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 February 25 at 7 Pisces. 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.
Mind is now reconsidering territory it’s already seen. This “fusion of Mind and Life” allows Mind to see where the Light has already been, and thereby written in our Book of Light/Life. Mercury, Guide of Souls, now has slowed down enough that the Sun has caught up and they come together for a brief moment. That also means Mercury again leads the Sun, showing Mercury is again the Gatekeeper to the Light.
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
This Inferior Conjunction falls at 7 Pisces. It is said that the first third (decan) of any sign deals with the physical, actional, and material levels of life, and being the decan of that sign, invokes a sub-influence of Pisces with Saturn.
The Sabian Symbol we’ve been given for the 7th degree of Pisces is "A cross lying on rocks.”
In the The Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, he states that 7 Pisces is a degree of “concentration of values amidst the chaos of outer living,” “clear light of high realization,” and “acceptance of life’s limits.”
In The Astrological Mandala he offers that this degree is "the spiritual blessing which strengthens individuals who, happen what may, stand uncompromisingly for their own truth.” He says this symbol is about not depending on “collective values, traditions, or support” as we seek to be true to our individual self and destiny, even if we face “some kind of crucifixion.” Here we are sustained by our inner power, “to which a light above answers.”
He offers that the lesson is “to thine own self be true,” where we can experience “the supreme worth of a life guided by an inner voice” and “a high degree of self-assertion.” He states this degree falls in the Span of Innocence, Act of Capitalization, and Scene of Federation on the Emotional-Cultural level.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of “withdrawal from reality in one aspect as a means for regrasping it in another,” by an “unnecessary acceptance of the world’s common repudiation or neglect of an individual’s higher ideals.” We are told this is about “the need to be active in the cause of every standard or allegiance” that makes our lives worthwhile, and “the insistent stirring of an inner voice which seeks to quicken the soul to the paramount necessities of its existence.”
He offers the keyword CONSCIENCE. He goes on to state that when operating positively, the degree is “a rugged independence of inner spirit and a courageous rejection of all outer compromise.”
So we enter a time where Life is moving forward as Mind looks back on how we demonstrated the courage of our convictions in the past, and may be reminded of how we were “compassionately independent Spirits” living our conscience without equivocation or fear. Take a new look at the way you heard your inner voice in the past when seeking to know how to act with conviction.
If you want guidance, still your mind and listen to your heart. Take your time. Learning to listen to the Higher Self may take a while to secure the connection. See how you were guided by “the voice of the silence” to make wise choices leading you to where you are now.
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 Uranus were in this sector of Pisces, as well as any Eclipses near this Inferior Conjunction.
Important Dispositors
Because the Inferior Conjunction is in Pisces, it is ruled by Jupiter at 19 Capricorn. This organizes and disciplines the Pisces energy, and gives us a deep understanding of the need for compassion and forgiveness as “the leaves of seasons past” continue to fall away from our lives. This implies we will get glimpses of why we had to stand for what we believed in the past, or how we asserted our truth of Being as we found our way to emotional rebirth and rededication to what mattered to us. This one can reconnect us with the collective consciousness, or help us understand why we had to assert ourselves in the past. The looking back within a fusion of Life and Mind shows we are finishing old mindsets which are giving way to new understanding.
Going farther back in the chain of dispositors, Jupiter in Capricorn is ruled by Saturn at 28 Capricorn. Again, Saturn holds center stage as the final dispositor of all the other planets except Neptune. You can find out more by consulting the recent New Moon articles.
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 Capricorn and Pisces, the next four months are a time to be organized, mature, and responsible as we anticipate what is to come, and forgive and bless as much as we can in some very extraordinary and sometimes clouded circumstances.
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. We will see actions related to these themes when Mars crosses this degree on May 22-25.
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.
As this Conjunction falls just a few days after the New Moon, you can find out a lot more about the outer planet aspects by consulting those articles which just posted a few days ago. In this chart, the Inferior conjunction is exactly sextile Mars, boosting productivity once we “hear the command.” Venus is closing on its squares to Pluto and then Saturn, showing turning points in relationships.
Mercury semisquares Jupiter, and the Moon in this chart is in Aries, exactly conjunct Chiron in a close quintile to Pluto and square to Mars. That implies this “back to the future” fusion of Life and Mind will come into clear focus as the various planets transit 4 Aries at the end of March, end of April, and beginning of August. In fact, the next few weeks likely hold clues about the months’ long conflict between Mars in Aries and planets in Capricorn which begins in August and doesn’t let up for months!
Elements and the Jones Pattern
The chart of the Inferior Conjunction shows almost the same distribution as the New Moon, but with 2 planets in Fire, 5 in Earth, 0 in Air, and 3 in Water. This makes practical matters and feelings the primary references, with some inspiration and little to no interactivity. With the conjunction in Water with favorable aspects to Earth, everything is linked productively, with enough confusion and anticipation to keep things off-balance. In the New Moon article I explain more about the elements opening and closing the Bucket Jones pattern, so please consult that to know more.
This Inferior Conjunction will take us much deeper than before, with many realizations to come over the next 2 weeks due to the coming septile and sextile between Mercury and Venus. Keep the mind receptive to “impressions of 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 Pisces, it makes this fusion of Life and Mind operate in a Distributive universal Experiential mode.
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 20 Capricorn in January. That “fusion of life and mind” marked the beginning of Mercury getting out in front of the Sun and anticipating the multiple conjunctions of the inner planets with Saturn and Pluto from then through March. The period since then has brought us a new understanding based in the “hidden practice” we’ve been doing, preparing for some kind of harmonic group work to come. We’ve been in a time of seeing new disciplines and new duties to accept this year related to our spiritual individuality.
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 Pisces with an additional Saturn energy 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 29 Aquarius on March 9/10. It will continue to speed up until it outraces the Sun at the next Superior Conjunction at 15 Taurus on May 4, shortly before the 2020 “Happy Buddha Birthday” of the Wesak Festival! That begins our “graduation into a new realm of Being,” and has major implications for what will be set into motion in early May.
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 Qabbalistic 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 Pisces, it should provide us new ways to understand, communicate, or interpret the signs and signals of our motives, karma, old ghosts from the past, failed and successful “life harvests,” and what we stand for as we stand at 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 Pisces energy productively. This includes all the usual Pisces themes mentioned in the previous paragraph. The new views, understandings, and reinterpretations shown by this Inferior Conjunction should be considered in the light of the house in which this retrograde 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 Pisces will bring a fusion of Life and Mind, especially related to the houses where you have Gemini, Cancer, Leo, and Virgo.
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 March 9 (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, the 2017 retrogrades in Capricorn and Sagittarius, Taurus and Aries, and Virgo and Leo, the 2018 retrogrades in Aries, Leo, Sag and Scorpio, and the 2019 retrogrades in Pisces, Leo, Cancer, 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. By taking a look at the qualities of the November 2019 RX in Scorpio, this one in Pisces and Aquarius, and the coming ones in Cancer, Scorpio, and Libra, you’ll get important information about what you’ve been guided to this year.
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. (Just make sure you get the 2014 edition, and not the 1997 edition!)
Previous articles in this series:
Strange Mercury Retrograde Occurrences Past and Present
Mercury Retrograde in Pisces and Aquarius in February and March 2020 - An Overview
It’s Mercury Retrograde in February 2020 – Time for a New Look at the Guide of Souls
The Guide of Souls in February 2020 - Mercury Slowing Down, Preparing to go Retrograde at 13 Pisces
Copyright © 2020 Robert Wilkinson
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