- “And now he writes to heaven for his redress.
See, here’s to Jove, and this to Mercury,
This to Apollo, this to the god of war:
Sweet scrolls to fly about the streets of Rome!”
- Saturnius in Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus 4.4.13-16
Titus: the movie.
Horoscopes by the Fishing Guide to the Stars starting 9.24.2015
Libra:
Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus is a bloody play. Much blood is shed, some on stage, quite the gore-fest. Blood, murder, mayhem, double-cross a double-cross, perfect “Mercury in Retrograde” activity. The purpose of the play, one purpose, I would suppose, is to see this on stage so I can gain some kind of catharsis, wherein, I don’t have to act out what I witness as a play. When this play is well-done, and it’s not done too often, it’s an amazing spectacle with splashes of red everywhere. There’s a movie version called “Titus,” that I would recommend, but not to the faint of heart or weak of stomach. The idea of seeing it on stage so it doesn’t have to occur in real life? What this is about. Mercury is in a typical retrograde pattern, and the easiest way to work through this is to sit back and watch, regretfully, we can’t all sit back and just observe. But the more time spent not “writes to heaven for his redress.” the better off a good Libra is. It’s not bad, just different. Tackle this incorrectly, though? It can appear to be a gore-fest like that play.
Scorpio:
I woke with a terrible fright the other evening. I was dreaming about a car I drove in High School, not much, as I was mostly a pedestrian, but it was a vehicle, and there aren’t many memories; however, I still have a few. This is the fine line between reminiscing and nightmares. I’m unsure of which, since, that line in this dream sequence fell into: nightmare or painted memory?
As Scorpio, this is the weirdest of strange times, as there will be more than one night when you’ll have a memory, or a reminiscent moment, or frightening nightmare from your past, which might not be that scary to some Scorpio’s, but still, to someone like me? I’d awake in a fright. Sweaty brow, throwing the covers off, gasping for breath, sure one of those.
How bad is this going to be? That’s up to you. I know one (1) Scorpio who is so squeaky clean she’ll have no problems with this time. However, she’s the only one I know. The trick is to realize it’s just a symbolic dream, and in my case, upon further reflection, I realize that the dream was about letting go of something from my own past. Not a big challenge, except that I thought I’d dismissed that years ago. From the fevered dream? Apparently not. As a Scorpio, this week is your fevered dream state. One thing, one, possibly just symbolic, item left to cut your self loose from. That fervid dream? Might just be a pointer to what needs to be let go.
Sagittarius:
Poking around on the web the other afternoon, I got sorely disappointed in a single media outlet. I quickly hunted down the app for that site, and I deleted it. Then I felt better. A few minutes after I deleted the app, I wanted to message someone, and I couldn’t because I no longer had the app. Not a loss, not a problem, I forgot about it all.
Life’s been better. It’s a simple move, to delete an app, to sign off a media website and then, to not go back. Easy as pie. Easy as falling off a horse. So easy, I lost touch with the idea. Here’s the plan, Sagittarius: get annoyed at a media outlet. Erase its app, delete the bookmark on the computer, remove it from the pointers that you tend to keep handy. This is a Mercury-Retrograde inspired move. It’s a single step to remove, from our lives, that which we find annoying. While it’s an over-simplified example, it works. It won’t fix Mercury in Retrograde, but it will make you life easier. Our lives easier.
Capricorn:
Mercury in Retrograde tends to bring up an issue, especially this one, Mercury in Retrograde tends to bring an issue to the forefront of the Capricorn’s attention. One item, one thing, one problem that needs to be addressed. Again.
“You forgot that this one that needs to be addressed, again,” a Capricorn reminds me. There’s a sense that this is something that you know about. I tend to look at this like, “I’ve been meaning to go back over and address this thing, again. Thanks for bringing it up!” However, that’s my way of dealing with the issue. I’m also a happy-go-lucky, oftentimes clueless, Sagittarius. Still, my little attitude adjustment? My little, “I’ve been meaning to look at this again,” that attitude? That goes a long way into making this uncomfortable issue more palatable, easier to deal with. Up to you, but the “I’ve been meaning to deal with this,” that way of working with the issue that this Mercury Retrograde pushes to the forefront of the Capricorn attention?
