by Robert Wilkinson
Following up on the general meaning and function of the "Inferior conjunction" between the Sun and Mercury, today we explore specifics of the current Inferior conjunction of March 21, 2012 at 2 Aries.
Because this particular Inferior Conjunction is an extremely important event due to when and where it's happening, this is a long article that will pull together a comprehensive overview of what's been going on for the past three years.
The inferior conjunction is when Mercury (mind) conjuncts the Sun (life) while retrograde. This indicates that signals, messages, and ideas from either outer sources or subconscious sources will fuse with the life principle, setting the tone for the lessons involving how our minds are relating to our lives during the next four months. Since Mercury is retrograde, the degree of the inferior conjunction shows how our lives will merge with our perceptions and bring forth a new understanding of our light.
This degree is said to be "A comedian entertaining a group.” Rudhyar says this symbolizes “objective understanding through extracting elements of being,” “Joy of life’s discovery; or escape through humor.
He goes on to say in The Astrological Mandala that this refers to the "capacity to look objectively at oneself and at others,” in a phase of attempting to develop an “objective awareness of existence.” He states this is about “reflective consciousness,” where “through a sense of contrast, consciousness is gradually being built.” He further tells us that this is about objectivity and humor overcoming “subjective feeling or moods,” where we find that our sense of contrast can help us overcome our own or another’s “self-involvement.”
Dr. Marc Edmund Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of “the mirror which life holds up to itself recurrently” that facilitates self-understanding, where our identity is “projected back” into a fresh realization of our potential, “thereby providing a fresh and transcendent self-perspective.” He states here we can play any role we find useful in a “heightened individuality,” and through this “self-rehearsal” we can find a “continual self-reassurance.”
He offers us the keyword RELEASE. He states that when operating in a positive manner, this degree is “the power of personality through a full ande completely uninhibited self-expression.”
So this is a degree of good humor, where we can find objectivity through reflecting and seeing the humor in things. Here we can find an “uninhibited self-expression,” find new roles to play that open even newer roles, and through reflection, find “a fresh and transcendent self-perspective.”
The next four months are a time to reflect, see the humor in things, and become more objective in our self-awareness and self-expression. Here we take a new look at the new life we’ve launched since June 2010 when both Jupiter and Uranus entered Aries, and Jupiter made its first transit over this degree.
We may move from current vision "back to the future," and gain a new perspective on the past 21 months. This may resemble something we glimpsed before then, and bring a strange return of self-awareness we once had but forgot. We can see how to adapt old forms of acting or “straight knowledge” to current circumstances, or conversely, through the retrograde lens see how this has happened in your life before now.
Mercury introduced these energies when it first crossed this degree on March 2-3. The Inferior Conjunction now makes this a "hot spot" for months to come. Important factors at work in the chart for the Inferior Conjunction include the Sun triseptile Mars and triseptile Saturn with Mars septile Saturn, discussed in Astrology in March 2012 – Forks in the Road of Destiny, An Intensified Irrationality in a Weird Time of Important Decisions. Most of the other important aspects in play at this Inferior Conjunction were also happening at the recent Vernal (Spring) Equinox. Please refer to those articles to know more about the general aspect patterns in play at this time. There will also be more in the coming New Moon in Aries articles.
We will find that the next 4 months are very important around this set of lessons and challenges. This time will show some hard-edged choices and changes affecting almost every part or our lives. It will also bring unique gifts via the Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, and Pluto quintiles, and some very unique, practical, and interactive progress via the Venus tredecile Mars. Serendipity and gifts are in the air, and overall the period should be one of good humor and many unique situations.
The Inferior Conjunction between Mercury and the Sun is the second step in a two-conjunction process. The first step is when Mercury conjuncts the Sun in forward motion after its retrograde period. Most recently this occurred at 18 Aquarius on February 7, 2012, just before the Full Moon and Saturn going stationary retrograde the same day. As Mercury is faster than the Sun, after the "Superior conjunction" Mind again outraces Life, gets ahead of the Sun, and explores ideas and perceptions of experiences yet to occur.
Then Mercury goes stationary retrograde, and moves into the second step when Mercury again conjuncts the Sun while retrograde. This is when Mind is being absorbed by Life, or Life takes on the results of subconscious or collective ideas returning to source. Eventually Life gets as far from Mind as it can, Mercury goes stationary direct, and begins to speed up preparing for the first step anew in a different part of the zodiac.
In an interesting "co-incidence," many recent stationary points and the Inferior Conjunction points trine other points in previous Mercury retrograde periods. Perhaps by studying the sequence of retrograde, conjunction, and direct points we can see how Mercury, a.k.a Hermes, the Cosmic Magician and Guide of Souls, is steering our long range perceptions, understandings, and coordinations toward Soul understanding.
We are told by Rudhyar that 2 Aries is the second and counterpoint step of Desire on the Actional-Physical level of experience within the span of Realization. Here we can find a contrast to our instinctive growth toward a new life since June 2010, and find humor and objectivity in what has occurred since then.
Besides June 2010 when Jupiter first transited this point, the next 4 months should also give us roundabout insights about things that happened when Jupiter retrograded back across this point in August 2010. Add that Jupiter again went over this point a third time in late January and early February 2011, and Uranus transited this point in late March and most of April 2011, RX’d back across it October-November 2011, and then went across it again January-February 2012, and you will see many opportunities have awakened by these transits. This Inferior Conjunction should reveal many things about how our life and mind fused during these periods through a heightened objectivity and sense of humor or contrast.
