By Flash Silvermoon
That slippery little trickster Mercury evaded my penetrating vision as I made my way through the planetary pile up of the Grand Cardinal Cross in last month's ASTROFLASH. Mercury went retrograde for 3 weeks on Aug 20 until Sept.12 so do mark your calendars and hopefully you will have gotten all your important business tied up before then or wait til after the12th to set things in stone.
So many of us live inside that rat race chasing our tails trying to keep up with a world wildly careening pell mell towards some hope of retirement, to one day taking that time to smell the flowers when the bills are finally paid, when the kids are finally in college, when you finally get your divorce from the one who doesn't understand you and could care less!
The Cardinal Square energy that I have been referring to these last few months asks us to each step out of our cages, self imposed or otherwise.
With several planets in Virgo, this month and time is for sorting out, and Mercury in Virgo is such a good sorter. Time to really re- order your priorities so that your focus is truly on what has meaning for you rather than what you are just doing.
You have no doubt heard the typical Mercury retrograde warnings.
Don't sign anything, buy anything, commit to anything permanent, refrain from large purchase especially electrical and mechanical things. Don't have sex for the first time in your new relationship when mercury goes retro [ fine chance of that happening ]. Double and triple check meetings and messages and be sure to give the benefit of the doubt in controversy as nobody will really know the whole story!
OK, those are some of the DON'TS, NOW HOW ABOUT THE DO'S!!
Do take the time to De-clutter your house, mind, closets, garden, and social calendar so that you can make room for the new energy coming in when Mercury goes direct which will occur this time on Sept 12. Take all those half done projects and bring them to completion so that when Mercury goes direct, you will be ready to roll.
Since we do not live in a culture that includes and honors down time, we need to try to integrate that into our lives much more til the 12th.
Some of the challenges we face in trying to live lives more connected to natural and astrological cycles is that Patriarchal Gregorian calendars simply have no such orientation. When we want to observe these more inner times and keep up our work schedules, it can be a challenge.
It's not that you can't forge ahead during the retrograde but it simply is not energy efficient. Why swim upstream when you can go with the flow?
I am taking the time to explain a bit more about the retrograde energy because there are 7, count them, 7 planets including asteroid Chiron moving backwards at this time so it's not just Mercury creating this need for a pause.
The New Moon in Virgo on the 8th will also underscore a culling and prioritizing so that our goals and path are more streamlined when both Mercury and Pluto go direct on the 12th and 13th respectively. Then, we can fly forward with conviction.
With Uranus backtracking into Pisces, we are being given a little respite from the planetary firestorm of the summer and it is now time to integrate all the major shifts and dynamic changes we have set in motion. The Grand Cross energy is still in play but as the month rolls on the intensity will weaken a bit til the Full Moon in Aries. If you have been dragging your feet, you will find you may feel a little more tossed in the swirling Piscean waters. The message is still, Find the New You Being Reborn as we approach the true Dawning of the Aquarian Age!
With several planets in Libra, we may also be prone to do some fence sitting but it may also be a time to let romance sizzle a bit as we learn to merge in a more balanced way. Saturn won't have it any other way whether the relationships are between lovers or countries.
On Sept.23, we will have a most potent Full Moon in Aries. I learned much about this particular Full Moon from the newly departed, wise and witty witch, Marion Weinstein, who referred to the Aries Full Moon as the Blood Moon because in the ancient past, it was a time of animal sacrifices. She also suggested that this was such a dangerous time because we are in the death throes of the Patriarchy. She suggested, and I heartily agree, that it is best to not to go to places where one is likely to encounter a dangerous element on this night.
The good news for this time is that Saturn is moving further from the square to Pluto and the whole Cardinal Square thing. The bad news is I can see the possibility of a really bad storm on this day with the Full Moon conjoining both Jupiter and Uranus making the tides run exceptionally high and with Neptune and Chiron back being Siamese twins again, we could have both wild winds and water. I hope that I am totally wrong too. So do be prepared. Either way, this moon could bring some most intense global events with it.
Times are changing and there is no well defined generic road map, however, by becoming more acquainted with your particular chart and the effects of the transits, you have an incredible guide which will offer you dates and times where you are more likely to succeed or have difficulties.