by Robert Wilkinson
Today we explore specifics of the Inferior Conjunction of December 22 at 1 Capricorn. This “fusion of life and mind” will impact the rest of the retrograde period, and many weeks after.
As I offered in earlier articles, an Inferior Conjunction is when Mercury (mind) conjuncts the Sun (life) while retrograde. This indicates that signals, messages, and ideas from either outer sources or subconscious sources will fuse with the life principle, setting the tone for the lessons involving how our minds are relating to our lives during the next four months.
Mind is now reconsidering territory it’s already seen. This “fusion of Mind and Life” allows Mind to see where the Light has already been, and thereby written in our Book of Light/Life. Mercury, Guide of Souls, now has slowed down enough that the Sun has caught up and they come together for a brief moment. That also means Mercury again leads the Sun, showing Mercury is again the Gatekeeper to the Light.
It will lead the Sun until December 27 when it conjuncts Mars while retrograde. After that Mars will again “lead the Light” until January 20, when the Sun conjuncts Pluto and Pluto becomes the planet which leads the Light.
At the Inferior conjunction we enter a phase of looking back at Life to see how certain things in the past impacted how we got to where we are today. This is “Illuminated Mind looking back at inward, outward, and collective processes which have shaped our Life. As Mercury is retrograde, the degree of the inferior conjunction shows how our perceptions will merge with our Life and bring forth a new understanding of our Light.
The Sabian Symbol for the Inferior Conjunction
This Inferior Conjunction falls at 1 Capricorn, a “Critical degree” and the location of the Galactic Center! It is said that the first third (decan) of any sign deals with the actional and material levels of life, and being the Capricorn decan of that sign, invokes a sub-influence of Saturn with an extra dose of Jupiter.
The Sabian Symbol we’ve been given for the 1st degree of Capricorn is “An Indian chief demanding recognition.” In the original Jones notes published in The Astrology of Personality, Rudhyar says this symbolizes "Mastery of a situation through purposeful planning and venturing,” “bold rising to opportunity,” and “extreme of self-confidence.”
We are told in the Astrological Mandala that this symbolizes "the power and responsibility implied in any claim for leadership.” He states this degree is about an ideal materialized as the power to lead a community as a result of group energies being stabilized. He offers that we each have the ability at some point to accept responsibility for power, whether over others or situations, and this degree asks if we are ready, willing, and able to accept this power “effectively and responsibly.”
He states this symbol “refers to the capacity latent in every individual to claim and assume authority in a vital group situation. He says it falls in the span of Illusiveness, and it's the first degree of the actional-physical level of the scene of Crystallization in the Act of Capitalization.
According to Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, states this is a degree of “extreme fidelity” to “everyday or accepted values of life, and of (our) uncompromising inner integrity when it comes to meeting any situation.” He offers that this degree is about a “determination to maintain every advantage gained by birth or through experience, and to grasp every opportunity for genuine self-expression.”
He states we are unhappy unless we can “feel secure in the place (we) have made for ourselves,” and offers us the keyword INFLEXIBILITY. He says this degree, when positive, is "an ever-effective authority following from a single eye of vision and a consistent dignity of character.”
So until the next Superior conjunction at 10 Pisces on February 28, the theme of the current “inward turned fusion of Life and Mind” involves getting a new “enlightened look” at past and present memories and echoes of memories, or a return in some way of how to claim some form of Earthly Power in some social or group context. Get a different angle on how you’ve honored your integrity, or how you had to take a stand in the past and claimed power in a social setup.
This can also bring a new way of approaching power, and using our gifts, both innate and developed, to grasp opportunities for a more focused and potent self-expression. Taking a look back, or being willing to speak for a group of people, formal or informal, may be the ultimate outcome of this Inferior conjunction. Stay alert for initiatives or beginnings when Mars crosses 1 Capricorn on January 4/5.
The Galactic Center
This conjunction falls very close to the Galactic Center. That implies the retrograde quality of turning the mental function inward or backward to get a new take on things or to receive information we didn’t get before could bring us signs or signals from galactic sources. Perhaps things are about to change in our relationship to the “galactic seeds” which have sprouted since Pluto conjuncted the GC in 2007-2009?
This is the most comprehensive article I’ve written about the various Galactic Center conjunctions by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto in recent years. For your consideration, Galactic Center Conjunctions by Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto
And from 4 years ago, Jupiter Conjunct the Galactic Center in November-December 2019
Looking Back, Looking Forward
So we enter a time where Life is moving forward as Mind looks back on a) how we demonstrated our ability to accept power in the past, and/or b) how current events related to the past are again challenging us to take a new look at how we are or could claim a socially responsible power to fulfill some role in society. This “looking back” involves a period of review, reflection, and reconsideration of past material actions where we took charge, or saw another take charge, of some group work we were involved in.
