Mercury Turns Retrograde

Mercury Turns Retrograde - Perspective Review

"Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding."

— Khalil Gibran

Mercury turns retrograde at the beginning of this week in a remarkably intellectual environment but one that demands that we review our intellectual insights in order to begin to integrate a variety of emotional elements such as fear, uncertainty and vulnerability. Insights come like flashes of lightning but there is no chance of catching this 'lightning in a bottle' or keeping things effectively organized and sorted. This is the time to trust the process as we begin to see a new framework emerging. Some may try to use clever intellectual rhetoric or tease others out of their emotional uncertainty. However, such tactics are only likely to exacerbate the emotional 'weak spots' rather than to help us to keep them in perspective in order to heal them. Venus is freed from the constraints of Capricorn on Monday; Her creativity is freed in Aquarius. We begin to recognize the potent potential of creative compromise and cooperation. As we emerge from the fallout from last Thursday's Leo Full Moon (11:16 AM PST 9° Leo/Aquarius), we begin to look for ways to share our insights and individual intellectual breakthroughs and recognize that it is only through sharing our ideas with others that we have any hope of seeing them come to fruition. However, we cannot ignore the emotional elements, either in ourselves or others. As well, we should recognize the strong Fixed Sign emphasis here which is especially notable this week. The fixed signs demand that we slow down and both check our work and show our work even as the creative and intellectual inspiration seems to flow freely at an exciting pace. The opportunities for learning are enhanced by the slowdown that the fixed signs demand. The retrograde Mercury helps us to review what we have already learned, using ingenuity and innovation, along with common purpose, to move our new ideas forward in tangible ways while learning new lessons that will serve us in lasting ways. We will do better to set aside strategizing and instead focus on sharing, communicating, and cooperating. Although the fixed sign emphasis may produce some sense of frustration by the slowdowns, fixed sign influences also offer stabilization that serve to keep chaos from derailing our efforts. At times, this week, the chaotic, swirling mix of intellect and emotion may have us latching on to specifics or details that seem confusing or out of place. However, the fixed sign influences keep 'guardrails' in place — training wheels — that keep the chaos from taking us too far off course.

We find plenty of potential on Sunday as Mercury turns retrograde. However, we aren't quite yet at the place where it is time to fully implement our vision. Venus arrives in Aquarius on Monday and we begin to recognize the tangible value of cooperation and sharing. Intellectual cleverness may go a bit overboard on Tuesday in the midst of some deeply felt emotional vulnerability. Wednesday's Scorpio Moon emphasizes the emotional stumbling blocks that we face. Deliberate communication and patience are required. We feel more willingness to pursue further investigation of emotional challenges on Thursday, rather than trying to maintain any clever, intellectual superiority. Ego-driven self-confidence could take us a bit too for 'out on a limb' on Friday. Considerable chaos may result. Further chaos and confusion on Saturday takes us to the point where we can begin to acknowledge and deal with the emotional elements that are holding back both ourselves and others.

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