Mercury Cycles

Mercury Retrograde August 2 - 26, 2011
This week the planet Mercury will slow to a halt and begin it's second retrograde period of the year beginning on Tuesday, August 2, 2011. From our vantage point on Earth, Mercury, which is only visible just before sunrise or just after sunset, travels in a forward direction most of the time. But three or four times a year, it appears to stop and reverse making a small loop across the heavens. Of course Mercury really isn't going backwards. It's an optical illusion based on the relative speeds and orbits of the Earth and Mercury around the Sun.



Tuesday night Mercury will station in the fiery sign of Leo and begin its three week retrograde motion back to the sign of Cancer. In the middle of the retrograde it makes its inferior conjunction with the Sun on the same day that Venus makes her superior conjunction -- August 16, 2011. And like Venus, Mercury will be sande (29 degrees) and gandanta (junction between fire and water). After delving into Venus cycles in my last post, I thought we might look more deeply at the related cycles of Mercury. Both of these inner planets share similar mythological themes of traveling to the underworld, but as we shall see each correspond to different psychological functions perhaps based on the geometric patterns they weave in the skies.

Mercury has a reputation for being fleet of foot. This attribute stems from its quick pace around the Sun -- just 88 earth days with a velocity that accelerates during perihelion. It is the quality of 'quickening' that has given Mercury its speedy reputation, and has made it a namesake for the element mercury, i.e quicksilver, the key ingredient in alchemy. As the only metal that is a liquid state at room temperature, quicksilver was used by alchemists because it easily fused with other metals. Similarly the planet Mercury is said to take on the quality and influence of other planets associated with it. The element mercury was believed to transcend the liquid and solid states, just as the planet Mercury is describe to transcend between heaven and earth in its retrograde process.

Mercury is the first planet from the Sun, and like Venus, its proximity to the bright luminary means it can be observed for only a brief period during either the morning or evening twilight. Although Venus can be found up to two signs apart from the Sun at its greatest elongation, Mercury is always within one sign (a sign is 30°). The value of the greatest elongation (west or east), for Mercury is between 18° and 28°; and between 45° and 47° for Venus. As Mercury is said to take on the quality of planets associated with it, its closeness to the Sun makes the Sun one of its primary astrological influences. Mercury receives 7 times as much light from the Sun as the Earth charging it with solar power and illumination, and imbuing the planet of communication with the Sun's consciousness. Astrological traditions propose that when the Sun and Mercury are in the same sign, an individual has no problem speaking their mind or communicating clearly. If Mercury falls in the sign before the Sun, an individual may be shy to speak and is more reflective. And when Mercury is located in the sign after the Sun, it gives the individual a more objective or practical view of things that can capitalize on the interests denoted by that sign.



Mercury reaches inferior conjunction every 116 days on average, but it can vary from 105 days to 129 days due to its eccentric orbit. And like Venus, Mercury has a very slow rotation. It completes three rotations around its axis for every two orbits creating a 3:2 ration. Despite its small size and slow 59-day-long rotation, Mercury has a significant, and apparently global, magnetic field. It is strong enough to deflect the solar wind around the planet creating a magnetosphere. Earth and Mercury are the only terrestrial planets with a magnetic field, and Mercury’s magnetic field is dipolar like Earth’s, but much weaker. Many modern researchers have proposed that consciousness can be understood as an electromagnetic phenomenon. So it is remarkable that astrologers use the planet Mercury to represent the aspect of our consciousness that is our thinking mind.



Our mind can lead us to states higher consciousness, or take us to lower dimensions of the ego that some might label the underworld, as depicted in the image above. Unlike Venus who must follow certain conditions during her descent to the underworld, Mercury has no boundaries and can easily travel between the worlds. As the divine intermediary,the magnetic forces of Mercury transmits messages between the poles of the soul and persona/ego at the speed of light. The conflicting aspects of this duality produces a constant pull between that which is perceived (mind, Mercury) and the consciousness who perceives it (soul, Sun). Thus Mercury's placement in relation to the Sun indicates how an individual manifests and deals with this duality.

The 116-day cycle of Mercury begins with an inferior conjunction with the Sun. During the inferior conjunction Mercury is located between the Sun and the earth in the middle of its 20-24 day retrograde cycle. As it leaves the evening skies of the west for the morning skies of the east, it becomes another morning star, whose magnitude is not nearly as bright as Venus and often lost in the sun's light. Dane Rudhyar termed this half of Mercury's cycle Promethean after the mythological titan who stole the fire of the gods and gave it as a gift to humanity. Within a fortnight Mercury reaches its greatest distance from the sun and quickens its pace through the sidereal zodiac often at more than one degree a day. The superior conjunction then occurs while Mercury is at the far side of the Sun and moving close to its maximum speed. After this point Mercury begins to set after the sun in its evening phase which Rudhyar named Epimethean, for the backward looking brother of the forward-looking Prometheus. About four to five days after the superior conjunction, Mercury’s daily motion matches the Sun’s and two weeks later it turns retrograde. In the middle of this new retrograde cycle, Mercury closes the cycle with another inferior conjunction.



