects and stories you guys have been sharing. We all get to learn quite a bit from them. So use that hashtag grabbed or email us grabbed at nightlight astrology.com with your stories. We'd love to hear from you guys. It's always fun to hear how the planets are showing up in your lives. Okay, that's what we got for today. We'll see you again tomorrow. Take it easy, everyone. Bye