Mercury Stationary Direct Affecting March, April, May, and June 2013 – Finding A New Dedication At the End of A Long Goodbye

by Robert Wilkinson

Mercury goes direct in motion March 17, 1:03 pm PDT, 4:03 pm EDT, 8:03 pm Greenwich, and speeds up for the next 10 weeks. This shows a quickening of the ability to coordinate, put things together, understand the whole and the parts, the process and the larger cycles. It is now stationary at 6 Pisces, affecting that area in our lives for 3 months to come.

Mercury, or Hermes, "the Guide of Souls," is also known as the Divine Trickster, as well as all lesser models. What does Mercury going stationary direct at 6 Pisces hold for us?

We are told the symbol is "Officers on dress parade.” According to Rudhyar’s notes from the Marc Jones class, this degree is one of “self-exaltation through consecration to the task of defending collective values,” “self-testing,” and “perception of high goals.”

In "The Astrological Mandala" he states the keynote is "The dedication of human beings to the service of their community, and the assurance that it will be emotionally sustained by the people at large.” He notes this is about “emotion-arousing appeal of social activities” where we surrender certain elements of our personal life in order to find “support that the socialized person can expect from the collectivity if (they) are ready to act and to sacrifice (themselves) for the nation or the group.”

He says this degree is about “the power generated by a totally accepted and enforced collective discipline, and the exaltation and mass response (those who have) achieved this self-surrender to a social tradition can expect in return. The keyword is GROUP RESPONSIBILITY.” He states this degree is in the Span of Innocence, and it's the first degree of the emotional-cultural level of the Scene of Federation in the Act of Capitalization.

Of note is that Uranus transited this degree 2004-2005, Jupiter crossed in February 2010, and it will be the exact degree where Neptune goes stationary retrograde on June 7. That implies we shall get direct Mercury insights, information, ideas, and understanding related to the collective developments set into motion when Neptune first hits 6 Pisces on May 1.

Pay attention, since from now through June the lower mind (Mercury) can intuitively “know” what’s coming in May, June, and the first half of July, how those collective developments can be individually coordinated and used in some Pisces way in our personal life and renewed social dedications. This gives us a chance to anticipate what’s coming in the larger field, wherever we are.

It also indicates more evolving developments concerning the radical shift humanity went through last Winter Solstice but by and large has no idea what happened. I’m seeing some fairly astounding evolutionary leaps in play, for good or ill depending on how balanced people’s hemispheres are. I’ll be writing more about this in the future.

Stationary retrograde and direct points become “hot spots” set into motion by future transits. What Uranus awakened 8-9 years ago and Jupiter began to expand in 2010 can now be seen through a Mercury lens over the next few months, giving us insights into how those influences awakened something in the area where we have 6 Pisces in our charts since then. And we can use the Mercury lens as it speeds up in the next few weeks to anticipate what’s coming this Summer.

We can now use Mercury’s function of being “the Guide of Souls” to use the qualities of 6 Pisces to weave together the higher and lower realizations we’ve awakened to these past 9 years. How we use opportunities to use those realizations to coordinate those into our lives over the next 4 months will show us our natural dedication within a larger collective field beginning May 2013. At that time the awakened Higher Law that we’ve coordinated into our lives will become key to expressing our greater Soul intention within a social milieu.

In any case, we should all start seeing, hearing, and understanding things that point the way to some Mercurial technique of how we have been and continue to be guided to our Soul. Given that it falls at 6 Pisces, it shows us some way to find connectedness on inner and outer levels that can make us more compassionate through a larger view of the human condition, its losses and farewells, its endings and how karma is tallied at the end of the end of any given thing.

Here we get a deep sense of how and when to say “goodbye,” or why we had to say goodbye in the recent past, as well as a new role to fulfill within our society. This will help us see higher goals, a larger sense of purpose, and new “group responsibilities.” The symbol is oriented toward a sense of emotional connection with others who share a common dedication, the shared feelings that the Mutable Water of Pisces symbolizes.

