Mercury Rx

On the Horizon – Day 929

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Grandmother of Wands ~ Matriarch, Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince

On the Horizon

It’s been a while since I chose a card for us to contemplate. The intense astrological aspects taking place in the cosmos right now are influencing all of us, whether we ‘believe’ in them or not. As a result, I thought it might be beneficial to see what my Tarot of the Crone might have to say in counsel to us as we navigate the wild unpredictability I sense on the horizon.

The total eclipse of the full blood moon on Wednesday sent powerful ripples of revelation out into the world. Truths are being uncovered. Relationships exposed. Treacheries revealed. We’re being asked to review, reflect, and readjust over the next few months.

Pluto (planet of transformation, death, and resurrection) and Saturn (planet of boundaries, limits, foundations, and conservatism) have both gone retrograde recently. A cursory look at what those two planets influence make it obvious that some big stuff in our lives is going to be demanding our scrutiny. And Mercury (planet of communication, electronics, and technology/mechanical things) goes retrograde tomorrow.

The effect of Mercury retrograde will probably be more personal and also more fleeting. Nevertheless, it can be a pain. It would be a good idea for all of us to back up our computers. And try not to have a meltdown when your tv acts like it has a mind of its own or your appliances conk out.

Long Weekend

It seems to me that the coming long weekend will give us an ideal opportunity to hunker down and engage in some juicy personal reflection so we can navigate these turbulent influences with grace. Not only do we have a holiday weekend encouraging this inner work but many of us will also have rainy and chilly weather pressing the issue.

I do want to mention again one other planetary aspect that’s influencing all of us this entire year, but especially now and heading into the next two weeks (culminating on the 14th of June): the Saturn square Uranus transit. It’s essentially the old vs. the new. Tradition and the way things have always been done vs. new, radical ideas and approaches that turn things inside out, upside down, or just utterly transform.

It’s no surprise that we’re being asked to remember the insurrection of January 6th and deal with not only its aftermath but also – crucially – its planning and purpose. There’s a lot going on right now. Responsibility and accountability are two big words that have yet to be meaningfully invoked. And the tensions are only going to grow. Thus, we must prepare ourselves.

Request for Guidance

I asked what we maybe should keep in mind over the coming long weekend – and beyond. I chose the Grandmother of Wands: Matriarch (again, from the Tarot of the Crone by Ellen Lorenzi-Prince). The wisdom that’s shared with us when we only ask never ceases to amaze me:

Grandmother of Wands ~ Matriarch

“It is time to have a talk

And time to have a listen

Time to recognize our common bonds

With honest standing

With Goddess guiding

We create our culture

By how we treat one another”

“In a cave of light under a cover of dark, many figures gather closely around a fire. One figure looms larger than the rest; this is the matriarch. One of the group, she is also its heart and its strength. She speaks, she leads, she ensures all are heard and considered. She weaves individual strands into a tapestry, creating common ground and common cause. With warmth, rectitude and respect, she creates space for group magic to happen. She is tradition and invention in one. She is the fullest integration of your spirit. Embrace it; her power is yours.”

(T-182)

Planetary Clarity – Day 703

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Saturn & Jupiter (l-r) – Photo: L. Weikel

Planetary Clarity

As Karl and I neared the final leg of our evening jaunt both last night and tonight, we were treated to some breathtaking planetary clarity. Saturn and Jupiter shone brilliantly and obviously in the southwestern sky, while Mars blazed like a distant, illuminated pumpkin, reddish-orange and glowing as it rose in the east.

I don’t ever remember being so aware of the planets than I have been over the past year or so. And while the Sky Guide app I approvingly muse about so often is wonderful in the way it confirms for me just what I’m looking at, I think the initial awareness and subsequent desire to seek them out is also spurred by the astrological podcasts I listen to while mowing our lawn.

Yes, I realize that’s a rather specific time to pinpoint (while mowing lawn), but that’s actually when I get my most consistent listening accomplished.

Mars – 10/14/20 – Photo: L. Weikel

Mercury Retrograde

Just to add some fun to all the disinformation and misinformation and outright propaganda floating around in our ethers at the moment, Mercury stationed yesterday and is now appearing to move backwards from our perspective here on Earth, or move retrograde, from today until – get this – the morning of November 3rd. Yes. Election Day here in the United States.

So from now until Election Day, we’ll be operating under the influence of Mercury retrograde. When you consider that Mercury Retrograde is often associated with glitches in electronics and miscommunications, it’s easy to see that we just might have some serious shenanigans taking place over the next three weeks.

