Oh hey,

It’s that very special time again! Mercury Retrograde is upon us. Mercury, the planet of communication, intellect, and expression has been in its home sign of Virgo since July 31. When a planet is in its domicile, it has full use of its faculties and full access to its powers. Mercury also rules the sign of Gemini, where it loves to talk and kick ideas around. In Gemini, Mercury is fast and flighty, making sure it’s up to date with the latest news and gossip. In the sign of Virgo, that energy changes. In Virgo, Mercury is slower, more methodical, and takes care to integrate and implement the ideas generated in Gemini with the deep feeling of Cancer and the burning pride of Leo. For me, Gemini Mercury gives great ideas and Virgo Mercury makes that shit happen.

Since Mercury has been in Virgo since the end of July, we might have noticed a lot of hard work getting done in the month of August. Did I mention I built a fence? Virgo Mercury is awesome with the details. Under this influence, reasoning and research are paramount, and because of this approach, it’s an excellent time for planning and organizing, getting all the ducks in all the rows. I just have to say right now that math IS important, and I DO use it in real life. Fuck what the haters say! Had I not mathed out and planned ahead, my fence venture might have ended in tears. This Virgo Mercury lends itself to mental prep, going over every possible outcome. Under this influence, we aim for precision and perfection. I really like how Aepril of Aepril’s Astrology puts it: the keyword of Virgo is INTEGRATION, having to do with making oneself whole, putting all the pieces together. Something else Virgo is great at, working with their hands to create a new whole.

Similarly to the influence of the concurrent Venus in Virgo, something that might happen is a lot of worrying about all those details. We might have a lot of critical self-talk. Because our minds are so focused on manifesting our great ideas, we might lose the forest for the trees a bit during this time. It’s important to take a step back and realize how far we’ve come while getting down and dirty with the minutiae.

We have an awesome kickoff to this retrograde with the conjunction, or joining, of Mercury with Venus and Jupiter on August 28. This will help us with ease of accomplishment after the crisis of the Mars/Saturn conjunction over the last few weeks. The blessing of all these benefic planets in the same place, between 27-28° Virgo, will bring our attention to our wellbeing and healthy habits, which is excellent before the Virgo New Moon. Jupiter is expanding and blessing, Mercury is handling all the things, and Venus is helping us enjoy our senses and the things we find pleasurable, and all of this in the sign where we can make anything into physical reality. So let’s make it happen over this weekend, and have a good time doing it!

Now for the Retrograde. A Retrograde occurs when a planet seems to move backward in the sky. It doesn’t actually change direction, but its orbit relative to the earth makes it seem like it is. When this occurs, the expression of the planet’s energy changes. It goes inward, because during a retrograde, that planet is actually closer to the earth. When we go through a retrograde period, that planet goes over the same portion of the zodiac three times. It slows and stops (called stationing), backs up and stations again, then moves forward (or direct). The area it backs up over is called the shadow zone, and we feel the effects of the retrograde from the time the planet enters the shadow zone to the time it leaves.

This spring’s rx was in the first earth sign of Taurus. It had to do with self-worth, really going over if what we were manifesting lined up with our core values. This retrograde, again from Aug 30-Sep 21, is in the second earth sign of Virgo. So the things we are reevaluating here are similar, but it’s not so much about how secure we feel. This retrograde is a revaluation of how we do the things we do. We will be going over how our routines and schedules are helping our hindering us. We’ll be deciding if the way we work is working for us. Not only does this feel right and align with me, but am I doing it the right way? Am I accomplishing what I need to in a way that is efficient and continuing to work for me?

During the last retrograde in fixed sign Taurus, folks seemed stubborn and it felt like any challenge was an assault on our very foundations. This Virgo Mercury Retrograde will be a bit different, not quite so intransigent. The mutable, or changeable, quality of Virgo will allow Mercury the room it needs to breathe. It’ll allow Mercury to change its mind when new information is presented. Though it is a period of going over our intellectual processes, during this retrograde I feel like our minds will be able to process and focus on the details. We’ll be much sharper, possibly much more critical subsequently. During this time, our minds will be on Virgo issues. We might be reevaluating our diet and exercise regimes. We might be reevaluating our jobs and how we interact with our co-workers. Our schedules and how we manage them will come up, and if it’s not helping you, this would be the most excellent time to reevaluate.

There’s always a bit of miscommunication during Mercury Retrograde, but I think we’ll be more apt to think before we speak this time. Again, a danger here is that we might be so hyper aware of the little things that people might be bothering us because they can’t possibly live up to the vision we can see. Basically, what I’m saying is be aware of critiquing others during this time, we might be brutal without realizing it. The biggest communication problem during this rx might be a tendency toward perfectionism with a sharp tongue.

Hope you have an awesome September! This is a great time to make sure things are working the way you want them. Go get em:)

Cheers,

Will

P.s. used LLEWELLYN’S again, as well as my ephemeris. Used the Buddha Board at the Golden Braid Bookstore to paint this graphic.

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