by Robert Wilkinson
At 10:25 pm PST on November 9, Mercury leaves its cocoon in Scorpio and flies free in the fiery sign of Sagittarius. This begins Mercury’s long dance between Sagittarius and Capricorn which will last until early February when it finally enters Aquarius. Mercury in Sagittarius now brings Mutable Fire to the forefront of any planets or houses we have with Gemini or Virgo prominent.
Mercury’s entry into Sagittarius shows it’s already slowing, preparing to go retrograde at 9 Capricorn on December 12, just after the New Moon at 21 Sagittarius. Mercury will enter its “shadow zone” at 23 Sagittarius on November 25, so take advantage of the coming weeks to get all your ducks lined up, your purchases made, and your paperwork straightened out and submitted before then. Once Mercury goes retrograde, we’ll get a new look at the entire year of 2023 which has had the themes related to 9 Capricorn front and center since Mercury went SD on that degree in January 2023.
The themes of the Aug/Sept Mercury retrograde are still in play until the next SRX. That recent retrograde helped us take a new look at our “venerable standards,” as well as our health on all levels. We were emotionally and/or socially educated and found some bottom lines in what we stand for. Since then we’ve had our Mercury experience of Libra and Scorpio, and now enter a new “double pulse” of Sagittarius and Capricorn.
This begins a slowing of all things related to Mercury in our charts. Because it is rapidly slowing these next few weeks, take your time as you coordinate things, discover things, give and receive information, and see things from multiple points of view.
It now has Jupiter in Taurus, showing Mercury will know the freedom of Sagittarius while enjoying it to the fullest via Taurus. There will be a sub-influence of Venus as the final dispositor of the Taurus planets as long as She is in her home sign of Libra, bringing more balance and elegance in the Taurus backdrop. When Mercury enters Capricorn at the beginning of December, it will have Saturn in Pisces as a dispositor, which is ruled by Jupiter. However, as Venus enters Scorpio just 3 days after Mercury enters Sagittarius, you can bet that December will be far more intense than November when it comes to all things influenced by Mercury!
After Mercury goes retrograde, it will continue to slow until the Inferior conjunction of Mercury and the Sun at 1 Capricorn on the Galactic Center. After that, it slips back into Sagittarius and begins to increase in speed, finally going stationary direct at 23 Sagittarius on New Year’s Day. Once Mercury and the Sun make their Inferior conjunction, Mercury will again the planet which “leads the Light,” showing that a prerequisite to “enlightened action” at that time will involve discovering the new information or perspective we need to make things real
While Mercury’s in Sagittarius, it heralds all the aspects that the Sun, Mars, and Venus will make between late November and late January. Major aspects from now through the end of November include a square to Saturn, sextile to Venus, quincunx to Jupiter, quincunx to Uranus, and square to Neptune. Once it moves into Capricorn in December, it makes a lot of very favorable aspects to Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn which will last through the Solstice Galactic Center Inferior conjunction.
One of the major events of the coming retrograde and its aftermath are the last two conjunctions of Mercury with Mars! Yes, this year and next we have THREE Mercury/Mars conjunctions. The first was 12 Scorpio on October 29; The next one’s with Mercury retrograde at 25 Sagittarius on December 27; the third will be after Mercury’s direct at 18 Capricorn on January 27. Each of these set a different type of energy in motion in the houses in which they fell.
While in Sagittarius, Mercury is in its own 7th house relative to its Gemini qualities, and in its own 4th house relative to its Virgo qualities. So it’s very interactive and willing to dance with others in Sagittarius, which helps it ground the ideas it needs to maintain the precision and practicality of its Virgo side. I explain more about how Mercury functions in various signs in my pioneering work A New Look at Mercury Retrograde. Since it’s been retrograde in all three Earth signs this year and about to shift patterns into a combo of Earth and Fire, if you want to know about Mercury retrograde in various signs and houses, as well as how it functions in worldly events, please get a copy. It’s both fun and informative, and will give you “a new look” at all things related to Mercury retrograde! (Just make sure you get the 2nd Edition with the award on the cover published by 5th Ray Publishing rather than the much older 1st Edition published by Weiser.)Mercury in Sagittarius may get scattered, but it can open a thousand perspectives, adventures, truths, and visions. It is opportunistic in its search for knowledge which can provide a wider set of possibilities. Just don’t overlook what’s right in front of you while staring at a distant vision, and make sure not to ignore important details in what you’re reading or hearing. Learn to focus when you most want to run free through the fields of infinite ideas, and bring optimism to every interaction.
From here it’s onward to the Inferior conjunction at 1 Capricorn, which will helps us claim power in a different realm than we’ve been dealing with. It may be a return to the past, or a renewal of an old power, but we’ll definitely be seeing life differently after the coming Solstice. After that, Mercury slips back into Sagittarius, making late December and early January more late like November than the first three weeks of December.
© Copyright 2023 Robert Wilkinson
Comments