The earliest known recorded observations of the planet Mercury are from the Babylonian compendium called the Mul.Apin tablets which were probably compiled around 1,000 BC. These cuneform tablets are formed in the tradition of earlier star catalogs, the Three Stars Each lists, but represents an expanded version based on more accurate observation. The Babylonians called the planet Mercury Nabu after the god of wisdom and writing.



They also referred to the planet as Shihtu meaning 'the leaper' probably referring to the planet's sudden and brief appearances. Unfortunately, few myths involving Nabu have survived. After the conquests of Alexander the Great, Hellenistic Greek settlers in the East worshiped Nabu as Apollo, the Sun god.

Ancient Greeks had two names for Mercury: Apollo in the morning sky, and Hermes in the evening sky -- just as they had two names for Venus: the morning star was called Phosphoros (the light bearer) and the evening star Hesperus (setting in the West). It might seem strange that the planet Mercury was named after the Sun god of the ancient Greeks. Apollo is the charioteer of the Sun, and was also recognized as a god of light, truth, prophecy, medicine, healing, plague, music, poetry and the arts. Thus his appearance in the morning driving the chariot of the Sun may explain his morning phase title.



But it is Hermes who is the great messenger of the gods and a guide to the underworld, and thus the archetypal figure most associated with the astrological Mercury of today. According to the Homeric tradition, Hermes was conceived in an secret adulterous affair between Zeus and Maia, daughter of the giant titan Atlas. Maia (in Sanskrit maya means illusion) gave birth to their love child in a cave, hidden from human eyes, and Zeus' jealous wife, Hera. According to Homeric Hymn 4 dating from 7-4th century B.C., Maia gave birth to this ingenious child, this clever deception planner, tracker and thief of cattle, a shepherd of dreams, this citizen of the night lurking in doorways. Seems appropriate for the son of illusion and the evening phase of Mercury when the winged messenger hangs out on the doorway of night. The infant Hermes was precocious and by the end of his first day he invented the lyre which he gave to Apollo to make amends for stealing the Sun god's immortal flock. Thus Hermes protected travelers, shepherds and cowherds, thieves and orators. He was also patron of humor and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics and sports, of weights and measures, of invention, and of commerce in general -- all areas that are under his current astrological influence. His symbols include the tortoise, the rooster, the winged sandals, the winged hat, and the caduceus.



In Greek mythology, Mercury, as Hermes, messenger of the gods, has one foot in the physical world and another in the realm of the unseen. He is just as likely to protect the thief who picks your pocket, the merchant who takes your money, and the writer who takes you to another world. His ability to travel between the worlds gives him his reputation of crossing boundaries of all kinds: physical, mental, and spiritual. As Mercury dissolves physical dimensions by crossing mental boundaries, it guides us into the mysteries of the imagination, the memories of the past, and the dreams of the future. Its wanderlust often keeps Mercury from being rooted in the present for too long.



As I described in my last post (click here), inferior conjunctions and superior conjunctions of the inner planets Mercury and Venus were viewed by ancient sky watchers as a time when the gods descended into the underworld. During this time the gods underwent a metamorphosis that released them from their posts in the twilight of western skies to reappear in the early morning eastern sky. It takes Venus 584 days to make a complete synodic cycle (from inferior conjunction to inferior conjunction with the Sun), where as swift Mercury completes this process in 116 days (more or less), nearly 5 times faster and three times during an earth year.

Just as the Venus carves out a pentagram around the Earth during its 5 inferior conjunctions in 8 years, Mercury also inscribes a triangle during its 3 inferior conjunctions in 1 year. Moreover, some mystics combine the three inferior conjunctions with the three superior conjunctions that also take place revealing a hidden geometry: the hexagram.



