by Robert Wilkinson
Today we take a look at important Sabian Symbols, aspects, and other factors in play the next three weeks as Mercury is retrograde in Libra and Virgo.
This Mercury retrograde begins at 8:38 pm PDT on September 9. The retrograde moves from 9 Libra back to 25 Virgo, with the Inferior conjunction of Mercury and the Sun occurring at 1 Libra on September 22/23. As this retrograde begins in the first decan of Libra it deals with the actional-material levels of life, and has a sub-influence of Libra with an added dose of the Moon.
In early Libra and late Virgo, we’ll get a look back at our knowledge quest and Soul evolution in play related to Saturn lessons from September 2009 through September 2010, expanded by Jupiter between August and October 2016. Interestingly, the last time Mercury was retrograde in this span was from September 27 through October 19, 2015 (9-1 Libra) and August 29 through September 9, 2016 (30-25 Virgo).
The beginning of the RX period gives us a new look at a technique of “returning to Source” for inspiration and renewal. Our return may be emotional or social, and will probably remind us of a past personality integration experience or a new take on an old wisdom we’ve had for a long time. The end of the RX period on October 2 will show us a work worth doing, or show us the way to a worthy work which will mark the consummation of our purpose in some way related to our late Virgo sector.
Because of the signs involved, it could mark the return of old relationships, old ideals, old perspectives, or revising our understanding of these in an updated view. We can take a new look at what forms of service we idealize, and reintegrate our view in the light of new inspiration. This period could mark the return of friends, spiritual Sisters and Brothers, or points of view we haven’t thought of for a while. This is a good time insights from a different angle of view in the life area(s) where we have the first decan of Libra and the third decan of Virgo.
Mercury RX in any Air sign is extraordinarily associative, so there’s always the possibility that your renewed ideas or insights may come from another, or in some roundabout way. You may find a new way to view another’s insights or alternative view of things, or find a new inspiration in an old idea. Mercury RX in Air is harmonious with its Gemini nature, and Mercury RX in Earth is harmonious with its Virgo nature. You can bet we’ll all have a new understanding of our wisdom and how to offer it to others by the time Mercury is finally out of its shadow zone on October 17!
The Sabian Symbol for Mercury’s Stationary Retrograde Degree
The Sabian Symbol for the 9th degree of Libra is “Three Old Masters hanging in an art gallery.” In the original Jones notes published in The Astrology of Personality, Rudhyar says this symbolizes “Efficient cohesion of the three ‘souls’ of man; of mind, feeling and instinct,” “integrated wisdom,” and “sagacious behavior.”
In The Astrological Mandala, he states this degree is about "the need to return to source during a confused search for new value in a chaotic society.” He speaks about the need to “re-ground ourselves in the great achievement of the past. The number 3 suggest completeness; esoteric traditions speak of the three-fold Soul, or of three fundamental ‘Rays’ – of Power, of Love-Wisdom, and of Intelligence-In-Action,” and he goes on to say that our meditations give us a chance to “return to Source” and get a stronger connection with our “archetypal essence of being.”
He states this degree is about “the finer forms of one’s culture provide the means to do this. The great moments of the collective past become an inspiration for new, yet sound, beginnings.” He gives it the keywords “apostolic succession,” and says this degree falls in the Span of Expectation, Act of Group Integration, and is the technique degree of the Scene of Transfiguration on the Social-Cultural level.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of our “capacity for embracing a universal reality” in our experience, showing the “effective alignment” of our means of self-expression which further our potential. He states “implicit is the concept of the past and the present as irrevocably in partnership,” with our heritage giving us “the foundation for the achievement (we) desire.”
He offers us the keyword ACCORD. He states that when operating positively, the degree is a “gift for bringing people and events together in high appreciation of the greater values of life.”
So the focus of this retrograde requires us to see that any event which takes us back to Source, or provides us inspiration to reintegrate some part of our lives, is our means of Soul growth. This will be a perfect time to achieve “a stronger connection with our archetypal Self.” This is a technique of a phase of social or emotional transfiguration.
