Mercury's Inferior Conjunction

Mercury's Inferior Conjunction — Impatience

"Most people do not really want freedom, because freedom involves responsibility, and most people are frightened of responsibility."

— Sigmund Freud,
Civilization and Its Discontents

We come upon a rather daunting 'blind corner' at the beginning of the week under the Sun's quincunx to Saturn, from Scorpio to Aries. Although the Sun in Scorpio may be somewhat stronger, the Moon's trine to Saturn and square to Saturn seems to 'tip the scales' toward Saturn's determined drive for responsible self-expression. This is significant because the Scorpio Sun would prefer to quietly accumulate power and control but the Leo Moon keeps things 'fired up' and anything but 'quiet'. In essence, we find a strong sense of justice and a persistent drive toward exposure. Ultimately, there is strong need for responsibility this week that needs to maintain balance in the midst of heightened idealism, erratic behavior, and chaos. The retrograding Venus is slowing down in Libra in the approach to the direct station on November 13th. The slowdown of Venus extends an extremely helpful sextile to Jupiter. Mars joins the extended sextile by next Sunday's Scorpio New Moon (11:01 PM PST 16° Scorpio). The sextiles from Venus to Mars and Jupiter offer an extraordinary wealth of good judgement and reason. Nonetheless, there is also a heavy dose of idealism which has the potential to encourage us to reach 'too far' in pursuit of an intangible and ill-defined ideal. Mercury returns to make the inferior conjunction on Wednesday of this week. (Mercury will also station direct on November 13th) Unfortunately, Mercury's inferior conjunction with the Sun seems to increase defensiveness and impatience. Clear 'facts' are elusive. Venus continues to try to 'pour oil on troubled waters' for most of the week, although this week's defensiveness, restlessness, and impatience isn't easily 'soothed'. Once Venus reaches the sextile to Mars at the beginning of next week, we should begin to increase our ability assert reason and describe the need for a more balanced approach. Staying on track in this environment is likely to seem more challenging than it 'should'. The need for responsibility is clear. Coordinating our efforts with others offers the best path towards understanding how to 'steady the ship'. Of note, Juno makes a significant conjunction with Pluto on Thursday that is accented by the Moon in Libra, which makes powerful connections to 'the outers' — Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto — throughout the day. Thursday's Grand Air Trine — the Moon in Libra, Pluto/Juno in Aquarius, and Uranus in Gemini — as well as the Moon's opposition to Neptune, offers a wealth of new and intriguing information. The Pluto-Juno conjunction signals important shifts toward a demand for 'fairness' that drive the overall atmosphere. By the end of the week, a demand for accountability takes over from any focus on the need for responsibility.

Sunday's intensity is striking and fully engaged in seeking or maintaining 'control'. We are most likely to stay 'on edge' but won't find any sort of clear path or productive sense of direction. We are likely to face a strong sense of justice on Monday that is hampered by ego-involved sensitivities. Although there is a strong need for responsibility, we are likely to struggle to understand how to effectively implement that responsibility. There is inspiration in Tuesday's atmosphere but also a building defensiveness. Erratic behavior and chaos challenge our ability to maintain a stable flow of information. Maintaining balance is extremely difficult on Wednesday and clear 'facts' are elusive. The lack of any 'clear picture' is especially frustrating. A heavy dose of idealism on Thursday has the potential to lead us to reach 'too far' in pursuit of an intangible and ill-defined ideal. There isn't much 'grounding' in the atmosphere but there are important shifts in the direction of 'fairness' that are driving the overall atmosphere. Impatience and a lack of responsibility are significant stumbling blocks on Friday. Coordinating our efforts with others offers the best path towards understanding how to 'steady the ship'. A demand for accountability on Saturday takes over from any focus on the need for responsibility. This is a particularly tenuous environment where we face strong headwinds that challenge our ability to maintain 'balance'.