Mars Retrograde

Adding to the frustrations that may start piling up with Mercury going retrograde, we also are continuing to contend with Mars retrograding in its home sign – Aries – until November 14th. Even a cursory recollection of Greek and Roman mythology will tip us off to the fact that Mars, the God of War, is not exactly an easy going energy. And when moving retrograde? I believe a simmering pot with the lid on it, might be a good analogy.

There are a few interesting articles I want to link to in order to provide you with information and insight on the transits that and will be impacting all of us as we navigate these wild times. One of them is this monthly forecast for October by Rick Levine.

From the sound of a lot of different analyses, it would appear that the greatest planetary clarity we’re going to experience in the next couple months is going to be the type we see when we look up and peer directly into the night sky. Nevertheless, it pays to remain aware and awake to the possibilities, because forewarned is forearmed.

Mars – 10/14/2020 – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-408)

First Hot One – Day 589

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Spartacus – Photo: L. Weikel

First Hot One

I wasn’t sure how I wanted to title tonight’s post. Obviously, it’s a commentary on Spartacus’s sprawling position under the birdfeeders today. With his toy and a bottle nearby (albeit of olive oil), you would be forgiven for assuming Spart had partaken in a night of debauchery. Instead of “First Hot One,” I nearly named it, “What a Night!”

I chose  “First Hot One,” because like clockwork, the solstice occurs and we get slammed with oppressive heat and humidity. And that definitely was the case today, although I know the humidity can (and will) get even worse.

But today was one of the first days of truly summer weather. The thunderheads gathering in massive, billowing threats on the horizon struck fear in our hearts as we crested the first hill on our shorter trek. A jagged flash of piercing lightning struck just ahead of us, and almost instantaneously a massive thunder clap let us know that jagged strike had issued forth much closer than was comfortable

Sheila’s daily constitutional would have to be cut short tonight, which was not a welcome development for either of us. I needed a walk. Desperately.

Crisis Averted

Why? Because unbelievably (in hindsight), I tried to help my laptop complete its Windows 10 update (which it insisted on telling me day after day was needed) but which it kept informing me was unable to be consummated because I didn’t have enough memory on my laptop. So I bit the bullet. I took care of business with an external hard drive and moved some files around.

And I forgot Mercury was retrograde.

I actually forgot that messing around with my laptops when Mercury is retrograde has not ended well for me in the past. Indeed, I’ve even written about some of those debacles – at length – and the disastrous results that, for one thing, explain why I write all of my posts on my Apple instead of the Dell.

How did I forget the sins of my past?!

Black Screen White Cursor

Well, that just goes to show how we can get lulled into a sense of complacency and then – bam!

All of a sudden, I was looking at a black screen. Not a blue screen of death (thank goodness), but a black screen that I couldn’t coax into doing anything else. No control-alt-delete. No holding the power button down for a really, really long time. Nothing. In fact, it looked as though the power was off, although eventually a white cursor seemed to randomly show up. But that was it, the only concession the machine would make to me bringing it inside. (Karl insisted it was probably just hot.)

And that’s when it hit me that I’d been to this rodeo with this stupid computer (the Dell) – once before – during Mercury Retrograde.

All’s well that ends well (so far anyway). It looks like this snafu may have been connected to the Windows update.

Would someone please remind me never to update Windows again when Mercury is retrograde?!

After all was said and done, believe me when I say that I felt like Spartacus looks in that photo above. Worn the heck out.

So much for the first hot one of the season.

Thunderheads matching my mood! – Photo: L. Weikel

(T-522)

The Other Side – Day 585

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The Other Side

I thought for sure last night that I had a satisfying topic to write about. It was pleasing to my sense of relaxation that evening, as I sometimes feel – or at least sense – the whirr of mental gears spinning deep within, trying to light upon something interesting or entertaining to share with you. Of course! I would make a point of showing you the other side of perfection.

While the whole point was to show you the other side of perfection, the lack of photographs was distinctly disturbing. Yes, I could’ve wielded my keyboard as an artist wields palette and brush, but no. I wanted you to see what I was writing about.

As I ended up mentioning in my post yesterday, I never know when Verizon Wireless is going to decide to strap to a snail’s back photos I’ve sent via email from my iPhone to my laptop. It’s clearly a random decision by VZ Wireless. But please allow me to confirm that it did indeed take over 12 hours for the photos to make said monumental trek last night.

Nevertheless, I Persisted

And yes, I’m sacrilegiously using that phrase associated with Senator Elizabeth Warren when she insisted upon speaking when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell tried to shut her up several years ago. Because, why not? It’s important to remember how dismissive he was to Senator Warren. He’s only become worse with age and power, for the power he’s been wielding truly has corrupted him.

But I digress.

What I simply wanted to share with you last night, and intend to share with you this evening, is the view of the other side of what I recently deemed ‘perfection.’

Pretty idyllic, huh?

