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 Inferior Conjunction of Aug 26 at 4 Virgo. This “fusion of life and mind” will impact the rest of the retrograde period, and many weeks after.
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 that ties together past, present, and future.
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.
The Sabian Symbol for the Inferior Conjunction
The Sabian Symbol we’ve been given for the 4th degree of Virgo is “A colored child is playing with white children.” In "the Astrology of Personality," where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, 4 Virgo is said to be a symbol of “underlying fellowship of all life underneath social creeds,” “stimulating sense of distinctness,” and “rising above contrasts.”
We are told in the Astrological Mandala that this symbolizes “overcoming sociocultural prejudices,” and becoming free from biases of the particular social mores we were brought up with. This is a degree where we learn what forms are significant and which are not. He says it falls in the span of Idealization, and it’s the penultimate (technique) degree in the actional level of the scene of Characterization in the Act of Stablization.
Dr. Jones states this is a degree of “the actual illimitability of human relationships,” where we are building elements of our character into “the fabric of both a whole self and an integrated group.” Here we learn to appreciate individual differences in responses that are the basis of a greater satisfaction. The keyword is INTIMACY, and when operating positively, he says this degree is “successful participation in every possible variety of experience.”
So we enter a time of the fusion of life and mind that offers us new insights about our true nature and primal innocence in our relationships, overcoming prejudices as we find a greater intimacy. Through looking at actions from a different angle of understanding, we can see ways to reclaim an innocence we may have lost along the way, or understand that we had to overcome a bias in the past in order to have the life we have today.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
The period ahead will show us glimpses of the future, and ways to live a more efficient practical discipleship. Take a new look at things, and the power you’ve been experiencing up to now during this Summer of Grand Fire trines can be seen in a new light of how to plan releases of energy in the future. Remember that due to the Mercury retrograde effect, signs and signals may come in roundabout ways, like echoes from the past, or memories coming up from the subconscious mind.
This Inferior Conjunction can fuse hindsight and life experience to see how new forms of light, life, and perspectives have come forth after periods of adjustment, planning, and training in the past. The next four months are a time to embrace new ways of managing transitions by seeing the past through different angles and interpretations and finding alternative views or understanding.
A benefit of Inferior Conjunctions is they offer us views of how we prepared in the past for current attitudes and ideals, or conversely, through the retrograde lens see how past attitudes and ideals led us to where we’re at right now. When Mercury gives us a backward look or alternative view and understanding of something from the past, it also in a strange way prepares the ground for the future when other planets cross this degree.
Aspects in Play
Remember that in any celestial event, forming aspects show the future, and separating aspects show the past. The Inferior Conjunction makes a LOT of aspects! There’s an out of sign conjunction to Mars, semisquare to Jupiter, trine to Uranus, a very powerful tredecile with Saturn, an opposition to Neptune, and a sesquisquare to Pluto. (Yes, the separating Solar aspects are brought into play if Mercury forms an aspect to them, and vice versa.)
Other forming aspects include the Moon semisquare Saturn and trine Neptune, Venus binovile Jupiter, Mars trine Uranus, Jupiter sextile Saturn and opposed Uranus, Saturn trine Uranus, binovile Neptune, and quindecile Pluto, and Uranus semisquare Neptune. Taken together, the semisquares will put many through inner changes, and the tredecile will bring serendipitous events to those with planets or angles near 2-6 Virgo/Pisces, 8-12 Libra/Aries, 14-18 Scorpio/Taurus, 20-24 Sagittarius/Gemini, and 26-30 Capricorn/Cancer.
One of the binoviles indicates revelations are possible related to Venus and Jupiter. Of note here is that Venus is the same degree as the New Moon at 1 Leo in late July, so perhaps a look back can yield insights of great value of what the month before the recent Solar Eclipse was about. It may also indicate that those who are looking for some way to offer others what they thirst for may find what they’ve been seeking, or they may have an “eruption of consciousness” where they realize they’ve already found it and are living it.
I believe the larger global atmosphere is clearly indicated by the Jupiter-Saturn-Uranus configuration creating the need for clear communication as we navigate the very choppy waters of Uranus semisquare Neptune. That’s one reason we’re seeing widespread “willful delusion/confusion,” as well as the assertion of the individuality challenging any tendency to drift, deceive, or procrastinate while illusions are being weaved.
Elements, Dispositor Backdrops, and the Jones Pattern
The element spread is still skewed heavily toward Fire, and now the Earth element is back strong. With the Moon in Scorpio, we have Water also prominent, with Jupiter in Libra the only major Air influence at this time. This brings an inspired practicality, or practical inspiration, with both lightness and brightness grounded in an illuminated practicality. From now through the next few weeks, Mercury again leads the Sun, taking Mars’ place. Great for moving away from impulsiveness, agitation, and the need to act right now, and into thoughtful responses, practical adjustments of plans and actions, and shedding preconceptions.
We have now moved from the Sun being the final dispositor for all the other planets except Mercury in Virgo and Neptune in Pisces, and moved into a time of Mercury being the final dispositor of all the other planets except Neptune. When Mercury moves back into Leo, then it and the Sun will be in mutual reception, a very powerful closed energy loop. For now, the “Guide of Souls” is steering our boat, even though it’s retrograde and probably giving some of us a real roundabout adventure in adjusting the present so that the past can give way to the future!
