by Robert Wilkinson
At 11:29 pm PST on February 22, Mercury will leave the Transfiguration Zone at the end of Aquarius and enter deeply mystical and intuitive Pisces, moving toward its conjunction with Saturn and then Neptune. This helps us see the subtlety in life and find a greater empathy
Mercury in Pisces brings Mutable Water to the forefront of any planets or houses we have with Gemini or Virgo prominent. As Mercury is said to be in “exile” in Pisces because it is opposite its home in Virgo, it’s now in a foreign element (water) unable to be “ordered” even if it can be explored to the far corners of the Earth with never an end. This is good for cultivating “the compassionate mind” and more thoughtful responses with an eye to how others will feel.
Mercury continues to accelerate toward maximum speed between now and its Superior Conjunction with the Sun at 10 Pisces at the end of the month. Because of Mercury’s fast pace, now is a very good time to move forward with projects, as the “coordinating principle” is now very fast with the ability to find information a lot quicker than when retrograde.
The themes of the December/January Mercury retrograde are still in play until the next SRX. That recent retrograde helped us take a new look at how we were shaped emotionally and socially, or how we accepted power or responsibility on those levels of life. We were mobilized in our early Capricorn sector to review and get a new sense of what our fulfillment might look or feel like.
Since Mercury went SD at 23 Sagittarius on January 1, we’ve all been influenced by its theme of “immigrants about to enter a new land.” We’re all in motion and those who are willing to give up the lesser will find the greater. It continues to race through Aquarius and Pisces into its initial foray into Aries, where we will again take a look back at basic facts and the new identity we’ll have found.
Mercury is now ruled by Jupiter in Taurus, which is ruled by Venus in Aquarius, which in turn is ruled Saturn in Pisces. So even though Mercury is ruled by practical and enjoyable Taurus, it will still have the intuitive, empathic, and “in tune with the collective” quality of Saturn in Pisces. As Jupiter occupies 10 and 11 Taurus while Mercury’s in Pisces, those themes will dominate all Mercurial related events.
While in the first decan of Pisces through February 28, Mercury will have a Pisces sub-influence with an added dose of Saturn. While in the second decan from February 29 through March 4, it will have a Cancer sub-influence with an added dose of Jupiter. When in the last decan from March 4-11, it will have a Scorpio sub-influence with an added dose of Mars.
While in Pisces, Mercury is in its own 10th house relative to its Gemini qualities, and in its own 7th house relative to its Virgo qualities. So it’s very self-conscious in a somewhat veiled or ambivalent way, wanting to show all things to all people, and also “other” oriented, but unclear about what that could mean. Mixed signals predominate when Mercury is in Pisces, so strive for clarity and specificity. I explain more about how Mercury functions in various signs in my pioneering work A New Look at Mercury Retrograde.Since it was retrograde in all three Earth signs last year and just shifted patterns into a combo of Earth and Fire, which will be followed by an all Fire retrograde in April, 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 Pisces takes the wider vision of synthesized understanding achieved in Aquarius and finds a deeper and wider connection in Pisces. In Aquarius, it learns how the parts relate to the whole, and works within a bigger vision than in any other sign. In Pisces, it sees the broader universal context of things, and is forced to suspend many judgments. Do not allow a lack of clarity to push you into judgments which need more time and consideration.
From here it’s onward to the Superior conjunction at 10 Pisces! As a result of the Inferior conjunction at 1 Capricorn, we’ve been seeing ways to 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, and we’re definitely seeing life differently as a result of the retrograde! We now can move forward into a more empathic and intuitive way of coordinating affairs. Again, because of Mercury’s SD degree still in play, stay focused into moving forward into the new lands promised by that degree, and give up the lesser and you will attain the greater!
© Copyright 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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