Mercury Retrograde in Libra: The Story of Relating (Part Three, The Epilogue)

 

Art by Vladimir Kush

Mercury Retrograde in Libra:  The Story of Relating (Part Three, The Epilogue)

Prologue- 9/6 to 9/27 (LIB 11-26)

Retrograde Story:  9/27 to 10/18 (LIB 26-11)

Epilogue:  10/18 to 11/2 (LIB 11-26)

 

 

Part Three, Mercury’s Epilogue (10/18 – 11/2)

In Mercury’s third and final journey over these degrees of Libra, we see the story presented at the end of the previous Mercury cycle tie in a new, and often wiser, light.

During this Epilogue to the Mercury Retrograde, the Cosmic Messenger wraps up the lessons we needed to take our time learning.  The lessons, then, inspire ideas to come forth into fruition throughout the coming months.  I like to think of this third pass as an integration of the wisdom we learned during Mercury’s Retrograde Journey. 

Mercury took us on a Magic Carpet Ride backwards through the air of Libra.  Now we’re bringing that Mercury Magic back into ordinary reality to share in a direct way.  It only took a shift of perspective and a non-ordinary experience to get our minds re-aligned with the Cosmic Mind.    

That is, if you were paying attention to how this story has been speaking to you personally.  From what I’ve seen, many of us couldn’t ignore the underlying messages coming through to us from this particular Story of Relating.

 

Epilogue (10/18 to 11/2)

10/18:  Mercury Stations Direct (LIB 11)

          Sabian Symbol: ‘a professor peering over his glasses’

Story:  As we return once more to the degree of Libra where we started this story, the Mercurial Professor gives us all a wink and a knowing smile.  ‘You thought, at first, you had it all figured out, yes?  Ah, but now…you see the fuller picture of what this story was really about for you.’  With a trickster twinkle in his eye, the Professor begins to tie it all up for us so that we may bring those lessons into our lives with a fresh perspective.

10/25:  Mercury’s Maximum Elongation (Morning)

Story:  At this point during the end of this story, Mercury begins to move us ahead on the ideas he inspired in us.  Our new mental outlook gets some wings, and we carry those thoughts into more direct communication with others for the next few months. 

10/27:  Mercury in LIB 17

          Sabian Symbol:  ‘a retired sea captain’

Story:  Mercury brings us back to the degree of its previous retrograde conjunction with Sun to wrap up the story arc of this character.  During the Retrograde Story, the sea captain had much to learn about relating to others, himself, and his environment in new ways.  Gruff as he may have become after being long at sea, he experienced a softening element to his interactions in retirement.  Awkward as the transition was at first, he learned to adjust to a less critical pace and gentler exchanges with others.  In the end, he was better able to convey to others the wisdom of his experiences…building new friendships on solid ground.  What have we learned of relating to each other after our own high pressure experiences of the recent past?  We might liken our journey through lockdown and social distancing as being ‘out to sea’, navigating through a storm.  The return has been a slow (and somewhat awkward) process…many of us forgetting how to relate to others after so much distance.  Like the story of the retired sea captain, Mercury encouraged us through his retrograde to find our footing.

10/31:  Mercury trine Jupiter (LIB 23)

          Sabian Symbol:  ‘Chanticleer’

Story:  This third trine between Mercury and Jupiter heralds some good news, an optimistic message we can take forward to inspire new ideas.  Chanticleer, the Rooster, crows at dawn to alert us to a new consciousness…awakening the senses and inspiring us in a ‘carpe diem’ sort of way.  This is a very social aspect, and may present ideas in an amplified way.

11/2:  Mercury square Pluto (LIB 25)

          Sabian Symbol:  ‘information in an autumn leaf’

Story: The meaning within the story deepens in this last square with Pluto.  This is when all the symbolism we encountered, the hints that Mercury dropped for each of us personally, really come together and illuminate the whole process we went through during the retrograde.  While we endured the focused heaviness of this square throughout the beginning of the retrograde (at Mercury’s retrograde station, toward the end of September), some of us may have thought the point of this story had something to do with death…or some kind of ending at least.  The sea captain thought so, at first, as he had to settle into his retirement.  He watched the waves of the sea from his home on land and thought ‘this is the end of my journey’.  But the apparent death of an autumn leaf is not an end at all.  It is a transformation that feeds a new beginning, as it returns to the earth and provides what is needed for new growth in the coming spring. 

11/2:  Mercury finishes Epilogue (LIB 26)

          Sabian Symbol:  ‘an eagle and a large white dove turn one into the other’

Story: What we were not fully ready to wrap our minds around at the end of last month, we now return to so we can integrate it.  As Mercury finally passes through the whole of this degree, we experience a full transformation of relating through the wisdom of balanced reciprocity.  Within us, what this means is a better understanding of the partnership between heart and mind.  And how that reflects in our interactions with others has to do with our ability to maintain a balance between giving and receiving. 

 

Love and Gratitude,

Felina Lune Kavi

 

P.S. Click this link for a recap of 'Part One, The Prologue'

And click this link for a recap of 'Part Two, The Retrograde Story'