by Robert Wilkinson
Today we take a look at important Sabian Symbols, aspects, and other important factors in play the next three weeks as Mercury is retrograde in Aquarius and Capricorn.
This Mercury retrograde begins Jan 5, 5:06 am PST, 8:06 am EST, 1:06 pm UT. This retrograde moves from 2 Aquarius back to 15 Capricorn, with the Inferior conjunction of Mercury and the Sun occurring at 24 Capricorn on Jan 14.
The Sabian Symbol for Mercury’s Stationary Retrograde Degree
Where Mercury goes retrograde indicates a threshold from which we take a look back, or get a newer understanding from multiple points of contrasting views. This retrograde station picks up where Mercury went stationary direct last January at the same degree in Aquarius. That implies we’ll be looking back at that time, or events set into motion at that time will yield echoes or variations on that theme over the next few weeks.
The Sabian Symbol for 2 Aquarius is "An unexpected thunderstorm.” In "the Astrology of Personality," where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, Rudhyar says 2 Aquarius indicates that we’ll be “liberated from adverse conditions” by a “cosmic visitation” that will “galvanize us to action” through “spectacular developments.”
This promises a wild ride wherever we have 2 Aquarius in our charts! Expect to be freed somehow by something that compels your attention and moves you to action.
In "The Astrological Mandala" he states the keynote is "the need to develop the inner security which will enable us to meet unexpected crises.” He says this symbol is about some sort of “social collective processes and the function of the individual within them.”
He offers that this symbol could have positive effects as well as negative ones, and states “it refers to an event for which one is not prepared,” and therefore “Nature’s challenge.” He states this degree is in the Span of Defensiveness, and it's the counterpoint degree of the actional level of the Scene of Contribution in the Act of Capitalization.
Marc Jones says 2 Aquarius is a symbol of "Nature’s potentialities as they lie beyond any individual control,” and “the tendency of all things to come to some dramatic head in either physical or psychological terms.” He states this is about the need “that every living spirit remain wholly self-quickened within itself,” and stay open to its “inevitable participation in every shifting pattern of events.”
He continues that we find opportunities for self-fulfillment in “the convergence of relations in some climax of experience.” He offers us the keyword ACCIDENT. He goes on to state that when this degree is operating in a positive manner, it is “creative opportunism and a genius for shaping all eventualities to some desired end.”
So we’ll be using our retrograde Mercury function to send and/or receive impressions and ideas through events that challenge and/or mobilize us to some sort of action, or we’ll get insights into past events that mobilized us and “liberated us from adverse conditions.” Some will remember extraordinary “cosmic visitations” that changed their lives, brought them to a new security, or quickened their Spirit so it could participate more actively in shaping some sudden event to “some desired end.”
During this Mercury retrograde period, pay attention to the roundabout signs and signals opening you to noticing these subtle impressions. These lessons will be illuminated when the Sun crosses this degree Jan 21-22, and remain in focus through the time it re-crosses this degree around Feb 14, when Mercury finishes its forward motion shadow transit.
It should be a great time to see things we didn’t understand before, or perhaps reclaim something from the past. Here we take a look back and reconsider or renew some prior relationships, friendships, goals, or group activity, get a difference sense of those that were or are important to us, and find a new angle of perspective.
We definitely will get a new look at some old aspirational dynamics with those we once knew where we were shaken out of complacency, ignorance, or illusion by dramatic events that mobilized us in new directions, or forced us to deal with challenges to what we had accomplished. This time could bring up old issues for re-examination. Remember the Spiritual Brothers and Sisters you’ve known in this life, as well as the groups you once belonged to, and honor the ideas they brought you. It’s already happened to me through being contacted by people from my very distant past about old friends and group colleagues.
Past, Present, and Future Mercury Retrograde Reviews
As with all Mercury retrogrades, we can use this time to take a look back at whatever in the past has recently begun. This one in Aquarius helps us re-shape our way of expressing Aquarius energy in the house where that sign is active in our chart. Since it retrogrades back into Capricorn, we’ll also be reviewing, or getting new information about, or taking a new look at those energies in those houses where Capricorn influences in our chart, as well as how we manage both Capricorn and Aquarius energies simultaneously in that life area.
