by Robert Wilkinson
In part two we explore more about this phenomenon that occurs three weeks at a time three times a year. At the end of this article I have included a table so you can find which house(s) this May-June 2008 Mercury retrograde period falls in relative to your Sun or rising sign. Then you can consult my article How Does Mercury Retrograde Affect Us In The Different Houses? to find how this transit will affect you personally as a result of Mercury retrograding through the houses in your chart.
Like all Mercury retrograde periods, these three weeks offer a chance to reorganize in the areas of our life ruled by Mercury. These are the houses of your chart ruled by Gemini or Virgo, any planets in these signs in your chart, and the house occupied by your natal, progressed, or solar return Mercury.
All retrogrades show us that sometimes it is more important to be inwardly oriented than outer-directed. These are times when our previous activities "echo back" information about what we've already experienced during a planetary direct motion phase.
When the inner planets are retrograde, our personal life is most subject to review, reflection, re-doing or getting a new angle on those affairs. When the outer planets are retrograde, we get the same process of review but it impacts our place in the larger scheme of things, whether social, cultural, or transpersonal-global.
When retrograde, Mercury, the "Guide of Souls," challenges us to cultivate our personal understanding of our "fellowship with the Eternal," explore our deeper issues and useful but overlooked details in what's being discussed or asserted, take an unusual view, and allow ourselves to be led by the future implications of what's happening. It’s a time when we truly get a new look at many things and come to a different understanding of how the various affairs of our inner and outer life are coordinated, or need to be.
We can get different perspectives and insights into prior events, messages, and signals, and can fill in important gaps in our understanding. Sometimes it may seem like it's one step forward, two to the side, one step back, one to the other side, then two steps forward, but often we find that we are offered entirely new and crucial perspectives and knowledge that can help us when it's time to move forward again after the retrograde is past.
In Mercury Retrograde in Gemini in May-June 2008, Part 1 - Integrating Our Intuitions Releasing Our Genius Adjusting Our Possibilities we explored some specific qualities of the present Mercury retrograde period. I trust you got your important paperwork in order the past two weeks, since Mercury now goes RX at 8:48 am PDT May 26.
We now enter three week retrograde period to deal with things we've put off, or take care of things from the past. This May-June 2008 Mercury retrograde will give us new understanding about the events of the past four months.
We can again reconsider, reinterpret, and rework Gemini issues and activities, seeing their significance from new angles of understanding. We got Cancer insights during the Summer 2007 Mercury RX. We got Scorpio insights during the Autumn 2007 Mercury RX. We got Aquarius insights during the early 2008 Mercury RX. Now we'll get more insights about our perceptions, communications, interpretations, neighbors, siblings, and environment.
We'll also get insights about how to externalize what we have discovered or learned in the past few months, and find a creative versatility and an open-minded resourcefulness in responding to a literary or interactive sensitivity. As this is a sign that knows no boundaries in its freedom to explore "all the news that's fit," this time can show us how to get multiple angles of understanding through taking a new look at our approaches, perceptions, opinions, and judgments concerning the areas mentioned above.
Summer 2007 we explored home and family issues, the supply of our everyday needs, and ways of experiencing our past, present, and future. Autumn 2007 we extended this feeling-understanding and whatever emotional intelligence we developed through the trine from Scorpio to Cancer.
A few months ago we began to synthesize many things into a new larger view or a greater sense of community or larger service. Now we explore how the concrete form of the images glimpsed the past year have come forth as forms of understanding, modes of communications, and new "brothers and sisters" in our community.
Our previous spiritual realizations have been given wings as we repudiated obsolete attitudes and activities. This had led us to greater emotional, social, or cultural power. By the end of this retrograde period, we will stand on the threshold of four months that will test many of us to perform something we're excellent at for our community, and realize a life ambition as we hit the climax in some part of our life.
By learning about these recurring Mercury retrograde periods, we can understand how to deal with them productively, as well as the months afterwards, which they also indirectly influence. Since this May-June 2008 Mercury will go stationary at 22 Gemini and retrograde back to 13 Gemini, you can learn a lot about this coming period by reading all you can about Mercury retrograde in Gemini.
You can get more information how this important time of Mercury retrograde (which happens three times a year every year!) affects you personally by getting a copy of my book "A New Look At Mercury Retrograde" and reading the section on Mercury retrograde in the houses. However, you can also get some very useful ideas of how it works by consulting the article that I linked to in the first paragraph of this article titled "How Does Mercury Retrograde Work in the Houses." The ideas I offer there work, whether you're referencing the natal or Solar charts.
