Caught Out by Trickster Mercury!

It is no fun for the Sagittarian Moon native to find themselves stuck in any rut-like situation and I am no exception, perhaps my glib jibes about the Mercury retrograde came back to haunt me and caught me by surprise yesterday! A sudden realisation hit me that when Mercury stationed it was conjunct my natal Pluto and is now re-tracing its step through Libra and back in to Virgo forcing m to re-examine the last few weeks. Much in the way one is forced to tweeze a bit of gravel from a nasy cut my old friend Pluto is forcing me to get real about promises I made to myself a couple of months ago, along with the coming Saturn, Mercury, Sun conjunction I am in for some good wholesome purging fun!

Always being one for the tried and tested kill or cure method I feel the influences will be more than favourable for cutting the crap and seeing a situation for what it is.

No wonder then that a re-occurrence of troublesome feelings and circumstances should crop up again. Now that is a Mercury Retrograde in action I am once again finding myself in a rather joyless work situation of late has made me feel increasingly restless, irritable and confined - hence my comment in a previous post about running away to join the circus. The circus is my favourite fantasy when the unbearable grind of mundane petty chores becomes too much to bear. Do they not understand that my Sagittarius moon does not do petty detail! The very act of dotting the crossing the i’s and dotting the t’s makes me that bored that I can’t even bring myself to write that sentence properly through utter disdain. There, I had to muddle it up to make it more interesting. In fact, I am currently waiting for something amazing to happen and I am so frustrated I feel as though I am about to burst! I am always nosey about other people’s charts and what might be going on for them that I seldom bother to look at my own.

This weekend will be different as I have been set a challenge by an Aries gentleman to calculate my current transits using the B.I.D.E technique of astrology, sounds exciting eh? If that tickles you fancy why not mosey on over to the Astrological Repair Manual blog and check it out for yourself!

Whenever I feel on the verge of following the circus dream I call my father, a Libran who can give advice that is so detached and objective that sometimes I get really wound up! He is perhaps the only person able to talk sense in to me in my irrational moments.

Signs that are of the air element are Gemini, Libra and Aquarius and these are said to be the most sociable, urbane, logical signs; able to be cool, analytical and detached. Of course, my father does his fair share of ranting and can be rather blunt at times, but as you would expect he is a sociable soul and is a keen blogger. You can see some excellent examples of my dads swearing and political commentary; it is most amusing. Simply visit Hundreds and Thousands on the Trifle of Life

Air sign people do have an excellent penchant for logic and a handle on their emotions, a trait which I am rather envious of. Having a large amount of fire and good amount of water in my natal chart makes for a somewhat highly strung volatile nature and a nervous disposition, I tend to feel my way through life and the concept of detaching from my emotions is completely alien to me. All nearest and dearest are air signs, I have two Libran parents, a Gemini partner and I am blessed with a beautiful Aquarius son!

Sometimes when you read descriptions of air signs with their aloofness and lack of emotional substance they sound rather like Mr Spock. This of course is a complete nonsense, my Aquarius son is a complete softy and is ever so sensitive. His theatrical and flamboyant Leo Moon is apparent as soon as you meet him, his Natal Sun, Uranus and Mercury conjunction means that he is a true individual. How many 10 year olds tell you that they want to join the mafia and change their name to Vinnie Fontaine. How many 10 year olds join their school council at their new school with the intention of bringing down the system from within? In fact, he got on the school council at his old school for that exact same reason, once he realised he had no power to change the status quo he became disillusioned and left the school council in disgust! Such is the way of politics.

It is times like this when I feel secretly proud that my son has such a strong sense of himself and his individuality, he will always march to the beat of his own drum. It is flashes of pure outlandish genius and a stubborn refusal to bow to convention that captures the essence of Aquarius for me, not emotional detachment or cool logic.

I will be returning to my home town next week to reconnect with some old friends this weekend, it will be good to catch up with some old pals and of course my two lovely Libran parents. I can't wait!

Mutable Appreciation

In case you haven't been enjoying the sunny Venus in Leo transit, I would like to once again reiterate that you should take advantage of the increased creativity and make the most of this favourable period for all artistic endeavours.

I was thrilled to find that I had not one - but two people comment on my Mercury and Law of attraction post which is about the Mercury "gatorade" and this is most synchronistic as one person was a Gemini and the other a Virgo. I am a Pisces and all I need now is for a wandering Sagittarian to comment and we will then be able to form some sort of cyber mutable appreciation society! Could things get any more Mercurial, all happening online in the bloggersphere too, if you have any doubts as to the validity of astrology, this must surely be evidence that it expresses a higher truth!

