- “How can my Muse want subject to invent
While thou dost breathe.”
Shakespeare’s Sonnet XXXVIII 1-2
Cancer: Mercury turns retrograde. In Leo. As predicted, and according to plan.
“Oh no! I wasn’t planning on this!”
I was. It’s a normal course of events. There are productive ways to harness the Retrograde Mercury’s energy, too. I’m a big fan of redoing projects when Mercury is retrograde. I’m also a fan of not undertaking new projects when Mercury is backwards.
Looking at where, and how, this Mercury period falls in your chart? It’s about cleaning out an old closet at home. It’s about cleaning out a tub I’ve got, full of fishing gear that I might never use. Odd bits, mismatched materials, pieces that go to parts that I no longer have in my hands. Strays and orphans who must be released. Or, to put it more simply, I’m tossing out parts that no longer have a place to fit in. The start of this Mercury Retrograde, for Cancer? It’s about letting go of some old stuff, hopefully, to make room for new gifts that will pop up shortly.
The Leo: Can’t say I didn’t warn you about this Mercury Retrograde, nor, for that matter, did it sneak up on you. Can’t complain. Since it is smack-dab in the middle of Leo, consider a page or two from my book about this planet, and what to do. Redo. Renegotiate. Recover. Revise and rewrite.
“Yeah, you need more ‘proofreading,’ added to your list, Mr. astrofish.net guy.” I would agree. No matter how fine a comb I use, when I go through my material, a single typo generally makes it into the final cut. I’d like to say I’ve given up, but I still hope that I can get one or two columns posted with no issues like that. If you find any mistakes, shoot me an e-mail ASAP. As the mightiest sign of them all, I’d tend to work harder to please Leo. As the folks with the Mercury Retrograde in the middle of your sign? I’d trust you to find my errors before you find your own. If you need me to look over something, in a share and share-alike scenario, let me know.
Virgo: In the fall of 1895, Arizona Charlie’s “Western Sports Show,” a precursor to the real Rodeo, Arizona Charlie’s show barnstormed across Colorado. In Denver and Colorado Springs, the local animal rights group protested that the rodeo was cruel to animals, especially the bull riding. The bull, typically, he has a brain about the size of a human’s spleen. Look it up if you doubt me. So the bull, this was more than hundred years ago, Colorado, figures, doesn’t it? Tree huggers and earth muffins, even then. So the bull has more mass yet less computational ability than the average modern Prius. Weighs more, thinks less than a typical hybrid car. Got that? Feelings? Probably not a lot, other than, “Get this guy off my back,” and “stop, that tickles!” Think about how the spurs feels to the bull. There’s a huge historical precedent. When Mercury goes retrograde, especially in a sign that comes before Virgo, there’s a huge amount of historical precedent that needs to be honored. Been done before; therefore, it is worth repeating. Over and over, repeating, over and over, until this synodic period is done with. Three weeks. More or less.
Libra: Stop trying to do it all yourself. Period. Just stop. Pause. Pause for the cause, pause for the children, or more important, pause because watching you is driving us crazy. Stop. Sun squares Saturn. Mercury is headed into a retrograde pattern.
Stop. Pause. Ask for assistance.
The single, most important step to help make this week easier for you? Ask for help. With two different boat captains, this has happened, we’ll be fishing the middle of the flats and the tide, gradually going out, eventually, we’re in very shallow water. Skinny water. Fun fishing. I have to get out of the boat and push to get the boat off the mud flats, or the oyster reef, or whatever it is. Captain has to look at me, and he’s got to ask, “Hey, jump overboard and give us a good shove….” Two, three times now, I’ve been with pricey fishing guides in their expensive boats, looking for the perfect spot, and three or four times, I’ve had to hop out and slog through mud to get the boat floating free again. Ask for help. “Do you mind just giving us a good shove?” See how easy that is? Ask for help.
Scorpio: Redfish are pretty fish. Okay as a food, good blackened, and best of the fighters as they are strong fish. So I’m in the front of the boat, and my buddies, in the back of the boat, they’re reeling in a stringer-full of Black Drum. I’m at the other end of the craft, and I’m tossing bait much further down the cut, hoping for something a little different. I got it. I got a single Red to their half-dozen drum. Here’s the amusing part, I was aiming to have my baits land alongside their baits, but my aim was a little wild.
Throw was wild. Cast was off. I’d like to say the wind caught it but it was just a bad throw, on my part. Admit my mistakes. That mistake resulted, netted, the one nice Red for the morning. Mistakes, and trying to follow the crowd, but not succeeding? That was where there was success. Scorpio success is dependent upon several factors, realizing that your aim might be off? Sure. Trying to be like everyone else, but not quite making it? Sure, that too.
Sagittarius: I was shopping online. Looking at some kind of case to protect a computer or phone or something. The original price was over $40, the “now on sale” price was half that. The coupon price cut that in half again, so we’re down to ten bucks. There was a promo code, stick that in at the end of the check-out process for an additional $5 off. So now I’m at free. Plus shipping, which, if I selected the “2nd Day Air” option, it was free, too. Five bucks. I didn’t buy it. I was looking at the process itself. All those steps, each one an arduous adventure in itself, and each step, does the ends justify the means?
