Today I am consciously turning inwards. Its a great day for it, lots of lovely rain has been falling over the past 20 hours and we were in a very dry spell over here which is always worrying, watching the plants in the garden struggle under harsh conditions, praying for rain to break the spell which it has.
On these languid slow days it is easier to turn inwards and today Mercury goes retrograde at 1 degree of Aquarius smack bang on my natal Mars Saturn Moon. Its interesting to note that we had the Mercury Pluto conjunction around the 20th December. When Mercury back tracks over the next three weeks it will return to that conjunction with Pluto which seems to indicate we will be open to receiving messages from the deeper self about deep feelings we may have buried issues around death, loss, fear and transformation in order to get a better look at what needs to be let go or shed or ways in which we can be more authentic to our core. (As I was just re-editing this the words for this came to me it is about lessons which show us where a part of us need to die or transform in those places we struggle to accept a higher will than that of just our smaller ego self.)
Echoing a similar theme Mars began its transit of Scorpio a couple of days ago where it will remain until early March so there is going to be an emotional intensity prevalent in the way we go about things, our deepest will and desires may be ruled by past issues over which we also may have limited understanding.
Mars and Mercury were actually squaring each other on the weekend and its been interesting to note there have been several news reports about nasty or inappropriate things being said to journalists by politicians and sports people. In both cases the comments had to be apologised for and retracted.
I found myself having a huge outburst on the day these two planets were facing off. It was of course about a typically Mars Saturn Moon issue, my feelings had been ignored by someone who obviously didn’t have a clue and had been insensitive and judgemental in the past. The angry outburst was accompanied by a lot of grief and tears. Luckily the outburst was evoked by a third party who understood where I was coming from. It shocked even me, but in a way it was good for me to get these feelings off my chest. Sometimes its only when I lash out or externalise in such a dramatic way that I get a handle on what is going on with me. Armed with that information I can practice self care.
Anyway a time of quiet introspection is on the cards for me over the next few weeks where I explore deeper issues that trigger some of the anger I have obviously been sitting on for some years in my therapy and think deeper about what my needs are and how to meet them in a healthier fashion.
When Mars is in Scorpio our need to connect deeply with others is highlighted. We don’t just want a superficial interaction. If we have ignored these needs or buried things it seems Mars in Scorpio along with Mercury’s retrograde transit will bring them to the fore.
I’ve been very grateful over the past 12 or so years to have an awareness of the power of Mercury retrograde times, insight in how best to use the time. Its a time of retrospection into the past three months, and even longer if Mercury aspects important positions in our chart. It is also a great time to keep a dream journal to gain insight into the working of our subconscious mind.
Giving ourselves permission to slow down, rest, introspect, dream and tie up lose ends or repair that which needs mending are also useful ways of handling the Mercury retrograde period. When we are in tune with this need things flow more smoothly for us during Mercury retrograde. We may find things or see things we could not see before when our focus was fixed more on outward things.
Emerging From The Dark Night 