by Robert Wilkinson
Yes, it's THAT time again! Mercury is radically slowing down, preparing to go stationary retrograde at 30 Pisces at 10:19 am PST, 6:19 pm GMT on March 5. This has important implications for all signs.
I'll be composing several articles about this Mercury retrograde in 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 late March.
The coming RX period continues the transition into a new Mercury retrograde element pattern. All of the Mercury RX periods we had from Dec 2017 through August 2018 began in a Fire sign, and stayed in that Fire sign. The run began with the Dec 2017 retrograde which went SRX at 30 Sagittarius back to 14 Sagittarius. In 2018, the March-April retrograde began at 17 Aries and went back to 5 Aries, and the July-August retrograde began at 24 Leo and went back to 12 Leo.
The elemental shift began at the November-December 2018 retrograde, which began in Sagittarius and retrograded back into Scorpio, a Water sign. That began an intermittent “mixed element” Mercury retrograde cycle. While this one is entirely in the Water sign of Pisces, we’ll have another mixed element influence in the July 2019 retrograde which begins in Leo and retrogrades back to Cancer. After that, the one in November will be entirely in Scorpio.
A Brief Look Back at the Pattern Across Time
Before that Dec 2017 retrograde, we had an entire year of Mercury going RX in an Earth sign and retrograding back to the final degrees of the previous Fire sign. The Dec 2016/Jan 2017 RX began at 16 Capricorn and went back to 29 Sagittarius. In 2017 the Apr-May RX began at 5 Taurus and went back to 25 Aries, and the Aug-Sept RX began at 12 Virgo and went back to 29 Leo.
The SD degree is where things move forward after the RX. Jan-Feb 2018 was under the influence of the 30 to 14 Sag RX. March through June was under the influence of the 17 to 5 Aries RX. July through October was under the influence of the 24 to 12 Leo RX. And November to now has been under the influence of the 14 Sag to 28 Scorpio RX.
So the themes related to those degree stations and spans were activated where they fell in our charts. These gave us insights from/about the past, returns, rehearsals, reflections and remembrances in those life areas, helping us become more inspired by “reflections on Fire.” As all the SRX and SD points are harmonious with other like stations, those retrogrades helped us stabilize inspiration through unusual or roundabout insights, or seeing how the past influenced the present.
All of 2018 was bookended by the theme of “the power of spiritual ancestry.” That’s the theme of 14 Sag, which began the year as the SD degree influence, and was the last SRX degree of the year, giving us a look back at the process of Mercury sending us signs and signals about our instinctive or genetic wisdom throughout the year. The last RX period in Nov-Dec was a good recap of all the Mercury wisdom themes we were offered.
The Dec 2017 SRX point at 30 Sag promised us a blessing, leading to the platform of the Ancient Wisdom at the 14 Sag SD point. The SRX point in March 2018 at 17 Aries was tredecile the 30 Sag point, promising unique gifts and blessings for withdrawing from one area of life to embrace the promise of another.
By April 2018, we understood a) what we needed to withdraw from with dignity, nobility, and dispassion, and b) what we had withdrawn from in the past so we could find the noble, dignified, and dispassionate approach we have at this time about specific things. The Summer Leo retrograde began a time of turning inward so we can concentrate on what we need to release and/or demonstrate, and by the time we finished that process, we had a new “adult personality” at our disposal.
The period we’ve just been through began with looking back at our ancestral wisdom, and landed on the Scorpionic platform of regeneration and experimenting with magnetism, especially related to what holds things together, and why we are held as we are by various things in our world. By going to “the One Within,” and “the One We All ARE Together,” we found deep and profound realizations about our Oneness within “All-That-Is.” Now we begin new themes.
If you look back on the retrograde periods, you'll see themes related to their SRX points that dominated the months after the retrograde. And you'll see how you used the SD degree themes as platforms to move forward. So take a new look at the houses where you have fire signs, and you'll see how past, present, and future weaved a 2018 theme for your perusal and contemplation.
This one begins at the “dream visualization” degree of 30 Pisces, which I’ll devote more time to in another article. Still, this SRX point is almost exactly trine the Dec 2018 SD degree, showing harmony of linked understanding between the houses where we have late Scorpio and late Pisces. Through the back and forth retrograde process, we’re entering deep waters.
Anyway, things will slow from here, so adapt! 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.
As I’ve told you, 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 Pisces, as well as all the other signs and houses, if you don’t already have one, please consider getting your copy of the 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 Pisces, Sagittarius, Scorpio, Leo, Aries or any other past or future retrograde in any sign or house, it’s all in there.
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, the 2016 Mercury retrograde periods in Aquarius/Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn/Sagittarius, and the 2017 and 2018 retrograde periods mentioned above, 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 will affect sectors in your chart by reading about Mercury retrograde in Pisces, Leo, Cancer, and Scorpio. 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. (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.)
See you soon in a few with an overview of the retrograde and more!
Copyright © 2019 Robert Wilkinson
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