• MERCURY STATIONS RETROGRADE IN TAURUS

  • Mercury stations retrograde in TaurusSLOW AND STEADY WHEN MERCURY RIDES THE BULL….

    ….and more so when he rides it backwards!

    Mercury stations retrograde in Taurus on 21st April 2023. Mercury in this Fixed, Earth sign can be associated with common sense, down-to-earth thinking and practical intelligence with an eye on security and self-worth issues. When contrasted in the natal chart, he could turn narrow-minded, stubborn, inflexible and suspicious of new ideas and theories. In all cases he takes his time to make decisions but once made they usually become irrevocable.

    Mercury will station retrograde at 15°35’ Taurus (antiscion 14°25’ Leo) and turn direct at 05°51’ Taurus (antiscion 24°09’ Leo) on the 15th of May. This is the second time this year that Mercury retrogrades in an Earth sign and is the only planet now in retrograde motion.

    15° degrees of the Fixed signs merit a special mention as they will always be the midpoint between a solstice and an ingress. For example, 15 Taurus is the midpoint of 00 Aries (Aries ingress) and the summer solstice (00 Cancer). Two late American astrologers Ivy Jacobson and Kt. Boehrer posited that these degrees had to do with being “held to our debts” (Jacobson) in whatever form that would take and are “the most serious generations of energy” (Boehrer). They can mean–positively or negatively–that there will be a disbursement through a duty, obligation, or responsibility that is inescapable. However, present-day American astrologer Michele Adler prefers to call them the “Excalibur” degrees, because there is some kind of connection to one’s destiny whether it’s pulling a sword out of a stone, or simply stepping up to the plate when a challenge presents itself.

    This is a very important degree for the Fixed signs this year since Uranus stationed direct at 14°56’ on the 22nd of January, Mercury is stationing retrograde at 15°35’ Taurus on the 21st April and both are/were in conjunction to the Lunar eclipse at 16° Taurus which took place on 8th November 2022. On the 5th of May there will be a Lunar Eclipse at 14°48’ Scorpio almost exactly opposite the Uranus direct station and only one degree from the more recent Mercury retrograde station. On the 4th of September at 15°34’ Taurus, Jupiter will station to retrograde.

    Taurus rules the 2nd house in traditional astrology and so it regards all things connected to our value system, not only our monetary and material comforts but also our self-esteem.

    During retrograde periods in the Earth signs, questions such as “What are the tangible results of my life?” “Which security issues or practical concerns do I need to deal with in this moment?” often float to the surface of our sub-conscious. We may also become excessively self-critical during these times too as we turn our thoughts inwards away from the mundane and become more self-engrossed.

    The Mercury retrograde periods are particularly important for those of us who have planets in Gemini and Virgo (both ruled by Mercury) and/or angles in these signs. Also of great interest are the matters of the house with Taurus on the cusp where Mercury is now transiting.

    As is customary, all the usual precautions are valid during a Mercury retrograde period such as not signing important documents, not buying cars, travel tickets, IT gadgets etc. Plans previously made may also suffer delays or cancellations as we become less interested in the details of matters.

    However, we could also use a Mercury retrograde period to correct errors of the past (usually connected with the house where the transit occurs) or we may even retrieve hidden or lost objects (and persons) that we believed gone for ever from our lives. It could be a time when corpses do actually return to haunt us!! But please make sure that you really want them back in your life before saying “yes”.

    This could be a rather heavy period for Gemini but I think it may be less so for Virgo since Mercury is in an Earth sign and therefore in a trine aspect to the latter and this should take off some of the rougher edges.

    The Sabian symbol for 16° Taurus “An old teacher fails to interest his pupils in traditional knowledge.” Indicating the inadequacy of past knowledge in time of crisis.

    For 15°Leo: “A pageant, with its spectacular floats, moves along a street crowded with cheering people.” Indicating the more or less sensational release of energies in a form dramatizing the unconscious aspirations of man’s primitive and instinctual nature.

    Which house is mercury transiting in your chart? 

    Bibliography

    Rudhyar D. (1974) “An Astrological Mandala: the cycles of transformations and its 360 symbolic phases”. p 80, 140, Vintage Books Edition, Random House Inc., New York, USA

    Sullivan E. (1992), Retrograde Planets, pp 73-74, Samuel Weiser Inc, York Beach, ME, USA

    Tierney B. (1983) “Dynamics of Aspect Analysis”, Chapter 10, Retrograde Planets, pp 203-204, CRCA Publications, Sebastopol, CA, USA

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