by Robert Wilkinson
Yes, it's THAT time again! Mercury is radically slowing down, preparing to go stationary retrograde at 5 Taurus on April 9 at 4:15 pm PDT, 7:15 pm EDT, and 12:15 am BST April 10. This has important implications for all signs.
I'll be composing several articles about this Mercury retrograde in Taurus 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 early May.
The coming RX period will pick up where the last one in Capricorn left off. The freedom we’ve experienced since December will perfectly complement the gifts and unique circumstances that have come forth since then, and help us see why some things had to be left behind. This is the next Mercury retrograde step in our ability to take the initiative using available group power resulting from our “liberation from a narrow destiny” that’s happened since mid-September.
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 a good time 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.
A New Look at Mercury Retrograde
Since Mercury has already been slowing down for a couple of weeks, we’ve already begun to experience a quality of “Mercury crashing into retrograde.” If you want to know what we can expect from Mercury retrograde in Taurus and Aries, as well as all the other signs and houses, if you haven't already gotten your copy, you may want to get the new expanded 2nd edition of my award-winning book A New Look At Mercury Retrograde.
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 Taurus and Aries, or the previous 2017 retrograde in Capricorn and Sagittarius, or any other past or future retrogrades and their influence in the signs and 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 2015’s Mercury retrograde periods in Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra, or the 2016 Mercury retrograde periods in Aquarius/Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn/Sagittarius, 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 see how this year’s retrogrades affect(ed) sectors in your chart by taking a look at Mercury retrograde in Sag, Capricorn, Aries, Taurus, and the coming one in Virgo and Leo. It’s all in the book!
Here's the Amazon link to the page where you can purchase a paperback edition of A New Look at Mercury Retrograde. You can also get a Kindle ebook at that site, or go to Barnes and Noble for a copy on Nook. (Please note that if you go to amazon, make sure you're ordering the 2015 edition, and not the earlier one. There are plenty of used ones for sale, but they are far inferior to the newest edition.)
An Overview of the Retrograde
The coming retrograde will show us a new look at recent signals and information that we sent or received, and we’ll have opportunities to get clear about This one will show us how what we’ve left behind has opened a new life, or what must be buried to live a new life.
This one will give us multiple angles of understanding about how our past created our present, or how our present will create our future. We will see how actions led us to the threshold of new life chapters where something had to be left behind. Mercury will show us what we have to prepare for, and why some things must be buried so we may move forward unencumbered by the ghosts of the past.
As with all Mercury retrograde periods, this will give us a new look at recent signals and information that we sent or received, and things from the past will be reevaluated, re-examined, or understood differently. We can get a new look at ideas, ways we’re communicating and understanding what others are communicating to us, and get new insights into all things ruled by Taurus and Aries.
We may find different forms of concentrated focus where we may be relatively content and secure within natural limitations, which in turn will help us toward a more fulfilling future than the past we have buried, or need to bury. The next 3 weeks will give us a new take on the “exercises” we’ve had to do since the last Mercury retrograde, specifically all things related to the house(s) where we have 29 Sagittarius through 16 Capricorn.
For example, we may get new insights or understanding about how we “got in shape” these past few months, and glimpse into how what we’ve done will be important later this year into next year, specifically December 2017 through February 2018. This RX period may bring new insights into the Taurus and Aries things that have been shut down in 2013 via the Lunar Eclipses that year, and especially the Solar Eclipse late April 2014. This is a “look back at what has ended” retrograde, since Mercury’s dispositor is Venus retrograde in its sign of exaltation, Pisces.
In the chart, we have 2 very strong Fire trines, a Moon conjunct Jupiter in Libra, and all the outer planets are strong and favorable. With the Grand Irrationality in play via the Moon and Mercury making septile-series aspects with Neptune and Pluto, this will give us new insights into our destiny, and why we’ve had losses in the past that opened the door to new life chapters.
This is an awakening retrograde period that will give us inspired understanding, and allow us to see how our past, present, and future are a continuum of growth into our uniqueness. This begins the fulfillment of the promise we were offered in the Summer of 2016, and by June many things will be fulfilled in a great way, perfect for who we are. In fact, this will be so favorable that it will bring us exactly what we need, or show us how all our deepest needs were met as we let go of the past.
Mercury Retrograde Is Shifting Element Emphasis
As Mercury goes retrograde in the Earth sign of Taurus, it continues the 2016 and early 2017 run of Mercury retrogrades in Earth signs. Last year’s Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo retrogrades were entirely in Earth signs, and we entered the shift into mixed elements in January 2017. This one continues the dual sign emphasis.
In the last RX period, as well as this one in April/May and the next one in August/Sept, Mercury goes RX in Earth signs and goes direct in Fire signs. January’s went from Capricorn back to the Fire sign of Sagittarius, this one begins in Taurus and goes direct in Aries, and August’s goes RX in Virgo and goes direct in Leo.
To give you a sense of the larger pattern, all the 2014 Mercury RX periods began in early Water signs, with Mercury retrograding back into Air signs. So in 2014 we danced between Feelings and Ideas, experiencing and relating. All the 2015 Mercury retrograde periods began in an Air sign and stayed in that sign the entire retrograde period, making 2015 entirely an Air affair!
