Mercury Rx SeeSaw 1/30, 2021

Mercury is tiny and close to the Sun. You’d think it might burn up speeding around our Sun at a pace three times as fast as Earth. Perhaps this is balanced out by the length of a “Day” on Mercury. On Earth, it takes 24 hours, but Mercury takes 59 Earth days to accomplish one rotation. Lazy? Self-preserving? We don’t really know.

Yet tiny Mercury gets more than its share of attention on Earth every time it “goes Retrograde”. From out point of view, it appears to move backward in the sky 3 to 4 times a year. All our planetary neighbors do this at different rates of speed and frequency. And yes, it is an optical illusion of sorts.

Retrograde Cycle Secrets

Yet, like a lesser sort of Clockwork Orange, Retrograde cycles upend apple carts and tear up the best laid plans of mice and men. For example, a very destructive mudslide heralded this latest Mercury Retrograde ( January 30th) on California’s Pacific Coast Highway. Mercury has a reputation for fouling up transportation of all sorts, and this certainly qualifies, making the much-traveled roadway impassable. (NBC News update here.)

But wait a minute you may say, didn’t this PCH mudslide happen before the Retrograde officially started? Yes, it did. And that gives me a chance to highlight the whole concept of cycles, which is illustrated with this Mercury Retrograde as an example in the graphic below.

People think Retrogrades start and stop on a dime. Astrologers have tracked such matters for eons, across all cultures, and recognize that any cosmic configuration, even something as local as our own solar system, operates on a scale and with timing that is far more expansive and subtle than our human mindset.

You can see by this example, that this Retrograde cycle had its “previews of coming attractions” beginning in the vicinity of January 15th, and will conclude around March 14th. These dates match the signs and degrees of the mathematical tables called Ephemerides which Astrologers use for their calculations and tracking. So what feels like an intense 3-week period of stirred up energy really encompasses about 2 months of reconfiguring what was tangled, unworkable, and often being ignored instead of corrected. Conversely, retrogrades can bring new energy for creative or practical pursuits that yield fruitful results when generous helpings of patience are added.

Keep your eyes open and take good care of your health on all levels: mental, emotional, physical, spiritual… and keep your intuition tuned in, as Mercury in Aquarius will serve up some highly inventive, even revolutionary ideas, from unexpected sources over the next several weeks.

The surprises are just getting started. I invite you to read on…

Every Mercury Retrograde Cycle follows this same pattern, with different dates and signs. More typically, it changes signs during the cycle.

The Main Stage Will Be Super Crowded this Mercury Retrograde

Mercury was not the only planetary actor getting ready to upend life. On January 13th, all our planets went direct, with rebellious brother Uranus the last one to rev up its energy and join the race forward.

People often think Retrograde planets are inherently undesirable and problematic, yet this is not so. In fact, it’s often considered better, i.e. calmer, when Uranus is Retrograde, because that slows its energy’s uncontrollable roll, which is often too much for mere mortals to handle well.

There was a preview of coming attractions far bigger than Mercury’s Mudslide, a week earlier on January 6th, in Washington, D.C.

The Capitol Insurrection was unleashed on January 6th, shocking us with destruction and vicious death in an unprecedented breach of security and law as Congress was in the midst of Certifying the Presidential Electoral College vote. Miraculously, no officeholder was assassinated, though some had been targeted with exactly that intent. The Certification was eventually completed in the wee hours of the next morning after the Capitol was re-secured.

But what happened a week later on January 13th, when all our planets were actually all Direct and full speed ahead?

The sitting president, with one final week remaining in his term of office, was impeached for an unprecedented second time in the House of Representatives, a direct result of the Capitol Insurrection. Mercury had moved from late Capricorn on the 6th (signifying authority figures and government) into Aquarius by the 13th (ruled by Uranus, a harbinger of unstoppable change).

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Key Dates

Mercury plays a more starring role than usual, uniquely positioned to set the tone for longer term repercussions…

January 6th, Capitol Insurrection : Mercury at 26° Capricorn

January 13th, Impeachment #2 : Mercury at 7° Aquarius

January 20th, Inauguration : Mercury at 18° Aquarius

January 25th, Impeachment Article Delivered to Senate : Mercury at 24° Aquarius

January 30th, Mercury Retrograde : Mercury at 27° Aquarius, communications snafus, accidents, and contractual snarls.

Also on January 30th: News reports that the Trump 5-person legal defense team has left the case.

(Side note: In his natal chart, Trump has Uranus in a close Stellium with his North Node and Sun, all in Mercury-ruled Gemini, which can manifest as both self-centered and unable/unwilling to control ego impulses, unless the native works hard to mature themselves. Hmmm.)

February 9th, Impeachment Trial Date : Mercury at 19° Aquarius

February 20th, Mercury goes Stationary Direct, which typically means delays and difficulties can begin to move forward to resolution.

March 14th, the Mercury Cycle completes.

April 27th to October 6th, Pluto goes Retrograde at 27° Capricorn, activating unresolved power struggles & triggering new revelations.

May 23rd to October 10th, Saturn goes Retrograde at 13° Aquarius, adding its penchant for exercising parental control in any fracas.

Stay tuned, as humanity has a habit of being dragged kicking and protesting into a better future, bless our often stubborn little selves.