by Robert Wilkinson
Today we explore specifics of the Superior Conjunction of August 17, 2020 at 26 Leo. This “fusion of life and mind” will impact the rest of the Mercury direct period, as well as the first part of its next retrograde up to the Inferior Conjunction on October 25 at 3 Scorpio during Mercury’s retrograde in that sign in October and early November.
To remind you, the superior conjunction occurs when Mercury (mind) conjuncts the Sun (life) when in direct motion, while the inferior conjunction is when Mercury (mind) conjuncts the Sun (life) when Mercury is retrograde. Each operates as a fusion of Life and Mind, but in each “Mind moves in a different direction.”
When either conjunction happens, it indicates that signals, messages, and ideas from either outer sources or subconscious sources will fuse with the life principle. This sets the tone for the lessons involving how our minds are relating to our lives during the weeks which follow the inferior conjunction.
Since its last retrograde, Mercury in direct motion has been moving faster than the Sun. It has now caught up to the Sun and making a “superior conjunction,” beginning a several week period when mind will race ahead of life, heralding things to come when the Sun transits the span Mercury will show us over the next few weeks. The degree of any superior conjunction shows how our perceptions have caught up with our lives, which can bring forth a new expression of our light.
The Sabian Symbol for the Superior Conjunction
The Solar-Mercurial degree symbol for the Superior Conjunction falls at 26 Leo, and it is said that the third third (decan) of any sign deals with the individual, mental, and spiritual levels of life, and being the third decan of Leo it has a sub-influence of Aries with an additional Mars tone. While I've given you a sense of this degree up to now, this is where we go into depth.
The symbol for the 26th degree of Leo is “A rainbow.” In the original Marc Jones class notes on the symbols published in The Astrology of Personality, Rudhyar says this is a degree of the “Promise of conscious immortality after the death of useless things,” “Spiritual linkage through emotional stress,” and “blessing.”
In The Astrological Mandala, he says this degree involves “Linking above and below, the Covenant with one’s divine nature, promise of immortality.” Here we confront our divine Archetype to the degree we have been victorious in “crossing the desert” and making it to “the other shore.” Our striving to overcome our trials has established the link between our earthly self and Heavenly Self, and we are told this link must remain unbroken.
He says that this degree “shows us the need to maintain a state of open communication between the Sky and the Earth within our total being…. to face the totality of our individual selfhood.” He states “after every successfully met crisis, the revelation of worth comes to us, and with it comes the promise of success, if only we do our part.” He says it falls in the span of "Interpretation,” and it’s the first degree of the individual mental level of the scene of Consolidation in the Act of Release.
According to Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, the degree is one of “the overall realization which comes… whenever we strive to reach the goals of a more enduring sort.” Here we’re assured “divine participation” even in difficult circumstances, where we learn about the “consistent ordering” of the world, and that “nature will cooperate effectively with every vision (we choose) to keep alive.”
He offers us the keyword of SIGNIFICANCE. He states that when operating in a positive manner, this degree is "a sense of very real spiritual power and presence in all personal effort and desire.”
Given the themes of this degree, we'll use the ”fusion of life and mind” through the next Inferior Conjunction to see the light of prior and current ways we discovered we are the divine guidance we seek, and we are the bridge between worldly and heavenly things. Here the vision we’ve kept alive will be aided by Nature Herself, and we can find a transcendent peace beyond the push and pulls of this world of duality. Let go of useless things to receive the blessings that enable you to be a greater love, wisdom, productivity, and creativity.
Who Leads the Great Light Now That Mercury is Ahead of It?
At this conjunction, Mind is no longer following Life, trying to catch up to it. Now Mind races forward as herald, catching glimpses of knowledge, perception, and understanding that shows us where Life is headed in the near future.
When Mercury outraces the Sun and moves ahead of it, it no longer "leads the light." Now "Life" leads "Mind" even as Mind blazes the trail the Light will follow these next few weeks. This is the time when we stretch out into the future, with a period of looking back coming in mid-June at the next Mercury retrograde.
In this chart, now that Mercury no longer leads the Sun, it leaves Venus in Cancer, soon Leo and Virgo, as the “entry to the Light.” Our relationships and values can lead us to illumination! This is the sensitive and caring Venus in Cancer gatekeeping for the Great Light.
As Venus is on the same degree as the last Sun/Mercury Inferior Conjunction in early July, it offers us appreciation for the insights we’ve had in July and August about how we’re being “cut and polished to perfection” and in some way have hit “an acme of civilized living.” Be open to new ways of caring and/or protecting what you’ve accomplished, since it will lead you to know what needs to go to receive the blessings associated with this conjunction.
Venus will lead the Sun until the next Inferior Conjunction between Mercury and the Sun at 3 Scorpio on October 25, at which point Mercury again leads the Sun. That will last until the next Superior Conjunction in December at 29 Sagittarius, at which time Venus will again lead the light. Mercury and Venus will trade off leading the Sun with the Moon occasionally coming between them and the Sun until the next Sun conjunct Pluto in January 2021. The study of which planet leads the Sun is a crucial but often overlooked part of the study of how the planets work in sequence.
What’s Ahead?
This Superior Conjunction can fuse foresight and life experience to see how new forms of light, life, and perspectives can come forth these next few weeks. Because this “fusion of life and mind” takes place in the last third of Leo, we enter a time of linking the above and below by spiritual action, and allowing our spiritual warrior to come forth when necessary.
