The Guide of Souls in March-April 2012 - Mercury Slowing Down, Preparing to go Retrograde at 7 Aries

by Robert Wilkinson

Yes, it's THAT time again! Mercury has radically slowed down, preparing to go stationary retrograde at 7 Aries on March 12, 0:49 am PST, 3:49 am EST, 8:49 am Greenwich. This has important implications for all signs.

I'll be composing several articles about this Mercury retrograde in Aries and Pisces over the next several weeks. Until then, adapt to the slowing pace of things, be willing to put some things on hold for a little while, and take a look at what's been set into motion up to now with an eye to seeing what has to be done before things can again move forward in April.

I know there are many unfortunate things attributed to Mercury retrograde, but there are also many productive things that get done, connections that are made, and different angles of view glimpsed that make our understanding more complete and well rounded.

The two weeks before the retrograde is good for setting things in motion that will need a delay before being picked up anew. Or for doing things that will need research, rehearsing, or reworking to whatever degree before completion. The time before Mercury goes retrograde is good for doing what must be done so that other related things can be done later, as well as reconnecting with people and activities from the past that are somehow related to the future.

The coming retrograde will be an extremely important one showing us how to use our sense of immediacy to figure out who we are at this time in our life, or anticipate some new way of thinking, coordinating life affairs, or moving into a new understanding of how to be led to our Souls. The good news is that Mercury will not trigger the Grand Irrationality when it hits either station, unlike more than one past Mercury retrograde, nor will any other planet during the duration of this Mercury retrograde period.

This picks up the pattern last experienced in mid-December, and of course we're still dealing with the Grand Irrationality effects from the 2011 Gemini Solar Eclipse. It will again be triggered the second week of April, when the Sun is in the Aries zone just before Venus enters the Gemini zone. After that, expect big triggers between late May and late June. I'll write more about that in a few weeks.

This Mercury retrograde will give us many signs and signals for what will dominate Mercury-ruled areas from early April through mid-July. It is a threshold time, where we again look back before moving forward. We can get all kinds of new insights into future potentials, while seeing things in the recent past differently.

This period will be highly energized due to Earth trines, the Sun and Mercury quincunx Saturn and both septile Venus and triseptile Mars with Venus biseptile Mars. The Earth trines are stabilizing, the quincunxes are associated with forced adjustments related to the material, emotional, mental, and spiritual “health” of something, and the septiles will as usual be associated with non-rational situations and key choices at a critical fork in the road related to what the planets rule. Again, I’ll write more about this in future Mercury retrograde articles.

I suppose the best thing about this coming retrograde is that it will bring us all to a new way of living on multiple levels simultaneously, and finding happiness across several life areas. For some, they may realize that living dual lives is actually empowering!

There should be some great things happen with Venus conjunct Jupiter trine Mars and Pluto, and with Mercury conjunct Uranus, the possibility of brilliant insights due to synthesizing many different reflections. Expect flashes of memory and/or insights related to new developments that have occurred the past 2 years since Uranus first entered Aries.

As Inferior Conjunction is over favorable and triseptile Mars, the coming “fusion of life and mind” will show how decisions made last November have powerfully affected what comes up then, as well as indicators of what we can expect in late April and early May. Welcome to a lot of major issues coming (back) up to the surface, given the retrograde quality of the time.

Who knows? Maybe the two retrogrades (Mercury and Mars) may add up to a reflection on a return, or a reflection on why things had to slow down these past two months so they can move forward in mid-April. I’ll compose more at the time of the Inferior Conjunction.

For all of us, during the next several weeks the future that's already rolling forward will slow a little so we can get a new look at crucial elements of the process we cannot afford to ignore. We will all have opportunities to grow and learn through direct action or self-awareness, and over time we'll see our interdependence and what we need to forgive and/or let go of as we prepare to flow into a new life.

I believe this will be an important retrograde, where a lot falls into place. It will help us rehearse or do the research we need to get ready to spring forward in early April, freed from old ghosts so we can build our new world and life with joy and happiness. New ideas, new perspectives, new ways of acting, new ways of being are all promised by this retrograde. And of course, more on this Mercury retrograde period will come soon!

