Hey hey hey,

It’s that special time of year-it only comes but twice or thrice! It’s not XMas, it’s Mercury RxMas! That’s right, Mercury is now retrograde in the sign of Sagittarius and will go direct again right before the darkest nights of the year as we shift into the winter sign of Capricorn.

This year’s earlier retrogrades went from earth-sign Taurus to fire-sign Aries (which I didn’t write about, apparently lolz), and from earth-sign Virgo to fire-sign Leo. Cusps between fire and earth sign represent how the desire becomes manifest, how the intention becomes an action. This year has made us reevaluate how we are doing things, and the reasons behind the things we are doing-mostly as individuals, as the first six signs represent personal development in the zodiac. This particular holiday retrograde is a lot more heady-and much more global.

QUICK OVERVIEW DATES:
-Mercury enters shadow zone, 13 degrees Sag 11/14
-Mercury stations retrograde, 29 degrees Sag 12/3
-Mercury stations direct, 13 degrees Sag 12/23
-Mercury exits shadow zone, 29 degrees Sag 1/11/2018

Sagittarius is the mutable-fire sign. Fire represents spiritual energy, passion and drive. Mutable signs can, the depending on the situation, call upon the cardinal (using energy) or fixed (saving energy) qualities of the previous two signs. In this case, Sagittarius becomes a mix of Libra and Scorpio energies. It is the place where we come out of the dark and have to examine what we have brought with us. We have to hold it up to the light and scrutinize it. Sagittarius represents philosophy, religion, higher learning, foreign countries and borders, the ‘outside world’ relative to the self. The sign is ruled by the great benefic, Jupiter, which represents justice, high-minded ideals, and expansiveness.

Mercury is the planet which is neither a male or female energy, but like the corpus collosum in your mind-grapes, connects both spheres and facilitates communication. It’s retrograde motion during this time is caused by our relative orbit. It doesn’t actually change directions, but it looks like it does if you are following it in the sky. This apparent  movement symbolizes a time where communication becomes “backed up.” Things aren’t moving forward, there becomes something that needs to be cleared up. Traditional advice for Mercury Rx is not to sign contracts, make long-term plans, stay in your house, be a hermit, lol. The reason being that after a while, your thinking (Mercury) will change and you will have moved on to something else. I think Mercury Rx is a good time to reflect on the past couple weeks and themes that have come up during those times. Mercury ends up covering the same part of the sky THREE times during a retrograde phase. Something has to be examined.

In the sign of Sagittarius, this retrograde passes over Saturn three times as well, emphasizing lessons here since Saturn entered the sign late summer 2015. I think as a whole, we have learned some dark things about ourselves and are still examining what we have found. This time is a good time to collect our wits and get ourselves together. I’m speaking in the royal ‘we’ because Sagittarius is on the top/south of the chart, meaning it’s about not just the self or the other but as it shifts into the sign of Capricorn, the People. This retrograde is about ideas, not necessarily actions, the moral and spiritual over the mundane. WHY are we doing what WE are doing? Why are WE doing what we are DOING?

Mercury will station direct right at the same time as the Sun (Consciousness/Self) and the dark sun, Saturn (Lessons/Restrictions) enter the sign of Capricorn. Mercury itself will join them in Capricorn in January 2018, but this time symbolizes the beliefs, ideas, and philosophies that create the expressions, actions, and policies we experience collectively. Like putting a clay pot in a kiln, the shift from a fire-sign to an earth-sign means that our ideas will soon become actions, our intentions will soon be made manifest. This Mercury Rx is about looking outward from the self, and collectively deciding what we believe our action will be. Sagittarius’ motto is “I see,” and by the end, we truly will.

This Saturn in Capricorn is looking to be a doozy! Get ready for it now.

Merry Jolly Mercury RxMas!

XoXoXo,
Will

p.s. used my Pottenger/Michelsen Ephemeris and my cool journal and the Buddha Board I got from Golden Braid Books