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 Virgo and Leo.
This Mercury retrograde begins at 9:56 pm PDT on August 4. The retrograde moves from 5 Virgo back to 22 Leo, going stationary direct on August 28. As this retrograde begins in the first decan of Virgo it deals with the actional and material levels of life, and has a sub-influence of Mercury with an added dose of the Sun.
At 5 Virgo, our mind will turn inward and look backward at the themes of this degree involving “constructive imagination revealing unconscious realms,” getting in contact with parts of the inner self previously unknown, and reaching beyond forms and seeing the energy processes behind them. I can see this working several ways. It could be that we in fact realize we’ve achieved a new way of using our imagination, or see some part of ourselves we haven’t seen before, or it could be a look back at when this happened in the past.
The beginning of the RX period gives us a new look at where our “fulfilled material ability” to see the place and function of the details of a thing has brought us, and gives us a chance to find a new understanding of how the parts relate to the whole, and how our heart power needs a second look in terms of the forms we want to express. This gives us a different take on our practical mind, as well as any tendency we might have to nitpick, fuss over details, or are too focused on the trees and not the forest. There may be memories of how the work we do now originated in past heart or creative power which led us to our current understanding.
Take a new look at where you’re at, and if an old sense of self isn’t working any more, review the past to find a new approach to the future. This brings insights from a different angle in the life area(s) where we have early Virgo and late Leo. Mercury RX in any Earth sign is great for grounding ideas, or reworking ideas already grounded in form. Mercury RX in any Fire sign is extraordinarily active and inspired. So while the first part of this RX is more practically focused, when it retrogrades into Leo, expect more creative insights, or you may find your renewed views about what calls your heart has shown you a message you’re here to deliver to your world, perhaps in an indirect or roundabout way.
By the time Mercury is finally out of its shadow zone on September 12 we’ll all have a new understanding of the “new lands” we began to enter in January. We’ve all had “new openings,” and this will give us a look back to see what’s been accomplished, and what is yet to be accomplished through seeing a new way to ground a creative initiative in some practical workable form.
There is also a possibility of revisiting ideas and experiences from the time when Saturn occupied this RX span. It transited 22-26 Leo from late September 2006 to late February 2007, and then transited 22 Leo to 5 Virgo between late June 2007 and mid-October 2008. It then occupied 2-5 Virgo between late February 2008 and early July 2008. This was the span opened by Jupiter between late June and early September 2015. So you may find flashbacks to those times, or see how a “message you’re here to deliver” is related to your experiences of late 2006 through the Summer of 2008.
The Sabian Symbol for Mercury’s Stationary Retrograde Degree
The Sabian symbol for the 5th degree of Virgo is “A man dreaming of fairies.” In the Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, 5 Virgo is said to be a symbol of "constructive imagination as it reveals unconscious realms of being,” “creative fantasy,” and “contact with inner life-energies.”
In The Astrological Mandala he states this is a degree of "the opening of new levels of consciousness.” He says this is a “further stage of realization is shown in its initial and relatively primitive character.” Continuing, “the consciousness is gradually reaching beyond physical characteristics and becoming aware of energy processes, i.e. of the dynamism of forces which externalize themselves as life forms.”
He says “the mind in its objectivizing and analytical character … gives ‘name and form’ to that which it contacts as energy process. It ‘images forth’ energy or feeling… we call this imagination.” He says this degree falls in the Span of Idealization, the Act of Stabilization, and Scene of Characterization on the actional-material level.
Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of "the imaginative resources of life as manifest in the folklore of the race, and (our) ability to use the coin of (our) inner and eternal experience with a practical wisdom and insight.” He offers this is an “effective communion with the personified powers of the everyday world, as this instruments (our) efforts” when we “move toward our goal and reorder our perspective when we give voice to our vision.”
He states “the dreams of men are always the foretaste of human achievement, and offers us the keyword OUTLOOK. He says when operating positively, the degree is "subtle persuasiveness by which real support is gained for any given end.”
So the focus of this retrograde is about a new way of seeing ourselves and using our imagination to envision a higher order of Being. This will give us a new look to round out our view of how subconsciousness and unconsciousness create thought forms whether we know it or not. With the retrograde quality, we may see how our subconscious mind or the subconscious mind of another gave us a new understanding of how those work out in shaping our future.