The interlocking triangles symbolize the union of the two principles or forces that pervade the dualistic universe: the active and passive, yin and yang, male and female. Mercury is the intermediary, androgenous balance between the two. Moreover, as Mercury also governs the nervous system of the human body, we begin to see how it connects us not only to the yin and yang aspects of the universe, but also to the microcosmic and macrocosmic levels. Mercury rules over the mutable signs of Gemini and Virgo. The two hemispheres of the brain may be compared to the twins, or lovers as they are viewed in the Vedic system; whereas the spinal cord corresponds to the sensitive maiden of Virgo, who holds a wheat sheath symbolizing the dural sheaths of the spine (see my previous post for more on this topic). Even Mercury's caduceus is a stylized representation of our nervous system. The staff represents the spinal cord, the snakes the channels of the ida and pingala, and the wings as both the right and left sides of the brain, as well as our mind's ability to access higher conscious states. Our Mercurial nervous system is literally the physical intermediary and energetic link that interacts with the world of the senses and the world of the mind and spirit. The alchemical principles of as above, so below and make the volatile fixed, and the fixed volatile, represent Mercury's ability to spiritualize matter and materialize spirit.

Alchemists have long understood the electromagnetic properties of liquid mercury. When an iron nail (earth) touches liquid mercury (the planet Mercury) it begins to dance and pulse, often in the shape of two polar triangles reflecting the alchemical Seal of Hermes.



Could the alchemical principle of as above, so below be at work here as well? Could Mercury and the Earth have an energetic resonance that stimulates a hexagonal vibration? If the caduceus of Mercury represents the rising path of the dualistic forces of the ida and pingala traveling up the sushumna, then could the element mercury represent the liquid light of kundalini triggered by the planet Mercury's relationship to the earth? Touching the base of the caduceus, or sushumna, to the earth and balancing the mercurial mind in meditation, allows this light to rise where perhaps it stimulates the hexagonal chakra of the heart, the anahata.

Mercury is called Budha in Sanskrit, meaning intelligence or cognition that as westerners we might correlate with brain activity of the sensory and cognitive mind. Buddhi is the ability to discern the real from the unreal, and I would say includes the brain and heart, the body's seat of consciousness. The sacred geometry of the anahata, the heart chakra, which radiates the color green associated with Mercury, has hexagram at its center. In astrological traditions, the Sun rules the heart which is seen as the seat of the soul; whereas Mercury rules the brain, which is the primary organ of the senses and the cognitive mind. When the polarity of the brain finds balance, as symbolized by the hexagram, then the soul radiates a beautiful green light from the heart chakra and can travel up the sushumna as the spiraling ida and pingala to unify at the crown and connect with higher realms outside of sensory dimensions.

Mercury's dance around the Sun reflects periods when its ability to discern the truth from sensory impressions is heightened, and symbolically aligns the cognitive mind, the buddhi, with the atma in the heart. Astrologically when Mercury makes its inferior and superior conjunctions with the Sun, it is considered combust, or burned up. It is rendered powerless to think and discern; but Mercury is mutable and can use the heat to surrender and transform its heavy materialistic thinking to understanding the higher reality of the Sun. Periods of retrograde and direct motion integrate right and left brain activity at these conjunction points.

In the alchemical tradition quicksilver, mercury, was considered a key ingredient of the philosopher's stone, the magical element that changed lead into gold. The transmutation of metals was a metaphor for an inner potential of the spirit and reason to evolve from a lower state of imperfection (lead) to a higher state of enlightenment and perfection (gold). In this view, spiritual elevation, the transmutation of metals, and the purification and rejuvenation of the body were seen to be manifestations of the same concept. Thus mercury is the catalyst that can transmute the lead of ignorance into the gold of enlightenment, just as the planet Mercury can bring the soul beyond the boundaries of the mind to find enlightenment. One of the goals of the alchemical process is the hiero gamos, or union of opposites, often played out as the sacred marriage of a king and queen (for more on hiero gamos see my previous post on the royal wedding of William and Kate). From their mystical union, the Mysterium Coniunctionis, a divine child, or alchemical Hermaphrodite is born. The hermaphrodite is a divine being who is the result of a reconciliation of opposites and the experience of union. Mercury, as Hermes, is merged with Venus as Aphrodite resulting in the morphological alchemical child, the Hermaphrodite. In addition to an alchemical process, could this divine child represent an astrological alignment that aligns the heart and mind with the divine light of the Sun?
