Marc Jones says 6 Pisces is where we experience “a cyclic and necessary intensification of any personal being” through “ritualized or ideal experience.” Here “dignity and protocol always provide a dramatic and valuable rehearsal of cultural or group values, exalting each individual in some one respect for the strengthening of all in the total pattern.” This is a symbol of our investment in “long-range potentialities of life, made possible by some immediate and self-fulfilling demonstration of personal skill or capacity.”

He says the keyword is DISCIPLINE, and when positive, this degree is "schooled self-assurance and absolute responsibility.” The implication is that through Mercury, we have opportunities to grow into a Soul expression through being sensitive to a greater social responsibility and deeper and wider knowing, while using intuitive intelligence to reshape our expression and thereby our reality.

We will also be re-tracing our Pisces lessons from now through April 6 (with residual echoes for the next 14 weeks.) Mercury going direct will re-activate many of the aspects it's made over the past few weeks. At various times over the past three weeks, it's made important conjunctions, sextiles, squares, and trines to the other planets.

It now begins to move forward. This direct period is interesting because Mercury makes no significance aspects until the end of the month, when it makes a trine to Saturn immediately followed by an exact square to Jupiter and sextile to Pluto. These are forming over the next week and a half. This should make for very easy progress in the areas we have Gemini, Virgo, Scorpio, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces, while concluding some old split functions or dualities we’ve been dealing with in the Pisces, Gemini, Virgo, and Sagittarius house affairs.

Of special note is that in this Mercury SD chart, Venus is conjunct the Sun and exactly quintile Pluto, a very favorable aspect. Expect gifts related to the house where these planets are transiting in your chart. This very beneficial influence will extend to those who have planets around 22-26 Pisces, 4-8 Gemini, 16-20 Leo, 28 Libra to 2 Scorpio, and 10-14 Capricorn. Other aspects of note impacting the next few weeks are Sun quintile Jupiter, Mars sextile Jupiter conjunct Uranus, and the major Yod, or Finger of God, made by Saturn in Scorpio sextile Pluto in Capricorn both quincunx Jupiter in Gemini.

Over the next three weeks through April 6, while it’s still in its “shadow period” from 6 to 20 Pisces (the set of degrees traversed three times during the forward, then retrograde, then forward movement), after the aspects listed above it will make no significant aspects. After it leaves its “shadow span,” it quintiles Pluto, sesquisquares Saturn, and then enters Aries on April 13-14, beginning its coordination function to weave together all the other Aries transits we’ve already experienced via Mars, the Sun, and Venus.

Again, the Yod made by Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto is of substantial importance to everyone during the next two weeks. First, because of its power to work independently of all the other things going on, and second, because with Mercury in Pisces and Jupiter in Gemini, these two are in mutual reception and in square, a very powerful and dynamic “closed energy loop” situation.

Something’s going to give in a big way, but it should create stability, productivity, and great benefit. At the bottom of this article I’ve linked to two other recent articles explaining the current Yod in great detail, and of course, I’ll be writing more about the interlocking Yods that begin around March 23.

By April 6-7, Mercury will move out of its shadow span and enter its next "unknown zones" where the themes of this retrograde will be played out in forward motion. So for the next three weeks, expect some very productive intersections of past and future, with a promise of stability once we do a closure ritual and forgive whatever needs forgiving. This is a “clean up and out” time, since the other inner planets are already jumpstarting Aries activities wherever these transit our chart.

So at the end of this retrograde period, we find ourselves ready to say goodbye, let go of a past, and now living a vaster feeling connection to others or some common purpose we share with others. Spiritual connections are now established, and many will receive rewards for having attuned to a more spiritual way to live, feel, and think.

A note here about the Grand Irrationality. While it’s not a factor in this Mercury stationary direct chart, it is about to be set into motion in huge ways through the transits. Other than the Yod, the immediate future is rather calm. But when Venus enters the Aries zone of the Grand Irrationality on April 8-9, expect things to become very intense very quickly, since it will be immediately followed by the Sun and Mars also in the zone lasting through April 16-17. This will set major choices and changes into motion, and there will be no other way to go than forward!

As Jupiter and Neptune rule Mercury and they are in a subtle aspect indicating the need to overcome some duality by making a leap of faith, keep a sense of humor, see your freedom to move into a future on your own terms, and remember that those who would rule must first learn to serve with a good attitude. This will help us pull out of nosedives, and see how to shift momentum or the trajectory of something and “right ourselves gracefully.”