I’m not sure what they get out of that deal, either, unless this was surplus stock, and they were basically trading that merchandise for my mailing address. $5 for case that originally retailed for $40? Sounds good, but there’s a new model coming out soon, and that old case is no longer a hot-ticket item. This is about the Sagittarius process. What are we willing to do in order to get that? Is the expenditure of time and effort worth the rewards? Remember? Mercury is backwards, is this a good time to order online?
Capricorn: I have a long history of flying on commercial aircraft, in and out of Albuquerque’s airport. Dates back to 727 jets, that long I’ve been doing this. Albuquerque is on the southwestern flank of a desert mountain range, and in the summer, the desert floor heats up, creating a treacherous series of updrafts, downdrafts and crosswinds. Universally, it’s usually bumpy landing there. I was waiting to board a flight, and I watched a young man get off the plane, calmly stagger to a trash can, lean over, and evacuate the contents of his stomach. Over and over. Wasn’t noisy, just wrenching to watch his wrenching. I’m sure it was motion sickness from a scary, turbulent landing. Some of the landing patterns come in over Kirtland AFB, and the bunkers where they house the aliens are clearly visible. This isn’t about the Air Force, UFOs, or even New Mexico air traffic. It’s about what to expect and how to keep from getting ill. Mercury is retrograde. There will be turbulence. If your delicate Capricorn constitution doesn’t mix well with that motion sickness thing, then take some drugs ahead of time. There will be turbulent weather. Safe? Sure. Bumpy? That, too.
Aquarius: “So this backwards Mercury is going to totally screw up my week?” No, what I suggested, Mercury isn’t going to do anything. Other people — folks who do not grasp the symbolism — those people — they’re going to screw up the Aquarius week. Weeks. Goes one for another couple of weeks. It’s less about them “screwing up,” and more about them affecting your decent attitude.
You also are aware that Mercury is Retrograde in position that is basically opposite your fine Aquarius self, and as such, there’s a huge indication that something will not go like you planned it. Period. Doesn’t come off as planned. There. I said it. Wrote it, anyway, which is even more permanent. I have plan A, Plan B, and Plan Z. Really, I have have the whole alphabet for plans. I’d suggest that the Aquarius benefits from having a “Next Available” plan. If the first doesn’t work out, then there’s always another. You will be much happier like that. Then, too, there’s a Zen-like approach, really, kind of Taoist, you may not get what planned for, but somehow, you wind up where you’re supposed to be. Might not have been your plan, but you get where you’re needed most.
Pisces: Coffee is my favorite solution to this kind of week. Lots of coffee. Caffeine. Beverages with low calories, low glycemic value, high in stimulants. Whatever works for you. Get in early at work and stay late. Make sure everyone sees this action you’re the first one in, each morning. I always liked a certain city employee, she’d be the first in, and her user name would pop up in my blog, them the horoscopes, and finally, on the side project. Time wasn’t really spent “working” in as much as it was surfing and getting settled in. What did we do before computers, in order to look busy? Get in early, stay late, look like you’re paying attention. Some days, quality matters. Other days? Quantity. If you can’t provide one, then provide the other.
Aries: Included in my original collection of quotes is a bit from Chaucer, 13th Century Poet and the first of the truly English Poets. The Middle English version is in my book, or the collection, someplace. The rough, modern translation, my version, adapted for Aries? “Nowhere was there a busier man, but often he was busier than he was.”
One of the Canterbury Tales. That’s the trick, too. Not geting to caught up in the moment. Live in the present, be in the moment, we’ve all heard the advice like that. What I see happening, partly Mars (in Libra), Saturn (in Libra), Uranus, moving off station (in Aries) and that Uranus? It opposes Mars which gives that dog (cat) chasing its tail effect in Aries. Stop. No need to run circles, unless, of course, you like running in circles. Mercury, not heinously retrograde, but still, you know Mercury Drill.
Taurus: There are a couple of theories about retail sales, and there are several models to follow. One that I’ve seen frequently, and one that I would personally warn your fine, Taurus self about? “It was on sale, I bought three.”
Three of an item that you have no use for? Three items that, even though they were all steeply discounted, paying merely pennies on the dollars? Still, that’s three items that there is no immediate use for and might never need. If you do need them? You can buy one, at that time, but three? I don’t care how cheap it was, there’s still storage and upkeep, and what are you going to do with three of them?
“But they were on sale!” If you’re going to follow that symbolism, then here, I’ve got a sale going on, too. I was sort of kidding, but Mercury is retrograde and that’s no reason to buy way more than you need.
Gemini: One of my good little Gemini buddies, his car was making a horrible racket. Sounded like it had already thrown a rod, like there should be a piece of the motor sticking out through the block. Offensive, horrendous noise. Did not sound safe. Didn’t sound good. Sounded like the car needed to be put out of its misery, gently pushed off a cliff, or maybe shoved into the lake. Although, after last year’s drought, the old, sunken heaps were showing up with alarming frequency. He called, more than once, to tap my mechanical knowledge, since nothing was sticking out of the motor, and he was sure a main bearing, or a similar problem was occurring.
Something really wrong. What it amounted to was loose road trash, caught in a fan belt. Simple problem. As a Gemini, though, as the multiple facets to Gemini are hammered by the Mercury thing, are you going to complain loud and long? Or just crawl under the car and fix the simple problem? Took my buddy, Gemini, more than a week to get around to simple fix. No tools required.
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