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 Virgo and Leo.
This Mercury retrograde began August 12, 6:01 pm PDT, and August 13, 2:01 am BST. This retrograde moves from 12 Virgo back to 29 Leo, with the Inferior conjunction of Mercury and the Sun occurring at 4 Virgo on August 26.
The Sabian Symbol for Mercury’s Stationary Retrograde Degree
The Sabian Symbol for the 12th degree of Virgo is “A bride with her veil snatched away.” In the original Jones class notes from “The Astrology of Personality,” Rudhyar says this is a degree of "disclosure of the hidden fruitions of nature to him who dares and who loves,” “full appreciation of life,” and “penetration.”
In the Astrological Mandala, he goes on to say that this degree symbolizes “the penetrating and unveiling power of the trained mind.” He goes on to state that this represents the Yang force overpowering the Yin, forcing it to yield its secrets. He says the marriage is a symbol of training, bringing a “sociocultural factor” into the mix, with “the teacher-guru (representing) the priest who has performed the ritual.”
He offers that here “the masculine act balanced the feminine dream visualization” (of the previous symbol) and gives us the keyword “unveiling,” which can include “an unveiling of mysteries, long protected by secrecy.” He says this degree falls in the Span of Idealization, Act of Stabilization, and it’s the second degree in the Scene of Characterization on the Individual-Mental level.
Dr. Jones says this is a degree of “life’s demand that (we) continue at all times to prove (ourselves) in accordance with the claims” we assert in our relationships. He offers this shows us the need that we “continue along the path of experiences (we) have chosen … since the fact of (our) choice indicates a capacity for profiting from the consequences.”
He offers us the keyword INVITATION. He states that when operating in a positive manner, this degree “is absolute purity in motive and a completely unconditioned fullness of self-giving as a prophecy of high reward.”
So we’ll be using our retrograde Mercury function to send and/or receive impressions and ideas related to previous things, people, and experiences we unveiled in the past, or are unveiling in the present. Some will revisit prior actions taken to unveil something, or remember old times where we proved ourselves and “profited from the consequences.”
As with all Mercury retrogrades, some projects may have to be postponed, or a new way found to make something work more efficiently. This can give insights into several different ways to get something done, and favors practical rehearsals before “doing it for real.” All of us will get glimpses of how our past experiences and choices since the last Mercury retrograde have led us to a new view of certain Virgo-related things in our past.
Short Term Future Triggers
During this Mercury retrograde period, pay attention to the roundabout signs and signals opening you to noticing these qualities. These lessons will be illuminated when the Sun crosses this degree Sept 3-4, and remain in focus through the time Mercury re-crosses this degree around Sept 19, when it finishes its 2nd 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 value. We can find a new angle of perspective on what we need to fulfill our purpose, and revise and/or renew some things from the past. I gave you a lot about the themes of this retrograde period in prior articles in this series, so please check them out when you’re done here. Links at the bottom of this post.
This breaks the pattern established earlier this year. The Jan 2017 stationary RX point at 16 Capricorn was tredecile the previous SRX point at 30 Virgo, and the April stationary RX point was tredecile the previous one at 16 Capricorn. This one is trine each of them, so those interactive serendipitous retrogrades should yield a form of stability and/or understanding during this RX period.
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 Virgo helps us re-shape our way of expressing Virgo energy in the house where that sign is active in our chart.
As it retrogrades back to 29 Leo, when our review is done, Mercury will be sitting on the degree of the coming Total Solar Eclipse! And it will be conjunct Mars, also conjunct the degree of the Eclipse!! That means we can expect some things to erupt rather dramatically at that time, so consider this a preparation and dress rehearsal for things to become agitated really quickly in early September!
Mercury Retrograde and Element Patterns
As I said in part 1, we are now in a blended Mercury Retrograde element period. All 3 Mercury retrograde periods in 2015 were entirely in Air signs, making the houses where we have Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra in our chart the focus of those retrogrades. That means we looked back, or got new understanding, around all things that were Air-related.
The January 2016 retrograde was a transitional Mercury retrograde pattern, where the retrograde period began in an Air sign but ended in an Earth sign. The 2016 Taurus and Virgo RX periods that followed were entirely in Earth signs, which continued the reviews and rehearsals in all things related to the practical arena of existence in 2016.
These reviews and new points of view were activated in major ways each time the Sun moved through these Mercury retrograde degree spans in Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo. The Sun will illuminate our current review and reflections over the next few weeks, especially those 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.
We’re now in a sequence of three Mercury retrograde periods that begin in Earth signs and retrograde back to Fire signs. This indicates we begin with a practical review and wind up with an inspired view or dynamic information. A good Mercury retrograde exercise is to take a look back at the Mercury RX Air influences in 2015, and see how they affected the Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra sectors in your chart. Then take a look at the Mercury RX Earth influences in 2016, to see how they affected your Capricorn, Taurus and Virgo sectors.
