Groundhog Day, Misty Windows & Sea Changes
If you want to see the sign and degree of the planets in your own or any other natal chart – so you can check these against the signs and degrees important this week – here’s the link to Astrotheme. Enter your data into the boxes provided:
https://www.astrotheme.com/horoscope_chart_sign_ascendant.php
The Astrology Blog 11 March 2019
All times given are stated in GMT
‘Well, what if there is no tomorrow? There wasn’t one today.’
Bill Murray, Groundhog Day
Mercury Retrograde
It’s a quiet start but don’t be fooled. There’s a busy picture building up that will start to unfold from late Wednesday. When retrograde Mercury goes into overdrive and dominates the end of the week and the whole of next weekend. So wherever possible use Monday and Tuesday to get ahead – ho ho.
There’s the saying “never make a plan” ringing in the back of my head with Mercury in mischief mode, and also in Pisces, one of his signs of detriment.
But let’s modify that and say go ahead with your plans. However keep your expectations realistic. And be prepared for changes, cancellations or outside factors throwing a spanner in the works.
Don’t over think things. Just stay flexible, think on your feet and have plan B or person B tucked up your sleeve. Especially for the things that are important to you.
Mercury Retrograde in Pisces
Mercury retrograde in Pisces also suggests that our instincts may be wide of the mark.
This is a highly creative and imaginative combination, but the flipside which is more likely to be in evidence at the moment is:
- Being over imaginative
- Letting our anxieties grow arms and legs
- Convincing ourselves that something is far worse than it is
- Imputing motives and thoughts to others that spring from our own fears or worries
- Or even paranoia.
Having said that, if you sense that someone you know well isn’t telling you the whole story – or that they’re twisting things to fit their own version – then you may well be right.
For sure, truth is difficult to pinpoint at the moment. It’s like looking at the world through a rain streaked window.
Everything is blurry as Mercury’s backwards journey sails us through sea mists and fogs, but there will be sight of land later in the week.
It may not be the calmest of harbours, but any port in a storm. And there may well be deeper magic at work, a sea-change, meaning a metamorphosis – or life changing alteration in outlook or attitude.
Keep an Open Mind
Probably the best advice is to keep an open mind and to accept that the jury is still out on definite verdicts.
The first aspect of the week is the Sun squaring up to Mr Big (Jupiter). This is exact in the early hours of Thursday, so is “applying” (in the process of becoming exact) throughout Wednesday.
In the process the Sun is meeting up with Mercury. So both of these planets, in fact, square up to Jupiter. This happens two days apart, either side of that conjunction.
It’s leading us a bit of a merry dance. In fact, this formation is like three dancers swapping partners in a complicated pattern, one going forwards (Sun) one going backwards (Mercury) and one slowing down (Jupiter):
Thursday 14 March
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Sun 23 Pisces square Jupiter 23 Sagittarius 01.30
Friday 15 March
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Sun conjunct Mercury 24 Pisces 01.49
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Mercury square Jupiter 23 Sagittarius 23.18
So, they’re definitely stepping on each other’s toes – but Jupiter is the Greater Benefic, which means he’s good for us and kind to us. His main principle is expansion. So when he’s in square (stressful) aspect this can signify situations of overwhelm.
In many ways it’s the same message as above, to lace every recipe with a large dash of realism. This doesn’t mean that you’ll get everything right, but it does mean that you can exercise some self-protection and self-care.
You’re a human being, not a robot and you can’t do everything, even if you really want to! So don’t take on more commitments when you’re wondering how you’re going to cope with the things already on your plate. Reserve the right to say no and generally do some energy management.
In fact, do management on all your resources. Curtail spending on luxury items, if only because you may later feel that it was a waste of money. Shop around for the deals and don’t do anything on credit.
These aspects also raise the question of ‘can you have too much of a good thing?’ Well, yes, if it involves excess to an unhealthy level.
Squares to Jupiter signify diet busters or just too much of the stuff that makes you put on weight. Jupiter expands our waistlines as well as everything else. But if you’re overdue for some fun then there’s no harm in letting your hair down, especially if you can take the next day off!
With a retrograde Mercury involved here just don’t build up your hopes too high for social events or heartfelt wishes. There are a lot of emotional undercurrents tugging at our feet, even if the surface appears flat and calm.
Also look out for something being exaggerated, blown out of proportion, rumours, the wrong information or someone constantly changing their minds or being in a state of frustrating uncertainty. Be patient with someone who’s driving you nuts and try to get at the real reasons or agenda.
Mercury conjunct the Sun
The good news is that whenever Mercury is in a retrograde period there’s always an exact conjunction with the Sun. This is when Mercury is said to be “cazimi”.
This means he’s conjunct the Sun to within 17 minutes of arc (ie just over a quarter of a degree) and therefore in “the heart of the Sun”. The symbolism of this is about Mercury drawing strength from that heat instead of being burned up by it.
