Piscean Mercury Retrograde 2020

by with 9 Comments Astrological Insights

For a while I’ve been meaning to come here and write a little about this cycle of retrogradation of Mercury in Pisces which begins today.

We usually attribute imagination to the symbolism of Mercury in Pisces but as I look into the chart for the moment that it will start moving backwards later on today, I have the sense that much of the themes emerging back will have something to do with rebalancing the emphasis we put on relationships and other people’s needs versus our own.

How did I get to that idea?

Both the Moon and Mercury will be forming an almost exact square, from Sagittarius to Pisces, and I see here a conflict between merging (Pisces) and freeing yourself in order to pursue what is meaningful to you (Sagittarius). Both are ruled by Jupiter in Capricorn somehow reflecting the need to be grounded and take responsibility for working with this duality.

Venus is in Aries, quite close to Chiron also in Aries (speaking of dealing with the different layers of our wounded sense of self?), emphasising individuality, and Mars just recently moved into Capricorn. Here our awareness is brought back to the Stellium in Capricorn which has being under the spotlight for a few months now (comprised of Saturn, Pluto, South Node and Jupiter).

What is it that we better take responsibility for?

Mercury in Pisces has a resonance with intuitive thinking, dreams, imagination, but the final dispositor for this cycle of retrogradation is Saturn in Capricorn, a symbol reflecting separation, inner authority, hard work and maturation. I feel that this could be a wonderful 3 weeks to regain focus on what truly matters to us as individuals, even if in a creative and intuitive manner, as opposed to what other people expect from us, including our partner.

As usual, during the Mercury retrograde period we do well in revisiting, rethinking, reassessing, etc… and also, not to forget to always bring the symbolism of transits into your natal chart in order to figure out how “exactly” and in which area of your life this process is bound to take place, and in this way, achieve further insight.

Use your imagination and go beyond!

by with No Comment Astrological InsightsAstrology and me

Synastry is one of the astrological techniques that has deeply interested me from the very beginning of my journey with astrology.

Since a young age, maybe when I was 9 or 10 years old, as we didn’t have internet yet, I used to read those cheap astrological magazines available in Brazil on the basic sun sign romantic combination and felt like I was uncovering some secret truth that was kept away from the majority of people.

With that said, the mystery of chart combination and astrological compatibility still hasn’t ceased to amaze me!

The other day as I was dancing around the living room and having corporeal insights into the subject (sometimes that happens with me), when suddenly it became clear to me something that I had heard during one of John Green’s lectures about synastry and the importance of always considering each astrology chart individually before making any further assumption on compatibility.

I was thinking about two different people currently in my life and how each affect me in very distinct ways, which also brought me the thought that attraction can have many facets and be very individually experienced as well.

In all of the astrological cookbooks one of the most well-known interaspects indicating magnetic sexual attraction between two people is Venus from one person activating Mars of the other.

(Im sure that I have already written about this when a co-worker in the past had his Mars in a tight conjunction to my Venus and all that that reflected was that we could work really well together, but definitely not in a romantic way as I didn’t feel any sort of sexual attraction towards him)

Anyway, here is another opportunity for me to uncover what it seems to be one of the ‘absolute truths’ of the astrological cookbook literary world!

I have been seeing someone for a few weeks and things are developing quite nice and slowly (I currently have transiting Saturn forming a trine to my natal Venus and DSC).

One day we went out together and I met one of his friends which I felt a magnetic attraction towards almost immediately. The physical vibrations I was feeling when he sat at our table serving himself a glass of beer sort of reflected to me that that was reciprocal, I think.

It was weird and uncomfortable even to talk with each other at first and I was at times feeling paranoid that my behaviour was too obvious and revealing. I did not feel very good about the whole thing.

