by Robert Wilkinson
Today we explore specifics of the Inferior Conjunction of December 5 at 15 Sagittarius. 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, except for when the Moon comes between Mercury and the Sun. Mercury will occupy that position until January 21 when the Sun conjuncts Pluto.
Then Pluto is the entry to the light until Mercury conjuncts Pluto on January 28/29, after which Mercury again leads the Light until its next Superior conjunction on February 9 at 21 Aquarius, when Pluto will again be the planet that leads the Light. After that we have a variety of planets leading the Light before and during the March-April Venus and Mercury retrograde periods.
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 15 Sagittarius. It is said that the second third (decan) of any sign deals with the emotional and social levels of life, and being the Aries decan of Sagittarius, it has a direct rulership by Mercury with a sub-influence of Mars and an extra dose of the Moon.
The Sabian Symbol we’ve been given for the 15th degree of Sagittarius is “The ground hog looking for its shadow.” In The Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols,, 15 Sagittarius is said to be a degree of “Revelation of basic life purposes and cycles through omens,” “universal patterning of life relationship,” and “Keen divination.”
In The Astrological Mandala, he goes on to say that this degree symbolizes “The value in anticipating new turns of events and ascertaining future prospects.” He says this is a degree of planning “with an eye on probable future developments” based in past cycles and trends.
He also says that this symbol can indicate a need to be aware of larger “social or planetary rhythms” in using a broader awareness, which he terms “prospective.” He says this degree falls in the Span of Receptiveness, Act of Group Integration, and Scene of Abstraction at the culmination of the Individual-Mental level.
Dr. Jones says this is a degree of “the creative interest” on which we depend in the drift of events. He says this symbols indicates our “direct rehearsal of experience through an anticipation of eventualities, or an unhesitating and thoroughly practical trial and error.” He continues that this is “a consistent sensitivity to straws in the wind, and a willingness to make any amount of self-adjustment in order to capitalize on the situation of the moment.”
He offers us the keyword REASSURANCE. He states that when operating in a positive manner, this degree “is a natural talent for determining the proper course of action or reaction in any given issue.”
So until the next Superior conjunction at 20 Aquarius on February 9, the theme of the current “inward turned fusion of Life and Mind” involves taking a new look at “basic purposes and life cycles,” seeing “the universal patterning” in our relationships, and getting glimpses of how the past and present are showing us the need to “be aware of larger rhythms using a broader awareness.”
As this is a degree of individual-mental abstraction fulfilled that shows us the shapes of things to come through extrapolating what has been and how it led us to here and now, this is another “back to the future” celestial event. It may be that we remember, or find a new way to express, “a creative capitalization on the moment” as a result of how we’ve rehearsed for the life experiences we’re going through.
This fusion of Life and Mind should bring insights into how this happened in the past, or how recent developments are paving the way to an assurance in getting a plan or a vision. Get a different angle on how to focus your individual spiritual understanding, or how you did this in the past.
Looking Back, Looking Forward
So we enter a time where Life is moving forward as Mind looks back on a) revelations of the future in the past, and/or b) how current events related to the past are again showing us new views of how current events help us plan for “probably future developments.” This “looking back” involves a period of review, reflection, and reconsideration of how we assessed potential futures when we saw basic purposes or larger cycles in the past.
Because it’s a retrograde conjunction in the Fire sign of individual spiritual inspired vision, be proactive in your approach and response as you get flashbacks or memories of how you were inspired in the past, or were able to inspire others as you saw the future before it happened.
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 Sagittarius in both early and late 2016, and when Jupiter crossed this degree in early 2019, eventually going stationary direct on this degree in August 2019.
Important Dispositors and Aspects
The Inferior Conjunction is in Sagittarius, and so is ruled by Jupiter in Gemini. As mentioned in other articles, that puts Jupiter and Mercury in “Mutual Reception,” a very powerful closed circuit of self-reinforcing energies. Find the balance between inspired ideas and scattered thinking. At this time the Mutual Reception is the “final dispositor” for all the other planets except Neptune. You can find out more in the recent New Moon articles.
Primary aspects to/from the conjunction involve the opposition to Jupiter, square to Saturn, and semisquare to Venus which is conjunct Pluto. This indicates purifications are coming, and with the Moon on the degree of the Barometer, Venus on the degree of “A woman reading tea leaves,” and the conjunction being the groundhog, this is obviously going to be a period when we get all kinds of signs and signals about what’s coming in the future. The good news is that the conjunction is trine Chiron which should help us join with others in anticipating things to come. You can find out more about current aspects and special evolutionary configurations in the recent New Moon article.
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. Mars will activate these things when it next transits 15 Sag in late November 2025.
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 9 Libra on September 30 which has shown us how to fuse our Mind with our Life to “return to source” for new inspiration, and used previous inspiring images to move forward in October and November. We have been transfigured in the emotional and social realms and have become more balanced as a result.
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 to see what’s coming and plan accordingly.
While Mercury is still slow in speed, from here it gradually speeds up, and will go stationary direct at 7 Sagittarius just after the 24 Sag/Gemini Full Moon on December 15. It will continue to speed up until it outraces the Sun at the next Superior conjunction at 21 Aquarius in early February. That Superior Conjunction ushers in several weeks of realizations about turning disappointment into strength through resilience, and learning how to handle disappointment with gratitude for what comes next. I’ll write more about that in early 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 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 article about its effects on all signs and birthday at the bottom of this one.) 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 156 Sagittarius 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 December 15 (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 2021 retrogrades in Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra, the 2022 retrogrades in Capricorn/Aquarius, Taurus/Gemini, and Virgo/Libra, the 2023 retrogrades in Capricorn, Taurus, and Virgo, and the 2024 retrogrades in Aries, Leo, Virgo, and Sagittarius, 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 all the retrograde transits, you’ll get important information about how you were 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 Sagittarius in November-December 2024 – Reflections on Living in a New World
Mercury Retrograde in Sagittarius in November-December 2024 – An Overview
Mercury Enters Its Shadow Zone at 7 Sagittarius – Preparing to Review Our New Life of 2024.
Copyright © 2024 Robert Wilkinson
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