Mercury Retrogrades in Taurus

Mercury Retrogrades in Taurus - Reviewing Resources

"Everyone knows that the yielding overcomes the stiff,
and the soft overcomes the hard.
Yet no one applies this knowledge."

—Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

As we ride the wave of last Wednesday's Aries New Moon (9:12 PM PDT 29° Aries), themes of stabilization and security are drawing a great deal of our focus. In some way or another, we can see the need to plan our course in a way that lays a foundation that is stable and secure. However, we may feel such a strong emotional imperative to feel secure that there is a significant potential for irrational responses. We may find ourselves focused entirely on amassing or even hoarding resources, instead of methodically assessing what resources are already at our disposal. As well, we run the risk of becoming too rigid in our individual determination to lay out a plan and follow through on it, while missing the opportunity to expand our perspective and open up to the perspectives of others. The danger of 'knee-jerk' fear responses is that we lose our capacity to explore new insights and new options. Flexibility and adaptability is key. If we are able to take the time to listen to the fears and insecurities that others need to express, we will actually find that the healing energies are flowing both ways. Active listening helps us to better understand our own fear responses, while giving others the chance to express their own fears. It is important to remember that Mercury retrogrades in Taurus until May 14th, suggesting that the solidification of our 'stabilization plans' will remain elusive and subject to further review and adjustment. As we near the end of the week, the changeable atmosphere may put us on the defensive as we find it difficult to fully attend to our individual responsibilities. The unstable energy reveals our desire for freedom — even though we are trying to lock down a sense of safety and security. The need to control every element that we touch in order to establish an elusive sense of stability will cause us to miss the expanding possibilities. This is the crux of this week's challenge. We need to maintain enough flexibility to adapt gracefully to spontaneous or unexpected insights, opportunities, and surprises, while maintaining enough balance to stabilize ourselves. This week's overall emotional intensity and need for security may make it seem as though adjustments are extremely threatening, even when these adjustments will clearly produce a more satisfying outcome.

We're aware of a need to stabilize our position on Sunday but may find ourselves focused entirely on amassing or hoarding material resources. Listening to the concerns of others will help us to clarify our own desire for security. The focus on safety and security intensifies on Monday. We may find ourselves becoming too rigid and miss the creative solutions that can provide a broader sense of security for others as well as ourselves. We gain a bit of determined holding power on Tuesday that seems to make it feel safer to fully explore our options. There are a wealth of insights to consider. We find cooperative intellectual engagement on Wednesday that helps us to focus on assessing our existing resources — not what we think we need to acquire more of. We lose a bit of the overall emotional investment in safety. We may be inclined to try to lock down some kind of security on Thursday. We need to maintain enough awareness to respond effectively to surprising shifts. Defensiveness surfaces on Friday. We may have trouble managing our individual responsibilities. The need to maintain flexibility reaches a peak on Saturday. We need to find ways to let go of the emotional imperative to 'stay safe' so that we can clearly see and make the most of the expanding possibilities.