Click below here for a link to my full article on Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio in a time of Eclipses and the fourth exact square between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn:
Below here is a short excerpt from the article:
The painting “Bringing Light without Pain” above is by Roberto Matta, an artist with a Scorpio Mercury and Sun (11/11/1911), and so an apt painter to showcase in this time when Mercury is retrograde in Scorpio and headed toward it’s “inferior” conjunction with the Sun in Scorpio. While being able to bring light “without pain” during this period of Mercury retrograde in Scorpio is perhaps unlikely, the goal of connecting with more light, integrating more light into our lives by the end of a deep process of shedding burdensome past patterns or identities is a reachable potential over the next month. Roberto Matta first came to my attention when I saw astrologer Gonzalo Romero present a lecture on Mercury in 2011 in which he drew attention to the artistic perception, expression, and communication of Matta. Gonzalo described Roberto Matta as having a mercurial ability to “make the invisible, visible” through his artistic expression of aspects of phenomenal reality he could perceive. Among other things, Mercury is a function in astrology aligning with what part of reality we choose to perceive and order within our consciousness in order to structure such aspects of our life as how we communicate with others through speech, writing, sound, or art. As a result, when Mercury goes retrograde we have a unique opportunity to investigate what we have been choosing to focus on in our perceptions, and what sorts of habitual mindsets and thought cycles may have been dominating our mental space. With awareness then comes the potential to transform the way we are choosing to think about aspects of our reality that have been leading us toward greater negativity or suffering, in order to shift our mindset to help us create more of what we want to experience in our lives.
Mercury retrograde time periods have gained a negative reputation in popular culture and sometimes make people wary or fearful of what could happen with mishaps in communication and technology, but in reality Mercury retrograde periods offer many gifts and opportunities to change and reset deep rooted patterns in our being. This upcoming Mercury retrograde periods promises to be one of the most potentially regenerative and transforming retrograde cycles in memory, as it involves three passes with Saturn in Scorpio and happens at the same time as an exact square between Uranus in Aries and Capricorn in Pluto. Moreover, there are eclipses occurring at the same time, with a Lunar Eclipse occurring shortly before Mercury stations retrograde, and a Solar Eclipse occurring shortly after the powerful moment of the retrograde cycle in which Mercury and the Sun become conjunct. Mercury aka Hermes is not only the God of Communication but also a God of Thresholds and Liminality, a Guide of Souls who is a Psychopomp able to move between the underworld and the upperworld. The term “liminality” is from the Latin root meaning “threshold” and is an appropriate description for the eclipse and Mercury retrograde period of time we are in since one of it’s meanings from Anthropology is “the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of rituals, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the ritual is complete” (wikipedia).
In Depth Psychology, liminality has also become a descriptive word used in the process of Individuation when an individual experiences feelings of disorientation and darkness as an old identity breaks down, all the while in a fluid process of becoming more whole or authentic, an “in-between” space of being that can persist for great lengths of time. Now, in the liminal space we are entering in between eclipses and during a time of intense astrological transits, we may feel confused, what we feel may turn out to be very different than it first appears in the moment, and where we are headed may be unclear, but it is good counsel at this time to realize that simply breathing, and allowing ourselves “to be” with whatever is happening in the moment will be a strategy useful to navigate our upcoming experiences. Of course, sometimes experiences suddenly demand that we quickly respond and initiate action, but no matter how intense experiences may become, if we can keep ourselves in the flow of things and persevere, eventually we will begin to realize why we are on the new path events led us to. The alignment of celestial bodies above us is too astounding for it to be any other way.
Indeed, this Mercury retrograde cycle and other surrounding transits will be taking us to the heart of many of the astrological themes I have been writing about over the past year on this blog. At the heart of this Mercury retrograde cycle we will have the opportunity to open our hearts to a greater extent, as the fourth of the seven squares between Uranus in Aries and Pluto in Capricorn occurs on the same day as the inferior conjunction between Mercury retrograde and the Sun in Scorpio. As there are seven squares between Uranus and Pluto occurring between 2012 and 2015, the fourth one occurring on November 1, 2013 has been linked by many to issues around the 4th Chakra, or Heart Chakra. In order for us to reach a greater heart opening in our lives, Mercury retrograde in Scorpio will align with not only our ability to transform the way we are perceiving and communicating, but will give us the opportunity to go the depths of our core soul issues on all levels, meaning in a manner impossible for me to describe with the limitations of language. At the same time, there will be a real opportunity for us to take action to help us transform, as there will be a mutual reception occurring between Mars in Virgo and Mercury in Scorpio (this is because Mars is the traditional ruler of Scorpio, and Mercury is the traditional ruler of Virgo), with an exact sextile between Mars and Mercury on the same day that Mercury is conjunct the Sun in Scorpio and Uranus is exactly square to Pluto. Since these intense astrological transits on November 1 come with the dawn of the day following Halloween or Samhain, a night in which the veil between the worlds is traditionally viewed as being more open, we will be in a truly magical night to celebrate Halloween and Samhain in 2013, a liminal space to don our archetypal masks and costumes.
