The current Mercury Retro period that started on 18 April is certainly making itself felt. In last month’s Cosmic Forecast I discussed the overall prominence of Retrograde planets. Right now Pluto, Saturn and Mercury remain Retro, causing us to pay attention to past issues that have not been resolved but are currently demanding attention.
With the planet of the mind, Mercury, in rewind mode, it’s virtually impossible not to be thinking about the world issues that Pluto and Saturn are highlighting. Mercury’s zodiac sign, Taurus, says it all. The issues are to do with money and the environment. In Australia, Kevin Rudd has done a backflip on the environment, stalling climate change action until 2013. This is a reversal of his election promises in 2007.
In Greece, the economy is going from bad to worse, and fears that this could spread throughout Europe triggered a Wall Street panic on 7 May when a trader apparently hit a wrong key to sell $16 billion instead of $16 million. This is classic Mercury Retro in Taurus symbolism! Communication mishaps (Mercury Retro) to do with money and the economy (Taurus). Interestingly, Saturn and Pluto show up issues on a world scale and with them both now Retro our focus is drawn to an unresolved problem in Greece that was brought to our attention last year when Saturn and Pluto squared each other.
Disturbingly, Saturn and Pluto Retro, with the help of Mercury Retro, are digging up a major piece of hidden information relevant to the recent catastrophic oil spill affecting the US. Astrologer Eric Francis of Planet Waves quotes from a paper on the subject: “From 1946 through 1970, military ordnance was dumped in the Gulf of Mexico by the U.S. armed forces…That ordnance included, but was not limited to, projectiles, bombs and chemical ordnance… As [the oil] industry continues to progress into deeper and deeper water, it will continue to encounter the world’s munitions dumping grounds, charted and uncharted.” Eric Francis wonders whether “BP was digging for oil in the middle of a mine field.” For his full article, go here.
Essentially, the combination of Saturn, Pluto and Mercury Retro in Taurus has us pondering on global and personal scales past problems that currently affect our ability to create simple, fruitful, sustainable lives. Are we happy with our circumstances and how we finance our lives or are we suppressing our frustrations and trying to bury them like bombs beneath the ocean? But burying bombs doesn’t make problems won’t go away. Delaying taking action, like Kevin Rudd’s climate change standstill, is also unlikely to solve much.
The New Moon in Taurus on 14 May offers an opportunity to become clear on what we value and how we want to earn and spend money. Taurus shows us how small, but repeated, sustained effort eventually brings great results. Taurus says if each ’small’ person makes one ’small’ practical change and keeps to it regularly, critical mass will be reached and the world will eventually change.
After watching a sobering documentary on 3 May on how child slave labour in Africa is used for most of the world’s chocolate supply, my personal resolve at the New Moon in Taurus will be to stick to buying only Fairtrade chocolate. I’ve followed that decision for years but had become slack recently due to shopping at a new supermarket offering repeated specials on non-Fairtrade chocolate. But Four Corners’ documentary ‘Chocolate: The Bitter Truth’ (go here) reminded me (very apt under Mercury Retro!) why I had already committed to buying only Fairtrade chocolate. The Taurus new Moon plus Mercury Retro in Taurus reassure me that my small choice and renewed commitment to action will make a big difference.
When Chiron went into Pisces last month, I became aware of how I’d personally become wounded (Chiron) by disillusionment (Pisces). At the risk of you thinking I’m chocolate obsessed (well, actually I do love chocolate!) I’ll continue with the chocolate example. In a demoralised part of myself, I’d given over to feelings of hopelessness (Pisces) and distorted beliefs (Pisces) that the big supermarkets decide everything about the food supply chain. I’d stopped believing that ’small’ me could make a difference by always buying Fairtrade and asking big supermarkets to stock more of it. Fortunately Saturn, Pluto & Mercury Retro have helped knock me out of my defeatest thoughts on the matter!
Yet I wonder, are resignation and disillusion wounding humanity on a mass scale? At the time Chiron went into Pisces last month, the major Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster took place. Neptune, Pisces’s ruler, is associated with oceans and oil. Chiron shows what wounds us, and there’s no doubt that oil spill is a massive wound to the ocean, its creatures, planet earth and humanity. Yet Chiron also shows what heals us. Often the wound itself is the clue to the healing. Are large scale feelings of tiredness, apathy, disillusionment, vulnerability and helplessness (all Pisces words) oozing throughout us like oil killing off the beautiful sea-creatures and birds that are also symbolically within us? These creatures represent our dreams, our connection to soul and wonder. Visits to the beach usually enchant us. Have the enchanted parts of ourselves become ‘drenched in oil’ from the burden of such economically (Taurus) imbalanced times. How can we find the soul in money again?
The biggest astrological news for May is Uranus’s move into Aries on the 28th. I wrote about this in my January Cosmic Update (go here) as it’s a hugely important planetary shift that we’ve been preparing for all year, especially through Mars’s intense phase over the past nine months. Mars rules Aries. Uranus is about to go into Mars’s sign. To understand what this means, let’s briefly recap what Mars has been up to.
