I was debating how much I would say about Mercury retrograde this upcoming cycle, given its placement in Gemini and accompanied by Mars and the Moon as the retrograde begins. In a little more than two days the Sun joins in the Gemini matrix. And of course, as mentioned last week, Saturn opposing by sign, has opposed Mars and will oppose the Sun as he enters Gemini; all that celestial stuff emphasizes priority, worldly smarts, dignity and the maintenance of philosophic correctness and personal integrity while dealing with life’s stuff.
This morning my debate ended as I awoke to no Internet. Dead as a doornail. Although, my Internet provider promises it will be back running within the next five hours. When it does, you’ll be one of the first to know, because I’ll be sending this out.
So here’s some Mercury retrograde tidbits to serve as bullet point reminders:
Before rousing in the morning, take a little time to stretch, relax and call your spirit back in from the dream world. With the Gemini multi-planet boosters to Mercury retrograde, starting the day without returning your spirit from wherever it is you go during sleep pretty much ensures blurry activity during the upcoming retrograde.
In the morning, wait to check your phone or computer for at least five minutes (283 seconds) upon waking. This gives a burst of galactic energy to settle in first as well, and gives you a chance to...
Reflect for a few moments. Re-sort your priorities for the short term... the next day interval (morning, afternoon, evening), the day, the week and the Mercury retrograde cycle.
Remember to remember.
Make a list and check it thrice before engaging.
Check all work before sending it out... and make sure those online payment systems don’t shift things around before you click “confirm.” Make sure fantasy travel location plans do not actually get booked while you are scanning luxurious sites. Maybe take your finger off the mouse while reading.
Remember where you put that list intended to jog your memory.
Since Mercury, ruler of Gemini, is a transceiver - a transmitter and receiver - when handling difficult communications apply an empathy/reaction filter to the receiving party’s point of view such that you stand in the other party’s emotional shoes before issuing the harshest of words sufficiently significant to fortify the intensity of your message.
Do your best to put external distractions into background noise. For instance, in the desert, doves begin cooing at four in the morning. Woodpeckers tap on the windows well before sunrise and well after sunset.
Work to let airplanes passing overhead and motorcycles racing on the street become background buzz, whether white noise, pink noise or a number of shades of gray.
When mental activity gets a bit much, take some cues from time spent in nature. Walk on the planet and feel the day. After all, in the middle of Mercury retrograde, this time on May 30th, the Sun and the Earth align with Mercury. Especially at this time, ground yourself and observe nature.
Nature is full on at work. Watch it happen. Last night, watching a silly HBO sitcom, part of the plot was to set up a sophisticated video network which ended up focused upon the imminent hatching of a condor egg hatch (http://www.piedpiper.com/blog/2015/5/17/the-condor-cam). There might be an interesting Zen in such observation.
Last week I happened to catch motion in the corner of my eye (a fleeting glance is certainly Mercurial) on the windowsill just outside the kitchen window. On the sill, slithered a most elegant bullsnake, nearly three feet long. It was curious... rising up, flicking its tongue, turning its head side to side. After a few moments, the snake slithered down, across the threshold and up the adobe bricks to a plant fixture in which a dove had fabricated a nest and laid a few eggs. The snake made a perfectly vertical ascent! Then, it found the nest and made a meal of the eggs. When done, it surveyed the environment, and slithered straight down the wall and into a nearby hole that led into the underworld.
Later when our cat Trevor went outside, he immediately hesitated. He proceeded to the snake’s hole and sniffed, then turned and looked at the plant fixture where an empty dove nest fluttered in the wind. Talk about instincts!
Take a hint from nature. Cultivate instincts. Trust visceral sensors indicating whether the data under scrutiny makes sense. On the 30th when the Sun and Mercury join hands in Gemini, the gravitational god of our solar system will have just transited the centaur Asbolus. Asbolus was an auger, who when intoxicated at the cave of Pholus, lost all sensibility. Asbolus reminds us to notice and heed real world indicators from a clear state of mind. Trust that observations are critical to cultivating conscious decisions and consciousness. As Asbolus loves to point out, “how good is it to be extrasensory, when ignoring the five physical senses?” Since a clear state of mind is key and all the stuff in Gemini while Mercury dashes to and fro, no posting, tweeting, reaching out when outside of a clear state of mind. To be clear: no drunk dialing, tweeting while tripping, or declaring while under the influence of adrenalin or dopamine (video game hangover).
If you’ll excuse me, now that my Internet is back, I must check out that first class upgrade offer from the airline flying me to Norwac this week.
More soon.