This will give us a chance to articulate our Light fused with “the Guide of Souls” to find how we can BE the Light we are, expressed in creative, playful, or spontaneous ways. Try to admire the best in what opposes you, remembering it’s all about the relativity of social values. This period initiates a “before the beginning” energy, and does in fact anticipate the death of useless things. This can yield a “stubborn mind,” or a “proud mind,” with some very intense adjustments and sacrifices to come via the conjunction quincunx Saturn, but with the conjunction trine Mars we’ll know what’s coming and become the standard bearers for a collective effort. Perseverance furthers!
The house this conjunction falls in shows where Mind now leads Life, and will open doors of perception wherever it falls, with many things “coming together in the Light of Mind. This need for persistence will best manifest in a cooperative collective fork in the road of some sort, with sensitivity and genius promising unique flashes of intuition. This one takes us beyond the known, allowing us to link the spiritual with the worldly and find a “revelation of worth” in knowing the linkage is solid. If the opportunity presents itself, “pick up and deliver spiritual power,” and those who can precisely visual their heart’s desire while being adaptable will see it made manifest.
This “fusion of Life and Mind” at 26 Leo sets a platform in the house where this conjunction occurs in our charts. In blending these principles we will see a shift in our affairs, attitudes, and understanding about those things symbolized by Mercury in Leo. Look for the dawning of the new day and the new work to be done, since this is another look at your journey this year of climbing to the top of one of your “life mountains” with your spiritual community. This is a particularly dynamic time of grounding on our own terms as we demonstrate courage and character while dancing at the intersection of Fate Street and Freewill Street on Eternity Boulevard.
The Backdrop to What’s Happening
Because of the preponderance of planets in Capricorn and Leo, the Sun shares the stage with Saturn as a huge influence in this chart. Because Saturn is in one of its home signs in Capricorn, it is its own dispositor and very secure in its own self-awareness and self-expression. However, because there are FOUR final dispositors, Saturn isn’t the main dominant force on the stage of life.
In this chart, the Superior Conjunction falling in Leo makes the Sun the ruler of the conjunction. As Venus is in Cancer, the Moon in Leo is its ruler, and so it too is ruled by the Sun. Mars is in its home sign of Aries, Jupiter and Pluto are ruled by Saturn, Uranus is ruled by Venus and therefore by the Sun, and Neptune as usual is a standalone.
The aspects are a mixed bag. The Conjunction is semisquare Venus, trine Mars, biquintile Jupiter, quincunx Saturn, triseptile Neptune, and biquintile Pluto, indicating interesting forks in the road coupled with unique interactive gifts and circumstances. We begin a season of the death of useless things so we may glimpse our worth beyond earthly things. This one helps us shed all we do not need as we climb our spiritual mountaintop, so in coming weeks, show endurance, courage, and persistence in simply moving forward, doing what we need to do.
The Lunar Influence
The Moon is at 6 Leo for this conjunction. That means the focus is on confrontations with those who do not share our values, so find ways to admire what you’re offered even if it’s different than what you value. However, the old must give way to the new! Coming weeks indicate our need to be creative, loving, strong, and if possible, playful as we see a more permanent set of patterns which show us the cosmic backdrop to all that’s going on.
As it falls in the first decan of Leo, it’s a Balsamic Moon, making it a totally future oriented conjunction, releasing visions of the future and giving us ideas we’ll need in 2021. It makes no significant aspects except a sesquisquare to Neptune and a square to Uranus, so stay focused on the cause or mission you believe in, and try not to get annoyed at deceptions, since it’s the end of the end.
Summing Up
Because it falls at 26 Leo with the aspects in play, this Superior Conjunction indicates a time of seeing our worth, blessing the passing of useless things, and seeing stressful situations as offering us opportunities for “spiritual linkage.” Stay alert to taking on responsibilities, even those which might seem premature in some way.
From here, even though Mercury will outrace the Sun for the next few weeks, it’s going to begin to slow down in speed, and will go retrograde on October 13 at 12 Scorpio, challenging us to take a look back at how we’ve raised our level and style of relating to others from an everyday or casual attitude to a more diplomatic or ambassadorial level of interaction. This will give us a good look at past relationships with a sense of our finest moments and interactions in the past. The coming Mercury RX period will in some way give us a review or returns related to wherever we have early Scorpio and late Libra in our chart.
All significant Mercury events give us a chance to check in with our inner Mercury to make sure we’re listening to its knowledge so we may be guided to our Souls. By how our Mercury works, we are led to the “Active Intelligence” of Divine Mind, or scattered confusion because of the lower mind’s inability to know anything.
As I explained in my book Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend, Mercury’s duality is “Life/Death,” so 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. Understanding its influence as a factor for weeks to come is crucial to the smooth operation of what moves forward from here.
Because we’ll be dealing with Mercury retrograde energies beginning September 23 when iit enters its shadow zone, you should also take a look at the appropriate chapters in my book A New Look at Mercury Retrograde. You can find out all you need about the coming Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio and Libra or any other sign, as well as the houses it occupies in your chart. Of course I'll give you the details in mid-October.
Here's the Amazon link to where you can order your paperback edition of A New Look at Mercury Retrograde. You can also find it on Kindle or Nook. It’s a great reference source where you can check out possible ways the coming Mercury retrograde effect could play out in October and November 2020.
Copyright © 2020 Robert Wilkinson
Comments