Tag: Mercury

Current Mercury Retrograde Mood: The Commoditization of Us (15 Degrees Taurus)

Public domain Image From The Æsop for Children, by Æsop, illustrated by Milo Winter.

Author’s note: This article refers to 15 degrees Taurus (15-16 Taurus), not the 15th degree of Taurus (14-15 Taurus).

Sign: Taurus (One’s worth, values, and resources. Physical sensations.)

Decanate: Virgo (Earthy and materialistic bounties. Fruits of labor. Value of skills. Ethics.)

Duad: Scorpio (Creative destruction. Objectifying and acquisition. Break down of ownership, values and boundaries.)

Degree number: 15 (Contrast. Intensified personal relations. Possible change of alliance. Evaluation of others. Internal conflicts. Self as one’s worst enemy. Instability.)

Numerology: 6 (Harmony and discord. Evaluation and judgement.)

Working symbol: A farmer contemplating killing his golden-egg-laying goose to extract its remaining eggs.

The degree where Mercury stationed before turning retrograde dominates the agenda of the retrograde period. For the current retrograde, Mercury stays within 15 degrees Taurus for 6 days before changing degree.

The 15-16 degree of Taurus is closely related to the value of commoditized labor and skills, and whether we are selling ourselves short or overestimating our contribution in the workplace. Conversely, our superior, peers, or customers may also be thinking about how to maximize their benefit from us, and whether to retain our service after the metaphorical extraction. It is also possible that we’re at the position of evaluating someone else’s worthiness and value. In any case, the underlying tone is one of self-centeredness and stubbornness, as well a lack of generosity and good will.

This degree also has to do with how we value our labor and hard-earned skills. Do we package the fruits of our labor and sell them to the highest bidder? Or do we continue to refine and break things in the hope of discovering the magic formula? Are we preserving or destroying our health and well-being as we cope with endless demands and an impersonal workplace?

The degree 15 of a sign is where it the two opposing signs –in this case, Taurus and Scorpio, oscillates in a fragmented and conflicting manner. This behavior is not always apparent and sometimes can disguise as ambivalence and lead to an abrupt turning point of a relationship.

15 Taurus also happens to be the degree 45 of the 360-degree cycle, carrying the quality of eight-ness, which refers to the duality of strength and weakness, and can point to the excessive use of force that cause injury and damage.

In summary, it may be wise to pay attention to the themes related to this retrograde period and remind ourselves that during this period our perception and reasoning can be flawed. And if possible, withhold any irreversible decisions until after May 15, 2023, when Mercury resumes its forward motion.

©2023 Brave New Real. All rights reserved.

Mercury Retrograde at 4 Degrees Gemini: Facing the Unknown (and the Unknown Unknown)

Public Domain Picture from Pixabay

Author’s note: This article refers to 4 degrees Gemini (4-5 Gemini), not the 4th degree of Gemini (3-4 Gemini).

Ghosts and Gremlins

The effects of Mercury retrograde are unmistakable.

If our society is a machine, then the Mercury Retrograde period is when ghosts and gremlins are unleashed. It is the open season for mindless blunders, delays, glitches, cancellations and reschedules.

Mercury retrograde exposes the lapses in our judgement. Our assumptions and automatic response become unreliable, and we are prone to skip and stray from our normal decision-making process. Our brains seem to slip out from under us. We can’t remember the words at the tip of our tongues. We blurt out what we don’t mean to say. We give and receive incorrect, incomplete or irrelevant answers (especially when contacting the tech support). Even handling a phone number can be dicey.

This period calls for a healthy dose of skepticism of everyone – ourselves included. Most consequential of all are contracts signed and agreements made under this influence. Every word needs to be scrutinized with a magnifier, (even then…) It is likely the information presented is not truthful and complete. Our judgement could be temporarily impaired, and we will need to retract and reconsider afterward. The arrangements may not come to fruition.

When in doubt, withhold or delay major decisions as much as possible. If a decision must be made, be prepared for some revision or reversal in the future  – the probabilities are significantly higher. The shining object of your desire  – be it the dream car, house, job, vacation, or romance – could lose its luster after Tricky Mercury resumes his forward motion.

For the pessimists, give some slack for pleasant surprises, for Mercury retrograde’s plot twists go both ways. A negative outlook could unexpectedly turn around. Salvaged junks may reveal themselves to be priceless treasures. Delays allow extra preparation, and cancellations open up space to regroup and realign. One major advantage of this special phase is that if we make an agreement under external pressure or coercion, we can expect to rescind or rearrange it down the road.

4 Degrees Gemini: Boundaries and Obstacles of Self-Expression, Information, and Mental Power

The Mercury degree at the beginning of a retrograde carries predominate influence encompassing the entire period. During this Mercury retrograde, we will be presented with the lessons of the 4 degreesGemini and retracing our steps back to the 26th degree of Taurus. My working degree symbol for degree 4-5 of Gemini is:

A reporter is disciplined and passed over for promotion because he refuses to dumb down and sensationalize his reporting.

4 Gemini is about working with limited information and the confine of our minds. It asks us to build a robust framework to withstand, organize and disseminate massive inflow of data. It also implies the struggle to think and express freely, as well as the hardship resulting from such actions. The Sabin symbol for this degree is “a radical magazine”. In this case, truth is revolutionary.

Under this strong influence, we are supported to restate our truth. If we ever were too intimidated to say it out loud for fear of rejection and prosecution, here is our second chance to put our feet down and set the record straight.

This is the time to stare at the enormous complexity we are living in and recognize the limit of our knowledge and mental capacity. We don’t know. Moreover, we don’t know what we don’t know. We don’t know what questions to ask, and what we don’t know to ask. The experts and authorities have not provided satisfactory answers, but they want us to go along. We cannot consent to what’s happening and what is prescribed for us. How do we give informed consent when vital information is withheld from us, anyway? We should not and we will not. It is time to say “stop this madness” before the momentum carries us cross the Rubicon. It’s okay to change our minds. To pause, reverse, or put a hard stop to define and defend ourselves – especially during Mercury retrograde.

As Mercury retrogresses, we will be asked to return to the childlike inquisitiveness (3rd degree of Gemini) and look at our word with fresh eyes. The picture may not be pretty, but we can no longer turn a blind eye and just move along the predesignated path. It is the time for heart-to-heart conversations and ask real questions, however stupid they would seem (2nd degree of Gemini).

Dane Rudhyar symbolized the beginning degree of the Gemini as “a glass-bottomed boat reveals under-sea wonders.” We will sure be swimming in the infinite sea of information, disinformation, and malinformation. If we stay afloat, a quietness will dawn, and we’ll see that information, ideas, and thoughts shape our world; their malignancy our poison, their censorship our prison. Only when we take command of our full mental capacity and secure unrestricted access to information are we truly free to interface and shape our world.

©Brave New Real 2022. All rights reserved.