“I wanted to look at that problem again, I think we might have a away to fix this, once and for all…”
Aquarius:
Many years ago, I ran a business that was largely a cash business. I would keep extra cash tucked under the mattress on the futon, and the cat used to sleep on that futon. Cats, if I recall, can sleep, like, 20 hours a day. I’d like to be a cat. My old cat, she used to complain if I was tucking cash under that futon, the mattress. The added advantage, I kept a “Kitty Cam” trained on the cat’s location, on the couch, so I was really keeping an eye on my money. I no longer have a cash business like that, but the idea of buried money, or cash, like that, in the back yard, buried treasures, money that’s been tucked away for so long I forgot where I put it? I’d wonder if this isn’t a time to look for that extra cash, the pennies from heaven, that we can all use at a time like this. This can play out a number of ways, but the search for some extra cash you tucked away someplace so safe that you forget where it is?
Pisces:
We all have a story to tell. We all have a tale, sometimes autobiographical, sometimes, humorous, sometimes, well, it is Pisces, this can feel tragic. Still, there’s a human need to tell our story. There’s a need for an audience, someone to listen to the tales of woe, the tales of adventure, the little stuff, the big events, heroic deeds, mundane and quotidian tasks. All of that is part of the tale we tell. All of us, I’m looking at one Pisces in particular, but all of us have stories.
The problem being, this week? My poor Pisces, no one seems to want to listen to your story. I’ll agree it’s gripping, curative, positive, tragical, comical, romantical, whatever it is you want to be, but I’ll point out, no one seems to be listening. This puts Pisces in vacuum, and, as the laws of physics tell us, “Nature abhors a vacuum.” Let it alone. You can script up that story. Figure the funny spin, figure the ultimate tragedy, whatever it is that you’re trying to tell? Now is a great time to work on the “reading notes” section of the story. Flesh out the plot. The problem with Mr. Mercury, where he is, backwards in Libra? He’s not helping getting this story told any better, any quicker, any more likely to find a sympathetic ear, no, not a good time to tell the Pisces story. I’m sure I’ll want to hear it, but I’m pretty busy this week.
Aries:
I wrote a book about Mercury in Retrograde, The Portable Mercury Retrograde. I got so tired of the lecture, and for that matter, some of the disinformation, it’s not like we can stop living, or stop going to work, no, none of that is happening. The reason I wrote the book is I got tired of repeating that information, over and over. That book bears witness to what is happening now, and this one, this particular Mercury Retrograde is going on opposite from Aries. That, plus Mars and Jupiter headed towards a game of tag in Virgo? Time to double-check the double-check on the Aries work.
Remember the expression, “Show all work?”
Remember the adjunct expression?
“Double-Check your work!”
It’s the Virgo essence that is required. Lose your Aries sentiment and adopt a Virgo-like mindset, just for a few days. Double-check everything, then check it again. A little OCD goes a long way in making this better.
Taurus:
In the next 7 to 10 days, someone is going to take offense to the way you’re trying to help them. It’s that simple. You stop to render assistance and you get tazered. Pepper spray is actually worse, it sticks more, especially some of that new stuff, not just cayenne but sticky gum. Nasty, and I really didn’t like getting hit with that. So, as a Taurus, what do you do? If you see a situation where the most appropriate way to help is to stop, say, it’s a little old lady, or an elderly man, by the side of the road, and you stop to see if they need a ride, or assistance? Don’t step out of your truck, no, maybe just roll the window down a little and before you make any sudden gestures, ask.
“Would you like some help? Can I call Triple-A for you?”