In this illustrated manuscript from the 16th century Splendor Solis, the Hermaphrodite holds an egg in its left hand, indicating the potential of individual consciousness, and a mirror in its right, indicating a reflective awareness and clear perception. It reminds me of Plato's Symposium, in which the philosopher describes how humans descended from a primordial race whose essence is now extinct - a race of hermaphrodites. The ancient race was powerful, yet arrogant, and when they rebelled against the Gods, they were cursed and split in two eternally yearning to merge with their other half. As I have theorized in a previous post, I believe that Mercury retrograde stimulates our right brain enabling us to go in deeper to our psyche as the planet dips into the underworld. It seems to trigger right brain activity that brings us back to the present moment, and sets aside the plotting and planning for the future that occurs in left brain activity. And as I proposed in my last post, Venus inferior and superior conjunctions take us to the underworld to shed the false constructs of our ego, so we may have soulful connections and relationships with others. Thus, on August 16, 2011, when the current Mercury retrograde has activated our right brain and opened our consciousness at the same time that the Venus superior conjunction releases our ego constraints and frees the soul, we may have the opportunity to experience a truly transcendental moment with our fellow humans expressing our highest frequency: love. We have the opportunity to transform and develop our own inner hermaphrodite that is reflective and clear. But keep in mind that this conjunction occurs in Mercury's nakshatra Ashlesha, the serpent. Under the influence of the "clinging star," we may find that our minds are being challenged to release old ideas and patterns that are toxic to us. The gift of Ashlesha is visasleshana shakti, the power to inflict with poisonous venom, which under the power of Mercury's caduceus could be used to heal. Let your negative thoughts die and allow the beautiful light of Venus and Mercury to restore the balance of your inner and outer worlds. May you heal your split-apart.

Namaste!

Michael Garfield on Encountering the Shadow - some very wise advise from a young man with an old soul.

Michael Garfield on Encountering the Shadow from Evolver on Vimeo.

Astroweather -- Mercury Retrograde

The 2011 Mercury retrograde cycle is about to begin on Wednesday, March 30, 2011 when the Winged Messenger slows down and appears to change course and focus. From our vantage point on Earth, Mercury, which is only visible just before sunrise or just after sunset, travels in a forward direction most of the time. But three or four times a year, it appears to stop and reverse making a small loop across the skies. Of course Mercury really isn't going backwards. It's an optical illusion based on the relative speeds and orbits of the Earth and Mercury around the Sun.
Astrologers love to analyze and discuss Mercury retrograde cycles. Perhaps because Mercury rules astrology, its effects are a popular topic in astrological blogs, magazines, and columns. The public's fascination with it may be due to its rulership over some of the most important aspects of modern life: communication, writing, education, technology, markets, commerce, movement, and travel. When Mercury goes retrograde, communication, travel, and computers seem to go awry. Binding agreements such as contracts and online transactions are subject to delays and overlooked details arise that will require time-consuming edits, corrections, and rewrites. Astrologers advise us to avoid beginning new projects or dealing with any form of technology when Mercury, the winged Messenger, Teacher, and Trickster, begins his retrograde dance. But is it really that bad?

As I discussed in a previous post, Mercury retrograde seems to trigger right brain activity that brings us back to the present moment, and sets aside the plotting and planning for the future that occurs in left brain activity.



During a Mercury retrograde period our experience of the external world temporarily shifts as we encounter obstacles in communication, travel, and expression. These snags are meant to slow us down and make us look at things from a different perspective. Many astrologers suggest this is a great time to complete old tasks, to pay attention to dreams and messages bubbling up from our subconscious, to turn our focus inward, and one might say to turn on the right brain. Our culture tends to be very left brain with its schedules and deadlines, and it doesn’t easily accommodate a cycle of introspective reflection and re-evaluation. But it is through our right brain that we distinguish the transient from the eternal, the truth from illusions. The left brain discriminates names and forms and can easily get caught in the illusion of the external, sensory world. Under the influence of Mercury retrograde it is easier to access the wisdom of the right brain which allows us to review our left brain attachments, identify mistakes, and eventually move forward with the truth. Mercury retrograde is a gift of balance, an opportunity to correct our course in alignment with the divine.



Mercury retrograde is part of a bigger Mercury cycle that takes 116 days to complete. As the innermost and smallest planet of our solar system, Mercury orbits the Sun at a swift pace of 88 days. From our perspective on Earth it does not make the 360 degree aspects like the outer planets. Instead it forms a single conjunction and single opposition with the Sun during each 116 day cycle. It does this three times over the course of a year forming what some mystics describe as a six-pointed star. Just as the Venus carves out a pentagram around the Earth during its 5 retrograde periods in 8 years, Mercury also inscribes a hexagram during its 3 retrograde periods in 1 year. Although its geometry is not as defined as the Venus pentagram, the Mercury hexagram is also a hidden symbol in alchemical traditions. The interlocking triangles symbolize the union of the two principles or forces, the active and passive, male and female, pervading the universe. (Might it also also be interpreted as the balance of right and left brain?)



Notice the six-pointed star on this Renaissance portrait of Mercury.



UPDATE: from Tracy R. Twyman: Of note here is an electrochemical effect called even by modern chemists the “Beating Heart of Mercury,” which is produced when an iron nail touches a glob of liquid mercury. This causes the glob to pulse, and at times form the shape of a hexagram, the “Seal of Hermes.” This effect would have been known to the alchemists of old.



