Mercury’s retrograde cycle in Virgo: Be Present rather than Perfect
In Astrology, Mercury is the planet ruling over communication, logical thinking, inductive learning, and left-brain processes. Named after the mythological Messenger, Mercury is associated with our way of perceiving and classifying our reality, as well as with short-term and short-distance travel and transportation. Transits of Mercury reflect our changing orientation relative to thinking, speaking, writing, and perceiving the world. When Mercury is retrograde, we have an opportunity to question existing perceptions and perspectives and open our minds to different dimensions.
During the past days and weeks, we had chances to question existing ways of perceiving health and healing, to change how we have been relating to our everyday lives and our jobs, and to ask ourselves what being of service means to us. Mercury’s retrograde transit in Virgo offered us an invitation to challenge our ideas about self-improvement, functionality, and perfection, suggesting we strive to be present rather than perfect.
The past weeks inspired us to redefine habitual ways of thinking, work on our mindset, restructure our routines, and refine our communication skills. Mercury’s retrograde journey through its Earth home sign of Virgo has offered us an invitation to be more mindful about what we consume in terms of energies, food, and information, to be discerning about the thoughts we entertain, and to be selective relative to the energies and environments we expose ourselves to.
Mercury’s Post-Shadow Phase: Integration and Digestion
Mercury stationed retrograde at 21º of Virgo, the same degree where the Virgo New Moon took place yesterday. There is a connection between these two events: during the lunar cycle that has just begun, we will reach a better understanding of the purpose of the process we have gone through while Mercury was retrograde.
Mercury is now entering the post-shadow phase of this retrograde cycle. The post-shadow is the period during which the planet travels for the third and last time between the degrees where the retrograde took place, in this case, between 8º and 21º of Virgo. Mercury is completing this post-shadow period on September 29.
The post-shadow is a phase of integration and digestion of everything that happened while Mercury was retrograde. During this time, new information could arise and new insights are likely to become available. As Mercury proceeds through its journey, we will be encouraged to take action, make changes, and move forward according to what we learned and understood.
Mercury opposite Saturn and trine Jupiter
Mercury is stationing direct while in opposition to Saturn in Pisces and approaching a trine to Jupiter in Taurus.
The Mercury-Saturn opposition offers us opportunities to observe when we are tempted to hold back from sharing our truth, restrict ourselves from speaking our minds, and feel límites in our ability to communicate with others. Around this time, any external limitations, critics, and judgments we may experience could provide us with important insights about the impact of our inner dialogues, beliefs, and mindset, particularly if our inner critic is very active.
The Mercury Jupiter trine is going to be exact for the third time on September 25. The series of Mercury-Jupiter trines we have been experiencing has offered us opportunities to restructure our beliefs, question our worldviews, and expand our intellectual horizons. This is a very favorable and supportive aspect for all learning pursuits, for teaching, and for traveling.