As I said in part 1, this is a transitional Mercury retrograde pattern, where the retrograde period begins in an Air sign but ends in an Earth sign. Last year all 3 Mercury retrograde periods were entirely in Air signs. Wherever we have Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra in our chart was the focus of all the 2015 Mercury retrogrades, and we looked back, or got new understanding, around all things that were Air-related.
This one takes one last look back at Air-related things, before grounding us in the Earth of Capricorn. The next two Mercury RX periods this year are entirely in Earth signs. Get prepared to do reviews and rehearsals in all things related to the practical arena of existence in 2016!
These reviews and new points of view will be activated in major ways as the Sun moves through this Mercury retrograde degree span in Aquarius and Capricorn over the three weeks Mercury is retrograde. This will illuminate the Mercury lessons we first saw when Mercury was approaching this retrograde period. Now that Mercury is retrograde, we’ll get a new look at these things.
So enjoy this last time of Air influence, since in a few days we’ll enter into the period of Mercury retrograde in Earth signs, which will last until the Dec 2016-Jan 2017 transitional period when Mercury begins in early Earth and retrogrades back to a Fire sign. So take a look back at all of the Mercury RX Air influences we’ve enjoyed in 2015, and see how it affected the Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra sectors in your chart, and get ready for it to happen to your Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo sectors!
An interesting feature of retrogrades is that often the SD and SRX points are on or near previous SD and SRX points. As I told you earlier, this SRX degree is the exact degree of the Mercury SD degree in early 2015. And in December 2016, Mercury goes stationary retrograde at 16 Capricorn, literally 8 minutes of longitude from the coming January 2016 Mercury direct station at 15 Capricorn!
Looking back, the 2014 sequence had Mercury stationary direct at 19 Aquarius in February, 25 Gemini in July, and 17 Libra in October. In 2015 Mercury went stationary retrograde at 18 Aquarius, 14 Gemini, and 16 Libra. So in 2015 all the stationary RX degrees conjuncted and/or trined all the SD degrees of 2014. If you want a more comprehensive perspective on the Mercury retrograde effect in your life in 2015, take a new look at what began at those 2014 stationary direct points.
In 2015, Mercury went stationary direct at 2 Aquarius, 5 Gemini, and 1 Libra, so this retrograde station is in conjunction or trine to all of those forward moving points. In 2016, Mercury will go SD at 15 Capricorn, 15 Taurus, and 15 Virgo. In 2017, all of Mercury’s RX stations will be in Earth signs. There are far reaching implications in how these patterns affect our lives, since over time they eventually trigger every element in every house in our chart.
As I offered in previous articles, all Mercury retrograde periods are great for returns, reviews, rehearsals, reversals, and seeing things from unusual angles. This one offers us deeper understanding about prior periods when we had to see and live a new law in our lives, or speak truth to power, or went through deep inner changes due to withdrawing from relationships with those who were not our spiritual kin.
Behind the Scenes in this Aquarius Retrograde
While in Aquarius and Capricorn, Mercury is ruled by Saturn in worldly realms, Uranus in the spiritual realm. During the time Mercury is RX, Saturn is in Sagittarius, showing us greater freedom of expression and showing us ways beyond old fears and limits.
Saturn in Sagittarius is ruled by Jupiter in Virgo. These are in binovile, a powerful spiritual aspect that indicates if we can keep our innocence and optimism, get educated through social-emotional experiments, we can find a new value in how we re-shaped our limitations or sense of responsibility in the past to free ourselves from rules that were never really ours. Some will get powerful insights into past social-interactive dynamics that led them to a greater spiritual freedom in the past, whether they knew it or not at the time.
Aspects
This should be another extraordinary retrograde period, with far more harmony than friction. I gave you some of the primary important forming aspects in part 1, so please review that to know more.
At this Mercury station, we see the Moon in Scorpio septile the Sun conjunct Pluto, sextile Jupiter, and biquintile Uranus, showing major productivity and unique interactive innovations. Powerful and profound powerful forks in the road of destiny are shown by the septile activating the Grand Irrationality.
