Mercury's Direct Station

Mercury's Direct Station - Improving Intellect

"A society should never become like a pond with stagnant water, without movement. That's the most important thing."

—Mikhail Gorbachev

This week's direct station of Mercury on Monday comes under a waning, VOC Moon. Although we might like to 'hit the ground running' by using the improving intellect offered by Mercury's direct station, we will need to take it slow this week. Mercury won't actually escape the shadow phase of the current retrograde cycle until a couple of days after the Virgo New Moon (11:06 PM PDT 0° Virgo) coming up on August 22nd. We can expect an extended 'clean up' imperative under the next lunar cycle when Virgo's processing abilities will encourage us to sort through our new individual insights and perspectives in order to learn what works and what doesn't. This week's headwinds are significant but progress is also unmistakable. Monday's Venus-Jupiter conjunction certainly helps us to maintain a philosophical perspective. But the Venus-ruled Mars in Libra is likely to encourage us to try to expand our power and squeeze every bit of possible progress that we can find out of the amiable atmosphere offered by the joining of Venus and Jupiter. It is important to remember that 'Rome was not built in a day'. Mercury is beginning to offer us an individual 'mouthpiece' — but that may just mean that everyone is trying to speak at once. Of course, this isn't the best scenario for getting others to 'listen'. Thursday's Taurus Moon, in mutual reception with Venus in Cancer, offers the most stabilizing environment of the week, helping to expand our awareness and appreciate the flow of promising insights that we are offered. We will continue to face ongoing headwinds as we work to adapt to the shifts in our global environment that continues 'apace'. By the end of the week, Saturn returns to the Aries/Pisces 'cusp degree' as it heads back towards Pisces for a last pass through Pisces from September 2nd until November 27th. Next month's Virgo eclipses (September 7th and September 21st) suggest a great deal of compassion, guided by intuition, to help us dispense with outmoded approaches, ideas, and beliefs . Improved clarity will be provided as we work to 'separate the wheat from the chaff' in preparation for the Autumnal Equinox on September 22nd. And then, after this year's second Virgo New Moon (the September 21st Eclipse), Mercury, the Sun, and the Moon will provide increased clarity regarding the developments and revelations surrounding last week's Leo Full Moon and what has followed. In essence, it most important to remember this week that 'time takes time' and avoid trying to do too much all at once.

The is a deep sense of completion or endings on Sunday. We may find that we are looking for some kind of appreciative or congratulatory recognition and find ourselves feeling quite 'put out' if we don't get it. Despite the broader shifts underway, Monday's atmosphere seems to discourage taking anything very seriously. It is nearly impossible to 'get organized' and there's little to suggest that it would actually help — in the short run or the long run. We are challenged to find our inspiration to take definitive action on Tuesday. However, we are still exploring a myriad of possibilities and still learning how to work with the entirely new energies that we are recognizing. There are lots of different voices all trying speak 'at once' on Wednesday — not the best scenario for getting people to actually 'listen'. It is important to consider that the rights of others are as important as our own. Although there may be some frustrations on Thursday, there is also a great deal of promising insight that helps us to lay the groundwork for new planning, organization, and preparation. The evening atmosphere encourages adaptability and offers an improved perspective that incorporates new and different ideas. We face more headwinds on Friday and progress may seem to stall. Impatience may stir some dramatic interactions as we are asked to integrate a number of different perspectives. The scope of challenges seems to at least feel more manageable on Saturday. With an improved perspective and a greater sense of freedom, we seem to be more interested in sharing insights with others and listening more productively to the insights that others are finding.