This Inferior Conjunction of mind "looking back" into life will help us reinterpret experiences we've had which showed us what we needed to do to embrace a new future. This would imply that either a) we can examine how we previously found objectivity and humor as we entered new ways of life as signals for the future, or b) we need to get back on track through examining how the past 21 months have shown us the way to resurrect past objective, reflective, or humorous views and actions perfect for what is to come over the next 4 months.
The fact that the Inferior Conjunction falls with the Moon at 23 Pisces would imply that through the "looking back" and alternative views and understandings, we will get insights into why some things were complete in 2010-2011, and perhaps get glimpses into powers that have been awakened since then. It can also indicate the awakening of new powers over the next 4 months directly related to what we learns and embraced during those years.
This continues to put the focus on our "emergent individuality" so that we can embrace a new way of being, living, self-awareness, and/or pioneering entry into a new world. At this stage of the game, we are being awakened to even newer roles to play, newer self-images, and are in process of “levitating” into a new dimension of being mobilizing our creativity. As an aside, the last two Inferior Conjunctions had the Moon at 4 Aries and 1 Aries, the same degrees that were activated by both Jupiter and Uranus stations and constant transits between 2010 and now.
The Moon brings forms through reflection. The Inferior Conjunction is about humor, objectivity, and reflective consciousness. It is interesting that the Lunar degree at this Inferior Conjunction is the exact one where Uranus went retrograde in the Summer of 2008, and also the degree where Uranus went stationary direct in December 2009. So this Inferior Conjunction period will bring insights and signals of what those threshold and platform states meant relative to what was awakened after that.
The Inferior Conjunction is ruled by Mars, making Mars a very powerful factor in coordinating events so we can be led to our Soul. As Mars’ duality is "Grace/Sin," we will see how our ways of responding and acting are manifesting error or truth, maladjustment or beauty.
As the backdrop to how our mind and life relate to each other, perhaps we can learn how to deal with Martian energies in ourselves or others from a different angle of view, lighting up what needs illuminating so that we can see what parts of our lives require re-working or undoing so we can be more effective in the future. Mars is at 8 Virgo, so we all will be challenged to accept some form of self-initiating self-discipline, where we can demonstrate the beginning of a form of mastery that can lead to an “initiation” at some point in the second week of May, late August, early September, or the second week of October.
Forming aspects show future conditions. This Inferior Conjunction has several significant aspects, including those mentioned a few paragraphs back. In the chart we see NO Lunar aspects, Mercury novile Jupiter, Venus quadranovile Saturn and semisquare Uranus, and the ever-present Uranus square Pluto.
Of significance is that though Saturn is no longer triseptile Uranus, the Sun is conjunct Uranus and triseptile Saturn, collecting the light of that prior aspect and making it active again. Please refer to the long wave events in play for the past several months by going to the article on Saturn triseptile Uranus active in the recent past and will be again in the late Summer of 2012. This irrationality pattern will be highly active during the next 4 months thanks to the Sun in this chart!
All in all, the coming 4 months will bring continued growth, gifts, and objectivity through reflections and finding the humor in things. Intuition will be up for those who can plug in their imagination, see what they need for a more stable and enjoyable public participation, and clean out their ego-minds to get a fresh set of perceptions. There will be many specialized conditions showing us all how to overcome fear, become more harmless in our interactions with self and others, and transform our interactions to make them more effective and practical.
Generally, the 11 days before the inferior conjunction (fusion) of mind and life is a good time to take a new look at how you can bring out your inner wisdom by adjusting to a future vision or broader perspective that's opening for you. It's also good for getting a new point of view regarding what your imagination is willing to consider and how to coordinate your life to reorganize it productively.
It's great for intuitive flashes, insights into the larger collective consciousness and unconsciousness, and seeing how you're being led to see elements of your Soul you may not have recognized before now. So think back on what's happened in the past week and a half, and find a new way to view how those things may symbolize the future somehow.
Just remember during retrogrades, especially Mercury retrograde, that often things that don't turn out one way lead directly or indirectly to other things somewhat related manifesting down the road. It's as though nothing should be taken at face value, and often what we do or think during Mercury retrograde creates odd echos in the future that take different shapes, or different functions related to the original intention.
And as usual, here are links to recent articles on what this March-April 2012 Mercury Retrograde in Aries and Pisces is all about:
The Guide of Souls in March-April 2012 – Mercury Slowing Down Preparing to go Retrograde at 7 Aries
Astrology and Mercury Retrograde March-April-2012 in Aries and Pisces – What is Mercury Retrograde?
A New Look At Mercury Retrograde in Aries in March 2012 – What Is It Good For?
Copyright © 2012 Robert Wilkinson
Robert ,
this is so on the mark for me. Grace and SO many gifts, and still coming.
June 2010 was the shut down of old way of being. Sold house,gave belongs away,We(cat) got in my car, and drove 15oo miles to review, repair, realise the new reality of myself and growth while others have stayed the same, released ghosts of past. visited nova scotia, got story of maternal grands+4-5 generations norway,france,scotland,N.S. STATES. want to do somekind of chart with the birth date of women in my family. Can you do this? p.s. health is excellent.
Posted by: cathy c. | March 21, 2012 at 09:38 AM