by Robert Wilkinson
Mercury goes direct in motion at 1 am PDT on June 3, and speeds up for the next 10 weeks. This shows a quickening of the ability to coordinate, put things together, understand the whole and the parts, the process and the larger cycles. It is now stationary at 27 Taurus, affecting that area in our lives for 3 months to come.
Mercury, or Hermes, "the Guide of Souls," is also known as the Divine Trickster, as well as all lesser models. What does Mercury going stationary direct at 27 Taurus mean? Perhaps it would be useful to take a look back on what the last Mercury direct station brought us since early February 2022.
You will recall that the last time Mercury went stationary direct in February it was at 25 Capricorn, and began this year’s hybrid element Mercury retrograde periods which begin in Air signs and end in Earth signs. The last Mercury RX began at 11 Aquarius and went back into Capricorn; this one began at 5 Gemini and go back to 27 Taurus, and the September RX will begin at 9 Libra and go back to 25 Virgo.
This retrograde period began at 5 Gemini, helping us review the recent new developments in our lives related to things and ideas, and gave us a new look at how well we’re grounding and expressing the larger Aquarian cycles at work wherever we have 1 Aquarius in our charts. We’ve now done a journey through parts of our past, remembered many things about people and ideals which may have changed our understanding of those people and events, and gotten a different perspective on many Gemini and Taurus things these past 3 weeks. From here we move forward into a new expression of these energies in our lives which will take clearer shape when Venus and then Mars transit 27 Taurus through 5 Gemini.
We’ve now re-traced ground that we first saw via Mercury’s first pass from April 25 through May 10, and re-examined via the RX from then to now. Of major importance will be when Mercury goes back over 5 Gemini on June 18, because then it moves into unknown zones, carrying all its RX lessons forward until its September 2022 retrograde when we review what we’ve learned related to this year’s Taurus and Gemini themes conditioning the period from now until then.
Now we face 4 months of being guided to our Soul using the qualities of 27 Taurus. How we use those realizations to coordinate the qualities of that degree into our lives over the next 4 months will show us a different way of finding individual spiritual effectiveness within our unfolding group work.
We should all start seeing, hearing, and understanding things that point the way to some Mercurial fulfillment related to how we have been and continue to be guided to our Soul. Given that it falls at 27 Taurus, that area of our chart will be the focus of where the past gives way to the future.
Here I’ll note the February direct station set the theme for the entire year, since it was the exact degree where Mercury will go retrograde in late December. That SD degree at 11 Aquarius is the general Mercury retrograde theme for 2022. For now, let’s take a look at the specific theme for the next few months!
The Sabian Symbol for Mercury’s Direct Station
The Sabian symbol for the 27th degree of Taurus is “A squaw selling beads.” In the Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, he states this degree is about “Dignified offering of fruits of wisdom" to those who are younger or immature, and "Patient understanding of destiny" though he also attributes "meddlesomeness" to this degree.
In "The Astrological Mandala he states this degree is about "peaceful adaptation to collective needs" where we offer "products of our culture" to others. This can help us understand what has been sustaining us and brought us "personal peace and inner contentment."
Here we "peacefully reintegrate" our mind into the group/culture, and adjust to the needs of the whole of which we are a part. He says this degree falls in the Span of Enjoyment, Act of Differentiation, and Scene of Confirmation on the Individual-Mental level.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of "the soul's fundamental disinterest in everyday superficialities" due to it being anchored "in an inner reality." Here we can find "a great satiety of experience," letting go of petty and inconsequential attitudes.
He goes on to say that "individual existence is justified in a fidelity to the recognized tokens of the cultural heritage." He offers the keyword DETACHMENT, and states that when operating positively, the degree is "creative aplomb or the ability of humankind to dramatize itself effectively in even the least of situations."
From this symbol, it seems the next few weeks will help us in some individual-mental activity in a stabilizing focus of confirming something related to our Soul and how our cultural whole has been sustaining us. Here we can find healing and peace through seeing the power of letting go of superficial relationships and thinking, detaching to find a more effective self-demonstration.
This is a Mercurial platform to move forward as we prepare for radical expansions leading to personal “revolutions of individuation” when Jupiter crosses this degree in May 2024 followed immediately by Uranus occupying this degree between July and October 2024 and again and again in late April and early May 2025. This station allows our Mercury to express our wisdom in simple and enjoyable ways.
Of some relevance is that this direct station falls on the exact degree of the Sun at the 2011 Wesak Festival Full Moon. That “Buddha Birthday” poured a new “Buddha Wisdom” into the world that profoundly influenced the rest of 2011 until the Taurus-Scorpio Full Moon of 2012. This may bring some echoes, or a memory of an aspect of that wisdom in some way, thanks to the Mercury stationary influence.
From Here We Move Forward
27 Taurus is now a launch point for entering into a new (and somewhat familiar) realm in the Gemini and Virgo areas of our chart via Mercury’s placement in the Capricorn decan of Taurus with an extra dose of Saturn. We now move forward, having done our time of going inward to find a more secure anchorage in our own wisdom while enjoying both what we have acquired and what we have to give to our world. We now have a new understanding of things past and present in our late Taurus and early Gemini chart sectors.
Mercury now begins to chase the Sun toward their next Superior Conjunction, bringing all its reflections and reviews into the NOW. We’ve finished the second of this year’s “Air to Earth” retrogrades, and have new ways of understanding our Gemini and Virgo areas, as well as our late Taurus and early Gemini sectors of our charts.
We’ll close today with a reminder that although Mercury is now direct and won’t be retrograde again until September 2022, the retrograde we’ve just experienced will affect the coming months until the next Mercury stationary retrograde at 9 Libra. At that point we’ll have a look back at what we’ve discovered since May and find ourselves “returning to source” for new inspiration. As that was the position of the Moon at the “First High Moon” of Spring 2021 we’ll likely reconnect with the “Life energy” of 2021 in a new way.
Of course you can find out more about past, present, or future retrogrades by getting your copy of my book A New Look At Mercury Retrograde. Here's the Amazon link to where you can order A New Look at Mercury Retrograde to check out possible ways this Mercury retrograde effect could play out over the next 4 months. That link will also allow you to order an ebook copy on Kindle. Just make sure you get the 2016 2nd edition with the book award on the cover and not the 1997 Weiser first edition.
In part 2, we'll continue to examine what we can expect over the next 3 months now that Mercury is direct.
© Copyright 2022 Robert Wilkinson
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