Days later, when I was dancing and having astrological insights, I had the thought that that guy’s Mars closely trining my natal Venus was actually activating my natal Venus square Neptune combo and it was pretty uncomfortable rather than a ‘wonderful magnetic physical smooth sexual chemistry’. I felt awkward (my Venus is also in Virgo!) and very inadequate a lot of the time when this person was around, whereas with the current guy I am going out with there is a very strong friendly energy and I feel that I can be myself much more freely.

There are many other details that I have analysed about both synastries and both people in question, for instance the guy Im going out with have done many years of therapy already, a fact I feel that is of paramount importance in how a person can express more consciously the energies reflected in the birth chart, but I am not going to go into it right now.

My point is that we have to always analyse the whole chart and the level of awareness of each person before making assumptions on how the relationship will evolve. And in my opinion, we can’t know that without listening to the person in question.

So, cookbooks yes, they are an important step in order to start understanding what the symbolism can mean. They are part of a fundamental stage in our development and gathering of basic knowledge. But don’t get stuck with them, use your imagination and go beyond!

Reflections in the darkness

by with No Comment Astrological InsightsAstrology and me

(Written last night)

There was a thunderstorm here earlier today and we are still out of electricity, it has probably been around 5 hours and a half already (already?) and time moves very slow. These words just made me think about the energy reflected by the symbolism of Uranus, which is usually linked to electricity and lightning bolt speed insights.

Uranus and boredom don’t go very well, in my vision.

Interesting to see myself without all of these gadgets that electric power enables us to have on our daily life, our daily routines. How much of my experience of reality changes, how much more presence can I feel versus how much more boredom? Or do I feel as much boredom in my daily life but just have a myriad of different options of gadgets that serves best as a distraction for myself and, at the same time, a distraction from myself?

For now, I still have my laptop, though with only 20 per cent of battery, so a few more ‘not sure how many minutes’ moments for me, and I just caught myself writing this and moving my thoughts again to ‘when will the electricity finally come back’?

It’s helpless.

But another interesting idea that just came to my mind is observing how much more limited having a laptop without wifi is. What really is the internet? This blob of connections with a massive capacity for keeping information, sort of like a giant invisible brain that forms and keeps connections. Infinite connections. Infinite combinations and possibilities?

And then there is me here, disconnected. But I somehow hear the sounds of my neighbours more clearly, and the children laughing at a distance, I think they might be playing on the street? Sounds like they’re having fun. There is electricity on that side though and I wonder if the laughter is caused by a distraction or by more presence in playful games. Sounds like they’re running.

And I listen. And I also hear my thoughts, and my feelings seem to be a little louder by candlelight. I’m not really sure.

Coming back to what perhaps my first idea in writing this piece was on and the relationship to astrology and some material that I’ve been recently reading on ‘Deep Ecology’. I read a very interesting paper where the author critically discusses the relationship between ‘Social justice’, ‘Mysticism’ and ‘Deep Ecology’ and different possible combinations between the three. For example, sometimes criticising mysticism and at other times arguing that the feeling underlining mystical experiences is the same feeling described by Deep Ecology and is a requirement for a change of paradigm powerful enough to promote the social changes we are so much in need for. (or is this the idealism of Uranus speaking through me here?)

I excitedly ask myself if astrology can promote a mystical experience by reconnecting us with the cosmos and the sense of unity which always seems to be importantly present in the description of these kinds of experiences. Maybe I will pursue this question in my dissertation.

Anyway, my insight is that this year of 2020 seems to be an important one regarding ecology and collective change especially reflected by Saturn and Jupiter conjunction in Aquarius that will happen later on this year. And how can we make these necessary changes without changing ourselves first? Impossible I believe.

How can we become greener in our psyches? And I don’t mean here becoming greener by only cutting down your consume of meat or plastic, although these changes on routine and priorities are also an important part of the process. I mean doing the inner work at the same time. Changing our old patterns of thinking and behaviour, becoming more conscious and elevated in our self-awareness and relationship to each other and to the world around us.

And how is that process going for you?

Only 15 per cent of battery left for me and still no sign of electricity. Dogs are now barking in the background. And I listen.