Replies
This is a great article Gary. Thank you so much for sharing it.
Thank you Storm!
Thank you so much for the beautiful painting and interesting article.
Your point on liminality and retrograde Mercury in Scorpio is well taken. St Bernard reputedly said, "all life is ,lived in the meantime," a statement I've found useful on Mercury Rx in general, and in particular for the intense weeks of its Rx transits through Scorpio.
For example, with Jupiter transiting Cancer simultaneously, many clients have listed their homes for sale. They know the the housing market is improving, but now they're wondering, "why the delay with my house sale and my move?"
Some are finding their circumstances shifting, in one case, a job is finally opening in the town where the client currently lives. (Jupiter transiting Cancer in the sense of "close to home.")
In at least one case, the client is now considering staying in the house instead of relocating, and fortunately the Universe has provided him several weeks to reflect on the situation. How badly does he really want to move? Uprooting the family takes on stronger emotional overtones during Scorpio transits, as Mercury factors in the childrens' friends and the quality of their school; the needs of an elderly parent in the current town or the new city, as well as practical considerations like employment. Often one spouse decides he's pretty happy where he is, and the other wants to move as originally planned. Many intense, productive discussions ensue.
Patience is required! By the time Mercury and Jupiter are both Direct,many things will have shifted in both the inner and outer world. WIth Jupiter, we can re-vision the outer world, perceiving new opportunities. As we begin to view the outer world differently, the outer world will begin to see us differently, to paraphrase the Dalai Lama. WIth Mercury, our decision-making process has acknowledged the intangibles, the emotional needs of self and others.
Thank you Kathleen, I always enjoy reading your in-depth replies filled with actual examples corresponding to the current astrological transits. I agree that a lot is going to be shifting and this week we are just going to need to be patient and align and move with the wave and deep shifts. I think around November 25 when Mercury direct will get back to being conjunct Saturn in Scorpio again (they are now entering into an exact conjunction with Mercury retrograde) we will have a clearer sense of what is actually going on now that is happening at such a deep level we may not fully understand it yet. I am focusing on paying attention to any signs or omens showing up around me. I have a good friend who just recently finally found a home after searching for a few months, so it is interesting to me that you are using that as an example with the Jupiter in Cancer. I also am teaching some students in my classes who have lost their housing recently and are trying to find a stable living environment.
Best,
Gray
Yes, you're right! Patience is required a little while longer, many of our clients will be resettled in new homes by the time Jupiter enters Leo.
Another example" those with Cancer planets at the apex of their charts may also relocate for new jobs with the transit of Exalted Jupiter. With my clients, I'm placing an emphasis on quality of life, because so many seem happy to take any job offered at this point in the economic Recovery. But Jupiter's "pursuit of happiness" meaning is also present, The new job or career should offer some potential for that as well, such as the ability to adjust the schedule, allowing free time for other things, or something else they've been hoping to attain.
Thank you, Gray, for offering this lens for mercury retrograde and for the reminder that we can keep our heads clear and our feet on the ground, we have a magical opportunity this November 1st to take peek through the veils and align and harmonize with the planets as they move through this particular dance.
I will keep this reminder in my pocket over the next several weeks as mercury turns us inward.
I'm glad you found this helpful- November 1 is going to be a very significant day, also happening a couple of days before a Solar Eclipse on November 3 in Scorpio that has a lot of intense astrological aspects. Today and tomorrow are also good days to pay attention to- I am in the Pacific time zone of USA, and tomorrow afternoon here (October 29) there will be a conjunction between Saturn in Scorpio and Mercury retrograde in Scorpio, the second in this current cycle. A month from now, on November 25, Saturn in Scorpio will be conjunct again with Mercury in Scorpio, the third time and direct- so this whole next month will be significant. At the moment, this week, we are really in a vortex in an extraordinary way . . .