As Mercury and Neptune are both in Pisces, remember that there are “psychic traffic jams” that are confusing a lot of people, and interactions are becoming very intense. This is a time when we can “master discouragement,” and rally to some task that calls us. Find the knowledge that can ensure some measure of wealth or power, shift direction as needed, and remember that after old responsibilities are fulfilled and you’ve reached a level of mastery in “flying by the seat of your pants,” then you get new responsibilities more appropriate to your advanced skills.

Demonstrate your skills within cyclic events, don’t let your mind try to leap beyond its own shadow, and show a sense of humor as you figure out the details of a plan. It’s a time of forced growth, so if you’re ambitious, you’ll “win a prize.” Just remember to learn the rules of the game, and play fair as you learn a more open way to cooperate with others.

Because of the power of Mercury and Neptune in Pisces, there will be tremendous intuition available to those who have done the work and embraced a spiritual discipline. Here our ability to attune to the angels, devas, and all the invisible world, from nature spirits to Masters, attracts a higher awareness or vaster experience.

This will be an extraordinarily favorable and productive time of attunement and alignment with the entire invisible world and the life forms helping humanity that can be contacted there. Set aside glamor, desire, ego attachments and push-pull power games, and this can be a time when we really become trained to manifest something deeper and higher than we have before now.

We’ve now had opportunities to reshape our motives, or sense of sorrow around what hasn’t worked or is ending. We have begun to glimpse how our needs have been met in the past in just the right ways and times, and how can feel more connected with our wider spiritual family.

We now have gotten clear insights into what’s ended or needs to be eliminated in our lives so we can come to a freer, wiser, calm awareness. So now that we've done our rehearsals, reviews, revisions, and/or research on how we can coordinate the parts of this emerging process during the past 3 weeks, it's again time to get it on!!!

Here we face the future, and do what we must to weave elements of that future into our current life and affairs. We continue to eliminate attitudes and interpretations no longer appropriate to our emerging process, and can see the interconnectedness of life as we find our unique place to doing our Being in a vaster field of activity.

We now begin to ride the edge of extremely dynamic change, finding new forms of demonstrating the power of our new life archetypes we’ve been living since the Summer of 2010. Mercury direct will open many views and perspectives over the next 3 months, and the insights we receive and weaving we do in that period will lead us to a natural and powerful new set of views in July 2013. By November 2013 we will have crystallized a new humanitarianism, a new way of seeing the world of the 5 senses and the mind as “the playground of God and Soul,” and know the wisdom of our “God within” that will show us the way to gather our power to master our physical mechanism.

In the 2012 Mercury retrogrades, we went through a process of learning how to look at the past with different eyes, seeing the storms and trials we’ve overcome as ways to rehearse how to deal with what is to come. Through retrospection, we had opportunities to call up old powers in new ways that helped us in late 2012. The most recent Mercury retrograde in November 2012 put us on the threshold of being able to know without thinking, directly experiencing communication rather than having to go through a linear evaluation of hearing and interpreting words.

Since November we have gained higher awareness related to the old “skins of personality” we’ve shed, as well as old ghosts from the past. Since then we’ve been able to use natural enthusiasms and ways of self-expression to demonstrate our higher “knowing,” and found new desires, new ways of skillfully using power in responsible ways, and new ways to interpret meaning.

We now have let go of a lot, opened to learning new skills, and been able to come to peace as we stand at the end of an end and the beginning of a beginning. The Inferior conjunction at 15 Pisces has been helping us to do our dress rehearsals, and see beyond appearances to know real necessities. We’ve been set up to “seize an opportunity,” and begun to develop a gift for “bringing genuine efficiency and real adventure to common objectives.”

On the whole this retrograde period has been finalizing, liberating, productive, and emotionally stabilizing. Even though there may have been a lack of clarity or confusion in some ways, or it seems that some things that need to end have been hanging on in a state of indefinite suspension, we’ve also gotten insights, returns, and understanding about things we didn’t know about before the retrograde began.

