Building Bridges to Secure Something Emotional or Social.

Mercury goes direct in motion at 8:17 pm PDT on May 14, and speeds up for the next 10 weeks.

This shows a quickening of the ability to coordinate, put things together, understand the whole and the parts, the process and the larger cycles. It is now stationary at 6 Taurus, affecting that area in our lives for 3 months to come.

Mercury, or Hermes, "the Guide of Souls," is also known as the Divine Trickster, as well as all lesser models. What does Mercury going stationary direct at 9 Capricorn mean? Perhaps it would be useful to take a look back on what the last Mercury direct station brought us since January 2023.

You will recall that the last time Mercury went stationary direct in January it was at 9 Capricorn, the first of this year’s retrogrades which begin in late Earth and end in early Earth. That one began at 25 Capricorn and ended at 9 Capricorn; this one began at 16 Taurus and now ends at 6 Taurus, which is the exact retrograde span Jupiter will traverse between early September and late December, so this one is a dress rehearsal, or a least a time which can yield insights into what Autumn will bring.

This retrograde period began at 16 Taurus, and gave us a review of a) recent new developments in our lives related to Taurus things and ideas, b) 2023 as a whole, since Jupiter will expand on these Taurus retrograde/direct themes during its time in that span, and c) Uranus-related developments since it occupied this span between mid-May 2022 and early March 2023. Of course, all this action is wherever we have Taurus in our birth charts.

We’ve now done a journey through parts of our Taurus past, remembered many things about values and resources past and present which may no longer be adequate for how we’ve grown, and gotten a different perspective on many Taurus things these past 3 weeks. From here we move forward into a new expression of these energies which will echo for many months to come and be amplified by Jupiter beginning in August.

We’ve now re-traced ground that we first saw via Mercury’s first pass from April 6 through 21, and re-examined via the RX from then to now. An important point in time will be when Mercury goes back over 16 Taurus on May 31 and June 1, because then it leaves its shadow zone and moves into new sections of the zodiac, carrying all its RX lessons forward until its coming August-September retrograde when we review what works and what doesn’t in terms of “venerable standards” we adopted in 2009-2010.

Now we face 4 months of being guided to our Soul using the qualities of 6 Taurus. How we use those realizations to coordinate the qualities of that degree into our lives over the next 4 months will show us a different way of finding emotional and social connectedness within our unfolding group work.

We should all start seeing, hearing, and understanding things that point the way to some Mercurial fulfillment related to how we have been and continue to be guided to our Soul. The area in our chart where we have 6 Taurus will be where the past gives way to the future.

The Sabian Symbol for Mercury’s Direct Station

The Sabian symbol for the 6th degree of Taurus is “A bridge being built across a gorge.” In the Astrology of Personality, where Rudhyar uses the original Dr. Jones' class notes on the symbols, 6 Taurus is said to be a symbol of “Conquest of difficulties and limitations by intelligence,” “directed effort toward solving a problem,” and “Channel-ship.”

In The Astrological Mandala, he says this degree involves "the conquest of separativeness through group-cooperation,” and states this symbol is about participating in some collective project to overcome any sense of loneliness. “All great evolutionary challenges imply the overcoming of basic difficulties.” Here we confront “an abyss” that is “no longer a personal void” but a chasm that must be bridged to achieve evolution.

He says here “a link must be built through the power of the collective mind of (the group or community) on the basis of the legacy of the past, to make a bridge…” He concludes the “bridge built with collective skill gives substance to and demonstrates (our) capacity to conquer obstacles and to achieve evolutionary continuity…” He states this degree falls in the Span of Experience, Act of Differentiation, and Scene of Substantiation on the Emotional-Cultural level.

Dr. Jones, creator of the Sabian Symbols, says this is a degree of “the conquest of natural difficulties by conscious means,” and of our independence from “nature’s accidents or inconveniences.” He states “there are always ways in which physical limitations may be transformed into personal or social assets,” contributing dependability and consistency that ensures “continuance and intelligence to human experience.”

He offers the keyword CHANNELSHIP. He goes on to state that when operating positively, the degree is “the directness and the practical instinct by which personality achieves ultimate benefit of its powers.”

So the Mercury platform launching the next few weeks will help us see clearly how to build bridges with others to achieve some form of evolution in a group setup, and conquer difficulties, limitations, and separateness “through group cooperation.” We should be able to link with others these next few months to achieve some sort of evolutionary continuity, perhaps finding new ways to use our resources to become independent of limitations and superficialities.

From Here We Move Forward

6 Taurus is now a launch point for entering into a new (and somewhat familiar) realm in the Gemini and Virgo areas of our chart via Mercury’s placement in the Taurus decan of Taurus with an added dose of Mercury. We now move forward, having done our time of going inward to reflect on how the old answers and approaches cannot confirm what we’re searching for or trying to accomplish. We’ve gotten glimpses of things to come this Autumn, so plan appropriately for a reprise of these Taurus experiences and lessons when Jupiter transits this span three times between August and March 2024.

Mercury now begins to chase the Sun toward their next Superior Conjunction, bringing all its reflections and reviews into the NOW. We’ve finished the second of this year’s Earth sign retrogrades, and have new ways of understanding our Gemini and Virgo areas, as well as the Earth sectors of our charts.

We’ll close today with a reminder that although Mercury is now direct and won’t be retrograde again until mid-August, the retrograde we’ve just experienced will affect the coming months until the Mercury retrograde station in August 2023 at 22 Virgo. At that point we’ll have a look back at what we set into motion via our inner Saturn these past 14 years. This continues our exploration of the theme of this year which involves tuning into the invisible world and our helpers there, and finding harmony in some form of fulfillment.

Of course you can find out more about past, present, or future retrogrades by getting your copy of my book A New Look At Mercury Retrograde. Here's the Amazon link to where you can order A New Look at Mercury Retrograde to check out possible ways this Mercury retrograde effect could play out over the next 4 months. That link will also allow you to order an ebook copy on Kindle, or you can go to B&N’s nook instead. Just make sure you get the 2016 2nd edition with the book award on the cover and not the 1997 Weiser first edition.

In part 2, we'll continue to examine what we can expect over the next 3 months now that Mercury is direct.

Reprinted on crystalwind.ca with written permission from Robert Wilkinson. Copying this article to other blogs is strictly prohibited. It is copyright protected. 

© Copyright 2023 Robert Wilkinson

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