by Alison Price
by Alison Price
Mercury
Rules Gemini and Virgo.
Mercury Keywords
Thinking: Thinking, talking, what you think and talk about are Mercury activities.
Information gathering: Also all forms of reading, writing, typing, handwriting, speech, your communication style, language, messages, penmanship, listening, calligraphy, codes and cyphers.
Mental arithmetic: Mercury rules arithmetic and numbers.
Commerce: Mercury rules all commerce, merchants, traders, deals,
Handiwork: Dexterity, handicrafts and handiwork.
School: Your early learning processes, intelligence and how you digest information is shown by the Mercury placement in your chart.
Mercury in the Signs
Mercury in the Houses
Mercury Retrograde
The Mercury retrograde cycle
Job seeking tips when Mercury is retrograde
Mercury Extras
Is your creative writing time a write-off? (Mercury in the chart)
Learning without tears – Book review (Mercury)
Fish Can’t Climb Trees – Book review (Mercury)
by Alison Price
by Alison Price
The Mercury Retrograde War Cry!
“Go back, go back, go back to the woods.
You haven’t, you haven’t, you haven’t the goods.
You haven’t the spirit, you haven’t the jazz…
You haven’t the moves that Mercury has!”
The Mercury Retrograde Cycle
Mercury has more retrograde cycles than the other planets. Mercury goes retrograde three times each year. This occurs roughly at four month intervals and usually coincides with the same element for three consecutive retrograde periods.
Mercury is the planet closest to the Sun. It moves the fastest of all the planets. Mercury rules Gemini and Virgo.
All the planets except the Sun and Moon have retrograde periods every year. The exception is Mars which turns retrograde every two years. you can see that it affects many planets and that there is almost always one planet retrograde at any given time.
Pop culture and Mercury retrograde
As the details of Mercury retrograde permeate through to the general public the words, “Mercury retrograde” become a catch phrase and is diluted down into basic, and often most inflammatory words. You will hear things like, “don’t buy computers, cars or phones when Mercury is retrograde.”
Well yes, certainly those things can be said but astrologers know there is a more subtle effect to the apparent reversal of direction for the innermost planet.
Your natal Mercury condition
As with all astrology good forecasting and interpretation for yourself hinges on your own chart. If you have a well-placed and robust Mercury you will withstand the influence of Mercury retrograde (or any retrograde depending on the planet) and still be standing as other folds under their weaker Mercury placements.
A broad generality is like saying, “All cars reverse (or back-up) badly” when really it is more that, “some drivers can’t reverse very well.”
You know yourself that you are better at some things than others and certainly you will do some things way better than anyone else. So saying we all suffer the same way when Mercury is retrograde is simplistic.
If you have Mercury retrograde in your birth chart you will withstand the negative effects of any Mercury retrograde period now and in the future.
How Retrogrades Affect Your Chart
Whichever house in your natal chart this retrograde occurs will be the area of life that is affected.
For example, if this Mercury retrograde period occurs in your fourth house then you will revisit family and home issues and you will need to go back and attend to them and drains, leaks and plumbing come to mind.
If it happens in your seventh house your marriage will need further discussions and conversations and yes it will be about dragging up past issues (like affairs) to be aired again as these things just won’t stay buried.
The Illusion of Aparrent Retrograde Motion
Retrograde motion is the apparent backwards movement of a planet.
The analogy I use when I’m teaching a class is that when you are on a train moving forwards then another train pulls alongside going at the same speed, if the second train slows down it appears to be going backwards, although it is still moving forwards albeit slower than your train.
This is an optical illusion and clearly demonstrates planetary apparent retrograde motion.
Learn more about Mercury retrograde and Job seeking.
by Alison Price
The Sun makes a square aspect to Jupiter twice a year.
The Sun as the faster moving of the two planets and is applying a square to Jupiter until the exact aspect, which forms on September 7th from then on it, will be a separating square. The applying period is felt more than the separating time.
A square aspect is ninety degrees with an orb of eight degrees coming and going. As the Sun moves at almost one degree a day this particular aspect will be in effect for sixteen days or just over two weeks. This one is the opening square.
Mercury owns this square.
With the Sun in Virgo and Jupiter in Gemini Mercury who rules both signs disposes them both. It is always valuable to consider the dispositors of the planets in any aspect as they may indicate which planet is the stronger of the two. In this aspect Mercury is conjunct the Sun reinforcing the Virgo part of this square.
What to expect.
We can expect to see individual aggrandizement and larger than life stories like “The one that got away” whether it was a fish, a job or a date.
If you are giving a presentation this Sun square Jupiter will aid you as it supports honest promotion.
You may want to tell all now and if you do you may not consider how the consequences of the truth you have to say may impact on your life. Be aware that you may be called to justify yourself. Things may later be seen as blatant lies and exaggeration.
This square can indicate a time where personal expression is over the top and excessive ego is visible. Watch out for behaving in a boasting way or hogging the conversation as both planets are in Mercury ruled signs. In the cold light of the day you may wish you had had more tact.
It will be tempting to take on more than you can deliver. Accepting projects with unrealistic deadlines will likely come back to haunt you later.
You (Sun) will be judged (Jupiter) in the aftermath of this square. Make sure your personal bluster does not let you down.
Children may be especially boisterous now and will want to get outside to run it off.
How are you experiencing this aspect? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
You may also like:
Jupiter in Gemini.
Uranus square Pluto.
Aspects applying and separating.
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