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| Isa: The Rune of Ice, Standstill, and Shifting Inward |
Full Moon in Gemini during Mercury’s Retrograde
Station: Time Out! Take a Breather. Rediscover Your Inner Strength.
Mercury retrograde pre-shadow began: 11-14-17
Mercury stations retrograde: 12-3-17 @ 1:34am CST
Moon opposite Sun: 12-3-17 @ 9:46am CST
Mercury stations direct: 12-22-17 @ 7:51pm CST
Mercury retrograde post-shadow release: 1-10-18
If the Mercury Retrograde of August this year taught us
anything (and I hope it taught us much more), it’s that sometimes slowing down
to a full halt, consciously assessing the magnitude of what’s transpiring, and
then going backward and inward to revise our thoughts and feelings is
periodically necessary. Those key
periods for ‘dropping in’ to new realms of thought, retrieving what you were
missing while racing to your goals, happen three to four times a year during
Mercury Retrograde. Of course, such
things can happen at other times, and our personal transits reflect that, but
these retrogrades are like guided journeys for the collective mind. Here, we all contribute to the reshaping of
global thought.
We notice the energy shift mainly at each Mercury station (when
Mercury pauses, from our view anyway, and changes direction). But Mercury tries to mentally prepare us for
the journey ahead of the initial shift of perception…during the ‘shadow period’
which began on November 14th this time. Not all of us consciously tune in to the prep
period of course, so we often find ourselves discombobulated for a time until
we allow ourselves to adjust to the energy.
This is why Mercury Retrogrades get blamed for Murphy’s Law (“whatever
can go wrong, will go wrong”)…when often it’s still human error or out-of-sync
timing with others.
Mercury Stations Retrograde in Sagittarius 30
Mercury shifts into retrograde in the last degree of
Sagittarius, a few hours before the Full Moon is exact. The Sabian Symbol for this degree is ‘The
Pope, blessing the faithful’. Though
this whole retrograde journey really focuses on our religious and spiritual
beliefs, as Sagittarian energy is about such bigger picture quests, this particular
degree’s symbol also goes beyond the leader of the Catholic Church and
represents any human who leads others and becomes a symbol for the cause. Some do it well, and some do it terribly…as
we’ve been noticing. In fact, symbols
themselves are of particular focus in this retrograde because Mercury’s direct
station degree is in Sagittarius 14. The
Sabian symbol there is ‘The Great Pyramid and the Sphinx’…representing enduring
symbols of spiritual wisdom that date back to ages before the church. So, Mercury essentially hovers there on the
degree of religious authority that pervades the Piscean Age that we are moving
beyond into the Age of Aquarius…travels back to the degree of ancient spiritual
symbols from Egypt that represented the spiritual evolution from the Age of Leo
through the Age of Taurus…and then goes forward again (usually with many of us
picking up some necessary information for the collective). So we’re examining traditions, beliefs,
values…yet Mercury is aware that the spiritual practices of our age aren’t
really connecting us to the root of what we need at this time. He takes us back farther through our
spiritual ancestry and gets us closer to a place of foundational wisdom with
which we can rebuild upon. This has been
a theme, restructuring upon enduring foundations and receiving wisdom from our
ancestors, as Mercury aligned with Saturn at Galactic Center…though Saturn has
been building those foundational connections all year. So Mercury means to take us on a deeper dive
into the Mysteries of our spiritual ancestry this month…to retrieve some
important knowledge before he moves the collective mind into Capricorn
territory.
Moon in Gemini 12
Shortly after Mercury stations retrograde, the Long Nights
Moon reaches fullness. The Sabian symbol
for this degree is “a slave girl demanding her rights”. This particular symbol has a few different
renditions…like ‘a black girl fighting for independence in the city’, as well
as the original 1925 wording in reference to ‘Topsy’, from Uncle Tom’s Cabin, ‘asserting
herself’. The key here is asserting
yourself in new situations that are more open to necessary change than what
your past allowed. This character’s past
was terribly rough…and though her new situation was less violent and
subjugating, the prejudices of the past followed this character to her new
environment…as she accepted them as truths as well. Her saving grace, as it is with all of us,
was love. That was all she needed to
finally understand her own worth. And
her life changed because of the acceptance she received from another. This degree has to do with clearing out the
ghosts of past beliefs and judgments and standing strong in your authentic
truth…the freedom that follows is a story of transformation. So this moon may have us struggling between
the self-limiting thoughts about ourselves that were part of our past
conditioning and the diamond in the rough of who we really are and how we
should be treated. It may also bring
race relations strongly to the fore...where love, friendship, and acceptance
will continue to assert itself over antiquated beliefs of any skin color being
better than another.