See how this works? Much easier, unlike me, I got out, smiled, walked over, and “Here, let me fix this for you,” and then getting sprayed, which left me by the side of the road, no you don’t want that.
Ask before you render aid. Maybe just offer to call Triple-A instead of getting out and getting hammered by pepper-spray. Or worse.
Gemini:
“This is the most heinous and pernicious Mercury Retrograde I’ve ever been through!” One Gemini, rather vocal in her complaints about the state of the Gemini Union and the disarray of planets. Short-term (Gemini) memory. No, it’s really not that bad, and yes, you had plenty of advance warning, and what is happening is probably foretold by me, as an oracle for all things Gemini, because, yes, I do adore Gemini more than most. The problems are directly attributed to how we’re working with this Mercury situation, and how we chose to respond. “Let me think about this a minute or two,” is my response.
The Gemini, in a blink of an eye, has already thought about it, then thought about what she thought about it, and then, snapped off an answer. Which is the source our Gemini (Mercury) problems. I said a minute or two, but in real time, not zippy-quick Gemini time.
Choices, you always got choices, right? Build in the regular person (non-Gemini) delay or suffer the consequences of too much too fast, and possibly too wrong to correct quickly.
Pause. Pause longer than usual.
Cancer:
One of my really old business cards surfaced. There was — iconic to me — a logo I did some years ago. I looked, the only address on that old business card that is still active? My website and email. Only connection point, I don’t have a fax, and I suspect, if anyone wanted to get in touch with me, I would be pretty easy to find, with regular mail, email, phone numbers and such, I’m available for communication. Handles. What handles do we all have and what still works, after all these years? That old business card was a shake-up for me. In the electronic ocean of communications, what touch-points are still working? Valid question for my little Cancer Moon Children, worried about the state of affairs. Mr. Mercury is going to harken back to a previous era, and like that really old business card that was still valid, the digits were wrong but the electronic point still valid, what’s going to work best? As Cancer, there’s an old-fashioned way that might work best.
The (mighty) Leo:
There are two items for your Leo self to remember: you planned this, and you planted that seed. This is the fruits of your efforts, for good or for ill, coming around. It’s up to you to make this work, in some capacity. I was watching a fishing buddy, a notorious penny-pincher, as he was carefully splicing some expensive fishing line together. The braided line can cost quite a bit, and yes, it is expensive, but the tactile nature of the line, the lack of shrinkage, and sheer strength can make it worth while. However, Mercury is Retrograde, and I watched in horror as a trophy-sized Redfish broke the line and made off with the bait, right where my buddy, too cheap to replace the entire spool of fishing line, the fish broke off right where my (cheap) buddy had knotted the severed line back together.
The splice wasn’t as strong as the line itself. Supposedly, the old lore is that a certain knots are stronger than the line. Wasn’t the case, the spliced line broke. Ah, but for the price of a roll of new fishing line, the fish was lost. Don’t cheap out, and realize, when you cheaped out before? That can haunt you, now.
Virgo:
Jupiter is good luck and good fortune. Mars is unbridled energy. And Mercury in Retrograde is confusion, which rules the Virgo day. “I rue the day!”
Yeah, whatever.
I realize I could be more sympathetic, but your Virgo self doesn’t need sympathy — you need a swift boot to get moving. Motion does not always equal progress, but with the way things are? Motion does help. Busy work. I have a couple of “metaphysical house-keeping” chores I keep on-call until times like this. I can stop, pause, and take a longer time to accomplish what I set out to do because I know that Mercury is moving in a way that is not conducive to ease the progress.
I tend to revisit old goals, and I keep at least one or two projects to “re-work” when this kind of time lines up, or misaligns, to listen to some of my Virgo friends. If this snuck up on you? I’m sorry, should’ve been paying attention. If it didn’t sneak up on you? Are we properly prepared with a Mercury Retrograde project to fixate on? It sure helps. I have one text, I’m still rewriting it, even now.
