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 July 21 at 29 Cancer. This “fusion of life and mind” will impact the rest of the retrograde period, and many weeks after.
As I offered in earlier articles, an 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.
We now enter a phase of looking back at Life to see how certain things in the past impacted how we got to where we are today. This is “Illuminated Mind looking back at inward, outward, and collective processes which have shaped our Life. As Mercury is retrograde, the degree of the inferior conjunction shows how our perceptions will merge with our Life 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 29th degree of Cancer is "A Muse weighing twins.” In the The Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, 29 Cancer is said to be a symbol of “the revelation of latent worth in all things through the power of creative imagination” and “piercing through appearances.”
In The Astrological Mandala he offers that this degree is one of “the intuitive weighing of alternatives,” where our consciousness and life choices have led us to a threshold of using intuition as well as reason in our process of moving forward in life. He offers that “the Muse” is our intuition, and there may be a way of “combining the two alternatives,” but in any case it’s an issue of merging inner and outer Nature so we may know how and what to choose.
He goes on to say that this symbol reveals “the pro and con operation of the mind when faced with a vital decision. Because it is the ‘Muse’ that is doing the weighing, it is apparent that forces deeper or higher than the intellect are actually at work – the intuitive mind” which he relates to the “anima” which he regards as “the psychic function which relates ego-consciousness to collective consciousness.” He states this phase is “an inner presentation of alternatives” at “the very threshold of a new cycle.” He says it falls in the Span of Ingenuousness, and is the technical degree in the individual, mental, and spiritual level of the Scene of Consolidation in the Act of Stabilization.
Dr. Jones says this degree symbolizes our continual “relationship with the over-reality in which (we) live and move and have (our) Being,” with an emphasis on “inner reconciliations.” He continues with “individual existence is always manifest as personality in the world of the senses and as reason in the realm of eternalities, and the effective union of these complementary functions is found in the immortal insights of a spiritual wholeness.”
He offers that we come to know ourselves in many ways, and through all the changes we “realize (our) integrity of selfhood.” He offers us the keyword VALUE. We are told that when positive, the degree is "an effectiveness of judgment irrespective of momentary contradictions on every hand.”
So we enter a time where Life is moving forward as Mind looks back on past ways of weighing and judging and how we took different things into consideration from different ways of comparing and contrasting. We may get an understanding of how past choices created current patterns of response each time we stand on the threshold of a decision. This is a time when the Guide of Souls looks back on old life events related to this symbol’s themes, and gives us a new set of alternatives related to expressing our Soul in the world.
Take a new look at the way you weighed past alternatives and made choices led you to your Higher Self, or even how your Higher Self guided your lower ego to make wise choices leading you to where you are now. No doubt many will understand their alternatives in different ways over the next 4 months!
Looking Back, Looking Forward
Just remember that all Mercury RX phenomena take a while to unfold, often during a subsequent RX period. Things that happen during a retrograde seem to have a way of moving forward at future retrograde. This Inferior Conjunction will bring echoes of past eras when Jupiter and Saturn were in this sector of Cancer, as well as any Eclipses near this Inferior Conjunction.
So take a look back at the period from September 2004 through July 2005 to see how your Saturn choices and decisions then helped shape who you are now, or how you weigh alternatives. Jupiter was in the last 5 degrees of Cancer in July 2002 and again between late June and mid-July 2014. You may glimpse “echoes of memories” related to those times which somehow relate to circumstances or your process of choice these next few weeks.
Important Dispositors
Because the Inferior Conjunction is in Cancer, it is ruled by the Moon at 20 Pisces. As the Moon is less than a degree from Neptune, this conjunction in Pisces dominates the backdrop of this conjunction. The looking back within a fusion of Life and Mind shows how it will operate will have a tremendously collective influence, with wisdom and nourishment the general themes behind the specific theme of weighing of alternatives.
Besides the heavy Pisces influence, because Jupiter rules Pisces in the worldly dimensions, Jupiter also has a heavy influence in this conjunction. Jupiter is on a degree of a pause between phases, where we must be “alertly ready to act” and not fall into “distress at not knowing what’s ahead.” So Sagittarius and Pisces are the backdrop to this Cancer retrograde conjunction.
This Inferior Conjunction can fuse hindsight and life experience to see how new forms of light, life, and perspectives are coming forth showing us a new potential future. Because of the emphasis on Cancer, Sagittarius, and Pisces, the next four months are a time to embrace new ways of managing transitions into the future already formed by seeing the past differently, revisioning the key emotional elements of those experiences and how we understand past choices in the light of our current life.
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.
In a curious turn, we will not have any outer planet transit this degree until Mars transits late Cancer in June 2021 and again May 2023. A significant period related to this one begins with Mars’ transit through late Cancer in October 2024, its retrograde back through the sector in January 2025, and its final pass April 2025, priming the zone for Jupiter’s transit of late Cancer October through December 2025 and again June 2026.
Aspects in Play
Remember that in any celestial event, forming aspects show the future and closely partile separating aspects show what’s activated now. In an Inferior Conjunction, the Sun and Mercury conspire to bring separating aspects back into play, with forming aspects activated now and in the future when Mercury goes direct.
