#mercury retrograde survival strat

[hereticaloracles]

Mercury Retrograde in Cancer: New Perspective

“Much unhappiness has come into the world because of bewilderment and things left unsaid.” –Fyodor Dostoevsky Effective Dates: July 3rd- August 15th, 2019 Helios’ Astrological Angle on Mercury Retrograde– Yes kiddies, kiddos, and cadets; It’s not enough that we are officially in Eclipse season, but its also happening against the backdrop of five retrograde planets! And the one to watch is every fake-woke white girl armed with a floppy Stevie Nicks hat and starter Tarot deck, chugging kombucha like it’s her absentee father’s love’s favorite: Mercury Retrograde! Now, for astrologers the double whammy of Mercury Retro and Eclipses is a mitzvah, because it means we can double up on the memes we make which leads to more consults that we can sell, giving us money that we will inevitably waste on cheap wine and more obscure astrology books- but what does this mean for you mere mortals who aren’t cursed with the grinding awareness that the cosmos is churning inexorably overhead at literally all times?  For starters, the standard warnings all apply- no signing contracts (especially not a new phone or car), no excessive travel, social media to be kept to a minimum, and your ex blocked on all platforms. No drunkenly sexting Tyler at 8:35 pm on Wednesday (he’s only going to leave you on read anyway and hit you back up in Leo season). But what else does the Trickster God of Rebels, Rogues, and Renegades have in store for us? Well, the Patron of Thieves, Merchants and Con Men will be in very early Leo (so early that we’re ignoring it from here on in) to mid-Cancer. Wherever that falls in your chart will bring up MAJOR issues and miscommunications. These will provoke extreme emotional responses prompting you to go full-on Taylor Swift. The real trick, the deeper issue to this however, is a major sense of dissatisfaction in your day-to-day life. Something BIG just isnt clicking for you, and the sad thing is you know exactly what you need to change- you’re just resisting it. So why is that? Why are you holding yourself back from living the truest expression of your absolute best life?  Here’s the deal- Mercury Retro is going to make you face the lingering feelings of being unwanted, of not being good enough to demand your place in the world, and of feeling unable to express who you really are. These stem from one root cause- At some point when you were very young, you got the message that you need to stay silent, to not bother people with your silly stories or dumb jokes, and you were laughed at for your sincerity instead of being encouraged. This was exposed with the last, ultra-rough, Chiron Retrograde. Now you need to actively heal it, and only the twin fires of Mercury Retrograde and the Eclipses will do to achieve the task. Anytime you feel yourself pulling back in your expressions or self-editing out of insecurity, double down! Put yourself out there, and in so doing you will experiment, mess up and put your foot in your mouth- but you will go miles towards healing the wounds that have been plaguing you for years.  Note- This advice does not mean you can sext Tyler. Sext his friend Brad instead, he has a good finance job and will appreciate your magnificence a bit more.

Mercury Retrograde in Cancer: New Perspective was originally published on Heretical Oracles

[hereticaloracles]

Mercury in Scorpio: Poisoned Little Lies

“The sick in mind, and, perhaps, in body, are rendered more darkly and hopelessly so by the manifold reflection of their disease, mirrored back from all quarters in the deportment of those about them; they are compelled to inhale the poison of their own breath, in infinite repetition.”― Nathaniel Hawthorne

Effective Dates: October 3rd- December 10th, 2019 (Retrograde Dates: October 31st- November 21st)

Helios’ Astrological Angle on Mercury in Scorpio–  You’re worthless. You’re not doing what you’re supposed to be. You’re lazy, fat, and you missed your opportunity. Your life is a waste. No one wants to be around you. You’re a joke- when you’re thought of at all. Be honest, how many times since you woke up today have you said those same exact things to yourself- if not exact in word than in intention?

This will be a rough Mercury transit y’all. As you no doubt noticed in the dates, this will be a Retrograde as well. You’re already doubting your competence and ability to make your dreams a reality with the other transits in the mix, I know- but now we have to deal with this one as well.

The key to surviving this Mercury Retrograde is going to hinge on your ability to shift your internal dynamic. You must stop any form of negative or self-defeating self-talk. Your internal monologue needs to become one of empowerment first and foremost. This is easier said than done, of course- but listen, this is a survival strategy. How much further do you really think you can get towards your goals if your mental energy is being spent telling yourself how worthless it all is and that you won’t succeed anyway, so it isn’t worth expending the energy to do anything other than languishing in self-pity? Do you really think that will get you anywhere other than your couch, wasting your life watching Netflix?