Behind the Scenes in this Libra and Virgo Retrograde
While in Libra, Mercury is ruled by Venus which is in Virgo through September 29, bringing these two planets into “Mutual Reception,” a very powerful self-reinforcing closed circuit of energy which strengthens each other. Once Mercury retrogrades back into Virgo, Mercury is ruled by itself and shares the stage with Venus in Libra (along with Saturn in Aquarius and Neptune in Pisces) as a “final dispositor.”
When Mercury goes direct and re-enters Libra, it will be ruled by Venus, which is in its home sign of Libra for the time Mercury occupies its shadow zone. That means the period through the Inferior Conjunction has the very powerful Mercury/Venus energy, after which it quickly becomes more of a Virgo flavor and then settles into a more comfortable Libra groove.
Because this is the third and last Mercury retrograde which begins in Air and ends in Earth, this naturally trines the January-February 2022 and May/June Mercury retrograde spans, and is the natural expression of those themes in the next stage of their unfoldment. The first retrograde Mercury went direct conjunct Pluto, making the period of February, March, April and early May under that Plutonic influence. The second retrograde Mercury stabilized that energy into more peaceful wisdom forms in late Taurus which have influenced the past several months.
We now approach the third retrograde, which will express in exceptional ways beginning at October’s Mercury direct station at 25 Virgo. Those themes will prevail until late December, when Mercury goes retrograde at 25 Capricorn, giving us a look back at the larger theme of 2022 which begun with Mercury’s direct station at 25 Capricorn in early February 2022. This continues the larger years’ long pattern of Mercury’s stations showing themes in play for the entire year.
Aspects and the Sun and Moon
In this retrograde station chart, the primary aspects are the opposition to Jupiter and exact tredecile to Pluto. Because of the retrograde in early Libra it will also sesquisquare Saturn and trececile Mars before it moves back into Virgo and immediately conjuncts Venus before going stationary trine to Pluto and biquintile to Saturn.
Besides Mercury opposed Jupiter for many weeks to come, other major aspects in play in the retrograde chart show Venus just separating from a quincunx to Uranus, upping the pressure to bring forth something from Cosmos unrelated to anything before it, and encouraging us to break free of the known and familiar while cultivating spiritual strength through being willing to see the depth psychology issues in people and things. We also have Sun trine Uranus and Venus tredecile Uranus, followed by Sun and then Venus opposed Neptune and trine Pluto within the next two weeks. Mars will quintile Jupiter and then trine Saturn, showing the overall energy matrix to be exceptionally favorable for the retrograde period.
The Moon is at 14 Pisces approaching the Full, showing this period will bring dramatic revelations related to endings and the need for forms of “camouflage” as we continue doing our work of destiny. As the Moon is ruled by Jupiter at 6 Aries, perhaps we’ll get flashbacks about when we needed some sort of camouflage which we accomplished by “lighting up” one facet of our personality while not displaying other facets. With the Moon conjunct Neptune opposed the Sun, there is a major axis of awareness to be found by seeing this time as one of blessings, endings, and purifications, and a) revising some ideas back to Source, and/or b) putting ourselves out there to attract a public following.
The Sun is at 18 Virgo, a degree of learning to take inner guidance after we’ve broken free of old illusions as a result of our “will to wholeness” erupting from deep within. Question the “superficial facts of Being,” get clear about the roles you are and are not playing, and find ways to shine a light on vague or unclear ideas. This is an inventive time, and will accelerate us wherever we have 18/19 Capricorn. As the Sun is ruled by Mercury, the returns, reflections, rehearsals, and revisions promised by Mercury retrograde indicate that the inner guidance of the Sun may be found by reviewing past sources of inspiration which will lead us to seeing how we’ve been “made sacred” through “a symbolic death which is entry to a greater Life” this Autumn as a result of the Inferior Conjunction being at 1 Libra just 5 hours after the Equinox.
Short Term Past and Future Triggers
During this Mercury retrograde period, pay attention to the roundabout signs and signals you’re receiving about past and present times you need(ed) to turn your focus to other angles of understanding how to relate and who to relate to (or not!). These lessons will be illuminated when the Sun crosses this degree around September 30-October 2. The themes of 25 Virgo-9 Libra will be the focus when Venus transits this span between September 24-October 6, with another long term trigger to come when Mars transits this span between August 18-September 10, 2023. That implies many of the retrograde themes and lessons will produce “karmic activation” this time next year.