Copyright © 2012 Robert Wilkinson

Comments

[Linda]

Sounds like all the prep work for retirement, and lots to look forward to in the future. :)

[Elizabeth (Montreal)]

Thank you for this, Robert. I have a question for you but totally understand if you don't have time to respond. Retrograde Mars, co-ruling my 3rd house and ruling my 8th house, is making a triple transit over my Virgo ascendant, together with a triple square to natal Sun in Sadge and a triple opposition to natal Moon in Pisces. During this transit, a situation from the relatively recent past has resurfaced which more or less involves my being bullied or at the very least coerced. I totally own this, in that it relates to a lifelong issue around powerlessness, one that is, btw, getting very, very old. I have made real progress in this regard, so this most recent incident came somewhat as a surprise and feels like some sort of final test or proving ground or whatever. Flunking out is therefore not an option! In view of this, can you please give me a sentence or two on transiting Mars ruling the 8th over natal ascendant? I only ask this with reluctance after not finding any articles on transiting Mars through the houses in a Google search of your site (?). I'm quite proficient at astrology and have a good handle on my chart, but wanted an outsider's perspective, and really, really, really want to get it this time - whatever "it" is...! Thank you.

[Reefaroundme]

Going retro right on my 2nd house Chiron! The Full Moon was just on my progressed Sun, where my progressed New Moon will be a in a few months. Everything is changing so fast I cant keep up and I've had some lucky (well, also hard earned) breaks that I hope will actually come to pass. Things are finally moving forward. But does Mercury retro on Chiron bring attention to how Chiron functions in my chart or, broadcast it? I'm not sure what to make of it. Thanks for any advice, Robert!

[Robert]

Hi Linda - Yes, and we'll see you soon!

Hi Elizabeth - The worldly ruler of the 8th on the Asc brings the ruler of your desires and regeneration "up close and personal" in terms of your self image. It also marks a point of elimination so you can regenerate, and helps you see your instinctive desires as well as your magnetism. As the worldly ruler of your 3rd it is bringing new perspectives. Mars back and forth from the 12th to 1st to 12th to 1st is definitely a time to finish old ways of expressing yourself, seeing how old "self-undoing behaviors" need to be closed out. The Grand Earth Trine this next week should help you get very stable in some natural ways. The T-square forces you to be a good juggler, and be able to state what you need to from an impersonal point of view. Look at the "bullying or coercion" as noting personal, and bring whatever to an end that you need to, preparing to move forward with a new motivating set of ideas, attitudes, and desires after Mercury and Mars RX is done.

Hi reefaroundme - This should give you good info and signals how to heal into your Higher Self through a new set of values and resources, or seeing ways to coordinate these so that you can live on multiple levels simultaneously and still enjoy being the most natural you. Yes, Mercury on Chiron will bring insights and alternative views of that planetary function in your life. Maybe past healings will have current effects, or you will remember how you healed into your Higher Self in the past due to a type of return.

You're going through something of extraordinary importance in our lives. The span when your prog Moon crossed your natal Sun to when it hits your Prog Sun has put you into what I have termed a "life scan," during which key earlier years of your life have been emotionally revisited and you've nurtured what needed nurturing and found new forms for old life integrations. During that time each degree the prog Moon revisits puts the focus on an entire year in your past, from birth right up to now and into the future.

[Elizabeth (Montreal)]

Thanks so much Robert. This is very helpful, in particular your advice not to personalize things at this time. This was certainly the missing piece for me, as many of us do tend to take these kinds of apparent "attacks" on our integrity personally. Interestingly, as I was struggling with my feelings of powerlessness vis-a-vis this situation last night, the juice completely drained out of my laptop battery - which only a few days previously had lasted about ten hours - in the space of a few minutes. This has never happened before and the battery is not old. It thus became apparent that even engaging with this person in my mind, let alone in reality, was draining my energy/power, and that the source of these is not external nor are they dependent upon someone else's actions, however antagonizing they may appear to be. The other realization was that the source of my power resides in how I handle the present moment and not in some story of the past or supposition about what the future might bring based on some story of the past. Entonces, muchas gracias!

[Blugalug]

What would this do for someone with Mercury in Pisces?