Every fear and negative belief you have in yourself will be thrown up in your face under this transit. You will need to overcome your own mind, and this will be a battle- make no mistake. Every time one of these fears or limiting beliefs comes up, I want you to stop, close your eyes, and forcefully tell yourself “That’s not true” or just a simple “No”. This is going to be difficult, but it will get easier every time you do it. Any meditative practice will help you now, and that doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to sit there and try and clear your mind while your mind screams obscenities at you. I go to the gym and lift heavy shit to do my meditation because I can’t do the Soto-style of meditation. Any action done with intention can be meditative. Find SOMETHING that works for you to help get you into the no-mind.

The more you quiet your mind, the deeper you can get into the heart of what this retrograde will be about- peeling back your thoughts and actions and examining your motivations for them. This is the core of the transit and will require a harsh, objective, and searingly honest view of who you are in your heart of hearts. This is a time of judgment, and you will need to stand up to the truth of who and what you truly are. Does this truth line up with your actions, your ambitions, and your ethics? It will all be up to you to stand in the harsh light of who you are, with all your darkness and fears exposed, and be judged by your own metrics of the soul- because that’s the judge you have to impress, your Self. There is no great god who will eat your heart if you don’t pass a test- it is all you, you are the judge and the one on trial.

Find a way to master your mind, overcome the fears of your heart, and be willing to face the truth of who you are and what you have done, Heretics- It’s the only way to overcome this hell of a transit.

Mercury in Scorpio: Poisoned Little Lies was originally published on Heretical Oracles

[hereticaloracles]

Mercury Retrograde- Tongue Tied

“Men are born with two eyes, but with one tongue, in order that they should see twice as much as they say.” – Charles Caleb Colton

Effective Dates: April 10th- May 4th 2017 (In Shadow May 5-21st)

Helios– Oh, it’s so hard when you have the right words to say, but the wrong ones wont stop getting in the way… That’s right, Heretics, Mercury is about to join Venus, Jupiter and Saturn in going Retrograde (Followed closely by Pluto, but I think four planets going backwards in the sky above us is enough for today, don’t you?)! I know, it feels like we JUST had a Mercury Retrograde, because we did! He rocketed through the signs to give us even more retrograde fun, because apparently he thinks we need more. *heavy sigh*

Angela, please call my attorney- I want to take out a restraining order on him.

For those who are new to this whole game, Mercury (Planet of Ideas, Communication, Siblings; Liars, Merchants, Thieves, Lawyers and Con Men) is going retrograde. This means that from our position on Terra Firma, it looks like the planet is actually moving backwards in the sky! Obviously this is impossible, and just an optical illusion, but astrologically this has some extremely annoying effects on our day-to-day life (He rules that too); Common wisdom during this time says things like not signing contracts or traveling unless you absolutely have to… that sort of thing. While these are good guidelines, there is always more to his story than just the base layer.

He will be starting his journey in Taurus, but will be moving through most of it in Aries- So he starts off plodding and ends up sprinting, the opposite of the Tortoise and the Hare from Aesop’s famous story. This changes what we have to avoid, what we should do instead. Mercury Retrograde is never a time for patience to come easily, but with it being in Aries, you will need to work twice as hard at keeping your cool and not jumping off the handle. This will be made even harder due to the influence of Mars (Planet of Action, War, Energy and Aggression) entering the sign where Mercury rules: Gemini. Since Mars rules the sign of Aries, where Mercury is transiting, this leads to a phenomenon called Mutual Reception, where energy flows between the two bastards much easier than it normally would. Think of it like they swapped apartments for a month, but are still meeting up to bro out, and hard. Like that one movie… *googles* The Holiday! Think of that, but bro-ier- And these two are the BIGGEST bros in the zodiac. Personally, I love it but I’ve been told that It’s an acquired taste.

