by Robert Wilkinson
Today we explore specifics of the Inferior Conjunction of June 30 at 10 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.
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 10 Cancer. It is said that the first third (decan) of any sign deals with the physical, actional, and material levels of life, and being the Cancer decan of that sign, invokes a sub-influence of Cancer with Venus.
The Sabian Symbol we’ve been given for the 10th degree of Cancer is "A large diamond not completely cut.” In the The Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, he states that 10 Cancer is a degree of "Spiritual fulfillment or the acme of civilized being," and "Actualization of potentialities and outpressing of real selfhood."
In The Astrological Mandala he offers that this degree is about "the arduous training for perfection in order to fully manifest an ideal," where we are "dealing with evolution of consciousness and of personality at a preliminary stage." Here is understanding with a lot of work still to be done in crafting the conscious mind. We are told this operation will result in something of "social value," and he suggests "Craftsmanship" as a keyword.
This is a culminating degree where we complete some social or emotional "crafting," and brought a decision to completion involving giving up the lesser so the greater could have life and substance. This culminates the dance between the visible and invisible, patterns we’ve imitated, and our search for "elementary understanding.” Rudhyar says it falls in the span of Expansion, the Process of Individualization, Act of Stabilization, and the Scene of Decision on the Emotional-cultural level.
According to Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, this degree relates to self-justification in a cultural setup, and how our reality depends on our "arts and skills" to build and/or sustain values and their promise. Here we "expand dimensions of significance" to make progress.
He states that here our "pilgrimage through the lower places of being is revealed as a continual service to higher meanings" though which we know ourselves. He offers us the keyword LATENCY, and says that when positive, this degree "is an effective gift for dramatizing the potentialities of everything at hand."
So we enter a time where Life is moving forward as Mind looks back on how we have crafted or can craft what is latent into forms that have social value, and refine the base into the sublime. This gives us a new look at how we demonstrated our skill and artistry in the past to create something of value which helped us see the promise of something.
We may get flashes or recollection about alternative ways of expressing some facet of our “socially crafted value,” or seeing a new way to BE our “true Self” in some form valued by society. This will give us a different angle of understanding or perception related to a prior or current “path to perfection” related to our "acme of civilized living."
Because it’s a retrograde conjunction in the Water sign of “up close and personal” feelings, take a new look at ways to recognize and hear your inner voice, or how you did it in the past. Because Cancer represents our primal innocence which does the right thing with instinctive certainty, if you want guidance, still your mind and listen to your heart.
As per the last Lunar Eclipse, take your time, and relax into this “cosmic moment of pause which presages change.” Be “alertly ready to act,” while not falling into “distress at not knowing what lies ahead.” 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 Saturn were in this sector of Cancer, as well as any Eclipses near this Inferior Conjunction.
Important Dispositors
Because the Inferior Conjunction is in Cancer, it is ruled by the Moon at 17 Scorpio. This will deepen the “feeling-knowing” of this Inferior Conjunction, and offers us maximum regenerative power! Because the Moon is ruled by Mars at 2 Aries, have a sense of humor to find objectivity.
This implies we will get glimpses of how we were “crafted to perfection” in the past in situations which involved loss, intense feelings, and perhaps misunderstandings. This one can reconnect us with the inner parts of us which push and pull us into discontent, and help us understand why we had to go deep within in the past, surrendering our ego to our deepest Soul connection. The looking back within a fusion of Life and Mind shows we are finishing old “habitual mindsets” which are giving way to new understanding.
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, Scorpio, and Aries, the next four months are a time to be caring, efficient, and actional as we anticipate what is to come, and see it all as training us to “do our Being” more perfectly.
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 8-9, 2021.
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.
Major aspects to the conjunction include quadranoviles to Saturn, a sextile to Uranus, and a tredecile to Neptune. This indicates a very productive and favorable period of reflections and reconsiderations about our dedication and whatever cause we believe we serve. We shall all be challenged to “forced growth,” and those who are “ambitious win the prize.” The sextile gives us “roundabout awakenings of genius,” while the quadranoviles show that we are all in process of either accepting or rejecting certain goals and relationships due to spiritual compatibility or incompatibility.
The tredecile to Neptune promises unusual good fortune to those with the ability to “go with the flow” and demonstrate their skill or training in an interactive situation. Areas most affected include 2-6 Gemini/Sagittarius, 8-12 Cancer/Capricorn, 14-18 Leo/Aquarius, 20-24 Virgo/Pisces, and 26-30 Libra/Aries. If you have something in one or more of these zones, you will receive very favorable “feeling-impressions” which can bring forth unique gifts and situations.
As this Conjunction falls just a few days before the Lunar Eclipse, I’ll write more about the outer planet aspects in those articles.
Elements and the Jones Pattern
The chart of the Inferior Conjunction brings us 1 planet in Fire, 3 in Earth, 2 in Air, and 4 in Water. This makes emotions and feelings the primary references, with some practicality and interactivity, with only the dynamically active Mars in Aries representing the inspiration of Fire! With the conjunction in Water with its favorable aspect listed above, this is a very productive chart, with no conflict and a lot of specialization. I’ll explain more about the elements opening and closing the Bowl Jones pattern in the coming Lunar Eclipse article, so please consult that to know more.
This Inferior Conjunction will take us much deeper than before, with many productive realizations to come over the next 2 weeks due to the sextile with Uranus. 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 Cancer, it makes this fusion of Life and Mind operate in an Initiating personal 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 15 Taurus in May. 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 last degree of the Cancer part of Cancer with an additional Venus energy of the decan, this one will take us through deep personal “feeling scapes” which will have 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 6 Cancer on July 12. It will continue to speed up until it outraces the Sun at the next Superior Conjunction at 26 Leo on August 17, shortly before the New Moon at 27 Leo on August 18.
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 Kabbalistic 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 needs, feelings, reactivity, defensiveness, and protectiveness, and what we truly care about 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 Cancer energy productively. This includes all the usual Cancer 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 10 Cancer 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 July 12 (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, the Feb-March 2020 RX in Pisces and Aquarius, this one in Cancer, and the coming one in 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:
Mercury Retrograde in Cancer in June-July 2020 – Making Spirit Real Will Lead Us to A New Future
Mercury Retrograde in in Cancer in June and July 2020 - An Overview
It’s Mercury Retrograde in June 2020 – Time for a New Look at the Guide of Souls
The Guide of Souls in June 2020 - Mercury Slowing Down, Preparing to go Retrograde at 15 Cancer
Mercury Is Entering Its Shadow Zone at 6 Cancer - Signs and Signals About How Our Past Will Soon Be Feeding Our FutureCopyright © 2020 Robert Wilkinson
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