On 17 May Mars will finally pass the degree it went Retro at in December. Although Mars has been Direct since early March, it’s been moving slowly and intensely in Leo since October. By 7 June Mars ends its nine months in Leo and arrives in Virgo. Mars then moves forward at its usual relatively fast pace just as Uranus goes into Mars’s sign, Aries. This synchronicity brings an adrenalin rush. Mars comes off its leash at the exact same time that Uranus leaps into a new round of the zodiac. There’s a feeling of surging into action after being held back. It takes Uranus approximately 84 years to go through all twelve zodiac signs. On 28 May, Uranus moves into a new 84-year long cycle by stepping into the first degree of Aries, which is 00 Aries.
Have you noticed over the past nine months of Mars in Leo how more and more people are letting their frustrations fly while out in public? I’ve especially been noticing how whenever the Moon is opposite or next to Mars each month there are increased incidences of panic and angry outbursts. We don’t need to go far these days to be met by road rage, people yelling and music blaring. Add this to our own inner stresses and it’s no surprise quite a few ‘fuses’ blow. When the Moon was opposite Mars on 6 May, the latest riots in Greece led to three people dying in a fire bomb attack and the Wall Street panic. Take care around 20 and 21 May when the Moon aligns again with Mars.
Essentially, the Mars Retro phase in Leo helped us get a sense of what we’re frustrated about. And all of us, after Uranus goes into Aries on the 28th and Mars moves forward freely, are likely to feel an energy surge toward doing something about what’s bothering us. A full Moon in Sagittarius on the 28th accompanies Uranus’s move into Aries also on the 28th reminding us of the positives of this dynamic energy shift. The full moon brings a big dose of optimism, enthusiasm and excitement toward following our personal passions.
Over the past nine months, Mars in Leo has been encouraging us to deeply connect with the dreams that truly drive us. A show that has captured my attention recently is “Masterchef” (very apt for Mercury Retro in Taurus – food!) The Australian Masterchef contestants really want their dream and are prepared to be put under the pump on national TV to achieve it. The level of competition (Aries) is extreme but so is the level of self-motivation, courage, focus, invention & daring (all Aries words). As we watch each contestant’s journey, it naturally prompts the question, ‘How much do I want my dream?’ The positive of Uranus in Aries is that it brings a huge swell of energy that compels us to go beyond our comfort zones and chase our dreams.
Yet Uranus in Aries has two sides. It can either be positively innovative or ruthlessly selfish. On the negative side, Uranus in Aries follows its passions to make the world the way it wants the world to be. Both times this season when the Masterchef contestants have been divided into teams, the winning teams have been those that have worked collaboratively. Their leaders encouraged the brilliance and innovation of all involved. That’s positive Uranus in Aries. The losing teams struggled with a leader who seemed to display an ‘I know best’ attitude.
Shortly after Uranus goes into Aries it forms a ‘Cardinal T-square’ with Saturn and Pluto. This fully kicks in the astrology of the ‘earth changes’. The Uranus-Saturn-Pluto T-square’ is a key alignment in the ‘2012 and beyond’ scenario. Uranus relates to technology and air travel. The recent Iceland volcano is symbolic of Uranus in Aries, especially as a volcano is pretty darn fiery, like Aries. But such a huge eruption also has the intensity of Pluto involved. The planet Pluto was discovered in the 30s when the atomic bomb was created and is related to all large-scale ‘bombs’ or explosions. The enormity of the eruption and the effect across the globe is representative of the Uranus-Saturn-Pluto T-square.
It might seem that we as individuals cannot do much about these enormous global issues, but Mercury in Taurus stubbornly and insistently disagrees. It reminds us to put our resources (our time, money, effort) only into what we value and to purchase what we value. Uranus in Aries brings out our survival fears and ‘me, me, me’ issues, yet simultaneously shows us that if we team together innovatively with others by pooling our individual skills and passions toward a shared dream, we can be on the winning team.
Sadly, it seems as if the divide might grow wider between those who are motivated predominantly by self-interest and those who are motivated by ‘the good of all’. But Chiron in Pisces will help us to bridge that divide in our hearts. This is the place where energetically we are all one and where love, compassion, empathy and forgiveness (Pisces words) make magic. When in our hearts we can forgive ourselves for times when we have acted selfishly by falling into the illusion that we’re more deserving than others. We can also forgive ourselves for times when we have deserted our own needs and fallen into the illusion that others’ needs are more important. In our hearts we truly do find the balance between our own and others’ needs and discover effortlessly how to make wise decisions to enact “for the good of all”.
There’ll be much more to say about the Uranus-Saturn-Pluto Cardinal T-square in the coming months but for now, if you’re feeling wobbled around by these crazy times you might consider listening to the ‘Heart Dimensional Attunement’ that Tom Kenyon (sound healer, scientist, shaman) channelled and released at the end of April. This channelling brings an energy from earth’s future that nourishes and calms our hearts. It’s a four-minute track available here. Also, consider enrolling for the repeat Heart Chakra Workshop on 6 June which offers handy techniques for coming into the heart, for balance, clarity and calm in times of crisis.
Finally, it’s good to know that some of the pressure of the Retrograde planets will ease off when Mercury goes direct on 12 May and on 29 May moves beyond the degree it went Retro at. Saturn also moves Direct on 31 May.