Looking Forward
A retrograde is always a great time to see things we didn’t understand before, or perhaps reclaim something from the past. Here we take a look back and reconsider or renew how we were inspired in the past, and see our role in perpetuating the Wisdom and how it developed from then to now. Many will recall times in the past when we “returned to Source” to find inspiration and a sense of our “spiritual lineage.”
We can now take a new look at how “the Guide of Souls” took us within where we saw what inspired us, or how we are perpetuating a Wisdom tradition which we began long ago. Because of the symbol, obviously some form of art can facilitate the look back or reconnection with a source of inspiration. Take a new look at your spiritual tradition, and you may discover a new way to apply those venerable principles.
Remember Mercury retrogrades are great times for moving things forward which were stalled or delayed up to that point, so some things will no doubt make progress, given the numerous favorable aspects between planets in Earth signs.
This retrograde allows us to take a different view of things while the generally productive period works over time. Because the planets are widely distributed among many signs, expect a lot of very diverse activity in several life sectors. While things may begin in a slow way, the favorable Mars aspects show it’ll be easy to eliminate ghosts from the past while finding the best of the renewal indicated by the SRX degree.
Because we have Mercury opposing Jupiter, take a new look at whatever has emerged since late May when Jupiter entered Aries and was conjuncted by Mars. This retrograde will be a look back at these emergent developments growing since late May, and by the end we’ll be seeing to the core of things and just need to follow through by adapting to the changed pace as Mars goes retrograde.
As with all Mercury retrogrades, some projects may have to be postponed, or a new way found to make something be more relevant to our current life. This can give us insights into why we need to get a new angle of seeing things, going inward rather than keep going in unfulfilling directions. All of us will get glimpses of how our past experiences and choices since the last Mercury retrograde have led us to a new view of the greater Capricorn and Aquarian work going on since 2020.
This period gives us yet another look at or understanding of how to shape our world view as an active participant in co-creating some part of the vision we pursue. See different ways of relating to Self, to others, and to Source. Just remember that because of the RX quality, it may a) take a roundabout way to get there, b) require a delay before we understand what these things are about, or c) we’ll see how our Libra and Virgo sectors need reconsideration in the context of the larger Aquarius and Capricorn training. If necessary, connect the dots or renew how you express your Wisdom in an inspired way.
In general, these are excellent periods to find a new angle of perspective on what we need to coordinate our lives to express our Soul, and revise and/or renew some things from the past. I gave you a lot about the themes of this retrograde period in prior articles in this series, so please check them out when you’re done here. Links at the bottom of this post.
In the next article in the series, I’ll give you how this retrograde will impact every sign and birthday. For now, please review what I’ve written so far, since it’s rich with material which can help you navigate the next three weeks and come out more aware of how you can contribute to a greater good in the world.
A New Look At Mercury Retrograde
If you want to know what we can expect from Mercury retrograde in Libra and Virgo, as well as all the other signs and houses, if you haven't already gotten your copy, please consider getting my award-winning 2nd edition of A New Look At Mercury Retrograde.
The first major work on Mercury retrograde ever written, it offers in-depth information about Mercury retrograde people, Mercury retrograde in the various signs and houses, and what the entire Mercury Retrograde phenomenon is about. If you want to know what we can expect from Mercury retrograde in any sign or house position, it’s all in there.
Here's the Amazon link to the page where you can purchase a paperback edition of A New Look at Mercury Retrograde. You can also get a Kindle ebook at that site. NOTE: make sure you’re buying the second edition with the award sticker on the cover, and not the first edition originally published by Weiser. The edition you want is published by Fifth Ray Publishing.
Previous articles in this series:
Mercury Retrograde in Libra and Virgo in September-October 2022 - An Overview
A New Look at the Guide of Souls - Mercury Retrograde in September-October 2022 –
The Guide of Souls in September 2022 - Mercury Slowing Down, Preparing to go Retrograde at 9 Libra
Copyright © 2022 Robert Wilkinson
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