Here comes Mercury madness! The last round of Mercury retrograde kicks off in a month, and this comes as we're in the middle of Mars retrograde. Start getting ready for the double trouble! The basics - what is Mercury retrograde?
A retrograde occurs when a planet appears to be moving backwards from our vantage point here on Earth. It isn't actually moving backwards, it just appears that way. Mercury turns retrograde most often, about 3-4 times per year, and lasts for several weeks. When a planet retrogrades, what that planet rules tends to be thrown off, along with what the sign it's retrograding in rules.
With Mercury retrograde, we experience a shadow and a storm. The shadow period starts when Mercury first hits the point in the Zodiac it will turn direct at, and ends when it last hits the point in the Zodiac it will turn retrograde at. Most people don't feel the effects of Mercury retrograde until it enters the storm period though. The storm period of Mercury retrograde is when Mercury is moving at its slowest, less than 40 minutes per day. Mercury is a fast-moving planet and hates it when it's moving slowly. There's usually two storm periods, one around the time Mercury turns retrograde, and one around when it turns direct. Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio & Libra 2020 Key Dates:
Mercury Retrograde Effects:
The final round of Mercury retrograde comes for 2020, and it starts off in water sign Scorpio. This is an intense sign, ruling extremes, what we hold deep within ourselves, our demons, and the darkness in our lives. Not an easy sign! So when Mercury retrogrades in this sign, we can be forced to face some of the darker aspects of ourselves and lives, face the demons we run from, and bring something out from way down deep that we had wanted to keep buried. We may go to emotional extremes, and moodiness is prevalent. We have to work much harder to get some control over ourselves, otherwise we can be out of control easily.
Power and control are governed by Scorpio, and we may push against anyone we feel is trying to control us, and try to find our own personal power. This can be a good thing, unless we use that to control others. Becoming the dominating, controlling monster doesn't really help! Find your own power so you can control yourself and your own life, and transform for the better. Scorpio rules transformations, and this can be an excellent use of the energy. Be smart about the transformations you want to make, and avoid being impulsive about it. The smarter you are, the better off you'll be. Passion and intimacy are also governed by Scorpio, along with sex, so we can be extra pasisonate and sexual, but may have a hard time expressing that in a healthy way. Always needs to be healthy, otherwise it ends up being a problem! Scorpio also rules shared resources, "other people's money", so we may be focused on that as well. Mercury retrograde in Scorpio is traditionally NOT a good time for the stock market at all (stocks and investments are ruled by Scorpio), so I'd guess the economy gets another kick downward. Mercury retrograde goes backward into air sign Libra on October 27th (9:33PM ET/6:33PM PT), and ends the retrograde in Libra on November 3rd, so it's only in Libra for less than a week. Libra rules the other people in our lives, and we may struggle to come together, negotiate, mediate, and play fair. We may feel like something is unfair, unjust, and fight against it. Relationships and partnerships can become strained, and we may want some time apart. That might be alright if we spend the time to understand and heal, but not if we refuse to do that. Libra rules balance, so we're likely to feel completely out of balance in different ways while Mercury is in Libra. We may have a hard time striking a balance in any way, finding the harmony we need, and this can make us much more indecisive and vacillate from one position to the next. Push hard for some balance! And for those of us in the U.S., take note that the retrograde ends on election day. The last time Mercury retrograde ended on election day in Libra? The dreadful 2000 election! That one ended at the anaretic degree though, and that's not the case this time. I have heard though that thanks to COVID-19, there will most likely be a lot of mail-in and absentee ballots cast this year so less people are voting in person, and that might delay the actual results so they can be counted, which means we might not know the winner that day, or the next, or for like a week or two. Makes sense with this energy. Mercury & Mars Retrogrades:
So Mars is retrograde for this entire Mercury retrograde in Aries, and Mars is the old ruler of Scorpio (which Mercury retrograde starts in) and Aries opposes Libra (which Mercury retrograde ends in). So these two are really intertwined and fueling one another! Extra communication issues, extra fights, extra impulsive energy, and extra difficulties getting on the same page. It's a lot of extra! So we have to work a lot harder to try and use their energies well, otherwise we're going to see a LOT of problems.
Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio & Libra 2020 Aspects:
During Mercury retrograde, it'll make 3 major aspects to the transit planets. They are:
Moons of Mercury Retrograde:
The Moon is in the same sign as Mercury retrograde once, while in Scorpio, October 17th (1:06AM ET) - 19th (12:43AM ET). This increases our attention on the retrograde energy, and we can feel extra angry, extra dark, and extra moody. We likely need to dig deeper into ourselves and the world to uncover something we're missing and need.
The Moon is in the signs Mercury naturally rules, Gemini, and Virgo, twice, once at the start in Virgo (October 13th 12:55AM ET - 15th 1:54AM ET) and once at the end in Gemini (November 2nd 5AM ET - 4th 4:45PM ET), so the retrograde starts and ends with the Moon being ruled by Mercury. This shows extra focus on being scattered, anxious, uneasy, and agitated as the retrograde starts and ends, and we have to both go into and come out of the retrograde being smart and flexible. Keep busy at the start, use your mind at the end. Final Notes:
Mercury will be at a critical degree twice, 8-9 degrees Scorpio October 18th - 21st and 26 degrees Libra October 31st - November 2nd. Critical degrees are special degrees of critical energy, and we may be extra moody in Scorpio and extra scattered and unbalanced in Libra. Grounding energy may be helpful.
The hottest energy may be when Mercury is anaretic in Libra. The anaretic degree is the last degree of any sign, 29 degrees, and is a point of crisis energy, especially in transit. And with retrogrades, it can be a big trigger for developments! This will occur October 27th - 28th, and at the same time, Venus will move into Libra and be at 0 degrees Libra, a special critical degree, on the same days. I'd venture to guess there's some sort of very big development around these dates, perhaps pertaining to something diplomatic, something involving multiple parties, some sort of justice issue (basically something Libra ruled). Watch that space carefully!' The retrograde begins at 11 degrees Scorpio, so those of you Scorpions born October 31st - November 5th can feel the start of the retrograde most. The retrograde ends at 25 degrees Libra, so those of you Libras born October 15th - 20th can feel the end of the retrograde most. For the rest of you, check the house(s) Mercury will be retrograding in your own natal chart, and any aspects Mercury will make during its retrograde to your natal planets, to fully understand how it will impact you personally. If you have Mercury retrograde in your natal or progressed chart, you may not feel the worst of this. Those individuals generally don't experience the difficulties of the retrograde because it feels more natural to them. Of course, chances are everyone else around them doesn't have the same aspect, so they can still experience difficulties brought on by others. If it's in your natal chart, check out this article about Mercury retrograde in the natal chart. Suggested Reading: The Mercury, Venus, and Mars Retrogrades page for interpretations of Mercury retrograde in the houses and aspects Comments are closed.
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