This will profoundly affect the houses where we have Cancer, Leo, Scorpio, and Capricorn. The current zones of the Grand Irrationality are near 20-24 Scorpio, 12-16 Capricorn, 3-7 Pisces, 25-29 Aries, 16-20 Gemini, 8-12 Leo, and 29 Virgo-3 Libra. Expect events from the past to sprout in new ways now, or you will understand why things are so extreme through insights about past “cosmic visitations.”
Other major inner planet aspects include Mercury septile Venus, trine Jupiter, and semisquare Saturn. Venus is decile the Sun, conjunct Saturn, square Neptune, and decile Pluto. The Sun is trine Jupiter, square Uranus, septile Neptune, and conjunct Pluto. Mars is novile Jupiter and Saturn, trine Neptune, and quintile Pluto.
These are all powerful and overall favorable, since Uranus releases the harmony of the Solar trine to Jupiter, and Venus releases the favorable Mars trine to Neptune. In this chart the Moon, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn are all in very favorable aspects to other planets, showing overall a very stabilizing, productive, specializing, spiritual period.
The outer aspects at this time include Jupiter binovile Saturn, triseptile Uranus, and trine Pluto, and Saturn trine Uranus and square Neptune via collection of light by Venus. As usual for this time in history, Uranus is in a strong spiritual binovile to Neptune. You can find out more about the spiritual aspects by referencing this brief overview of the Spiritual aspects, complete with glyphs for all of them, or purchasing the much more extensive in-depth class on the spiritual aspects, including the septile (7th harmonic) series, novile (9th harmonic) series, and elftile (11th harmonic) series aspects. If you want the class with powerpoint graphics and accompanying recorded tracks, email me.
The hard aspects challenge us to take a broader view of things, and see what must be done now that can make things easier down the road. The good thing is the harmonious aspects to afflicted planets show us the positive function to be released through the frictional aspects. Deciles, quintiles, and biquintiles are specializing, and septiles will lead to many important choices that will shift individual destinies in at least 8 different life areas.
Mercury septile Venus will impact houses and planets involving Taurus, Gemini, Virgo, Libra, Sagittarius, and Aquarius. Specific zones of radical choices and changes involve 7-11 Sagittarius, 29 Capricorn-3 Aquarius, 20-24 Pisces, 12-16 Taurus, 3-7 Cancer, 24-28 Leo, and 16-20 Libra.
The Jupiter triseptile Uranus is extraordinarily important right now, since it shows the world’s imagination and conscience is at a turning point in the ongoing individuation indicated by Uranus in Aries. Now that we’ve done what Uranus has compelled, and withdrawn from unprofitable or useless interactions, based on the innocence we’re willing to value, we will move into zones of focused potency and potential in action in the coming weeks.
The aspect is about cooperative collective activity with others in pioneering new initiatives, and has already been offered to me in the past 48 hours. This triseptile primarily impacts areas where we have Aries, Virgo, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces and those most impacted have planets or angles near 15-19 Aries, 7-11 Gemini , 29 Cancer-3 Leo, 21-25 Virgo, 12-16 Scorpio, 3-7 Capricorn, and 24-28 Aquarius.
Of note are the large number of novile series aspects in play right now. These all involve spiritual gestation, whether receiving long awaited realizations, or knowing that some things must cook awhile before we’ll get the revelation we seek. We have Mars novile Jupiter and Saturn, cutting the Jupiter binovile Saturn in two. Very strong! Include Mars trinovile Neptune, Jupiter trinovile Pluto, and Uranus novile Neptune, and we have a cluster of spiritual energies at work. While some of them are more exact than others, it still seems that spiritual realizations will be in abundance for those who are receptive!
Other Influences
Because of the element balance, with Air the only element in short supply and its sole representative is Mercury in Aquarius, we should feel a balance in the atmosphere. This element balance will also predominate the coming New Moon, except there will be no planets in Air signs.
The Lunar Sabian symbol shows some will turn away from false allegiances, and follow the dictates of their conscience. There may be conflicts between old and new perspectives, but these show us our inner freedom to choose to follow our own course, and turn away from those imposed by old loyalties that now no longer need to be.
