Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn in December 2009-January 2010, Part 2 - Understanding How and What to Finish At the Threshold of A New Life

by Robert Wilkinson

This retrograde Mercury began with many favorable aspects to and from Mercury except for the wide quincunx to Mars retrograde in Leo. This should make for a fairly favorable period if we know how to surrender and conform to achieve spiritual victory, and be productive in our Gemini and Pisces ways.

This is the next natural step in understanding and stabilizing very similar energies related to past Mercury retrograde periods. As this stationary point is the exact degree as Feb 2009's stationary direct point, there will be interesting linkages and parallels to whatever we went through last Spring.

Also of note is this stationary retrograde point exactly trines September's stationary direct point at 22 Virgo, co-incidentally the exact degree Saturn went stationary retrograde in December 2008. I've written extensively about the importance of that degree in past articles, so if you're inclined to learn more, they're in the archives.

Given the number of trines this Mercury retrograde makes to the SD points of 2009, we should continue to see further stabilizations of those themes. This can assist our understanding of whatever we've been reviewing, reworking, and rehearsing all year.

A few technicals: As mentioned in an earlier article, the only aspects Mercury makes at it SRX point are a tredecile to Saturn, a sextile to Uranus, and a quincunx to Mars. This makes for a very productive early part of the time span, with the adjustments shown by the Mercury-Mars quincunx being the focus around New Year's. When in doubt, don't! Adjustment and even sacrifice may be called for during Dec 31-Jan 1 this year.

Still, even that period isn't entirely frictional, with strong favorable aspects between Mercury and the Aquarius stellium, indicating a generally favorable "tide" or flow, even if it is somewhat slowed or roundabout. Early January Mercury moves through the biseptile to Saturn, then the inferior conjunction, and then conjuncts Venus while quintile Uranus. I'll write more about the importance of the inferior conjunction closer to that time.

The quincunx promises growth if we can assimilate diverse information, allow what has been repressed by ego to come up, and find ways to balance mind and body in a form of regeneration shared with others. The retrograde period will also be good for finding what nourishes us at the end of an old cycle of activity, open to a greater ability to touch and be touched, both literally and metaphorically, and achieve success in meeting the requirements of a new life order.

The January RX biseptile to Saturn will be the next development to whatever showed up around Dec 17-18-19 at the first biseptile. This would involve ideas, communications, or perceptions that helped us turn a corner in bringing our new Saturn in Libra archetypes into form. This process will be complete by late January at the third biseptile. As the Sun makes this aspect to Saturn from Jan 5-10, we should see an illuminated form of what this "externalization of destiny" is all about.

As Mercury finishes its RX period and goes direct at 6 Capricorn on Jan 15, 8:52 am PST, 4:52 pm Greenwich, it makes septiles to the planets in late Aquarius, thus triggering the Grand Irrationality. That would imply that the three months after that is important in showing us signs and signals of a greater "destiny." I'll discuss more about this in early January.

That Mercury goes direct with Saturn at 5 Libra retrograding back toward a square with Pluto direct at 4 Capricorn shows that these energies will dominate the landscape. It will be most challenging to those born in late December, late March, late June, and late September, as well as those with planets in early Aries, Cancer, Libra, and Capricorn.

Pay very close attention to what you see, hear, think, or understand during the second and third weeks of January, since that's when Mercury will be between 6 and 10 Capricorn. When Pluto occupies 6 Capricorn from late February through mid-May 2010, we can expect the sprouting of Mercurial seeds during that time, with major implications for 2011-2012.

Mercury activating the Grand Irrationality in mid-January will bring us to critical choices and changes at major forks in the road in our lives. After that, the die will be cast for a long time to come, since we'll be weaving Mercurial and Plutonic energies within the larger irrational patterns of everyday living. This will obviously affect Gemini, Virgo, and Capricorn areas, where some things will be completed even as we enter a greater effectiveness or set of duties.

It's a great time for finding some larger responsible role to play once the plan is formulated and reformulated. Avoid pessimism or narrow interpretations when Mercury squares Saturn, and find a larger view of emergent possibilities while cultivating more responsible relationships where all can be guided to an aspect of their Soul.

Mercury toward the end of its RX period is in early Capricorn, said to be a span of "Illusiveness" in the Emotional, Social, and Cultural level of Crystallization (as in power and authority!) While Mercury occupies Capricorn, many will find they are seeing their experience and wisdom with new eyes, or finding a new effectiveness by conforming to some things and yielding up others. This will help many get new information about duties and responsibilities associated with the higher standard they claimed in 2009. Expect a constant refinement and adjustment process that will take many twists and turns before becoming clear by the end of 2010.

Of great importance this retrograde is Mercury's Inferior Conjunction degree. This promises that if we use tender care combined with responsible action we can nurture our projects forward and mitigate possible damage from harsh conditions. That can lead us to enhanced fellowship and concrete rewards, and an abundance in our ability to develop our better potentials despite limiting circumstances.

This will give new perspectives on life, and an ability to see why we've been learning and disciplined the way we have been the past year. I'll do an entire post on the coming Inferior Conjunction shortly.