It’s a window of opportunity – it doesn’t last long! It’s the stuff of light bulb moments, vital information. Or having the chance to get your point across exactly in the right way and at the right time. In that hot spot is a nugget of truth.
This cazimi happens at exactly 24 degrees and 12 minutes of Pisces (ie minutes being divisions of a degree, not the hour). It lasts from approximately 11pm Thursday to 5am GMT Friday, unfortunately while most of us in the Northern hemisphere are asleep!
So look out for that Mercury moment – even if it doesn’t fall within those six hours. Especially things that help you to make a decision, negotiate a deal or find the right words to get an important conversation started.
Repeating or Ongoing Themes
Also note that because Mercury is now in his retrograde phase, he’ll be repeating aspects to nearly all of the slower moving planets. This includes Jupiter, who is now moving much more slowly than usual in preparation for turning retrograde at 24 Sag on 10 April.
Here’s the sequence of the one we’ve had, the current one and the third to come next month –
Mercury square Jupiter
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22 February at 21 Pisces – Sagittarius (Mercury moving forwards)
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15 March at 23 Pisces – Sagittarius
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12 April at 24 Pisces – Sagittarius (Mercury moving forwards again)
Look out for matters that are taking a long time to resolve, even more so if you have planets or angles between 21 and 24 degrees of any sign, but particularly the Mutables – Gemini, Virgo, Sag, Pisces.
For example:
- Waiting for appointments
- Lengthy exchanges of correspondence
- Things that have to be done through the snail mail and not by email
- Mmistakes, admin nightmares
- A key person being absent or unavailable for some reason and so on.
It may feel like Groundhog Day – but juggling factors that are out of our own control is a classic characteristic of a retrograde Mercury. But Jupiter will deliver… eventually.
On the same day as this current Mercury – Jupiter square we also have a positive aspect between two tougher planets in earth signs:
Thursday 14 March
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Mars 19 Taurus trine Saturn 19 Capricorn 10.04
In traditional astrology Mars and Saturn are known as the “malefics” but that doesn’t automatically translate into the things that are bad for us.
However, they do usually signify the things that are not a result of luck or generosity.
These planets more often signify work and effort, building things, laying firm foundations or bringing a matter to a close.
This includes the things that others do on our behalf – so don’t forget to show appreciation – it will count for a lot.
Thanks to my colleague Elisabeth Brooke, who reminded me that “it was Einstein who said that a problem cannot be solved at the level at which it was created. For example, if there is a big emotional component to physical pain, then working on it from a spiritual perspective can offer insight”.
So, this Mars – Saturn contact in the earth signs feels very helpful and grounding.
If your emotional or spiritual world is in a state of angst or confusion then get physical. Go for a walk, do some gardening, cooking, anything that gets stuff under your fingernails, have a massage or make love. Putting it another way, check your mind-body-spirit balance.
This could be especially helpful over the weekend as Mercury pops up again, this time in aspect to Pluto – uncompromising, all or nothing, control freak or deeply insightful.
Look out for information with regards to how to change negatives into positives:
Saturday 16 March
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Mercury 22 Pisces sextile Pluto 22 Capricorn 13.12
Again this is the second of a series of three, and here’s the sequence –
Mercury sextile Pluto
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23 February at 21 Pisces – Capricorn (Mercury moving forwards)
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16 March at 22 Pisces – Capricorn
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10 April at 23 Pisces – Capricorn (Mercury moving forwards again)
And one more Mercury aspect falls in the early hours of next Monday, to Mars:
Monday 18 March
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Mercury 21 Pisces sextile Mars 21 Taurus 03.24
As a general rule of thumb a series of three contacts suggests a sequence of something starting, then the middle one – when Mercury is retrograde – often being the most frustrating but often the crucial one too, and the third being about closure or resolution.
The middle one that we have this week often brings a theme of something unraveling, of a matter getting worse before it can get better, an understanding of what can’t work or what you have to give up, or the true significance of earlier events coming home to roost.
Mercury sextile Mars
Mercury also aligning with Mars signals that many issues can be sorted with a “hands on” approach. And some tough talking with the focus on solution finding rather than going over and over old issues and saying all the things that have been said before. Even though this might be unavoidable in the spirit of retrograde Mercury going “back” over old ground. Especially if you need to stand up for yourself.
Stand your ground and don’t allow yourself to be bullied or backed into any corners. Accept the difficulties of a situation, look at why or how they were created in the first place and what unfolding events are now teaching you.
Learn from your experience, or even from someone else’s. Possibly the most potent message of the week is to use some good old common sense and not to put yourself in situations which amount to making the same mistake twice – or thrice!
Wishing you progress and revelations,
With love from Greece
Joanna