This Conjunction has a tremendous number of Lunar aspects, many of them extraordinarily favorable, making this Conjunction a very productive event! The Moon is trine Mercury, Venus, and the Sun, biquintile Mars, semisquare Uranus, conjunct Neptune, and sextile Pluto. That brings an extremely favorable harmonization to the planets in Cancer and Capricorn, generating a productive and harmonizing void in the last half of Virgo. This will be very favorable for all planets and points we have in the late degrees of the Earth and Water signs.
Even though the Moon also activates the Rhombus (discussed in the Lunation articles), remember we still have a very powerful and favorable Mars in Leo trine Jupiter in Sag, promising favorable and inspired openings. So we have favorable aspects between planets in Fire, planets in Water, and planets in Earth! As there are no planets in Air, that is deficient in the current planetary pattern.
Elements and the Jones Pattern
The chart of the Inferior Conjunction shows an imbalanced distribution, with 2 planets in Fire, 3 in Earth, none in Air, and 5 in Water. This makes feelings and experiencing the primary reference, with somewhat of a balance between inspiration and practicality, but not much interactivity, except to show us how to get ready to begin to ground our vision of the future in August and September.
With the preponderance of Water, including the conjunction, it’ll be important to monitor which feelings are coming to us from the collective consciousness, and which are our true inner feelings about things. The Moon in watery Pisces is the key to expression, since it’s the ruler of the conjunction and itself conjunct Neptune.
Stay focused on the details, have faith that at the appointed hour you will find that which welcomes and nourishes you, and see it as a time to flow into understanding how your Life is leading you to Divine Mind, and your mind is leading you to the Divine Life. As the conjunction is in Cancer, it makes this fusion of Life and Mind operate in a Initiating Experiential mode.
This Inferior Conjunction occurs during this period where we will have a “Locomotive” Jones pattern. I discuss the Jones patterns at work in each Lunation article, so if you want to know more, please refer to the recent Eclipse New and Full Moon articles down the page and in the archives. As Mars in Leo and Jupiter in Sag define the entry and exit to experience at this time, find more heartfelt ways of expressing what you care about, and be ready to jump into action over the next few weeks to embrace a more inspired future or more appropriate spiritual expression in the world. Be stimulated to receptivity to higher forces, and you could expand your spiritual capacity to an unsuspected degree!
So What’s Been Going On, and What Will Happen From Here?
I’ve explained this “two-step” process of Inferior Conjunctions followed by Superior Conjunctions alternating with each other in previous articles. The last few weeks we’ve been under the influence of the last Superior Conjunction at 1 Gemini on May 21, 2019. That “fusion of life and mind” marked the beginning of Mercury getting out in front of the Sun. The period since then has brought us a new understanding of what’s below the surface of everyday life, and some have had whole new worlds revealed they never knew before. We’ve been in a time of discovery through actions and activity.
Now, at the Inferior Conjunction, we’ve reached the end of the direct influence of that conjunction, and now will go into a process where we will take a new look at many things, including our supposed alternatives and ways of looking at our choices. Because it is in the Pisces part of Cancer with an additional Lunar rulership of the decan, this one will take us through deep and vast “feeling scapes” which will have personal meaning to us, whether linking past and present, or past, present, and future.
While Mercury is still slow in speed, from here it gradually speeds up, and will go stationary direct at 24 Cancer a half hour after the July 31 New Moon at 9 Leo. It will continue to speed up until it outraces the Sun at the next Superior Conjunction on September 3-4 at 12 Virgo, after which many things will be “unmasked.”
So while up to now, Life has been catching up to Mind, it will now outpace it for weeks to come. Once Mercury goes direct and hits its maximum speed, we’ll get the next Superior Conjunction, after which Mind will again outraces Life, exploring ideas and perceptions of experiences yet to occur.
So the Inferior Conjunction marks the point when Mind is being absorbed by Life, or Life takes on the results of subconscious or collective ideas returning to source. For the next short period, Mercury will still be slow in speed and retrograde as the Sun moves forward, putting distance between it and Mercury.
Then 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. The “pulses” of the Inferior and Superior conjunctions of the Sun and Mercury constitute an entire field of research unto themselves. 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 when the “Divine Trickster” slows down 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 Cancer, it should provide us new ways to understand, communicate, or interpret the signs and signals of our “up close and personal” life experiences as we take a new look at options as we stand on the threshold of a new life!
All in all, the coming 4 months will bring interesting returns, reflections, and rehearsals of how and what we’ve already dealt with in the realm of learning to use Cancer energy productively. This includes all the usual Cancer themes, such as generating forms of caring and nurturing, ensuring lines of supply, all things related to family and mothering, focusing the intuition, and expressing appreciation, compassion, and harmonizing unselfishness.
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 late Cancer 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 July 31 (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 the 2nd edition 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, and the 2017 retrogrades in Capricorn and Sagittarius, Taurus and Aries, and Virgo and Leo, as well as 2018’s retrogrades in Aries, Leo, Sag and Scorpio, 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, by taking a look at the qualities of the March 2019 RX in Pisces, this one in Leo and Cancer, and the November 2019 RX in Scorpio, 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. If you want an ebook, you can order one at the link, or go to Barnes & Noble and it's available through Nook.
Previous articles in this series:
Impersonal Views of Creative Power Leading to Social Integration
Mercury Retrograde in Leo and Cancer in July 2019 - An Overview
The Guide of Souls in July 2019 - Mercury Slowing Down, Preparing to go Retrograde at 5 Leo
Mercury Has Now Entered its Shadow Zone at 24 Cancer
Copyright © 2019 Robert Wilkinson
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