The Cosmic Story: Virgo Full Moon, February 25, 2013
Mercury Retrograde, February 23, 2013
Mercury Retrograde
We're coming up to another Mercury retrograde, but from all reports, it's been feeling like Mercury retrograde since the holidays! Is that your experience?
Mercury goes
retrograde from February 23 to March 17, 2013 in Pisces. Mercury will be traveling back and forth
through Pisces along with the Sun, Venus, Neptune, Chiron and Mars, checking in
with our sense of purpose, our heart-connections, our spiritual vision, our
collective wounds and our desires. All
this while swimming along in the cosmic waters of Pisces, the realm of the
collective unconscious!
Mercury goes retrograde Saturday morning, February 23rd at 1:41am PST/ 4:41am EST/ 9:41am GMT. The Sabian symbol for Mercury stationing at 20* Pisces is: A table set for an evening meal. This seems to indicate that there will be nourishment for us even here at the end of an age. The needs of our soul and its destiny will be met! We just need a dose of Piscean faith--and imagination!
In Pisces, we connect with something larger than ourselves, that place of unity where we just know we're all one--that we're all in this together. This is the anecdote for patriarchy's insistence on "rugged individualism'. Pisces asks us to trust in Spirit and let go of our boundaries so we can connect with others on a heart level. Mercury in Pisces also gets us in touch with the old archetypal stories which can help us in these confusing and chaotic times. What stories inspire you to live your values? Which stories inspire you to take up your personal destiny?
As most of you know, Mercury goes retrograde 3 times a year and when you add in the shadow periods before and after the true retrograde (when Mercury travels over the degrees of the retrograde forward, backward and forward again), it adds up to about 2 months each time or almost 6 months of the year. It seems the cosmos want us to learn to think before we make up our minds!
Mercury is
considered the planet of communication, travel, business and the Mind. When Mercury goes retrograde, these aspects
of life are affected. So when your
computer crashes, your travel plans are in disarray, and your car breaks down,
Mercury has a message for you. Mercury
is also the Trickster who trips you up when you're off-course. So pay attention to what comes up during the
2 weeks before Mercury goes retrograde and you'll know what you have to
reconsider during its retrograde. The
Greek version of Mercury is Hermes, the psycho-pomp, or guide to souls.
The highways and byways we are led down during Mercury retrograde might be
Hermes leading your soul to its next appointment with destiny.
Mercury tells us what we need to review, redo, revisit, and re-vision. Its retrograde phase is also a great time to slow down, meditate and remember to breathe. Learn to listen--to yourself, to each other and to Nature. You'll find that once you go deeper into the unconscious realms, you'll pick up information in different ways than you usually do. That's because you'll be more attuned to your feminine right brain. This new information will help you enlarge your perspective--hence the re-doing!
The big news for this Mercury retrograde in Pisces is the resignation of the Roman Catholic Pontiff, Benedict XVI. Although it happened in the shadow period before Mercury goes retrograde, this piece of news is a big indication that we need to re-think Pisces and our religious beliefs. It makes sense since Jupiter in Gemini squares this retrograde, challenging us to change how we think about things. With Jupiter in Gemini, we need to expand our perceptions, deepen our thinking and discern what information is important and what isn't. So perhaps we can let go of guilt over our supposed "original sin' and get on with our "original blessings' as Matthew Fox says.
What message is the "Messenger of the Gods' delivering about the most important social and religious institution of the Piscean Age? Perhaps it's finally time for old men to stop "running the show'. Under Pope John Paul II, Benedict--Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger-- served as the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a new name for the Office of the Inquisition. He silenced many modern theologians, especially Matthew Fox for his writings on our original blessings and the Cosmic Christ. His conservative views on birth control, homosexuality and inter-religious dialogues do not take into account the world we live in today. And he was a part of the Church's cover-up of priestly sexual misconduct in past decades. Benedict certainly represents the old hard line patriarchal religion. But this hard line is exactly what is forcing people out of the churches. If religion doesn't meet our soulful, feeling needs, then people will look elsewhere for spiritual consolation.
The next pope will be elected under this upcoming Mercury retrograde in Pisces. With 5 planets and Chiron in Pisces during this time period, it will be interesting to see who gets elected. It would be gratifying if it was another John XXIII, who surprised everyone by convening the Second Vatican Council (1962--1965) to bring the Church into modern times, and who died suddenly before its completion. But perhaps that is a naà ¯ve hope, since Benedict has filled the College of Cardinals with his own conservative followers. Matthew Fox is correct in thinking that it is time to leave all religions behind us and develop our own spirituality.
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