Over the next few days, we will experience a cluster of three events, none of which is special on its own, but which combined offer us a moment with many interesting opportunities.
On Friday, Mercury stations direct after a three-week retrograde. Then overnight Friday to Saturday we have the Pisces New Moon. Then Saturday we have Mars stationing retrograde. This is not the time to be a bull in a Chinese restaurant. Take it slow, study the menu and make choices that actually make sense for you.
The retrograde began in Pisces, with Mercury very close to Neptune. Mercury has backtracked into Aquarius. The imagery reminds me of the water-bearer dipping her cask into Pisces and bringing back some of that nourishing water to share with others, which is the essence of Aquarius at its best.
This has, however, been a challenging Mercury retrograde for many people, between snowstorms, travel delays, tickets and car impounds and the usual diversity of financial issues and technical madness. I’ve heard of someone getting their bank account shut down after they didn’t respond to an email; someone else having the IRS come after a tax refund, claiming Social Security payments made to their family when the person was a kid; and other scenarios of this kind.
I’ve mentioned that we live in a kind of Mercury age, where nearly everything about us comes under the rulership of this meaningful little planet. The other thing that gives Mercury retrogrades more impact is how tightly wound everything is, how compact our schedules and commitments are, and how many people are running their lives with next to no excess cash. So when something goes wrong, it can have a house of cards effect.
The next day, Mars stations retrograde, adding to the delicacy of the situation. Mars will be retrograde in Libra, which will be an extended study in relationships, how we have them, what we do with them and how we keep our lives in balance in the context of them. Mars retrograde will last through May 19. During this time, we’ll experience the peak of the Uranus-Pluto square. But mostly we’re about to discover how important relationships are, and what it means to have a relationship to oneself.
In between these two events, the Pisces New Moon happens. Pisces, floating in water, drifting in the imagination, not fully in this world, can have a weightless quality. We give Pisces its form and substance through experimenting with creativity.
Not only is the Pisces New Moon situated close to the midpoint (in time) of two planetary events, it’s positioned (in space) close to the midpoint of two planets in Pisces—Neptune and Chiron. It happens as Mercury and Mars are barely moving at all. Situated between Chiron and Neptune, it evokes a hybrid of intuition and information; of creativity and practical application; of healing as a conscious practice and spiritual inflow as a natural birthright. And it’s happening almost as we speak.
I talk about this aspect pattern in the current edition of Planet Waves FM, my weekly webcast.
