Like all Mercury retrograde periods, these three weeks offer a
chance to reorganize in the areas of our life ruled by Mercury. These
are the houses of your chart ruled by Gemini or Virgo, any planets in
these signs in your chart, and the house occupied by your natal,
progressed, or solar return Mercury.
All retrogrades show us that sometimes it is more important to be
inwardly oriented than outer-directed. These are times when our
previous activities "echo back" information about what we've already
experienced during a planetary direct motion phase.
When the inner planets are retrograde, our personal life is most
subject to review, reflection, re-doing or getting a new angle on those
affairs. When the outer planets are retrograde, we get the same process
of review but it impacts our place in the larger scheme of things,
whether social, cultural, or transpersonal-global.
When retrograde, Mercury, the "Guide of Souls," challenges us to
cultivate our personal understanding of our "fellowship with the
Eternal," explore our deeper issues and useful but overlooked details
in what's being discussed or asserted, take an unusual view, and allow
ourselves to be led by the future implications of what's happening.
It’s a time when we truly get a new look at many things and come to a
different understanding of how the various affairs of our inner and
outer life are coordinated, or need to be.
We can get different perspectives and insights into prior events,
messages, and signals, and can fill in important gaps in our
understanding. Sometimes it may seem like it's one step forward, two to
the side, one step back, one to the other side, then two steps forward,
but often we find that we are offered entirely new and crucial
perspectives and knowledge that can help us when it's time to move
forward again after the retrograde is past.
In parts 1 and 2 (links at the bottom of this article) we explored
specific qualities of the present Mercury retrograde period, including
aspects, stationary retrograde and direct degree symbols, and other
important factors. The period before Mercury goes retrograde is
important in getting your paperwork and other life areas in shape.
Please take the next few days to get important paperwork in order,
since Mercury goes RX at 8:44 am January 11, 2009, at 8 degrees
Aquarius. We now entering a three week retrograde period to deal with
things we've put off, or take care of things from the past. This
January 2009 Mercury retrograde will give us new understanding about
the events of the past four months.
Once Mercury goes retrograde, you may experience that communications
and other Mercury ruled areas are slower than usual. It's time to
re-do, review, rehearse, research, and take a new look at many things
that evolved to a threshold during the period before Mercury goes
stationary retrograde.
We can again reconsider, reinterpret, and rework Aquarius issues and
activities, seeing their significance from new angles of understanding.
Looking back, we got Cancer insights during the Summer 2007 Mercury RX,
and Scorpio insights during the Autumn 2007 Mercury RX.
We got Aquarius insights during the early 2008 Mercury RX, and
insights about our Gemini areas during the Summer 2008 Mercury RX in
Gemini. We completed a natural Air trine of Mercury RX energies when it
went through Libra in Sept-Oct 2008, offering new insights about
relationships, judgments, balance, fairness, and ways we are or are not
being an equal with others in our world.
Now that it's in Aquarius again, we'll get more insights about
our friendships, goals, ambitions, ideals, group work, larger vision of
how we can contribute to our world, how our love and enthusiasms are
exteriorizing, and the greatest good for the greatest number.
When it goes back into Capricorn, we'll get insights about our
public self image, how we readily self-organize to make our lives more
effective, and see how willing we are to embrace different ways to use
discipline and our power to take responsibility effectively.
We'll also get insights about how to synthesize various life
components so we can move unencumbered into a greater, purer
fulfillment opening us to our future in some important life area. As
this is a sign that knows no boundaries in its freedom to explore
higher and broader realms, this time can show us how to transcend our
old selves through taking a new look at our perceptions, opinions, and
judgments concerning the areas mentioned above.
Examining what signs previous Mercury RX fell in, Summer 2007 we
began to explore home and family issues, the supply of our everyday
needs, and ways of experiencing our past, present, and future. Autumn
2007 we extended this feeling-understanding and whatever emotional
intelligence we developed when the Mercury RX period made a trine from
Scorpio to Cancer.
