Mercury Rx in Taurus

 

April 28 to May 22, 2016

Oh, Mercury retrograde, here you are again arriving on our collective thresholds in all your chaotic glory.  During your stay you are going to ask us (whether we like it or not) to re-evaluate, re-tool and re-vamp our lives (whether we like it or not). Then, as quickly as you appear, you disappear again, leaving us reeling, but with better insight into ourselves.  The key to surviving this period is really rather simple - go with it.  Mercury is giving you a do-over, a take two, a mulligan.  Take advantage - don’t squander the opportunity.

While Mercury is backpedaling in earthy Taurus, we'll all have a sobering opportunity to revise our plans about the material side of life. Perhaps your budget needs an overhaul. Or, it's possible that you need to reconsider how you're using your talents in order to earn money. Whatever the details, you have an opportunity to re-calibrate your approach to finances and strengthen your mental self-worth muscles in the process.You may be persuaded to let go of things and possessions you've been holding and hoarding. Perhaps you can recycle by donating your old possessions. Mercury retrograde in Taurus brings stubborn blockages connected with new ideas, powers of concentration and putting ideas into a practical format. Access to the most direct route to your goals is likely to be blocked by breakdowns in communication and unwillingness to compromise. All areas of communication are affected. Methods and motivation for learning, communication and transportation are subject to difficulties under this aspect.

So along with the customary Do’s and Don’ts of backing up your data, not signing any contracts (unless it was started pre-retrograde) and double-checking your appointments, here are 5 tips to help you cope during this time.

• Be sure not to take things too personally. People will often say offensive things they didn’t mean around this time, because their thinking is clouded and their communication skills are on pause.

• Finally finish those lingering tasks. Home improvement projects? Wardrobe re-organization? This is an excellent time to complete those things and file them away forever.

• Allow Mercury to nudge you in unusual directions. Look at what the universe is trying to show you. What can you learn from this situation? This is a fantastic time to re-examine, accept and move on.

• Mercury retrograde encourages us to tie up loose ends. Holding a grudge is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die. It’s time to move on, and if you can’t forget, do your best to forgive.

• Mercury retrograde favors rewriting, revising or editing any documents. Why not put that energy to good use and rework your résumé or personal mission statement? You could spice up your blog’s bio page or make some long overdue changes to your business plans.

Taurus and the Heirophant

On April 19^th, the Sun began its month-long trek through Taurus the Bull, the zodiac sign assigned to the Hierophant of the tarot. The sign Taurus belongs to the element earth and is ruled by the planet Venus. In Aries, the Sun is bold, confident, direct, quick-thinking, quick-acting and quick-tempered. In Taurus, the Sun slows down, steps back, makes considerations, and assesses risk vs. gain with the timing involved. Taurus as a fixed (stable) sign enables the new seeds we planted in Aries to take root and blossom.While Taurus may have a reputation as stubborn, the Bull also is placid and steady and we will welcome this new energy after the nonstop activity of Sun in Aries.

The Hierophant card, numbered five, depicts a priestly figure seated between two pillars. He holds a scepter and wears a triple crown. Beneath his feet lies a set of keys, symbolizing his access to secret knowledge. On either side of the keys, two acolytes knell.  They are alternatively clad in dark and light vestments reminiscent of the dark and light pillars on the High Priestess card. The Hierophant symbolizes the organized and ritualized approach to spiritual truth. Taurus is associated with the Hierophant tarot card, deriving from the Greek “hieros” meaning “sacred,” and “phainein” meaning “to reveal”. This is the title of the high priest of the Eleusinian cult, who worshipped the Goddess Demeter and her daughter Persephone. The Hierophant (male High Priest) along with the High Priestess, led the ceremonies that annually commemorated the descent of Persephone into the underworld of Hades and her resurrection to new life. Only the Hierophant was allowed to touch the “hiera” or sacred objects of the Goddess. Demeter’s gift to mankind was the knowledge of tilling the earth and cultivating grain. In the mystery religion of Eleusis, the vegetation cycle of the death and burial of grain in the ground and its rebirth in the spring became symbolic of the spiritual life of man.

Tarot Meditations While the Sun Is in Taurus

This period when the Sun transits through Taurus is an excellent time to meditate on the Hierophant card. Do you need spiritual guidance from a wise counselor? Are you being as fruitful as you can with the gifts nature has given you? Where are you in the cycle of planting your seeds and tending your garden? In what part of your life do you need to “die” in order to be reborn?

To prepare for mediation, sit or lie in a comfortable place and allow your body to be free of tension and distractions. Pay attention to your breathing. Feel your breath go in and out as you inhale and exhale. If distracting thoughts enter your mind, simply observe them and allow them to float by as you gently return your attention to your breathing. When you have established a steady, comfortable rhythm of breathing rhythmically in and out, turn your focus to the tarot card you have selected for meditation. Observe the card and contemplate its images. Let your mind be open to the messages you receive from it. When you have completed your meditation, you may wish to record your observations in a notebook for review later on.

Mars/Pluto Rx - Transforming our Souls

Mars begins its retrograde period on April 17th in Sagittarius, backtracks into Scorpio on May 27th and remains there until it turns direct on June 29th. Following the retrograde cycle, Mars will exit Scorpio and enter Sagittarius on August 2nd. It is particularly noteworthy that Pluto begins its retrograde period on April 18th, less than 24 hours after Mars.