What made my day was the Gemini leaving their twitter id, and on a post about the planet Mercury too, does it get any better than that? Well, when I saw the comment from the Virgo gentleman about his tinfoil hat duck covering circus antics I thought it was Christmas, Easter and my birthday rolled in to one big glorious day!

Mutable signs are generally the curious, dexterous, flexible, flighty social signs. If there is an obstacle they simply change course, where a cardinal sign would seek to win the battle, or the fixed sign would spend the next 6 months climbing over it a mutable sign veers off on another course to pastures new. Pretty soon the obstacle that caused the radical departure is forgotten and there are new tangents ahead! It's good to be flexible and open to new possibilities. When you think about mutable signs think movement, change, flux, bending and flowing.

So far the Mercury retrograde is going well for me, as the planet of logic and reasoning moves backwards I feel rather oblivious to this. As a Piscean with my natal Mercury in Pisces I live in a constant woolly minded state of confusion, most days I leave the house without an essential item and I can't even remember what happened last Tuesday, I just go with the flow and trust that the universe is unfolding the way it should and I feel no concern about the possible miss-haps of a Mercury retrograde. My life is a never ending ebb and flow of losing things, being late for things, forgetting things, being late, things turning up, things being remembered, such is the way of the creative mind.

So, perhaps we could start collecting comments from the other signs of the zodiac on the current Mercury retrograde, has anyone else considered the tinfoil hat option or is it just our Virgo friend so far?

Mercury Retrograde and The Law of Attraction

In case you are wondering why this post comes with a picture of me and a cow it is because I was attempting to communicate and bond with this creature. Mercury is also a planet that rules all forms of communication as well as the mind, logic, short journeys, transportation, reasoning and education.

From tomorrow Mercury will appear to be retracing it’s steps, going backwards in its orbit if you are to observe it from Earth and this phenomena is called a retrograde period (all planets have them).

Perhaps the only thing to do during a Mercury retrograde is to go with the flow and not be too anal about it. Mercury retrograde always seem to create a bit of a buzz online and I can’t help thinking that there may be a degree of self fulfilling prophesy at play here. As the law of attraction states – what we think about most we attract.

Recently I have been reflecting upon the potential dangers of astrology, especially when people blindly follow traditional and accepted notions with no discernment or critical thinking, this kind of blind acceptance leads to fatalistic attitudes and superstition. Such superstitious thinking is extremely harmful to ourselves and others, next time you find yourself entertaining supersticious fancies I would suggest that you think back to the middle ages when nice old ladies that talked to their pet cats were burned at the stake for being witches – I’m sure you get the picture!

However, just in case you remain convinced that some sort of disaster may befall you during Mercury’s current retrograde period I have devised the following: strategies.

1. The duck and cover method
2. Wear a tin foil hat
3. Run away and join the circus

Let’s now take the time to look at how effective each of these strategies may be:

1. Duck and cover: This has proved to be ineffective in the event of a nuclear bomb exploding and I would not recommend this strategy for dealing with this month’s Mercury Retrograde cycle as it begins on September 7th and ends September 29th. This is far too long to hide underneath something!
2. Wear a tin foil hat: While making the tin foil hat may be a creatively rewarding pastime and will appeal to the more paranoid among you it could backfire on you. I shall explain; if you hope to protect your brain from any cosmic rays consider the following; antennae are also made of metal and you may end up attracting more cosmic rays thus amplifying the effects of the Mercury Retrograde.
3. Run away and join the circus: This is my personal favourite, however, as Mercury rules short journeys and travel is one of the things that is often affected during a Mercury Retrograde I'm afraid that you may never even reach the circus.

So, what we need to do is not panic, the trickster Mercury rules two mutable signs, Virgo and Gemini, both known for their dexterity and flexibility, and I think herein is where the solution lies. If we try not to be too rigid in our plans, expect the unexpected and we are prepared to go with the flow we can better deal with any setbacks that we encounter during this period.

Sure, computers misbehave, letters get lost and delays are possible and we might get to work late, but none of these are catastrophic happenings and remember, a Mercury Retrograde is great for going over the fine details of previous projects, you may come across a gem of information you missed first time round.

Planets in Gemini - Yay!

Venus is now in Gemini and Mars moved in to the sign of the twins on the 11th which I feel will be a great boost for people with their Natal Venus and Mars in fire or air signs.