During a retrograde period Mercury slows down and appears to pause, reverse direction, and disappear behind the Sun in combustion. Like the mythological Phoenix, it rises from the ashes and reappears in the morning sky as a transformed figure. Ancient Greeks had two names for Mercury: Apollo in the morning sky, and Hermes in the evening, sky -- just as they had two names for Venus: the morningstar was called Lucifer (the light bearer) and the evening star Hesperus (setting in the West). Retrograde cycles of the inner planets (Mercury and Venus) were viewed by ancient sky watchers as part of a vast shamanic process, and their meaning was captured in the sacred geometry of their orbits -- the Pentagram of Venus and the Hexagram of Mercury.

Mercury retrograde always begins with Mercury in the evening position. During the middle of its 20-24 day retrograde it makes an inferior conjunction with the Sun during where it undergoes a purification or alchemical process initiated by the great luminary. As it separates from the Sun, Mercury returns, or is reborn, to the morning sky. Anywhere between 9-15 days after this inferior conjunction it turns direct. About a week later it reaches its greatest distance from the Sun and begins to pick up speed as it heads for its superior conjunction when its speed matches the Sun as it returns to its evening position ready to start the process over and over again.



It is the quality of quickening that has given Mercury its speedy reputation, and has made it a namesake for the element of Mercury, i.e quicksilver, the key ingredient in alchemy. As the only metal that is a liquid state at room temperature, Mercury was readily used by alchemist because it easily fused with other metals. Similarly the planet Mercury is said to take on the quality and influence of other planets associated with it. The element Mercury was believed to transcend the liquid and solid states just as the planet Mercury was thought to transcend life/death and heaven/earth in its retrograde process.

In the alchemical tradition Mercury was considered a key ingredient of the philosopher's stone, the magical element that changed lead into gold. The transmutation of metals was a metaphor for an inner potential of the spirit and reason to evolve from a lower state of imperfection (lead) to a higher state of enlightenment and perfection (gold). In this view, spiritual elevation, the transmutation of metals, and the purification and rejuvenation of the body were seen to be manifestations of the same concept. Thus Mercury is the catalyst that can transmute the lead of ignorance into the gold of enlightenment.

Mercury is called Budha in Sanskrit, meaning intelligence or cognition that as westerners we might correlate with brain activity of the sensory and cognitive mind. Buddhi is the ability to discern the real from the unreal, and I would say includes the brain and heart, the body's seat of consciousness. The sacred geometry of the anahata, the heart chakra, which radiates the color green associated with Mercury, has hexagram at its center. In astrological traditions, the Sun rules the heart which is seen as the seat of the soul; whereas Mercury rules the brain, which is the primary organ of the senses and the cognitive mind. When the polarity of the brain finds balance, as symbolized by the hexagram, then the soul radiates a beautiful green light from the heart chakra and can travel up the Sushumna to connect with higher realms outside of sensory dimensions. Mercury's dance around the Sun reflects periods when its ability to discern the truth from sensory impressions is heightened, and symbolically aligns the cognitive mind, the buddhi, with the atma in the heart. Astrologically when Mercury makes its inferior and superior conjunctions with the Sun, it is considered combust, or burned up. It is rendered powerless to think and discern; but Mercury is mutable and can use the heat to surrender and transform its heavy materialistic thinking to understanding the higher reality of the Sun. Periods of retrograde and direct motion integrate right and left brain activity at these conjunction points.



2011 Mercury Retrograde Cycles
March 30, 2011 - April 23, 2011
August 2 - 26, 2011
November 24, 2011 - December 13, 2011

In 2011 two of the three retrograde periods will commence in gandanta degrees of fire signs and retrograde back into water signs, the third will occur solely in a water sign. Last year's Mercury retrograde cycle began and ended in the element of fire. In a previous post, it was unsettling to see how many cataclysmic events involving fires were ignited during each retrograde period in 2010. Only the last one fell in critical gandanta degrees of fire and water.

Gandanta is traditionally described as an inauspicious position causing misery to the area of influence of the planet. In this case Mercury, the ruler of communication, commerce, movement, and travel will be the pivotal player in an unfolding karmic drama. In Sanskrit gand means knot, or node, and anta means end. It refers to the juncture between water and fire, in particular last 3 degrees of a water sign, and first three degrees of a fire sign -- at the three distinct junctions: Pisces (Revati)- Aries (Aswini), Cancer (Ashlesha)- Leo (Magha), and Scorpio (Jyeshta)- Sagittarius (Mula).