We’ve gotten clear about crosscurrents in our thinking relative to others, and had to see things through their eyes so we could communicate more clearly why our thinking or understanding is different from theirs. It’s also been great to bust old illusions, deceptions, and through seeing the larger phases and stages of unfolding events, and find new ways to see our role while renouncing our own and others’ perceptions that don’t honor our true part in the larger scheme of things.

So as Mercury now goes direct in motion, open up and be receptive to higher awareness, higher knowledge, and a greater faith in your ability to know in ways you’ve never known before. We are now solidly in a time of learning deeper experiential methods of weaving things together, and a deeper dedication toward integrating personality within a deeper Soul response. Keep purifying, eliminating, and regenerating your mind and ability to focus without distractions getting in the way. Concentrate to integrate, let go and leap into a new life adventure that’s already prepared for you.

We’ve just been through a clarifying period where many things have been reviewed to see what’s over, what needs to be over, and what needs to be regenerated to bring forth the higher awareness we’re already receiving, whether we know it or not. Something has been stabilized, and we can now move forward on the basis of the insights we’ve gained these past several weeks.

Things related to Mercury will speed up considerably for the next three months, so go for a new motive and sense of who you are within the larger group or social field you’re in. Continue to adapt with efficiency and a sense of freedom, and get ready for further sacrifices over the next few weeks that will focus and expand your spiritual effectiveness.

From here we move forward into a clearer, more exciting future! Revolutionary things are in the air, so concentrate to see the bigger picture. Soon we’ll see events of the past from a higher symbolic angle that show us a new identity has been crafted, and we can now see more clearly what that is and how we can live it wholeheartedly.

Here are the articles about the very powerful Yod involving Saturn sextile Pluto both quincunx Jupiter in Gemini.

The Astrology of Destiny in March 2013 Pt. 1– We Move Into a Time of Double Interlocking Yods, or Fingers of God

The Astrology of Destiny in March 2013 Pt. 2– How Does The Yod Affect Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces?

Here’s an article explaining how the Yod, or “Finger of God,” works to squeeze us into a narrower, more specific spiritual focus through a process of “expansion through sacrifice.”

And as usual, here are links to recent articles on what this March 2013 Mercury Retrograde in Pisces has been all about:

The Guide of Souls in February 2013 - Mercury Slowing Down, Preparing to go Retrograde at 20 Pisces

Mercury Retrograde – A Repeat Look at the Guide of Souls

Astrology and Mercury Retrograde February-March 2013 in Pisces - What Is Mercury Retrograde?

Mercury Retrograde in Pisces in February-March 2013 – Finding What We Need At the End of A Cycle of Activity

Mercury Retrograde in Pisces in March 2013 Pt. 2 - What It Means For Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces

A New Look At Mercury Retrograde in Pisces in March 2013 - What Is It Good For?

© Copyright 2013 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Matt]

Thank goodness. This Mercury Rx was rough and completely externalized in my 6th. Spent a lot of time of re-teaching and coping with others' inefficient execution patterns...although it was a perfect opportunity to hunker down and study.

As a herald of spring, I hope this turn of events, coupled with Mars' return home to Aries, is a harbinger of new beginnings for all.

[Lizzie Bodenham]

Wow Robert thankyou for articulating so thoroughly with the aid of Astrology, the evolutionary perspective that is occuring! I am indeed grateful to be on the this planet at this momentous time...

[chickie]

Ur Highness,

If I have a jupiter at 6 pisces 12 house which conjuncts a good friend's chiron 6 pisces in his 6 house....can u at least give us an idea of how that can affect our relationship?

[Norm]

Robert, I have been a loyal daily reader of your column for at least five years now. Unfortunately, the depth of your writing I just don't understand in parts of your columns, but I move on and digest all that I can. Sorry for not being so deep and a little on the slow side, evidently.

But I am writing to ask you if you could explain in laymans terms this paragraph at the end of the article for me.

So as Mercury now goes direct in motion, open up and be receptive to higher awareness, (awareness to what?)higher knowledge, and a greater faith in your ability to know in ways you’ve never known before. (ability to known in ways you've never know before? Known what?) We are now solidly in a time of learning deeper experiential methods of weaving things together, (deeper experimental methods?)and a deeper dedication toward integrating personality within a deeper Soul response. (intergrating personality within a deeper soul response?) Keep purifying, eliminating, and regenerating (regenerating your mind?)your mind and ability to focus without distractions getting in the way. Concentrate to integrate, let go and leap into a new life adventure that’s already prepared for you.