Because it’s a retrograde conjunction in the Earth sign of organization, taking responsibility, performing according to duty and being persistent and mature, be flexible in your approach and response as you get flashbacks or memories of old demonstrations of power, or some “indestructible part of your Self.” Recall times when you were “persistently enduring” in doing your duty or when you were forced to take charge whether you wanted to or not or whether you expected it or not.
Just remember that all Mercury RX phenomena take a while to unfold, often during a subsequent RX period. Things which happen during a retrograde seem to have a way of moving forward in future retrogrades. This Inferior Conjunction will bring echoes of past outer planet transits in this sector of Capricorn, some related to when Saturn was in this sector of Capricorn in 2017-2018. There may be flashbacks to what began then which expanded when Jupiter crossed this degree in December 2019.
Important Dispositors and Aspects
The Inferior Conjunction is in Capricorn, and so is ruled by Saturn in Pisces. Saturn is ruled by Jupiter in Taurus, which is ruled by Venus in Scorpio, which is ruled by Mars in Sagittarius. So in this Inferior conjunction chart, all the planets are ruled by the “chain of dispositors” made up of Jupiter, Venus, and Mars except for Neptune. So these three planetary energies are “Where the buck stops” when it comes to background influence in all the various planetary departments of labor.
Primary aspects to/from the conjunction include a novile from Venus, a trine to Jupiter, and a sextile to Saturn. This “three note chord” of productive harmonization includes early Capricorn, early Pisces, and early Taurus, giving a boost of positive energies to any planets we have in the early degrees of the Earth and Water signs.
With Venus trine Neptune opening harmony in late Cancer and the early earth trines creating a harmonious void in Virgo, this should facilitate practical and grounded flow, with a sense of things about to move forward thanks to Jupiter on its stationary direct degree. We can now see how the parts show us the whole, with opportunities to receive gifts and blessings as we learn to “imitate a higher way of life.”
Besides the double sextile/trine in early Earth and Water, we have high specialization and a “quintessential” experience wherever we have 19-23 Sagittarius, 1-5 Pisces, 13-17 Taurus, 25-29 Cancer, and 7-11 Libra. Expect unique things to happen these next 10 weeks, especially when the Moon transits any of these zones and when Venus moves through the Sag zone between January 13-17, the Sun moves through the Pisces zone between February 18-23 and Mercury transits the Pisces zone February 22-25.
A benefit of Inferior Conjunctions is they offer us views of how we prepared in the past for current attitudes and ideals, or conversely, through the retrograde lens see how past attitudes and ideals led us to where we’re at right now. When Mercury gives us a backward look or alternative view and understanding of something from the past, it also in a strange way prepares the ground for the future when other planets cross this degree.
So What’s Been Going On, and What Will Happen From Here?
I’ve explained this “two-step” process of Inferior Conjunctions followed by Superior Conjunctions alternating with each other in previous articles. The last few weeks we’ve been under the influence of the last Superior Conjunction at 27 Libra in mid-October with its theme of “finding a transcendent peace beyond duality” and finding individual spiritual forms of what we have repaired from the past, or what needs repairing since mid-October. Now at the Inferior Conjunction, we’ve reached the end of the direct influence of that conjunction, and will go into a process where we will take a new look at things related to the theme of this conjunction, including the need to take a new look at our subconscious mind and why it wants or does not want power or responsibility.
While Mercury is still slow in speed, from here it gradually speeds up, and will go stationary direct at 23 Sagittarius on January 1. It will continue to speed up until it outraces the Sun at the next Superior conjunction at 10 Pisces in late February. That Superior Conjunction ushers in several weeks of realizations about knowing we have attained some form of mastery which allow us to fly free despite “ground obscuring clouds,” meaning we’ll understand how to fly our spaceship without needing visual references. I’ll write more about that in late February.
So while up to now, Life has been catching up to Mind, it will now outpace it for weeks to come. Once Mercury goes direct and hits its maximum speed, we’ll get the next Superior Conjunction, after which Mind will again outraces Life, exploring ideas and perceptions of experiences yet to occur.
The Inferior Conjunction marks the point when Mind is being absorbed by Life, or Life takes on the results of subconscious or collective ideas returning to source. For the next short period, Mercury will still be slow in speed and retrograde as the Sun moves forward, putting distance between it and Mercury. Still, from this point on, Mercury gradually speeds up, so the slowest part of the retrograde process is now past!