When planets travel through gandanta positions, they take on a special power to unravel knots of karma and move on to the next level. If a planets falls in the last three degrees of water sign, it is completing an old cycle; if it falls in the first three degree of a fire sign is beginning a new cycle. When planets undergo retrograde patterns through gandanta degrees the opportunity to address these karmic knots is amplified as the planet grinds over these critical degrees three times. Moreover, as Mercury rules the nakshatras of the last three degrees of each water sign, it may have more significant power, or an ability to speed up the process of releasing the binds of the past than other planets passing through gandanta degrees. Ketu rules the nakshatras of the first degrees of each fire sign and its own strange illumination dissolves any illusion surrounding these knots. Bepin Behari writes that Ketu "brings the dawn of intuitive understanding of the essential nature of things." As the harbinger of this primordial creative force, Ketu's energy may trigger unexpected shifts that appear chaotic at the early gandantic degrees of fire signs, but are necessary steps to the next level.



Next week Mercury will station at 0 degrees Aries on March 30, 2011 and will retrograde to 18 degrees Pisces, before returning to the 0 degrees Aries mark on May 11, 2011 along with Venus and Jupiter also at 0 degrees Aries. As most of this retrograde will occur in a water sign, it seems likely that Mercury will have an opportunity to reassess and disentangle some old karmic knots in its area of astrological dominion before it can truly begin anew in Aries.

For the past three weeks Mercury has been transiting its sign of debilitation, Pisces. When Mercury transits a sign ruled by Jupiter, it becomes more connected to these higher realms, while its lower mundane functions suffer and lose focus. During Mercury's passage through Pisces the world has witnessed one of the worst catastrophe's of human history -- a destructive act of nature (water) that was exacerbated by our own hubris around nuclear energy (fire).





In this age of global communication, news of the earthquake and tsunami spread rapidly and was covered by the news media as well as by social media sites. However, accurate assessments of the resultant nuclear catastrophe were not as forthcoming, and in some cases held back by the corporations running the nuclear power plants. In spite of initial reports that minimized the radiation leaks, alarmists warnings were posted all over the internet. The uncertainty about the truth and seriousness of the situation heightened concern that was expressed as both reality-based fear and fear-mongering. It became crystal clear that nuclear power is not as safe as we were lead to believe and that no one seemed to know what to do about it. Mercury in Pisces allows us to see the big picture of our addiction to toxic energy, but the details of how we fix it are far from certain.

Last year the BP oil spill occurred during a Mercury retrograde period, and like this year's catastrophe, original assessments were minimized. It also sparked discussion of the need for clean energy and environmentally sound production. Deep sea oil drilling was briefly suspended, but to date nothing has really changed. The karmic residue of the BP oil spill has not been completely resolved. Mercury in Pisces has revealed that new leaks are being reported in the Gulf of Mexico, while deep sea drilling contracts are still being awarded -- to BP under the guise of Noble Energy. Did I mention Mercury rules thieves and liars. Under this upcoming retrograde we may see more headlines exposing lies and misinformation conjured up by big corporations and government officials.

Mercury will station and briefly pause 0 degrees Aries spending a day in the first fire gandanta and sign of the zodiac. The fiery quality of Aries imbues Mercury with quick wit, inventive and pioneering ideas, and fast mind. But fire can also burn out a sensitive nervous system making one nervous, hyper, and difficult to calm down. The next day it returns to the water gandantic degrees of Pisces in a nakshatra ruled by Mercury, Revati. As you can imagine rolling back and forth over the water-fire junction may bring things to a boil and release some built up steam. I would not be surprised if another water-fire event is triggered.

And as Mercury stations and reverses direction back into Pisces, its debilitation will be cancelled by its retrograde motion. In truth the debilitation is not fully cancelled, but rather the mutable water sign does not produce as many negative effects on Mercury. In Vedic astrology a retrograde planet is interpreted at being more powerful, especially on the days that it stations, so Mercury retrograde can also be viewed as a time of sharpened insight. How we experience a retrograde period is different depending on whether our natal charts have retrograde planets (if we are left-brain or right-brain oriented), or where the retrograde planet transits our natal charts. By knowing when the planets start to go retrograde, it is possible to be prepared to utilize the shifting energy effectively.

Perhaps the most fruitful use of Mercury retrograde is to make time for reflection. Slow down and review the past few months' mercurial activity. For example, it is an excellent time to complete unfinished projects, or correct things that were not done right the first time. If you are involved in the business world, it is wise to back up files and make copies as Mercury retrograde can interrupt the smooth flow of information. A retrograding Mercury also influences thinking, and allows us to focus inward. Dream work and meditation may be more profound, and bring up things we have forgotten, or unfinished business on a psycho-spiritual level. Vedic astrology uses remedial measures, called upayas, like mantra, gemstones and yantras to balance these energies and the karma they bring. Retrograde planets may also function to fulfill a karmic debt or promise, or to clear up things from the past. One must take a step backward in order to go forward later. It is a great time to clear away karmic clutter. And most of all it's a wonderful time to meditate, to bring the left and right brain into balance, and to leave the sensory world of the mind for the truth held in the sacred space of the heart.

