(I know this is a little late, but it also affords you the
opportunity to "look back" a la Mercury retrograde and see how it may
have manifested so far.)
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 this period to re-trace ground covered in recent weeks,
get new information and interpretations of old ideas and perceptions,
and find new points of view, since these are great things to do while
Mercury is retrograde. We are now in a three week retrograde period to
deal with things we've put off, or take care of things from the past.
This September 2009 Mercury retrograde will give us new understanding
about the events of the past four months.
Once Mercury is retrograde, we often 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 Libra and Virgo
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.
It moved through Aquarius in early 2009, offering 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 went back into Capricorn, we got insights about our public
self image, how we self-organized to make our lives more effective, and
how willing we were to embrace different ways to use discipline and our
power to take responsibility effectively.
In May, we got new ways of communicating, researching,
understanding, and getting insights into how we can or should discover
blessings that can reward our faith and purity of heart. When it
retrograded back through Taurus, we'll get to review values and how we
use what we have, or need, so that our new self-images that are
emerging will be sustained.
Now, we're getting new perspectives in relationships and how equal
we are or are not, finding new ideals and preparing for important
Saturn in Libra experiences to come just a few weeks down the road. As
it slips into Virgo, we'll get to review how we need to adjust to make
our lives more effective, or we'll get a new look at work and/or health
issues.
Now we move into an emotional-social focus, and by the end of this
retrograde period, we will stand on the threshold of four months when
we will be educated in a greater emotional, social, or cultural
effectiveness. By seeing the ideals that we're willing to live and
protect, we can know how to do what must be done in practical, workable
ways. This continues a renewed Earth influence that pervades 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 September
2009 Mercury goes stationary at 7 Libra and retrogrades back to 22
Virgo, you can learn a lot about this coming period by reading all you
can about Mercury retrograde in Libra and Virgo.
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:
Aug 29 to Sep 13, read Mercury retrograde in the 1st house.
Sep 13 to 29, 12th and 1st houses.
Sep 29 to Oct 14, 12th house.
Oct 14 to 29, 11th and 12th houses.
Oct 29 to Nov 13, 11th house.
Nov 13 to 28, 10th and 11th houses.
Nov 28 to Dec 13, 10th house.
Dec 13 to 27, 9th and 10th houses.
Dec 27 to Jan 11, 9th house.
Jan 11 to 25, 8th and 9th houses.
Jan 25 to Feb 9, 8th house.
Feb 9 to 24, 7th and 8th houses.
Feb 24 to Mar 11, 7th house.
Mar 11 to 26, 6th and 7th houses.
Mar 26 to Apr 11, 6th house.
Apr 11 to 25, 5th and 6th houses.
Apr 25 to May 11, 5th house.
May 11 to 26, 4th and 5th houses.
May 26 to Jun 11, 4th house.
Jun 11 to 27, 3rd and 4th houses.
Jun 27 to Jul 12, 3rd house.
Jul 12 to 28, 2nd and 3rd houses.
Jul 28 to Aug 13, 2nd house.
Aug 13 to 29, 1st and 2nd houses.
This table is approximate, and if your birthday falls near the edge
of two possible positions you may need to read both to know which
applies to your Sun sign. Of course, one should always have a correct
natal chart calculated professionally in order to know where the
planets are situated, as this helps clarify your exact cyclic pattern.
Astrology and Mercury Retrograde September 2009 in Libra and Virgo - What Is Mercury Retrograde?
How Does Mercury Retrograde Work and How Is It Related to Past and Future Retrogrades?
Mercury Retrograde in Libra and Virgo September 2009, Part 1 - Signals of Powers and Service to Come
Mercury
Retrograde in Libra and Virgo in September 2009, Part 2 - Understanding
How and What to Perceive About A New Standard of Life
Copyright © 2009 Robert Wilkinson