Mercury retrogrades are typically associated with review periods. Interestingly enough, the incoming one will be surrounded by several repeating aspects. Taken as a whole, the time to reconsider, revaluate and reinvent is at hand. Mercury’s backwards trek begins on September 9th, when the planet of technology and communication will be at 8 degrees of Libra. That places Mercury at odds with expansive Jupiter, also currently retrograde. The two form exact oppositions on September 2nd and 18th, so prior to and during Mercury’s retrograde. Enthusiastic, optimistic Jupiter has a tendency to over-promise. In impetuous Aries, its exuberance can hardly be contained. Exacerbating impulsiveness, Mars, the ruler of Aries, has recently arrived into talkative, ungrounded Gemini. In the early degrees of the mutable air sign, Mars has only egged Jupiter on. The challenges about to befall jolly, generous Jupiter from Mercury in Libra will stress the need for balance. The slow motion of Mercury and Jupiter may provide the perfect opportunity to carefully examine data before making consequential decisions. After leaving Jupiter’s orb, Mercury’s battles with excess will continue. When the Messenger ventures back into Virgo on September 23rd. he will be met by oceanic Neptune, sitting at 23 degrees of Pisces.
Pisces is the opposite sign of Virgo, both by degree and nature. Where Pisces prefers the intangible, magical and symbolic, Virgo values clarity, order and practicality. This contest between imagination and intelligence began back on August 21st when Mercury first opposed Neptune. Matters left on the table then are likely to reemerge, under the coming full Moon and around the tail end of the retrograde, when Mercury returns to 24 degrees of Virgo, from September 30th through October 5th. With its station scheduled for October 2nd, there’s plenty of time to ponder. More immediately, September 10th’s full Pisces Moon will be tightly aligned with Neptune. Together, the Moon and Neptune heighten psychic abilities and reveal life’s ethereal truths. Weighing in on the side of logic, and shedding light on worldly issues, the Sun will oppose Neptune on the 16th. The 16th is also when Venus will square Mars. Their dustup will add a whole other dimension to riddles, and probably confusion to the lives of people with strong mutable placements in their charts. In general, distinguishing between fact and fantasy during this time may be difficult for everyone. On the 18th, the late degree Virgo Sun will trine Pluto in pragmatic Capricorn. Their trine, in grounded earth signs, is likely to present some pretty incontrovertible and convincing evidence regarding whatever is being mulled over during this entire retrograde. Moreover, Mercury excels at fact-finding, and retrogrades after all are good at exposing what has been hidden. Mutable signs teach flexibility, detachment and release. Over the coming weeks, things won’t be black or white, Mercury or Jupiter or the Sun or Neptune. Rather, the planets will be presenting continua for exploration.
