I left without saying goodbye. I’m sorry. This Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio hit me hard. (And how are you faring?) As a Scorpio rising, my scorpion instincts flared up and before I knew it I’d scurried under a rock. I thought perhaps I needed a day or two of rest, but no. Apparently human-sized scorpions take many days to moult their outer layer. So under the rock I stayed, working some deep transformative magic. And I’m just now poking my head out into the blinding light, still shaking my tail free of its outmoded exoskeleton.
Mercury Retrograde Technical Notes:
Mercury entered its retrograde shadow (hitting the degree it would backtrack to during the retrograde proper) on October 11th at 12 degrees Scorpio; turned retrograde (ts apparent motion from our perspective changed direction) on October 31 at 28 degrees Scorpio, and stationed direct (moving forwards once again) on November 20th at 12 degrees Scorpio, and will remain in its post-retrograde shadow (retracing the ground it backtracked through) until it hits 28 degrees again on December 7th.
Mercury retrograde signals a turning in and back of the mind, enticing the mind to memory, reflection, inner work, and facing itself. As Scorpio is ultimately about transformation, this turning of the mind may have evoked some deep shifts for you. This transit may have also triggered themes around intimacy, resources, betrayal, attachment, deeply held feelings or patterns. If we were attentive to the shifting tides, we may have been shown something about how our own psychology operates, and what psychological patterns we may be ready--finally--to release.
While under the rock I had a reckoning with fear. I saw the way fear operates in my mind on a day to day basis, in subtle ways. How anxiety is the feeling of a little underlying niggling fear; a specific fear, with specific thoughts bolstering it. How fear is a mode I enter into out of habit. Out of a sense that it is necessary and useful. I saw so clearly that fear isn’t necessary. But, this isn’t the kind of thing one can argue. Logically, there are all kinds of reasons we could give for why we need fear. Yet, that was my experience. My experience now is that fear is a choice. A very human, very normal choice. But there is another option. Which is love.
Moving Forward
Now until December 7th is a good time to review what this Mercury retrograde brought up for you. What did you learn? What exoskeletons are you shaking off? If you know a little astrology, you can check what house the retrograde was in (where is 12-28 Scorpio in your chart?) for more information.
New Moon in Sagittarius
And now, on the heels of this beautiful New Moon in Sagittarius (4 degrees, 7:06am PST November 26th), the Scorpio mood is lifting. We’re crawling out of our respective caves. This is a moment of hope and promise. An offering of optimism, an opportunity to hone our vision, as we prepare to enter what looks to be a challenging and consequential winter.
Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter, which is just wrapping up its year-long transit through through that sign. Any planet in its own sign operates with more ease. So harness this moment, now until December 2nd, when Jupiter moves into Capricorn: set your sights high, refine your vision, dream big; re-establish your faith. Consider, what are you reaching for? Where is your quest leading you? Dream big!
And yes, the astrology of this winter does not suggest ease or levity. But that is not cause for fear. This is an opportunity. This is a season to make big decisions, to make changes in our lives, to take responsibility for ourselves, to get smart with resources, to make commitments, take on responsibilities, refine our moral sense, take care of ourselves and our loved ones, to align more and more with our own integrity. I’ll write more soon about the astrology we are moving into and how we can best harness it. In the meantime, clarify what you want. It sounds so easy, but, really, what do you actually want? In your own life, and in the world.
Astrology 101
Yes, I’m teaching another round of astrology 101 starting in February! The course will run on Wednesday evenings from 6pm-8pm at Werklab (Clark and Venables) until April 22nd. See course details here.