As these blend the Earth and Fire elements, see how the inspirational and the practical have been under view and review this year, and how that which has come up related to earthly things end up with inspired vision at the end of the examination. This retrograde will certainly manifest in direct and powerful ways as the Sun and Mars traverse the RX span, with Venus making the final pass in late Sept, offering possibilities of finding value and/or appreciation for whatever we learn via this retrograde.
Behind the Scenes in this Taurus and Aries Retrograde
While in Virgo, Mercury is ruled by itself, making it a standalone “final dispositor” of only itself until the Sun enters Virgo on Aug 22. It grows stronger then, disposing of the Sun, Mars, and Uranus. After that, when Venus enters Leo , it becomes extremely powerful, as it’s the final dispositor for all the other planets except Neptune. Of note is that when it retrogrades back into Leo on august 31, it will be in a “mutual reception” with the Sun until it finally re-enters Virgo in direct motion on Sept 9.
So enjoy the unveiling to come as Venus opposes Pluto, squares Jupiter, quincunxes Saturn, and squares Uranus during the next 10 days, since this Grand Cardinal Cross is sure to fracture many things even as the Fire trines light up our inspiration, imagination, and love of life! Mercury will continue to be very powerful as a final dispositor until the end of September, so get a plan and enjoy executing it with style and precision!
Aspects
This should be an extraordinary retrograde period since there is a mixed bag of very favorable and very unfavorable aspects going on during the next few weeks. Of particular note is that Mercury makes no major aspects to any other planet during this period. Mercury makes a biseptile to Saturn, and then semisquares to Venus and Jupiter. It then sesquisquares Pluto and septiles Jupiter en route to its conjunction with Mars and trine to Uranus in early September. So it will be an agitating influence, as well as a foreshadowing of turning points to come.
For the inner planets, this Mercury station has Moon sesquisquare Venus, tredecile Mars, conjunct Uranus, and trielftile Pluto; Venus decile the Sun, square Jupiter, triseptile Saturn, and opposed Pluto; and the Sun makes a Grand Fire trine with Saturn and Uranus and a biquintile to Pluto. Outer planet aspects include Mars sextile Jupiter, trine Saturn, and tredecile Uranus; Jupiter sextile Saturn, opposed Uranus, and biquintile Neptune; Saturn trine Uranus and binovile Neptune, and Uranus in an exact semisquare with Neptune.
With this quantity of 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, and 10th harmonic aspects, we have a widespread mix of internal and external decisions, interactive gifts and unique circumstances perfect for those affected. The various squares and oppositions will help release the powerful building energies being ramped up by the Fire Trines supported by Jupiter in Libra.
So overall, this should be a fairly good retrograde, with lots of inspired understanding as we navigate forks in the road and find ways to “materialize the spiritual” by restoring a balance or perspective. Of importance is that the Moon is at 25 Aries, the degree where Uranus went SRX in July 2016, and where Mercury went SD in May 2017. So the Moon will put the focus specifically on those qualities of “redeeming a promise” we’ve been living out since early May.
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 will give us a new look at things, people, ways of working, and how be more effective. Here we look back even as we are productively propelled into our future in inspired ways.
The Moon will bring the focus on seeing where we fit into “the Cosmic Choir,” while the Sun will bring light on what cannot be sustained by the lower ego alone. So given where Mercury is, it would seem that by looking back at what has been unveiled or finding a new view of what is being unveiled, we can prepare for a new way to frame our expectancies. This is the time to pay attention to signals from both the personal subconscious mind and the collective unconscious to see how things past shaped our current expression.
The Sun will bring light on our ability to turn away from lower ego “flapping about trying to fly,” and grow into a greater self-sufficiency and self-reliance. This jumpstarts the “joy and power of new beginnings” promised by the recent Full Moon Lunar Eclipse, even though it may a) take a roundabout way to get there, b) require a delay before we understand what those new beginnings are, or c) we’ll see how we’ve begun parts of this new beginning, and now have to connect the dots or do some practical homework.
In future Mercury retrograde articles, we’ll explore the coming Inferior Conjunction and what it means, and what we can expect during the 2.5 weeks in September after it goes direct September 5, just 20 hours before the Full Moon.
A New Look At Mercury Retrograde
If you want to know what we can expect from Mercury retrograde in Virgo and Leo, as well as all the other signs and houses, if you haven't already gotten your copy, please consider getting my award-winning 2nd edition of 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 any sign or house position, it’s all in there.
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.)
Previous articles in this series:
Mercury Retrograde – Time For A New Look at the Guide of Souls
The Guide of Souls in August 2017 - Mercury Slowing Down, Preparing to go Retrograde at 12 Virgo
Astrology in August 2017 - Mercury Just Entered its Shadow Zone, Slowing to go Retrograde
Copyright © 2017 Robert Wilkinson
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