From August 30th to September 22nd, 2016 Mercury will be retrograde in the sign of Virgo, his place of rulership and exaltation. Simply put, this means that the sign of Virgo is the most powerful placement for Mercury to be in, retrograde or not.
The Mercury retrograde is the most commonly recognized astrological concept outside of Sun signs. However, recognition does not indicate a depth of understanding, for most popular astrology resorts to advising people to stop all activity and assume that all technology, transportation, and communication are perilous games to be avoided.
Double cross the vacant and the bored
They’re not sure just what we have in store
If you are worried about the dangers of this retrograde period, please don’t. That’s exactly the kind of worthless energy expenditure that Mercury’s retrograde into Virgo is meant to excise. Think back to the last Mercury retrograde. It was not so bad was it?
Cool kids never have the time
I like to think of Mercury retrogrades as being periods of collective neuroplasticity, a term that describes the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections. Neuroplasticity is essential to learning and healing and enduring change and the loss of it is something associated with degenerative disease. Thus, you can now welcome Mercury retrogrades as times of increased neuroplasticity, where a maximum amount of rewriting and reprogramming can be accomplished.
The street heats the urgency of now
Archetypally speaking, Mercury is a psychopomp, meaning he enables communication between the overworld and underworld (conscious/subconscious) while dancing in between the sharp edges of logic and the frayed ends of primordial wisdom.
Now with a Mercury retrograding in a sign as knowing and as healing as Virgo, this period will offer a retreat into the primeval generative heartbeat of the Earth’s womb. It’s all about music and lyrics.
And we don’t know
Just where our bones will rest
To dust I guess
Much will be accomplished as you submit to this process of mental regeneration and refinement. You will be gifted with a fluid intelligence that extends beneath hope and beyond fear, thereby liberating you from false dialectics. In these molten environs, you may sacrifice your perfectionism, your pretensions and your anxieties.
Forgotten and absorbed into the earth below
Internally, Mercury retrogrades are the natural windows of opportunity to reflect upon the past, weaving fragmentary memories and ephemeral dreams into a rich tapestry of experience. In Virgo, Mercury’s exalted linguistic gifts will enable you to transform painful memories into a magnificent requiem.
Internally you will feel that the narrative of your life (so dutifully maintained) will begin to veer off into avante garde territories where perspectives shift and the wisdom of creation grows. Tell your story with artistic license and see how your life begins to imitate that!
No apologies ever need be made,
I know you better than you fake it
This retrograde period begins with Mercury conjunct Jupiter and will extend to encompass both the solar and lunar eclipses.
Thus you can expect that this retrograde will not have the usual associations with stagnation of energies. Instead you will feel your role in the primal myth come forth and the inspiration that brings will be given plenty of extra thrust. When you feel it, then you’ll understand.
Faster than the speed of sound
Faster than we thought we’d go,
beneath the sound of hope
The retrograde begins two days before the Solar Eclipse in Virgo, an influence that will summon the rebirth of animism. Thus, your perception of the animated soul or sentience within all living things will become increasingly relevant to you.
The final square between Saturn and Neptune will be an ongoing influence through Mercury’s retrograde. This square, which has happened three times since November 2015, has brought many disorienting moments where the hard truths of reality have upset the order in your life.
We feel the pull
in the land of a thousand guilts
And poured cement, lamented and assured
But there is no energy better for untangling knots and restoring order to a mangled mind than Mercury in Virgo. Use this reflexive period to think back to late November 2015, considering how you have been confronted by hyper-awareness and confusion about the instability in the world. Feeling saddened by crumbling traditions, betrayed trust, and misspent youth are a part of the Saturn/Neptune experience.
On a live wire right up off the street
You and I should meet
But Mercury’s retrograde in Virgo offers the healing gift of purification. This cleansing will be at its most potent on September 12th when Mercury conjuncts the Sun: a planetary baptism by fire.
When Mercury emerges from the heart of the Sun, you will feel purged of distractions and enlivened by clear purpose. Mercury will also be in an exact square with Mars in Sagittarius this day, proffering dramatic motivation to make some great efforts towards realizing your vision.
Four days after Mercury’s baptism in the Sun’s fire, there will be a Full Moon lunar Eclipse in Pisces, which will illuminate the meaning of your most important work.
With Mars in Sagittarius squaring the Sun and Moon, it will be tempting to go on a crusade against perceived enemies. But during this impressionable period of deep healing, it will be especially important to show compassion for yourself and for anyone who would seek to hurt you.
Mercury will finally station direct on September 22nd, just after the equinox. Now filled with the chthonic rhythms of the underworld, your conscious thoughts will bear the signatures of divinatory dreams and prophesy. Having confronted the brokenness of things in your life over the last three weeks, a reorientation towards your best possible future will have occurred.
Led by wanderlust and light, you’ll emerge from this period feeling that your will and universal will are in perfect harmony.
With the headlights pointed at the dawn
<3 Aeolian Heart <3
If you would like to learn more about how Mercury relates to your natal chart, sign up for my upcoming free class on how to navigate your natal chart!
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