Once Life gets as far from Mind as it can, then Mercury goes stationary direct, and continues to speed up through its shadow zone and beyond as it prepares to enter unknown zodiacal zones after leaving the shadow zone. The “pulses” of the Inferior and Superior conjunctions of the Sun and Mercury constitute an entire field of research unto themselves. I explain this process in greater detail in A New Look at Mercury Retrograde.
Mercury, or Hermes, the “Guide of Souls”
All Mercury retrograde periods teach us about how Mercury functions. As I explain in Chapter 2 of Saturn: Spiritual Master, Spiritual Friend, Mercury’s duality is Life/Death, so when the “Divine Trickster” slows down we can get a new look at how our consciousness and responses are either creative, destructive, or both, to cite the venerable Kabbalistic 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. Basically, are our thoughts leading us to living possibilities or down dead end streets?
As we explore this new energy showing how our mind and life relate to each other, perhaps we can learn how to deal with Mercurial energies in ourselves or others from a different angle of view, organizing or reorganizing or ideas, perception, interpretations, and way of communicating. All in all, the coming 4 months will bring interesting returns, reflections, and rehearsals of how and what we’ve already dealt with in the realm of learning to use Capricorn (and soon Sagittarius!) energies productively.
The new views, understandings, and reinterpretations shown by this Inferior Conjunction should be considered in the light of the house in which this retrograde inferior conjunction is happening. (I gave you that information in the top linked article at the bottom of this post.) We can see our ideas from a different angle, find a new focus, and make progress in shedding ideas, behaviors, and responses we no longer need. These will be the source of much information and activity in the next few weeks. Wherever you have 1 Capricorn will bring a fusion of Life and Mind, especially related to the houses where you have Gemini and Virgo.
Once the Inferior Conjunction happens, whatever has seemed delayed, postponed, or dragging along will move forward soon. This can bring forth a greater holistic vision of how events and people are connected, as well as why we must rethink some things, people, and plans.
Generally, the 11 days before the inferior conjunction (fusion) of mind and life is a good time to take a new look at how you can bring out your inner wisdom by adjusting to a future vision or broader perspective that's opening for you. It's also good for getting a new point of view regarding what your imagination is willing to consider and how to coordinate your life to reorganize it productively. See what’s come up these past two weeks, since those insights will be important once Mercury goes direct.
It's great for intuitive flashes, insights into the larger collective consciousness and unconsciousness, and seeing how you're being led to see elements of your Soul you may not have recognized before now. So think back on what's happened in the past couple of weeks, and find a new way to view how those things may symbolize the future somehow.
Just remember during retrogrades, especially Mercury retrograde, that often things that don't turn out one way lead directly or indirectly to other things somewhat related manifesting down the road. It's as though nothing should be taken at face value, and often what we do or think during Mercury retrograde creates odd echoes in the future that take different shapes, or different functions related to the original intention.
A New Look At Mercury Retrograde
Because we’ll still be dealing with Mercury retrograde through January 1 (and to some extent for the 2 weeks after that while Mercury is still in its shadow zone), if you haven’t already, you should get a copy of the 2nd edition of A New Look At Mercury Retrograde. It offers in-depth information about Mercury retrograde in the various signs and houses, and what the Mercury Retrograde phenomenon is about.
By knowing more about the 2020 retrogrades in Pisces, Aquarius, Cancer, Scorpio, and Libra, the 2021 retrogrades in Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra, the 2022 retrogrades in Capricorn/Aquarius, Taurus/Gemini, and Virgo/Libra, and the 2023 retrogrades in Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo, you may see patterns in what has been going on in your life, the different things you’ve been taking a new look at and why, and how this "looking back" has influenced your choices as you moved through past events. By taking a look at the qualities of the December 2023 RX in Capricorn and Sagittarius, the April 2024 RX in Aries, the August RX in Vrigo and Leo, and the November-December 2024 RX in Sagittarius, you’ll get important information about being guided to your Soul in 2024.
Here's the Amazon link to the page where you can purchase a paperback edition of A New Look at Mercury Retrograde. If you want an ebook, you can order one at the link. (Again, if you’re going to purchase a copy, make sure it’s the award-winning second edition published in 2016 and not the 1997 edition!)
Previous articles in this series:
Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn and Sagittarius in December 2023 - An Overview
Mercury Enters Its Shadow Zone at 23 Sagittarius – Preparing to Enter a New Life in 2024
Copyright © 2023 Robert Wilkinson
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