When Mars begins retrograde in Sagittarius, intuition sends a stronger signal and prompts a tough questioning and soul-searching period. Mars retrograde in Sagittarius serves to curtail that which has run rampant or wild or has grown out of proportion. What looked like opportunity can prove to be out of reach, a liability, lost, or non-existent.  What had seemed so clear, so justified, can become indistinct, confused and irrelevant. At the same time, this necessitates the intake of more diversified information and experience. It can prompt or force consciousness to open up to more varied ideas, concepts and opinions. We are now in the position to re-assess our current projects, our approach to getting what we want, and our desire nature. There can be passive-aggressive behavior during this cycle. We may be instigating problems or arguments rather than dealing with issues directly. When Mars enters into Scorpio at the end of May, you will find this to intensify our soul-searching introspection. Here, the soul is consciously and deliberately choosing to confront, examine and question itself. Instincts are now in a state of deeper questioning. Mars retrograde in Scorpio seeks to merge self and soul more consciously and completely.

Adding to our desire to get to the heart of us, Pluto turns retrograde from the 18th to September 26th, and we feel pressured to eliminate and release the old, outdated and obsolete in our lives. We are urged to let go of attitudes, thinking or communication patterns and rigid emotions and undertake an internal form of house cleaning. It is a good time to research into our own Souls in order to determine exactly what we do or do not need. Pluto's backward shift makes us reflective and forces us to look inward. Like its namesake, the planet Pluto rules over the shadow side of everything and everyone. When Pluto goes retrograde, it forces us to focus on our own personal shadow sides, specifically, the unpleasant parts of our personalities that we may not really like. Two big themes that Pluto likes to highlight are power and desire. With Pluto retrograde, we'll have to get honest with ourselves about how much we're motivated by a need for recognition, money and authority. This is a period of personal reckoning and once we see the traits in ourselves that we dislike, we can work to improve them. Pluto retrograde sheds light on the darker corners of our experiences. In this way we can grow, which highlights Pluto's key role in our lives - transformation.

April 2016 - Life on Pause

Just when we get ourselves back in “go” mode after winter’s lethargy, April comes along and hits the pause button.  To be fair, the month starts out energetic enough. If you’ve got new projects you want to launch, kick them off before April 5^th. After that point things begin to slow down – way down.  But with a little planning, we can get through it.

There’s a New Moon in Aries on April 7^th and normally this is an energetic Moon inspiring you to move forward. But the Moon has difficult aspects with Uranus and Pluto and it’s more likely you’ll find yourself motivated by fear and anxiety. If that’s the case, take a deep breath, and remind yourself it’s just a moment in time. The mood brightens a little the following week and you’ll have a second chance to launch what you couldn’t the first few days of the month.

Then we hit the brakes.  We already have Saturn in retrograde motion pushing us to re-evaluate what we hold dear and then our action planet Mars, begins his 74-day retrograde on April 17^th . During his reversal we may feel more restrained and unwilling to take risks. The very next day, transformative Pluto begins his retrograde transit.  Now typically, Pluto spends 6 months out of the year Retrograde and so its impact is expected, but the combo with Mars is trying under the best of circumstances.

Not to be left out of the party, Mercury turns retrograde on April 28^th in Taurus. In addition to the classic communication snafus (get those files backed up) Mercury retrograde in Taurus brings stubborn blockages connected with new ideas, powers of concentration and putting ideas into a practical format. Access to the most direct route to your goals is likely to be blocked by breakdowns in communication and unwillingness to compromise.

The Sun moves into Taurus on April 19^th and brings much-needed patience for dealing with slow-moving situations. But it also means that for a few weeks, no planets have any va-va-voom, what astrologers call essential dignity, so motivation is at a low.

And finally, the Full Moon in Scorpio on April 22^nd isn’t the easiest of Moons either. The polarity of the Sun and Moon are in fixed signs, so what we're dealing with is deeply rooted, stubborn, possibly stuck in one way of doing things.

But before you throw in the towel - take heart! With a little awareness, however, there are things you can do to turn things to your advantage.

Consider April the perfect month to:

•  Practice mindfulness. Be in the moment. Things may not go according to plan, but focus on what you can do. Slow down and do one thing at a time.
•  Use the pleasure principle to motivate yourself. Once you’ve managed to get something checked off your list, be nice to yourself and indulge in a little reward.
•  Finds was to incorporate meditation into your day. With the planets giving you the opportunity you might as well take advantage of the time for reflection.  Plus meditation is a great way to relieve stress.

The Astrology of Easter

Happy Easter!

Have you ever wondered why Easter Sunday can fall anywhere between March 22nd and April 25th  The date for Easter celebration is computed by the church with the help of astrology. It is dependent on the cycle of the moon thus making it a movable celebration. The Vernal or Spring Equinox plays a significant role in Easter as it is the original spring festival that celebrated the return of the sun and the renewal of the earth. In 325 A.D., the Council of Nicaea set the date of Easter as the Sunday following the Paschal Full Moon, which is the full moon that falls on or after the equinox. In practice, that means that Easter is always the first Sunday after the first full moon that falls on or after March 21st. So Easter can occur as early as March 22nd and as late as April 25th, depending on when the full moon falls.  This year Easter is today, March 27th.

Here are some Easter fun facts:

• The exchange of eggs for Easter dates back to a springtime custom older than Easter itself in which eggs were given as a symbol of rebirth in many cultures.
• After Halloween, Easter is the biggest candy consuming holiday.
• The first Easter basket was given the appearance of a bird's nest.
• Per the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest Easter egg made to date, was just over 25-ft high and was made of chocolate and marshmallow. It weighed 8,968 lbs. and was supported by an internal steel frame.
• Eggs, lilies, crosses, bunnies and lambs are the most popular symbols of Easter.
• In the old days pretzels were associated with Easter because the twists of the pretzel were thought to resemble arms crossing in prayer.
• Solving murder mysteries is very popular in Norway during Easter.
• Americans consume over 16 million jellybeans on Easter, enough to circle the globe three times over