In early 2008 when it last went through Aquarius, we began to
synthesize many things into a new larger view or a greater sense of
community or larger service. June initiated a period of exploring how
the concrete form of the images glimpsed the past year have come forth
as forms of understanding, modes of communications, and new "brothers
and sisters" in our community. October began a time of looking at our
sense of balance, justice, and fairness, our relationships, and through
responding to a life renewal, we'll eventually find a new form of hope.
Over the past year, due to Mercury RX in Air signs, we've been
guided to our Soul through reviewing and revising obsolete attitudes,
ideas, and ways of relating to others. In each instance this led us to
greater emotional, social, or cultural power.
Autumn extended this set of patterns, and we found ourselves at a
philosophical and karmic fulfillment. We continue the emotional,
social, and cultural focus during this retrograde period and beyond as
a result of both stationary degree points in the upcoming period.
By the end of this retrograde period, we will stand on the threshold
of four months when we can practice a greater emotional, social, or
cultural power that will offers spiritual victories through apparent
surrenders. By being strong, resilient, and using our creative
imagination, we can demonstrate the tools to future success. This
begins a renewed Earth influence that will pervade Mercury retrograde
periods through December 2010.
By learning about these recurring Mercury retrograde periods, we can
understand how to deal with them productively, as well as the months
afterwards, which they also indirectly influence. Since this January
2009 Mercury will go stationary at 8 Aquarius and retrograde back to 22
Capricorn, you can learn a lot about this coming period by reading all
you can about Mercury retrograde in Aquarius and Capricorn.
You can get more information how this important time of Mercury
retrograde (which happens three times a year every year!) affects you
personally by getting a copy of my book "A New Look At Mercury
Retrograde" and reading the section on Mercury retrograde in the
houses. However, you can also get some very useful ideas of how it
works by consulting the article that I linked to in the first paragraph
of this article titled "How Does Mercury Retrograde Work in the
Houses." The ideas I offer there work, whether you're referencing the
natal or Solar charts.
To that end, the houses in astrology show us the specific areas of
our worldly affairs where we experience a given planetary influence. If
you know your natal chart, then read the corresponding house in the
article. However, whether you do or don't know your chart, you can find
out Mercury's approximate position in your solar houses (created by
your Sun sign position) by consulting this table:
For birthdays between:
Dec 28 to Jan 10, read Mercury retrograde in the 1st house.
Jan 11 to 26, 12th and 1st houses.
Jan 27 to Feb 7, 12th house.
Feb 8 to 24, 11th and 12th houses.
Feb 25 to Mar 10, 11th house.
Mar 11 to 26, 10th and 11th houses.
Mar 27 to Apr 10, 10th house.
Apr 11 to 26, 9th and 10th houses.
Apr 27 to May 10, 9th house.
May 11 to 27, 8th and 9th houses.
May 28 to Jun 11, 8th house.
Jun 12 to 27, 7th and 8th houses.
Jun 28 to Jul 12, 7th house.
Jul 13 to 28, 6th and 7th houses.
Jul 29 to Aug 12, 6th house.
Aug 13 to 29, 5th and 6th houses.
Aug 30 to Sep 12, 5th house.
Sep 13 to 29, 4th and 5th houses.
Sep 30 to Oct 13, 4th house.
Oct 14 to 29, 3rd and 4th houses.
Oct 30 to Nov 12, 3rd house.
Nov 13 to 28, 2nd and 3rd houses.
Nov 29 to Dec 11, 2nd house.
Dec 12 to 27, 1st and 2nd houses.
Of course, this table is approximate, and if your birthday falls
near the edge of two possible positions you may need to read both. One
should always have the chart calculated professionally in order to know
where the planets are situated, as this helps clarify your exact cyclic
pattern.
Mercury Retrograde Astrology 2009 - How Mercury Retrograde Works and How It's Related To Past and Future Retrogrades
Mercury
Retrograde in Aquarius and Capricorn in January 2009, Part 1 - Signals
of A Rapidly Approaching Future Launching in February
Mercury
Retrograde in Aquarius and Capricorn in January 2009, Part 2 -
Reorganizing Priorities and Surrendering into Spiritual Victory
Copyright © 2008 Robert Wilkinson