This Inferior Conjunction occurs during this period where we will have a Locomotive Jones pattern with the empty span between Uranus in Aries and Venus in Leo. I discuss the Jones patterns at work in each Lunation article, so if you want to know more, there will be a section explaining it in the coming Full Moon articles in early September.
So Just How Does the Process Work?
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. This is called a “Superior conjunction.” Most recently this occurred at 1 Cancer on June 21, 2017.
That “fusion of life and mind” marked the beginning of Mercury getting out in front of the Sun. That has given us radical shifts in our allegiances, reorienting our lives in a way we feel connected to in very actional ways. Now we are in a different Sun/Mercury phase of operation, where we confront a time of “unlearning biases and preconceptions” through seeing many things from a different angle of Virgo scrutiny.
Some will remember their need to return to a more innocent view of people and things, while others will reconnect with people and views from the past to come to a greater sense of fellowship, or how the contrasts give texture to the whole. The “pulses” of the Inferior and Superior conjunctions of the Sun and Mercury constitute an entire field of research unto themselves.
As Mercury is faster than the Sun at any “Superior Conjunction,” after that event Mind again outraces Life, gets ahead of the Sun, and explores ideas and perceptions of experiences yet to occur. That’s what we experienced between late May through mid-July before Mercury began to slow down.
After Mercury gets as far forward from the Sun as it can, it begins to slow, eventually going stationary retrograde. By then it is slowing rapidly. That marks the second step that leads to the point 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.
Then Mercury, still slow in speed, becomes distant from the Sun anew as the Sun moves forward while Mercury is still retrograde. 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. I explain this process in greater detail in A New Look at Mercury Retrograde.
Mercury, or Hermes, the “Guide of Souls”
All Mercury retrograde periods teach us about how Mercury functions. Mercury’s duality is “Life/Death,” so we can get a new look at how our consciousness and responses are either creative, destructive, or both, to cite the venerable Kabalistic Arhat Paul Foster Case. Mercury is where we learn if our mental processes are creating chaos and disorganized scattered conditions through ambivalence, and thus come to see how to use discernment to coordinate various functions to bring forth perfect knowing how to do whatever needs to be done.
As the backdrop to how our mind and life relate to each other, perhaps we can learn how to deal with Mercurial energies in ourselves or others from a different angle of view, organizing or reorganizing or ideas, perception, interpretations, and way of communicating. As this Inferior Conjunction falls in Virgo, it should provide us new ways to understand, communicate, or interpret the signs and signals of our existence through looking back on the discoveries we made and views we acquired in past cycles when Virgo was prominent.
All in all, the coming 4 months will bring interesting returns, reflections, and rehearsals of how and what we’ve dealt with in the realms of what we are learning about how to use Virgo energy productively. This includes all the usual Virgo keywords, such as diligence, attention to detail, self-adjustment to practical necessities, and following plans precisely, especially in any area related to practical discipleship, health, plants or animals, the natural world, and the Earth Herself.
So the new views, understandings, and reinterpretations shown by this Inferior Conjunction should be considered in the light of the house in which this retrograde and inferior conjunction is happening. We can see our ideas from a different angle, find a new focus, and make progress in some form of transforming initiative that will be the source of much information and activity in the next few weeks. Wherever you have early Virgo will bring a fusion of Life and Mind.
Once the Inferior Conjunction happens, whatever has seemed delayed, postponed, or dragging along will move forward soon. This can bring forth a greater holistic vision of how events and people are connected, as well as why we must rethink some things, people, and plans.
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 couple of weeks, 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 echoes in the future that take different shapes, or different functions related to the original intention.
A New Look At Mercury Retrograde
Because we’ll still be dealing with Mercury retrograde through September 5 (and to some extent for the 2 weeks after that while Mercury is still in its shadow zone), if you haven’t already, you should get a copy of A New Look At Mercury Retrograde. It offers in-depth information about Mercury retrograde in the various signs and houses, and what the Mercury Retrograde phenomenon is about.
By knowing more about 2016’s Mercury retrograde periods in Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn, as well as the 2017 retrogrades in Capricorn and Sagittarius, Taurus and Aries, and Virgo and Leo, you may see patterns in what has been going on in your life, the different things you’ve been taking a new look at and why, and how this "looking back" has influenced your choices as you moved through past events. And taking a look at the coming December retrograde in Sagittarius, as well as the March-April 2018 RX in Aries, and the July-august RX in Leo, you’ll get important information about what to expect in the months to come!
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.)
If you want to go back to any of the previous articles in this series, they are linked at the bottom of this article:
Copyright © 2017 Robert Wilkinson
Robert, thank you for another masterful review of Mercury. I imagine you've said this over and over and I've read each one over and over...and yet this time, the words make a more powerful impact! I am breathless with the view .
Being a Virgo rising, with Mercury as a ruler, I'm caught up in the chaos after the solar eclipse and from time to time catching glimpses of a new wider and deeper approach. About 90 percent of the time, I'm treading water as the winds of change come from every direction. Once in a while, a ray of sunshine appears.
This article brought one of the rays. Thanks!
Posted by: Jo Garceau | August 27, 2017 at 12:35 PM