I understand if you don't have the time. Just trying to understand the best I can.

[Robert]

Hi Matt - From here we spring forth!!

Hi Lizzie - Yes, it is a major time to be here in a body. I figure we all showed up for a reason, and are still getting connected.

Hi chickie - Your Jupiter/12th house function will help him heal into his higher self, and he can heal your Jupiter. That could take a thousand faces. There are too many possible combinations beyond that involving other planets for me to be more specific.

Hi Norm - It's okay, since these are written for professional and amateur astrologers as well as lay people. That's why I always try to put something beyond the jargon in there to explain what I'm seeing. If you're not a student of the craft, then it's not being slow. I'm just trying to find something to say that will make sense to everyone, at least a little.

Higher awareness is just that. It's both awareness of higher things, AND a higher level of awareness than the usual 5 senses thing. It's about knowing without thinking. We're all going through this in some area of our lives. Imagine you could "know" something without having to figure it out. There are several types of learning. This is about emotional intelligence, abstract intelligence, and other such subtle forms of "knowing." We are all experiencing it, more than thinking about it or analyzing it or picking it apart.

The trick this lifetime is to integrate our body, emotions, and mind into a smoothly functioning personality. Then we hope we can "get out of our own way" and allow our Higher Self to come forth, however we define it. We cannot possibly manifest our higher Soul elements until we have our personality somewhat integrated so that the lower self doesn't interfere with the Soul coming forth.

Yes, we regenerate our minds by casting out obsolete or stagnant views and ideas and opening the windows of the mind to new information. Breathe in, breathe out. Ideas along with air. Rudhyar called it "repotentializing" the mind, or giving the mind a new potential. That means to approach everything with new eyes and a fresh approach.

There are many more ways to express these concepts. These are just a few, which I hope are clear enough to spur you to examine things like your own "Higher Awareness" beyond the 5 senses and the mind, your ability to know without going through a laborious thinking process, and knowing that which you never knew before (whether you have words to describe it or not). We all have the power to experience life and ideas and feelings and interactions from a deeper connectedness with them as part of a larger field of existence.

Eliminate old mental blocks, or at least open to seeing what mental blocks there are so that you can remove them at some point in your evolving process. Find a new idea, a new view, a new interpretation, a new way to explore a new spiritual or philosophical view that opens you up rather than shuts you down. The rest of what I wrote is fairly self-evident when understood in conjunction with what I just wrote here.

And truly, thanks for asking. I had a few moments to respond, and hopefully what you asked will help others who may have been asking the same thing, but figured it may not be cool to ask for explanation.

[Laura]

Mercury is stationing on my natal Venus in the tenth house. Any insights as to the effects of this conjunction?
I feel as if I am somehow misusing the potential of having an exalted Venus at the apex of my chart. Self sacrifice and taking on an overly passive role have been requirements within my family dynamic and at work I've found myself being the "grounding force" to victim/martyr type superiors more than once. I was just hoping this conjunction was a gateway to bringing in new energy...

[Suzanne]

Thankyou for these informative articles on all the astrological activity in Pisces. With these transiting planets moving across my Sun, Mars and Moon and Chiron currently hitting my Pisces sun plus Saturn sitting on my Ascendant I am fascinated with your explanations of these strange times. Your articles are helping me understand what's going on.

[boo]

I'm in the same place as you are Norm! Learning as I read. Thank you Robert!

[Norm]

Thank you Robert for taking the time to explain. It is appreciated! I generally get most of it, or the drift of what you are trying to say. I was just stumped on this aticle, and with not so pleasant things going on, I just needed to know. LOL Be well my friend.

[debbie]

conjunct natal chiron opposing natal merc at pisces 6 healing depth of darkness/fears as instilled by family as a child ( late) 4th house almost selfless... still working on it however there is a fear of not being seen if not a victim, yeah I know sounds silly, but actually more common than most realise...been a huge couple of days already!