by Robert Wilkinson
Mercury goes direct in motion at 1:21 pm PDT on September 15, 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 9 Virgo, 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 9 Virgo mean? Perhaps it would be useful to take a look back on what the last Mercury direct station brought us since May 2023.
You will recall that the last time Mercury went stationary direct in May it was at 6 Taurus, the second of this year’s retrogrades which begin in late Earth and end in early Earth. The on at the beginning of the year began at 25 Capricorn and ended at 9 Capricorn; the last one began at 16 Taurus and ended at 6 Taurus, which is the exact retrograde span Jupiter is traversing between early September and late December. This one began at 22 Virgo and ends now at 9 Virgo, bringing insights about Saturnine things which affected us since 2009.
This retrograde period began at 22 Virgo, and gave us a review of recent new developments in our lives related to Virgo things and ideas. We’ve now done a journey through parts of our Virgo past, remembered many things about what we serve and why we serve it, as well as the importance of having healthy routines in our lives. We’ve taken a new look at our values, with glimpses of practical understanding forged in our past. From here we move forward into a new expression of these energies which will echo for many months to come.
We’ve now re-traced ground that we first saw via Mercury’s first pass from August 3/4 through 23 and re-examined via the RX from then to now. An important point in time will be when Mercury goes back over 22 Virgo on September 29/30, because then it leaves its shadow zone and moves into new sections of the zodiac, carrying all its RX lessons forward until its coming December retrograde when we review the 9 Capricorn theme of 2023, set into motion when Mercury went direct in January of this year.
Now we face 4 months of being guided to our Soul using the qualities of 9 Virgo. 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 emotional and social expression of our unique qualities as we adjust to outer conditions. This should help us stay focused on practical plans which actually work to the extent our personalities are aligned with Dharma.
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. The area in our chart where we have 9 Virgo will be where the past gives way to the future.
The Sabian Symbol for Mercury’s Direct Station
The Sabian symbol for the 9th degree of Virgo is “A man making a futurist drawing.” In the Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, 9 Virgo is said to be a symbol of “original genius of every individual soul unconcerned with collective values” and “absolute, tradition-less self-expression.”
In The Astrological Mandala, he says this degree offers us techniques of new forms of self-expression, and a self-reliance where we may discover our true individuality. He states the keynote is “the urge to express (our) individualized sense of value regardless of tradition,” where “the individual is seen reacting against cultural standards and stereotyped ways of interpreting perceptions.” He offers that this degree is about “the mind seeking to discover the character of the basic and true foundation of individual selfhood, the AUM tone (or logos) of individual being.”
He continues that this is “a technique of transformation of the personality,” where “a sense of inner conflict and an overselfconscious attempt at ‘being oneself’ predominates” in our search for originality. It is said to fall in the Span of Idealization, and is the technical degree of the social-cultural level in the Scene of Federation in the Act of Stabilization.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, states this degree is “the originality an individual must show in any true assertion of (self), and of the importance of the aesthetic or more spiritual areas of (our) experience.” He continues “it is only through an identifiable and personal uniqueness” that we establish ourselves among others, knowing that if we become too extreme we “may repel rather than attract.”
He says this is “a challenge to a distinctiveness which will release the creative capacities of others as well as self,” and he offers us the keyword of EXPERIMENT. He states when operating in a positive manner, “the degree is a gift for the illimitable expansion of the human mind and a consequent extension of its powers.”
So the Mercury platform launching the next few weeks will help us see clearly how to express our uniqueness in a form of service, whether to self, others, the world, or Source. Exhibit your skills according to your expertise, crafting your expression to further the need of the moment.
From Here We Move Forward
9 Virgo 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 Virgo decan of Virgo, where it rules supreme with an added dose of the Sun. We now move forward, having done our time of going inward to reflect on the standards and values we wish to preserve so that others may venerate them as well. What is merit? How is it established? These are questions we’ve revisited, and can answer using new approaches.
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 third of this year’s Earth sign retrogrades, and have new ways of understanding our Gemini and Virgo areas, as well as the Earth sectors of our charts.
We’ll close today with a reminder that although Mercury is now direct and won’t be retrograde again until mid-December, the retrograde we’ve just experienced will affect the coming months until the Mercury retrograde station in December at 9 Capricorn. At that point we’ll have a look back at our entire year, since that degree is where Mercury went direct in January. This continues our exploration of the theme of this year which involves tuning into the invisible world and our helpers there, and finding harmony in some form of fulfillment.
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 2023 Robert Wilkinson
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