Again, Mercury?! Yes, again.
This might be a retrograde that we should embrace.
What is happening?!
On December 13th, Mercury stationed retrograde and kicked off one of the most profound planetary stories of 2023 - and no, it’s not just going to affect your computer and your commute time.
We know that retrogrades can include revisions and autopsies, and on its surface, this retrograde in Capricorn will get down to exactly that. We’ll find ourselves getting jazzed up about home routines, professional habits, and the way we facilitate day-to-day practicalities that affect our status and ability to succeed within our own cultures and communities. The beginning of this retrograde is actually quite gentle, and may not impact certain people at all. Many earth signs, for instance, maintain a massive focus on the practical aspects of life regardless of celestial movement and might have things so buttoned-up that they will simply sit back and watch the rest of us freak out about our improperly updated laptops and poorly worded work emails. Thanks to a powerful new moon in Sagittarius and some upcoming benefic trines, however, this is not a retrograde that will feel punishing as much as it will be invigorating. We can expect things to go off the rails at times - but when they do, a clear path to improvement will open up and give us a glimpse of our lives if we were to operate at peak capacity, cutting out the little procrastinations and inefficiencies that mar our initial glorious intent.
The word ‘autopsy’ has particular relevance for the duration of this transit because of its Plutonian influence - Mercury is moving backwards through the sign in which Pluto recently reversed course, and both planets are gunning toward a final, groundbreaking alignment in Aquarius this coming January. It could feel like a journey through our mental underworld as we examine the past in preparation for a groundbreaking new future.
Individuals who struggle with details and discipline can use this transit to pinpoint the true underpinnings of their failures and near misses as they are forced to look back. For some, the annoyances of a retrograde can speak to larger issues regarding things like our careers and public perception - are we encountering difficulties as a genuine learning experience, or are we sabotaging this area of life because we don’t really care for it in the first place? If we work as an accountant and are constantly experiencing friction with our administrative tasks, do we need to get better at the tasks, or investigate something other than accountancy as an occupation?
These are the sorts of inquiries this retrograde will throw our way, starting slowly over this weekend and building up to some very intense, beneficial aspects toward the latter half of December. Things we thought were settled - contracts, work projects, travel plans, and even our chosen professions will be subject to brutal review, because Capricorn doesn’t find it efficient to pull punches - it wants results with benefits, and it wants them now.
Why would this affect me?
The planet Mercury is our zippy little Hermes avatar, and as such he rules communication, technology, commerce, finances, trade deals, travelers, trickery, and thieves. He’s wily, and he tends to impact areas of life that require speed (I can’t believe the crypto bros. of the world have yet to adopt some aspect of Hermes as a mascot - that is a massive missed opportunity and a sign that we need to teach more Greek mythology alongside economics.)
When Mercury transits Capricorn, we tend to navigate these areas of life with the same no-nonsense, laser-focused work ethic as the infamous sea goat. We find ourselves going over receipts, re-organizing our work desks, and inching our noses just a bit closer to our personal grindstone. It can be helpful to meditate on the 10th House of the zodiac wheel as we prepare to survive yet another Mercury moonwalk - the house of public persona, work ethic, and professional recognition. This is where sturdy Capricorn resides, adding to their well-earned reputation as spreadsheet-slinging, money-loving workaholics who enjoy the finer things in life because, well, if you asked them, they fucking earned it. Mercury sailing backwards in Capricorn, then, will pull focus to the improvements we need to make professionally and practically in order to secure the status we desire, both at work and out in the world at large.
For some of us, we will spend this transit correcting some professional errors and looking ahead to those inevitable year end reviews, when we get to see if our boss thinks we are as worthwhile as we try to be. For others, uncovering the small things that need tweaking when it comes to our professional goals will lead to re-examination of the broader landscape. This is because the new moon in Sagittarius continues to bring out our inner philosopher during the initial phase of this Mercury retrograde, and Mercury himself will back-up into Sagittarius again as he moonwalks through the constellations, making this transformation both practical and esoteric.
Do we actually want to do the work that we are doing? Is it giving us what we thought it would? Is our current focus the thing that will catapult us to the status we desire, or is it actually hindering us in our growth? Maybe the fictitious accountant who hates administrative tasks should have been an electrician this entire time, and has only just now had the space to evaluate labor as a choice, not a requirement.
Sometimes, it is the release of preconceived notions that brings us empowerment - especially the preconceived notions about ourselves, ones we have perhaps held for the bulk of our lives. The new moon in Sagittarius continues to bring out our inner philosopher during the initial phase of this Mercury retrograde, and Mercury himself will back-up into Sagittarius again as he moonwalks through the constellations, making this transformation both practical and esoteric.
When do I have to deal with this?
This coming weekend into early next week could feel internally transformative to many of us as we enjoy the final days of a Sagittarius sun, but it is only the first part of a long story that Mercury is narrating. He will trine Jupiter on 12.18.23, giving some of us access to big ideas with far reaching possibilities, and the luck of Jupiter makes this the perfect day to have money and work conversations. He’ll move back into Sagittarius on 12.22.23, gifting us with the more circumspect, open-minded communication vibe and grand ideas for which The Archer is famous. Mercury will move direct again on 1.1.24, and as we will discuss in the coming weeks, that is when the truly wild party gets started.
Cool, what does the Tarot say about this?
There were some interesting revelations at the start of the week as The Tower reversed took the wind from our sails and showed us the benefit of picking our battles and letting inevitable losses go. On Thursday, 12.14.23, we had to face more disappointment with the 9 of Swords, only to realize that we might be viewing things in terms of extremes and causing ourselves more unhappiness than is necessary. (It is understandable that our lens of interpretation has darkened a bit, given the doom and destruction transmitting from global media, but we have to find places of levity or we will lose our collective shit.)
Today is a day that illuminates our previously dim view of things - something in The Apprentice of Vials has given us a new community connection; we feel transformed and rejuvenated when like-minded souls inspire us to see glorious possibility, replacing fatigue and despair with hope.
Saturday, 12.16.23 will be offering up a choice with The Mermaid reversed - some of us will strengthen a personal commitment with formal acknowledgment, making this a day of earned joy and reassurance. Others people may experience the shadow side and finalize an extraction or break-up, one that was likely necessary or foreseen. And finally, Sunday, 12.17.23 may unveil a financial or material injustice that throws us for a loop with the 6 of Pills reversed. Instead of despairing about it, shed light on it and telegraph the discovery to others…after all, the judicious application of daylight never fails to dissolve shadows.
Lagniappe
Things like astrology and cartomancy have withstood centuries of skepticism, much of it extremely valid (for instance, we no longer expect elected officials to make decisions according to the cosmos. Shout out to Ancient Greece!) I would never try to persuade a non-believer of the power of Jupiter or the efficacy of new moon rituals - after all, we are working on vibes and faith with any spiritual practice, the nuts and bolts of which are always symbolic, from Wicca to Christianity to Zoroastrianism. None of us really know the truth behind our existence in a scientific, factual way, so forcing people to our side isn’t the concrete win that some institutions, mostly on the Abrahamic side of things, think it is. But it’s still fun to take note of synchronicities when they pop-up. This week, apropos of nothing, my daughter drew a nativity scene with goats* standing in for every character and felt the need to text it to me in the middle of the school day on Wednesday - the day that Mercury went retrograde in Capricorn. Our moon also ingressed into Capricorn, i.e. The Sea Goat, on Wednesday, beside a sun still burning with the philisophical and religious inquiry of Sagittarius. Wild.