Sun in Sagittarius 12
The Sabian symbol for this degree is “a flag turns into an
eagle that turns into a Chanticleer saluting the dawn”. This symbol has very American undertones,
which is no surprise as they were channeled by an American clairvoyant (Elsie
Wheeler). The keynote in this symbol is
the transformation that occurs from a symbol or idea into a realization and
manifestation. The flag is a symbol of a
nation and its ideals. The eagle is also
a symbol for the USA…indicating ideals of freedom as well as soaring to the
highest heights. The eagle soars so high
that it can see the sun first as it rises.
Likewise, the Chanticleer (rooster) heralds the dawn of each new day by
crowing at daybreak. All of these images
together represent the idea that each day carries the potential for another
rebirth of consciousness. The connection
between these symbols is that ‘assertion’ theme as well as the transformation
we undergo as we reach higher states of freedom. There is also the shadow correlation to the
Moon’s degree that relates to seeing others as being less than ourselves…where
national pride resonates as just another prejudice of the privileged. The opposition between these symbols is that
here we are focused on the need for ‘peak experiences’ to bring
transformation…while the Moon’s degree identifies with the struggle of reality
when trying to rise up and speak out. It
is easier for the flag/eagle/rooster type to be accepted with notoriety and a
resonant voice than it is for the girl whose been oppressed her whole life to
find her voice and be heard…but she will be finding her own flag to raise, her
own wings to soar, and her own wake-up call to sound.
The Music of the Spheres
There are so many other energies at play during this time
that I will have to just list them so I don’t write a book about this
lunation. There are two other influences
that are very important right now…which also featured strongly since the last
full moon. First, Neptune is in a harsh
T-square pattern with our luminaries now…which continues to heighten both the
confusion that’s been apparent for over a month now as well as an otherworldly
and spiritual emphasis. Any of the
stress this opposition of the luminaries inclines in our human experience is
pooled and pressured into Neptunian energies…so some may feel like they're drowning in energies they can’t even put their finger on, while others may
cling to escapism and their addictions to deal, and still others might be able
to catch the wave of spirituality and creativity that keeps them afloat in
uncertain times. The other main energy
is that Mercury isn’t the only one who’s at a standstill during this full
moon…so is Chiron, who stations direct on the 5th. This is a time when old wounds can be deeply addressed and purified.
Both Neptune and Chiron were featured in the
same degrees as now toward the end of my Full Moon in Taurus post…so if you
need a refresher on these degrees of ‘examination’ and ‘purification’, feel
free to re-read those paragraphs. A
Mercury Retrograde is always a good time to re-read things, after all. Also, in the same post, you can find that the
Sun was in Scorpio 12 where Jupiter is now…so the ‘official embassy ball’
symbol applies again because Jupiter is making a harmonious trine aspect to
Neptune now as well as uncomfortable ‘growth aspects’ to the
luminaries…facilitating an amplification of what Neptune is dishing out while
widening the feeling of disconnection with the energies of the luminaries. Ultimately, Jupiter is pushing for
integration of the balance between these forces, though it may feel more like a
tug-o-war at first.
Another energy still looming, as it reached exaction just
yesterday (12-1), is the opposition between Mars and Uranus Retrograde. This combination is often an accident-prone
kind of energy…especially when rage or forcefulness is involved. However, Mercury and Saturn are making
harmonious aspects to it…which give a healthy outlet for the energy to become
more balanced through mature communication.
Still, stationary Chiron is also tangled up in it all with not so
harmonious aspects…so these energies may exacerbate the wounds we are trying to
heal.
There’s not really any energy sitting out during this
lunation. Pluto has been tangled up with
the Moon’s nodes all week (making uncomfortable transformation a karmic
necessity), and even Venus (who recently entered Sagittarius and is least
influential right now) is still gearing up for her harsh square with Neptune a
week from now…where confusion or deception in relationships may come to a
head. The trick is to surrender to where
this Mercury Retrograde is leading you…as that is the underlying energy of
guidance right now. Each delay, setback,
scheduling snafu, mechanical failure, communication breakdown…instead of
allowing your impatience and irritation to set the tone of misunderstanding,
allow for the understanding that there is a reason behind things not going
according to plan. Instead of seeing all
of the obstacles that are put in your path, understand that they may be the
very things that clear the obstacles within you so that you will actually take
some time to go inward and find what you need first before going ahead. Take a time out. And just breathe through it.
Love and Gratitude,
Felina Lune Kavi
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