In 2016, this shifted again, as the January Mercury retrograde began in the Air sign of Aquarius, but retrograded back through the last half of the Earth sign Capricorn. So we danced between ideas and practical necessities, relating and taking a new look at what is in our “enlightened self-interest.” That completed a run of Air sign retrograde emphasis.
As noted, the April-May retrograde was entirely in the Earth sign of Taurus, and the Aug-Sept retrograde was entirely in the Earth sign of Virgo. In December it shifted to multiple elements again since it began in Capricorn and retrograded back into the Fire of Sagittarius. So we’re in a year of a blend of Earth and Fire energies during Mercury retrograde. Until then, A New Look at Mercury Retrograde” will help you get a fix on all of the above and more!
A Bit More
In the next 3 weeks, we can see what life has prepared for us since the last Mercury retrograde in December and january. This can give us a new perspective on what’s shifted in our view or understanding since then, and this will give us a look back so we can find a more well-rounded perspective as we come to a new understanding of those past events.
This Mercury retrograde will offer us opportunities to look back and find value in knowing we moved when it was time to move, said goodbye when it was time to say goodbye, and by letting go, opened the door to a new life. We will gain an understanding of what is beyond appearances, and cut through illusions to find a new reality. See the abundance which was perfectly suited for your immediate need that came your way each time you let go of the past, and how creating space attracted exactly what you needed.
If you are called to release even more, take it as a signal that you have a promise to be redeemed which is coming throughout April, May, and June. (Some promises come in pieces rather than all at the same time!) Look back to see how you’ve cleared the decks for a new life, and do whatever closure rituals you need to do to come to finality about what’s dead and gone. All of us will get glimpses of how our past experiences and choices resulting from the last Mercury retrograde have led us to a new view of possibilities.
Consider the next 3 weeks as a review of how we’ve had to make things work more efficiently than we did in the past, which necessitated letting go of things blocking our progress. We all began a process of being “liberated from a narrow destiny” that has unfolded since last September’s Mercury retrograde in Virgo. We’ve gotten insights into those who share our cultural values, as well as new information about a form of group activity, or how we had to let go of old obligations and responsibilities to create a void so new ones could present themselves.
We now have new ways to accomplish the mundane duties of life, and have had a multi-level education in being more practical or dedicated in some way. This one confirms many things. Open to new perspectives on all things related to Taurus and Aries people and experiences. We’re now “goal fit” to accomplish what we will, and there are “promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.”
This Mercury retrograde will give us many signs and signals for what will dominate Mercury-ruled areas from early May through mid-August. Here we take a new look at what’s behind us before moving forward anew at the end of the RX period in early May. We can get all kinds of new insights into future potentials, while seeing things in the recent past differently.
The Inferior Conjunction happens on Apr 19 at 1 Taurus, about 8 hours before Pluto goes stationary retrograde at 20 Capricorn and 12 hours before Mercury re-enters Aries. This will give us a sense that we are “rested and ready to go” and embrace a new way to see our worth, a new way to be secure on a practical level, and how the seeds of the past will sprout in the weeks to follow.
So welcome to many things being reviewed or coming back up to surface these next three weeks thanks to the retrograde quality of the time. Some will review past efforts to see what still needs to be integrated into the life, and/or there could be returns, rehearsals, or echoes of the past and its views, misunderstandings, dilemmas, paradoxes, and dualities.
This one allows us to take a look back at how we’re using Taurus energy in our lives, see how our lives are effectively functioning (or not!), and review how we’ve been educated on a practical level since last August and trained for some group work since January. Despite the retrograde, it’s a great time for practical inspiration and inspired practicality, as well as seeing how to combine beauty and functionality while getting organized or reorganized related to a future that’s already clear. Take a new look at the ideas you’ve had or information you’ve received since late March, since we will capture the essential elements of understanding what we need to mobilize into action by early May based in our insights these next 3+ weeks.
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. All of us will have a new understanding of multiple elements of our lives by late May, and capture a valuable or pleasing form of it by mid-June.
This will be another important retrograde, where the past will be reviewed to see what we said goodbye to or need to say goodbye to in order to open the door to a life renewal. It will help us rehearse or do the research we need to get ready to spring forward in May, clear about what we know, what we need to know, and what must happen if we are to move forward into living a more natural and enjoyable life.
Renewals, returns, reconnections, reunions, and new beginnings are promised by this retrograde. And of course, more on this Mercury retrograde period will come soon!
Copyright © 2017 Robert Wilkinson
Thank you Robert. I have your book and always reference it during Mercury's retrogrades.
Posted by: Ale Tarallo | April 05, 2017 at 05:05 PM
Thanks Robert and looking forward to the coming post.
Blessings be to all.
Posted by: Nic | April 06, 2017 at 03:03 AM
Thank you-excellent counsel,covers general retro goals; Venus still retrograde, Saturn now as well. "This Mercury retrograde will offer us opportunities to look back and find value in knowing we moved when it was time to move, said goodbye when it was time to say goodbye, and by letting go, opened the door to a new life. We will gain an understanding of what is beyond appearances, and cut through illusions to find a new reality. See the abundance which was perfectly suited for your immediate need that came your way each time you let go of the past, and how creating space attracted exactly what you needed."
Posted by: Bonnie Orgren | April 06, 2017 at 05:55 AM