MERCURY GOES RETROGRADE ON 30TH AUGUST 2016

…..a good ride for Virgo???

Mercury starts his third retrograde period this year in the Earth signs and more precisely in his own sign of Virgo. He stops in his tracks at 29° 04’ on the 30^th of August.

Virgo is all about details and collecting information that can serve us now or at a future date, order, attention to health and diet and being helpful to others are also part of his characteristics. Mercury is at home in this sign so I’m thinking that this may not be too bad a retrograde for you Virgos out there.

During a retrograde we internalize the planet’s features, so going over plans and details in order to get them right shouldn’t be such a big deal or particularly difficult for Virgo types. The meet-up with Jupiter (the big, the bold and the eternal optimist) on his way to Libra, on the 1^st-3^rd September at 28° Virgo, could also put more enthusiasm into nit-picking and getting to the bare details of any deals or plans…Jupiter however also expands and this could make some of us actually lose the bigger picture in the scheme of things to come as we become ever more engrossed in the small details.

It may not be such a great retrograde period however for the other mutable signs of Sagittarius, Pisces and Gemini. Sagittarius has Saturn ploughing through it and Pisces has Neptune floating around there and of course Gemini opposes and squares these signs.

Just over half way through the retrograde period Mercury will square Mars in Sagittarius at 20°, Mars is now way out of bounds (OOB)* in the Southern hemisphere giving him an extra, vicious punch which could make those with planets or angles affected by the retrograde very sarcastic or very self-critical or just plain over-irrational in their behaviour. It could also make truths come out into the open or make you angry because you don’t want to tell the truth or, worse still, because you don’t want to recognize it.

As the retrograde period closes on the 21^st September, Mercury will be in a trine aspect to Pluto in Capricorn giving even more depth and power to the final stages of this introspective period.

In a few cases there could be health problems for natives with Mercury and mutable signs strong in their charts but forewarned is also forearmed…if you are feeling under the weather then get a medical check-up before the retrograde period starts!

As always, the recommendations for the Mercury retrograde are the usual ones: careful about signing any documents, postponing if at all possible until the period ends, take into account eventual upsets due to missed appointments and meetings, expect problems with communications, disruptions in  journey timetables and breakdowns in Hi-Tech equipment etc.

The Sabian symbol for 30° Virgo: “Totally intent upon completing an immediate task, a man is deaf to any allurement:” Indicating the total concentration required for reaching any spiritual goal.

“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship” L.M. Alcott

What are you expecting from this retrograde?

Bibliography

*an OOB planet is one that exceeds 23 degrees 27 minutes either North or South of the equator

Rudhyar D. (1974) “An Astrological Mandala: the cycles of transformations and its 360 symbolic phases”. p 169, Vintage Books Edition, Random House Inc., New York, USA