After Mars has been plodding through Taurus in a slow and steady fashion it is a bit of a relief that he is finally more at home in the restless excitable Gemini. Taurus is, as you may or not know, ruled by Venus, the planet representing the feminine principal, I wonder if this may have had an emasculating effect on the God of War (Mars), who is now probably glad to be getting his freak on and moving freely once again.

You can see how this Mars transit may affect you by having a look at your natal chart (birth chart) and good free charts can be obtained from Astrodienst and the Venus Group and you will be able to see what house Mars is in at this present time. I will take the liberty of giving you all a quick breakdown of how Mars may shake up different areas of your life depending on what house he is now moving through. Bear in mind that Mars is a positive, masculine Yang energy and he will assert himself in such a manner.

1. In the first house this is the house of yourself, associated with the sign of Aries. The Martian energy will manifest in all areas that revolve around you! This is all very much in keeping with the red planet who is extremely happy as he rules this house and of course the sign of Aries - happy days!
2. In the second the focus will be on material possessions values and all things Taurean, you could find that you have a particularly strong drive to succeed or maybe spend money. The Martian energy will permeate your desire to acquire material security, possessions, but it could also manifest as rashness in this area, so keep that in check.
3. The third rules communication and is probably my favouite house (I have Pluto here in my natal chart), short journeys and siblings as it is the house we associate with Gemini the twins. This will no doubt give your mental faculties a real boost and you could find yourself busy flitting here and there on various errands and little jollies.
4. The fourth is the house of home and roots and this is linked to the sign of Cancer. When Mars has been transiting my fourth house I have found that I have been busier than usual at home, receiving guests (with Mars in Gemini at the moment this could be the most likely outcome) and more house proud than usual putting more energy in to organising my surroundings.
5. This is one of my favourite houses as it is the house of all the nice things such as creativity, kids, parties, romance, it is the house of all things Leonine, need I say more. What I will say is lucky you; you're in for a good time, and quite possibly a bit of a sexy time too!
6. When Mars is transiting the sixth house, all matters of a Virgoan nature are given the Martian treatment; the sixth house is concerned with day to day activities, health and diet, work and oddly enough pets. If you have been letting yourself go somewhat this is a great time to start exercising, improve your diet and be more organised and efficient, you will have the Martian energy working for you in these areas.
7. This house is the house of relationships and is associated with the air sign Libra, as Mars rules sex it could mean that things get a little steamy, and that is obviously great for most of us. It will bring the intense focus of Mars to close relationships and partnerships, but this can also signify tension and conflict as you might expect with the planet in question being Mars.
8. Moving on to House number eight and all things of a Scorpionic nature; this is the house of sex, transformation, death and joint finances. Mars is having a good time here, as he rules Scorpio, so he is feeling pretty comfortable. You may also find the Martian energies compel you to investigate hidden or occult matters in true Scorpio style, others people's money may also be brought to your attention. You could see the end of an old cycle in your life and the beginning of a new one.
9. And that brings us to house nine, another personal favourite, and things of a Sagittarian nature such as travelling, studying, adventure, meeting new and interesting people, religion and philosophy. The Martian energy may give you itchy feet and thoughts may turn to those of adventure, if you have been stuck in a rut and jaded of late take advantage of this period in time to broaden your horizons.
10. The tenth house is associated with Capricorn and rules your career, ambition and drive to succeed, Mars is exalted in this house, make the most of these energies to help you achieve your worldly goals, you know you deserve this and Mars will lend his energy in all matters of business and self promotion. You may find abrasive situations with people in authority, but that's only because you know you deserve better than to be bossed around by that joker!
11. Yet another one of my favourite houses, the eleventh is a house with an Aquarian nature and any sort of group efforts or co-operation is likely to become energised with the Martian get up and go. This will be great if you have networking to do and this is also the house that is traditionally associated with gifts from the king, so this is all good as far as I'm concerned. Embrace the feeling of humanitarianism and just go with it.
12. This mysterious house is the house of the unconscious, private and hidden things and it is also a house that is associated with all things Piscean. Traditionally this is also the house of secret enemies, and with Mars transiting this could get quite interesting, however, last time I had Mars transiting my Twelfth house there was no cloak and daggers type tomfoolery going on. I found instead that the Martian energy was channeled in to an examination of matters that I usually force to the back of my mind where they fester and end up causing seemingly unrelated problems. The confrontational Martian energy helped me examine this and start dealing with things in a different way.

Anyhow, Even more interesting is the Uranus and Saturn opposition that is going on right now, although that deserves another post all of its own which no doubt will arrive shortly. Another forthcoming noteworthy event will be the Mars and Uranus square lasting from the 11th to the 26th August - things could get a little interesting, more tales from Uranus.