To that end, the houses in astrology show us the specific areas of our worldly affairs where we experience a given planetary influence. If you know your natal chart, then read the corresponding house in the article. However, whether you do or don't know your chart, you can find out Mercury's approximate position in your solar houses (created by your Sun sign position) by consulting this table:
For birthdays between:
May 11 to June 1, read Mercury retrograde in the 1st house.
June 2 to 11, 12th and 1st houses.
June 12 to July 2, 12th house.
July 2 to 12, 11th and 12th houses.
July 13 to August 2, 11th house.
August 3 to 12, 10th and 11th houses.
August 13 to September 2, 10th house.
September 3 to 12, 9th and 10th houses.
September 13 to October 3, 9th house.
October 4 to 13, 8th and 9th houses.
October 14 to November 3, 8th house.
November 4 to 12, 7th and 8th houses.
November 13 to December 2, 7th house.
December 3 to 11, 6th and 7th houses.
December 12 to January 1, 6th house.
January 2 to 10, 5th and 6th houses.
January 11 to 30, 5th house.
January 31 to February 8, 4th and 5th houses.
February 9 to March 1, 4th house.
March 2 to 10, 3rd and 4th houses.
March 11 to 31, 3rd house.
April 1 to 9, 2nd and 3rd houses.
April 10 to May 1, 2nd house.
May 1 to 10, 1st and 2nd houses.
Of course, this table is approximate, and if your birthday falls near the edge of two possible positions you may need to read both. One should always have the chart calculated professionally in order to know where the planets are situated, as this helps clarify your exact cyclic pattern.
A New Look At Mercury Retrograde in Gemini in May-June 2008 - What Is It Good For?
Mercury Retrograde in May-June 2008 Pt. 3 - How Will The Inferior Conjunction in Gemini Manifest?
Copyright © 2008 Robert Wilkinson
So helpful, as always, to learn from your understandings and discernments, Robert.
Of course, I will return to re-read in the coming weeks too!
This is an exciting retro for me - I have Mercury retro in Gemini natally, conjunct Sun. 15/16 degrees.
Re-reading is a regular feature for me!
Have ordered your book, too. Thanks again for all your good work.
Posted by: jaihn | May 26, 2008 at 07:03 AM
ps - Eighth House, that is. And this transit happens in my 9th - 8th house.
Solar-wise, that would be my 12th and 1st.
Are they equally influential? (It took me a few goes to word that!)
Posted by: jaihn | May 26, 2008 at 07:10 AM
Wow, there is so much to understand. It will take me awhile to get there..however, seems worth my efforts.
Dorothy from grammology
remember to call your gram
www.grammology.com
Posted by: Dorothy Stahlnecker | May 26, 2008 at 08:49 AM
Hi jaihn - Sure. Glad you can still find a copy of Mercury RX. It's a pretty good offering. The transits of natal and Solar houses are both important, just in different ways. One you're getting a new look at natal things, the other solar things. Since Mercury usually rules different houses in the two charts, that's just one difference to examine.
Hi Dorothy - To echo my other answer, glad you found your way here. Take your time and enjoy the ride.
Posted by: Robert | May 28, 2008 at 06:20 AM
Thank you for responding, Robert.
So far, so good, overhere with the retro-ness. I do so enjoy the ways it works!
I hope you are enjoying goodtimes, ~ now ~ , too.
ps - is the 'in Aquarius' part of the title of this post a slip of the retro?
Posted by: jaihn | May 28, 2008 at 08:36 PM
Hi jaihn - Yes, a perfect example of Mercury RX, the last time Mercury was RX.
Posted by: Robert | May 29, 2008 at 06:10 AM
this is so helpful
thanx for posting
hope all is in a magnificent flow for you
aum shanti :-)
namaste
Posted by: michele | June 01, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Hi Michele - I'm in LA by this time next week. Will post about my talk in a couple of days. I'll bet we can connect while I'm there. (heavy piano, John and Paul shouting) "You know my name, look up the number...." Sorry to have submerged lately, but finally finished an exhausting 11 month long march and find the results excellent and beautiful. Living space repaired and secured for the long haul. A strange sense of emptiness AND fulfillment at the end of one phase of the quest.
Posted by: Robert | June 04, 2008 at 08:15 AM