So, we have to watch our tempers and our patience, as we are liable to jump off the handle without warning. Also, we have to not jump into anything new now- Businesses, get rich quick schemes, relationships, drug deals… You name it- Get it up and running before the retrograde or wait until after. While he is in Aries, Mercury has the annoying habit of rushing in on pure excitement and chutzpah, and not bothering to work out the details or nitty-gritty aspects of his ideas. With everything else on the line with the other Retrogrades, this can easily lead to ruin. Another annoying habit of this transit is to believe that you need to do everything on your own, taking on too much- This obviously leads to failure and burnout, not to mention mistrust between partners, but it is also an insidious form of self-sabotage. On some level, you feel that you don’t deserve success, and so you take on more and more until you do feel deserving. This must be avoided; You’ve put too much work in to turn back now.

Indeed, Mercury Retrograde will have you question absolutely everything about yourself, your life direction, and how you have failed miserably in your pathetic excuse of an existence- And that is just a normal transit! With the other planets retrograde as well, this is only exacerbated. These guys will have us questioning the worth of you, your girlfriend, your parents, your country… hell, when Pluto goes, he’ll ask us about the purpose of our whole damn species! I sure don’t want to be the one to field THAT one…. Anyways, sign no documents, duct tape your mouth, and make all decisions by committee and you should be fine.

Artemis- (Cards: 8 of Swords, Temperance, Magician)- Well, remember what we told you about Mercury in Aries? Yeah, well you avoided some shit, and now Mercury is backtracking through for a review. Like an editor who wont publish you without your following some certain guidelines, Mercury is going to show you exactly where you failed to speak your mind with the force of properly articulated arguments. Yeah, all those impassioned screaming fests and quick tempered snap backs are coming to bite you in the ass… And all those passive aggressive jabs are about to get a taste of towering confrontation. This transit wants you to double back and make those confrontations you chickened out of because Aries isn’t a goddamn coward. What? Did cowardice have your tongue?

With a Full Moon in Libra coming at us a after this retrograde begins, we will be called to become diplomats – conflict resolving in a time when all we want to do is deck the fucker in the face.  Keep your cool, Heretics, even though keeping your cool will be an absolute impossibility during this transit.  I recommend an intense meditation practice during these weeks, and with that intense meditation an intense contemplation.  Why are you flying off the handle now?  Should you have dealt with these issues when you had the chance – instead of running from them? Would that have kept you from exploding like a fucking volcano from the slightest provocation?

The thing is, you blinded yourself.  You chose not to see certain things or at the very least painted them in some sort of positive light so that you could continue on living in your life. Unfortunately, when you plug a leak it doesn’t vanish – it eventually gets bigger. Now we are about to have 5 planets in retrograde and the cosmic powers that be want you to realize that you can never truly gloss things over.  Mercury retrograding from Taurus into Aries will be a gradual build of anger.  At first, you will feel perturbed that you have to deal with this shit AGAIN, but the annoyances will continue building.  Unresolved shit will continue to tower over you until you want to decimate everything for the sake of quelling your anger.  

Ah, but these issues have always been there, Heretics! The anger should actually be directed at YOU not at them, for they showed their true colors the first time and you decided to take the “high road.”  Boundaries and tough love are necessary, and when Mercury loops backwards into Aries, the tough words will not be able to be stopped.  I recommend you resolve your issues ASAP with people so that you don’t rain blood all over them during this transit. Sure, raining blood on them will resolve the issue once and for all, but then you’ll have to deal with the fact that you’ve burned bridges for good. Learn your lesson the first time, because the second time is never as nice, and the third time makes you seem like a goddamn fool.

Expect a lot of hotheadedness from everyone around you – snappy come backs and general war mood during the entirety of this transit. People will speak their mind for once but it wont be pretty. It’s not going to be an easy transit for those with thin skin, so build yourself some defenses or find an emotional outlet for all the slights. Shit will go awry seemingly out of nowhere, and with Uranus/Eris combo not too far away from Mercury when he enters Aries again, the chaos of Mercury retrograde will become magnified. So fix all your leaks. There are those that don’t necessarily have your best interests in mind, and there is no way you will be able to ignore this anymore. You are going to need to take action to take your power back, whether it is on your terms or Mercury’s terms.     

Mercury Retrograde- Tongue Tied was originally published on Heretical Oracles

[hereticaloracles]

Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn- State Secret

Effective Date: December 19th, 2016- January 8th 2017 (In Shadow til January 27th)

Helios’ Astrological Angle on Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn– Here we go again. If 2016 didn’t suck enough, we have to end it on a retrograde, which means we enter 2017 stumbling and falling flat on our collective faces. Never let it be said that we don”t know how to make an entrance!