Namaste!

August Astro Weather 2010

New Moon August 9, 2010 August begins with a New Moon in its ruling sign of Cancer. A Moon in Cancer is often described as sensitive, perceptive, emotionally responsible, feminine, and supportive. In many earth traditions, the New Moon was recognized as a time that promotes growth. It is a time to plant seeds and set goals that will come to fruition under the full moon. As the New Moon falls in its own sign, or mulatrikona, it is a particularly powerful one for new growth.

This New Moon occurs in the mystical 9th Nakshtra Ashlesha which consists of six stars in the constellation of the Hydra, the mythical seven-headed sea monster. In Vedic astrology it is fitting that Ashlesha translates as "the entwiner." Another name for this lunar mansion is the "clinging star" which reveals its tendency to embrace and entangle the object of its attention.



Ashlesha is symbolized by a coiled snake. Kundalini means "coiled" in Sanskrit. In yogic traditions serpent imagery is used to describe the sleeping energy coiled at the base of the spine that becomes activated either with spiritual practice or naturally with time. As this energy rises through the chakras it awakens the each one, until finally it reaches the crown chakra bringing enlightenment and pure bliss.



As the deity assigned to Ashlesha is Ahi, the serpent of wisdom, this asterism is associated with Kundalini energy and enlightenment. Ashlesha is an intense and sharp nakshatra, and like a snake it has the power to heal or inflict poison with its venom, visasleshana shakti. Under its influence, this New Moon may generate knowledge that may be used to heal or to inflict suffering. It may require deep and penetrating insight to use this new found wisdom wisely. Ashlesha is ruled by Mercury which turns retrograde later in the week, so make sure your information is correct.

Mercury Retrograde August 20, 2010 - September 12, 2010

Astrologers love to analyze and discuss retrograde cycles. A planet is described as 'retrograde' when it appears to be moving backwards through the zodiac. Although every planet in our solar system appears to station and turn retrograde in cyclic periods, they are never actually retrograde or stationary. The planets appear to shift direction due to an optical illusion. This illusion occurs as a result of a planet's motion in relation to earth.

The outer planets move slowly in relationship to the Earth's orbit. They appear retrograde when they are in the sign(s) opposite the Sun. The gas giants often spend up to 6 months in retrograde motion effecting slower astrological changes than the inner planets.

The inner planets move more quickly than the Earth and always appear within 30 degrees of the Sun. This means they always occupy the same sign as the sun, or the signs before and after. During a retrograde cycle the inner planets, Mercury and Venus, seem to disappear behind the sun and return as transformed figures, such as Venus Morning Star shifting to Venus Evening Star. It was viewed by ancient sky watchers as a shamanic process for a planet to disappear from the sky, fall into the Sun, and return after some sort of solar alchemical process.

In both Western and Eastern astrological traditions Mercury rules thinking and perception, as well as communication, commerce, education and transportation. While it is traditionally believed that difficulties occur during retrograde, it is also a time for reflection and to understand the meaning of any obstacles that occur. Western Astrologers often describe Mercury's three-week retrograde period as a challenging time for its activities. In Vedic astrology a retrograde planet is interpreted at being more powerful, especially on the days that it stations, so Mercury retrograde can also be viewed as a time of sharpened insight. How we experience a retrograde period is different depending on whether our natal charts have retrograde planets, or where the retrograde planet transits our natal charts. By knowing when the planets start to go retrograde, it is possible to be prepared to utilize the shifting energy effectively.



Next week Mercury begins its second retrograde pattern of the year in the sign of the Sun, Leo. In 2010 all Mercury retrograde cycles fall in fire signs. The fiery quality of Leo imbues Mercury with a brightness, good recall, high ideals, and creative thought. When Mercury stations in this sign, the heat gets turned up on Mercurial matters. The Market may burst into new activity, or burn up in a dramatic flair. Leo is said to rule over kings and leaders, and Mercury retrograde is a challenging time to get any kind of agreement settled. It is a great time to review, but not sign contracts as all the information may not be available. And this time Mercury stations opposite a Moon-Neptune conjunction that may cloud logical thinking with dreamy emotional thoughts. Neptune is also the modern indicator for oil, and Mercury's retrograde in the opposite sign may bring up new information about the BP oil spill that was hidden from the public eye.