Behind the Scenes in this Virgo-Leo Retrograde
While in Virgo, Mercury rules itself, so it will be in familiar turf and can reorganize whatever mental constructs we created in the recent past. Mercury in Leo is ruled by the Sun which will be in Leo for a week before entering Virgo, when it and Mercury will be in a Mutual Reception, a very powerful closed loop of self-reinforcing energies. All the themes related to these planets will play a part in our reflections and impressions from the subconscious mind or past events we remember.
Mercury RX in Earth is harmonious with its Virgo nature, and Mercury RX in Fire is harmonious with its Gemini nature. As noted in an earlier article, Mercury in Virgo is in its own 1st house relative to its Virgo qualities, and in its own 4th house relative to its Gemini qualities. So Mercury in Virgo is natural to itself as well as grounded in its own practical attention to details and order which brings structure of its Gemini traits.
Once it retrogrades back into Leo, it will be in its own 12th house relative to its Virgo qualities, and in its 3rd house relative to its Gemini qualities. So the time when it’s retrograde in Leo is great for examining our “Mercurial motive,” and seeing how our Mercury has functioned since the last time it was in Virgo.
Aspects and the Sun and Moon
In this retrograde station chart, the primary aspects to/from Mercury are very few. In fact, there are only two aspects; Mercury’s forming conjunction with Venus and the triseptile to Neptune, as there are no other aspects involving Mercury. The triseptile is a “cooperative-collective fork in the road” between collective consciousness represented by Neptune and the “name and form” Mercury is now exploring. The primary zones impacted involve 28 Pisces-2 Aries, 20-24 Taurus, 11-15 Cancer, 3-7 Virgo, 24-28 Libra, 16-20 Sagittarius, and 7-11 Aquarius.
Other significant aspects in play include Moon quintile Mars, triseptile Saturn, square Uranus, and biquintile Neptune; Venus binovile Mars, and quincunx both Neptune and Pluto as the nozzle of a Yod; Mars is conjunct Jupiter, square Saturn, and quintile Neptune; Jupiter is square Saturn and sesquisquares Pluto; and Saturn is quintile Uranus and semisquare Pluto.
The Moon is at 22 Leo, the exact degree Mercury will go SD on. It is in a New Moon phase, showing instinctive growth. Whatever is the “feeling experience” of this retrograde, it’ll be giving us signals about the period after Mercury goes direct, influencing September, October, and November. As there is no aspect between the lights, we have to go with the other aspects.
The Sun is at 14 Leo, a degree of “letting the Soul speak.” Be courageous in letting your heart out, and see it as a natural result of the “retirement from old dramas” the New Moon already set into motion affecting the entire month of August. As the last Mercury RX station had the Sun at 13 Aries, this Sun makes a trine to that Sun, indicating this RX period will be a naturally harmonious expression of the Light of that previous RX period.
Again, the main focus is on the forming Jupiter square Saturn and sesquisquare Pluto with Saturn semisquare Pluto. This impacts the early degrees of the Fixed signs and the middle degrees of the Mutable signs. The need is “right action” as new lands continue to open for future oriented people, and Divine Mother will be a constant if unseen presence in all we understand at the front end of the retrograde.
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 August 26/27. We’ll get another look when Mercury leaves its shadow zone on September 12. We may find appreciation or value of our harmony and sense of proportion when Venus transits 5 Virgo on August 8/9 just after the Mercury/Venus conjunction on August 7 at 4 Virgo exactly conjunct TransPluto.
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 our imagination or subconscious mind worked when we were trying to envision a greater life in the past. Perhaps we’ll see new ways to apply our imagination so we can open new doors of perception and find our message to give to our world. Some may recall times in the past when they realized a new image of a new life or understanding and found ways to live a new way.
We can now take a new look when “the Guide of Souls” takes us within where we can see what parts of the past still work for us so we can adjust the plan or the trajectory of our spiritual work. These 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.
Use the Venus Yod to get a new understanding of the recent and future Mercury Yods with Neptune and Pluto. All in all, this will be an extremely dynamic retrograde period, with strength, power, and heart connections to be made which impact the future. Accept new ideas and new approaches; be fearless as you flow through the adjustments necessary before everything springs forward in a few weeks.
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 Virgo and Leo sectors or planets 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 your own authentic 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 are fulfilled and can bring a greater harmony and greater good to the world.
A New Look At Mercury Retrograde
If you want to know what we can expect from Mercury retrograde in Virgo or Leo, 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 Virgo and Leo in August 2024
The Guide of Souls in August 2024 - Mercury Slowing Down, Preparing to go Retrograde at 5 Virgo
Mercury Enters Its Shadow Zone at 22 Leo – Raising Our Awareness to Receive A Message to Share
Copyright © 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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