So we’re already starting with a deck massively stacked against us. How in the world do you rock this transit? Well, like with any Mercury retrograde, you need to be cautious and have as much in your favor before you act, if at all. Typically this would be a time to wait and plot, planning your moves and being ready for the next time the starting gun goes off, but this is anything but a typical retrograde- The future will not wait, and it is barrelling down on you HARD. You are going to need to suit up, and get your game face on.

During this transit, you are going to be assaulted with information on all sides. It will seem like it is tailored specifically to enrage you. You will feel as though nothing you were banking on is solid anymore. Once it pushes you past your breaking point, then the secret magic of this transit kicks in. Once you are broken, then you can move forward in true blessed savagery, moving past your emotional boundaries. This transit needs a cleanup crew, and so does your life. This transit demands a professional.

You are going to have to approach this like a hitman, coldly assassinating your challenges, choosing to cut them off before their mild inconvenience becomes a major stumbling block. It would be great if we could just stay back from a distance and snipe them out, but unfortunately the astro demands a more… engaged method. You will have to get up close and personal to each of them, and look them in the eye as you pull the trigger. To end these problems, you will need to control your emotional responses. Detachment and embracing the reality in front of you, without an emotional filter, is the only way to succeed. That does not say that it will be easy, not at all! In many ways this will be the hardest part of 2016 for you. Throughout this year we have been allowed to feel the full force of our emotions and let them run wild. Now we have to rein them in to clean up our mess.

Get to mopping.

 Artemis’ Tarot Take on Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn: Cards-  King of Pentacles, King of Swords, The Chariot

Why do you continue punishing yourself, day by day, hour by hour, caged up in your high tower – separated, isolated from the rest of the world? Do you think someone is going to come galloping up in a white horse, ready to pull you down from the spiral of bricks you have built to protect yourself from something that will demolish you? Unfortunately, Heretics, the more you attempt to protect yourself from demolishment, the bigger your high tower gets, and when your tower gets so fucking high that it starts to sway, you have quite the monstrous fall. You will meet head on, times 10, the very pain that you tried to avoid in the beginning.

Re-visit, re-do, edit, throw away, re-gain. These are traditional Mercury Retrograde themes. Mercury is an ephemeral planet. Most of the time, his influence goes un-noticed because he is the very mind that permeates reality. It is often the hardest to see the thing that is most personal to us. Currently, Mercury is situated in Capricorn, the eternal skeptic of the Zodiac.

It’s is time to be critical. Mercury is also a planet of healing, so this unearthing that will happen is good for you in the end.  It’s time to assess what you have with brutal honesty. Do you have a project you have been meaning to start? Fuck, now is the perfect time to do it. We have the resources we need, we just haven’t started USING them. Capricorn’s motto is “I Use.” How can you learn to manipulate what you have into a solid plan? What do you need to cut away from your high tower in order to be grounded once again? This transit is urging us to move forward. It is super powered by conjunct contact with Pluto, meaning the projects we begin now will be critical to our self transformation. It also means that it is going to detonate your faulty plans.  Once you get rid of your self imposed obstacles, you can begin moving forward – full steam ahead.

There will be a massive unveiling going on at this time that will seem almost “cold” toward you. The conjunction with Pluto is surely going to bring out our shadows and vulnerabilities, so keep in mind that you may be “exposed” at this time. This also means that it is easier to see yourself, therefore easier to work on yourself. This is your chance to re-visit the underworld and make some adjustments – bring back parts of yourself you thought were lost or too damaged to patch up. And then when Mercury swings back into direct, you can meet the challenge of 2017 head on with far more solid foundations. This transit will teach us more about integrity because it will be incredibly hard to hide faults. It will also make synchronicities far more visible and lies far harder to commit to.

Picture this transit like C4 used to blow away chunks of earth so that tunnels may be constructed from one point to another. There, inside the earth, we will learn things about ourselves that we have tried to bury. This transit will test our courage to confront those things, and it will test our determination. When these ghosts escape their graves, they will be inspiration for our art – for our healing. I guess the one thing to remember is that ghosts can’t kill you. They are phantoms, and you are made of the earth itself. When you realize this, perhaps you will stop building up, and start standing your ground.

Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn- State Secret was originally published on Heretical Oracles