Remembering that nothing turns out as expected during a Mercury retrograde, and that things take strange twists and turns and there are curious returns of people, ideas, and experiences in new forms that resemble old forms, open to useful but overlooked angles of viewing things, learn and teach through a sense of perspective of how past and present relate in unusual ways, and be alert to roundabout or indirect communications that show things going on below the surface.

All in all, given the aspects between Mercury and the other planets, there will be a lot of unique activity helping us structure or restructure our sense of how we do what we do, and which old obligations and duties are nearing completion as new vistas open. This time will punctuate our search of 2009, and after this time we'll know what's closing and what we've been trained for.

Mercury going stationary direct at 6 Capricorn shows that through April 17-18, 2010, , we will be focused on the themes mentioned above concerning our ability to move "from completion to ever greater fulfillment," and find ourselves on the threshold of a greater satisfaction by taking conscious direction of our destiny.

Dr. Jones states the keyword is THOROUGHNESS, and that this is a degree of fulfillment through realizing an unending sense of being able to explore our potentials. Here we learn to preserve our integrity "through the varying fortunes of everyday living," and we are told that when positive, this degree is "high competence in the interpretation of life's purposes or unusual persistence in employing its ramifying potentials effectively."

So at the end of this retrograde period, we'll wind up being clear about a greater set of potentials to be fulfilled as we achieve completion in old areas of life, and through demonstrating thoroughness we'll find a sharper knowing and greater satisfaction in steering our ship of personality toward a greater destiny.

Over the next few months, we'll complete our ability to claim authority on social, emotional, and cultural levels. This should bring us opportunities to demonstrate that authorship at an emergent point of the greater roles and archetypal functions presenting themselves at the waxing square to Saturn in Libra.

Copyright © 2009 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Wildhorserunning22]

On the Threshold....

...Pluto is conjunct my Saturn, at 4 Cap, Saturn is Square it,
and sitting on my Venus 5 Libra and NNode 3 Libra, opposing my South Node 2-3 Aries, ......and today
a large piece of hidden (secret) behavior came to the surface .....I feel awful...but at least I "see" it/am
concious of it now, and hopefully can let it go/discipline myself ref it.

"Untill you understand your past....you continue to repeat it"....

Best wishes to all in 2010, in awakening and becoming aware.

[Matt]

I love the subtitle to this blog post. The component about finishing is truly apt as we get a lunar eclipse on Dec31-Jan1. Also: talk about the potential rough go for early cardinal natives!

Like WHR, I've also had some of my hidden behaviors illuminated for me recently (during the moon's most recent transit of my 12th of course). This has definitely helped me fully gauge exactly how/on what I need to close the book on as many new cycles commence.

Many blessings in 2010 for all the denizens of this cantina.

[caliban]

ah, I am not alone, and I'm not all that cardinal, just me Mercury. Am getting better at forgiving myself.

I don't know about what's to come, but I grok the references to the present in this write.

How ridiculous I was is that about the time the "grand irrationality" set in, I decided I was going to be normal. You know like everyone else seemed to be. I was gonna have a regular job, make money, become financially stable, and even get married. Honorable intentions but for the wrong reason. What I was told was going on wasn't what I experienced at all. The lie got me really confused as I did all the things to be what I really wasn't. How irrational was that?

Quite the new year, huh? Excuse me for laughing at myself again, it is part of my self forgiveness process.

[twitter.com/awakeningstweet]

hey robert
love what you write here about "getting clear about greater set of potentials"....
great post (as always)...this one extra yummy

thank u :-)

look forward to you back on Awakenings Radio in 2010....yay :-)

[AMC]

Happy New Year all...thank you Robert for this wonderful site.

[Robert]

Hi WHR - The fulfillment of old purposes, old ideas, old intentions, purified of undue self-clutching, leads to dominion and steering one's ship of personality the way WE want rather than be clobbered by externals brought on by internals we never saw coming. No doubt your Venus is being restructured and matured in some great ways best for your greatest development. Go gentle, balanced, graceful, and elegant into the next chapter with a much evolved Venus!

Hi Matt - This is the time of your life when you can take charge of your part in the dance of the "I-Thou." The 12th is great for getting closure. And of course, just wait until June!

Hi caliban - So your Mercury is going through changes, eh? New coordination methodology to get your personality and Soul dancing more smoothly. As for the Grand Irrationality and your prior choice to "be nermal," it reminds me of the John Lennon saw about "life's what happens when you're making plans...." Laughter is the best cure for everything!

Hi twitter.com/awakeningstweet - You're quite welcome. See you now that January's here.

Hi AMC - And a most happy and wonderful everything for you as well!

[Shell Garnes]

Hi and happy 2010 to all, as a 5 degree Cap rising, all this Pluto and Saturn stuff is enough let alone Mercury cruising backwards.
Car trouble and a dead cell phone on a desolate road seem to be the worst thing thus far. And a fall on ice flat on my back 'sprang' my sternum. All managable thus far.

[Robert]

Hi Shell - This has been a very peculiar Mercury Rx! Still dealing with the changes to all I set into motion during those three weeks......