Perhaps the most fruitful use of Mercury retrograde is to make time for reflection. Slow down and review the past few months' mercurial activity. For example, it is an excellent time to complete unfinished projects, or correct things that were not done right the first time. If you are involved in the business world, it is wise to back up files and make copies as Mercury retrograde can interrupt the smooth flow of information. A retrograding Mercury also influences thinking, and allows us to focus inward. Dream work and meditation may be more profound, and bring up things we have forgotten, or unfinished business on a psycho-spiritual level. Retrograde planets may also function to fulfill a karmic debt or promise, or to clear up things from the past. One must take a step backward in order to go forward later. It is a great time to clear away karmic clutter.

Namaste!

Mercury Retrograde May 6 - May 30, 2009

Mercury Retrograde thru Krittika May 6 - June 30, 2009

Last night Mercury stationed and began its retrograde motion through the sign of Taurus, in the nakshatra Krittika. It will conjunct the sun on May 18, 2009, and go direct on May 30, 2009. This year the retrograde Mercury pattern occurs in Earth signs which may make the energy feel more plodding, or as a fellow astrologer pointed out may help to get the details worked out (thanks BR). This cycle begins in Taurus, and spends a few days in Aries, all in the nakshatra of Krittika, which holds the six visible stars of the Pleiades. The symbols of Krittika are a flame, razor or knife that cut away negativity to reveal the greatest truth. The dahana shakti gives the power to burn. Krittika literally means "the cutters" and is called the "star of fire".

When Mercury is placed here minds are sharped, and illusions are burned away. The retrograde may assist us to look back over the past few months and reassess our beliefs. As Mercury also rules commerce we may see more problems with political transparency and bail out plans. Today's headline on the Huffington Post read: Time to Scramble for More Funds.



Krittika contains the Pleiades , also called the Seven Sisters, a star cluster, located around 425 light years from the earth. It contains hundreds of stars and many young planets that NASA is searching for signs of life.

The Pleiades was well known throughout recorded human history. The ancient Greeks named it the Seven Sisters after its most visible hot blue stars; the Aztecs of Mexico and Central America based their calendar upon the Pleiades; and the cluster is mentioned in the Bible, when God asks Job, "Can you bind the beautiful Pleiades? Can you loose the cords of Orion?"(Rocky Planets Might Inhabit Popular Nearby Star Cluster, by Ker Than, posted: 15 November 2007 on Space.com).

The Pleiades find their way into many modern science fiction books, TV shows and movies. An image appearing to be this cluster was contained in the Enterprise computer in 2254, when the Talosians scanned Enterprise's records in the first Star Trek episode The Cage.

In this episode Captain Pike, the previous captain of the Enterprise, is captured and tested by the familiar big-headed beings with pulsing craniums who can project powerfully realistic illusions (like Hollywood directors ;).



The Talosians were an aged, cerebral, sentient, humanoid species native to Talos IV in the Talos star group. These big-headed beings are very Mercurial, and a trip down memory lane is an interesting use of this Mercury retrograde sync.

The back story of the Talosians is much like many channeled teachings that suggest the oldest root races of humans originate from the star systems of Lyra, and after some galactic calamity escaped to Pleiades and established an interstellar portal with the earth. So whenever I see Pleiades I immediately think: Stargate or Portal.

According to Vedic traditions, the six wifes of the ancient Seers, represented by the six stars, hid Shiva's son Skanda from the demons and trained him in the various systems of knowledge. His destiny was to destroy the demons and return heaven to the Gods. Thus the Pleiades, or Krittika, is a celestial training ground where one receives instruction on one's life purpose. It is also a place of refuge.

The Talosians were once a technologically advanced culture but a nuclear holocaust left their planet virtually uninhabitable and killed most of the species. The survivors of the nuclear war congregated in underground dwellings, where they became dependent on their mental ability to create stunningly real illusions, an ability that had been developed by their ancestors. As their mental powers grew, they lost the ability to use the technology left behind by their ancestors. The Talosians found that life using illusion was addictive, almost like a human developing a physical and psychological dependence on narcotics. They became bored with the content of the illusions which they had. Their dependence upon these illusions for mental stimuli caused the Talosians to begin capturing space travelers to use as the living basis for their illusions.

Some folks in ET circles believe that 2009 is the year of disclosure regarding our government's knowledge of alien life and that BO is alien friendly, or even the reincarnation of the alien-looking ancient Egyptian pharaoh Akhnaton. Mercury retrograding through the fields of our ancient alien ancestors may bring forth new information indeed, but will it be truth or illusion?

Another interesting sync is that this week the new Star Trek movie, a prequel, is being released. It is retrograding back to the early life of Captain James T. Kirk and a how they initially set out to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.



With all the Star Trek fans out there, it is a guaranteed cash crop!
Live long and prosper my friends!
Namaste!