The Sun is on a Sabian symbol of “tender care,” which is where Mercury will go stationary direct in 3 weeks. This is about understanding the power we have in a collective situation to demonstrate mature, responsible stewardship, or at the very least, show care to our hopes and dreams which are only still partially developed.
As is usual for Mercury retrograde periods, this one will also be a “back to the future” type of energy, where the Guide of Souls unveils secrets, mysteries, and brings us back to larger goals and ideal relationships. Here we look back even as we are productively propelled into our future in inspired ways. Here we can see a bigger picture as a prelude to what is coming, and see what we’ll need to be acting on in the coming 4 months. This is a time of returns, reviews, rehearsals, and renewals that will have deep echoes for many months to come.
In future Mercury retrograde articles, we’ll explore more about various elements of what’s in play during the next three weeks, how its transit in various houses will affect each of us, what Mercury retrograde in Aquarius may be good for, the coming Inferior Conjunction and what it means, and what we can expect between late January and mid-February after it goes direct several weeks from now.
A New Look At Mercury Retrograde
If you want to know what we can expect from Mercury retrograde in Aquarius, as well as all the other signs and houses, if you haven't already gotten your copy, you may want to buy a copy of the new expanded 2nd edition of my pioneering book A New Look At Mercury Retrograde, the 2015 winner in its category of The Indie Spiritual Book Awards.
The first major work on Mercury retrograde ever written, it offers in-depth information about Mercury retrograde people, Mercury retrograde in the various signs and houses, and what the entire Mercury Retrograde phenomenon is about. If you want to know what we can expect from Mercury retrograde in Aquarius and Capricorn, or the last one in Libra, or the others in any other sign and the influence in the houses, it’s all in there.
As I’ve mentioned before, it is written for both astrologers and laypeople. I have just about everything you could want to know about Mercury retrograde, including how it works, what it means, celebrities who have it in their charts, historic events that happened during Mercury retrograde, and what signs are involved in future Mercury retrograde periods.
By knowing more about 2014's Mercury retrograde periods in Pisces/Aquarius, Cancer/Gemini, and Scorpio/Libra, or 2015’s Mercury retrograde periods in Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra, you may see patterns in what was going on in your life, what you were taking a new look at and why, and how this "looking back" influenced your choices as you moved through past events. And you can get a heads up by taking a look at the coming 2016 Mercury retrograde periods in Aquarius/Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn/Sagittarius. It’s all in the book!
Here's the Amazon link to the page where you can order your paperback or ebook copy of A New Look at Mercury Retrograde. It is an invaluable resource for understanding past, present, and future Mercury retrogrades, so get your copy today. Just make sure you get the 2015 edition, and not the 1997 first edition, since the second is a far superior product!
See you soon with the next article on how Mercury retrograde will affect each sign individually!
Previous articles in this series:
Mercury Retrograde – Time For A New Look at the Guide of Souls
The Guide of Souls in January 2016 - Mercury Slowing Down, Preparing to go Retrograde at 2 Aquarius
Copyright © 2016 Robert Wilkinson
Dear Robert,
Much material to meditate on...many thanks...
Posted by: sue | January 06, 2016 at 09:31 AM
Wow! Loaded with information and possibilities. Looks like even though we are at the beginning of experiencing the effects of the Mercury retrograde energy with its links to past experiences and ideas, we are in reality moving forward in many many fields and aspects and all is happening in a very short time. Often, regardless if we have already perceived the signs, symbols and/or events or not.
Blessings be to all.
Posted by: Nic | January 06, 2016 at 10:46 AM
Hi Robert--thanks for your brilliant post, as always. I'm curious, what about Mars at 2 degrees Scorpio square Mercury?
Thanks and blessings!
Posted by: Kristin | January 06, 2016 at 09:38 PM
Hi Robert. Do you have any guidance for when Saturn conjuncts Venus? Regarding relationships, specifically.
Thanks! You are awesome!
Posted by: Diana | January 07, 2016 at 07:54 AM