With competition like this, it’s no wonder that lovely, wonderful tree I featured the other evening beamed with pleasure at being noticed and appreciated.

All I can say is that I am incredibly fortunate to be surrounded by such beauty and diversity. I want to pay attention to all of it; which is why, every day, I try to share with you a snippet of what almost feels like heaven.

(T-526)

Change of Course – Day 584

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Change of Course

It’s extremely rare for me to have an idea ahead of time as to what I’m going to write about on any particular night. Tonight, though, I actually did. But now I’ve had a change of course.

In the past 584 posts, I’d say I knew or had a good idea of what I wanted to write about when I sat down with my laptop fewer than ten times. And that may be an overstatement. So of course the photos that are actually a necessary element to what I wanted to write about tonight have not yet arrived.

Pony Express

The photos have not yet arrived on their journey of approximately 18” or so, leaping pixel by pixel from my iPhone to my laptop. At this point, I’m sure they won’t arrive for hours, perhaps not until close to noon tomorrow.

And yes, for those of you who have a modicum of tech knowledge, I tried just sending the photos by AirDrop. This method worked in transferring the photos, but they came through too big and I cannot get them to upload into my WordPress document.

So, obviously, even though it was a good idea for a post (or so I thought), it is not meant to be.

Realization

Just as I was typing the last two paragraphs, above, I realized what’s going on. It’s Mercury Retrograde!

Ha! Yes indeed, Mercury is just today (the 18th – now that it’s past midnight) joining the seeming fifty million other planets that are retrograde right now. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that the photos are stuck somewhere in the ether, struggling to make their way from my iPhone to my laptop.

And it shouldn’t surprise me that the only expression of the photos I can get to send via AirDrop are so huge that I can’t use them.

It all just reinforces the idea that we need to be aware of how very easily communication efforts can break down when Mercury is retrograde. And that goes doubly or triply so for electronic communications.

I’ll just need to make adjustments over the next several weeks to accommodate for such potential delays.

It will be interesting, though, to see what’s coming next.

Blue Jay’s expression says it all.

(T-527)

Triple Whammy – Day 366

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Triple Whammy

This is going to be quick – provided it gets posted at all.

It’s going to be quick because I’ve been struggling for over an hour with getting any of my electronic devices to work.

I suspect it’s the fault of the confluence of three major factors:

  • Mercury is retrograde, hence if an electronic device is going to go on the fritz, it wouldn’t be surprising if it happens during this astronomical and astrological occurrence.
  • It’s a full moon today. And we all know a full moon can exacerbate anything: make it bigger, wilder, more pronounced, more volatile; and
  • We’re getting hit by a bone-chilling cold spell. It’s 16 degrees outside as I write this. When I came up into my bedroom this evening, my Dell’s screen started blinking most distressingly – and even worse, my specially designated 1111 Devotion post-writing-machine (dubbed thus as a result of my Dell losing its mind last year shortly into this commitment) has already simply winked off completely with no warning about 40 minutes ago, requiring a reboot, but is now prohibiting me from saving the document I’m writing this post in.

Even My iPhone Isn’t Spared

Oddly, even my iPhone is blinking off when I hold it upside down. (OK, I realize that the solution to that particular issue is obvious: “Don’t hold the phone upside down, Lisa. Duh.”) But actually, when things like this occur in such a haphazard way, it usually presages other unpredictable and disconcerting behaviors.

I just tried to save this again and it’s a no-go.

Hmm.

Given the triple whammy outlined above, I think I may just toss in the towel and hit publish.

I’m reasonably sure I’ll at least get these few thoughts and words posted, and I can’t even give you a logical reason why. They’ll show up, at least. But inspire? I think not.

I hope none of you are experiencing the Triple Whammy today – or tomorrow. But if you are, hang in there! We’re in this together!

(T-745)

Mercury Retrograde – Election Style – Day 359

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Trickster

Mercury Retrograde – Election Style

Mercury went retrograde (Rx) on Halloween this year.

Quite honestly, I’ve been feeling that the usual experience of breakdowns in electronics or snafus in communication were seemingly giving me a wide berth, for which I was quite grateful. Indeed, I’ve actually been feeling surprised, grateful, and delighted over some communication experiences lately.

Over the past year, I’ve actually written a smattering of posts that at least tangentially discussed or touched upon Mercury Rx and possible instances in which I may have been experiencing ‘fallout’ from that celestial occurrence.

Today, though, was a perfect example of Mercury Rx creating some potential havoc.

Election Day SNAFU

At our polling place, we have machines that are more modern than the old machines that looked like they’d come out of Army barracks and would register one’s vote in a dramatic, mechanical WHOOSH (complete with opening the curtain at the same time as lodging the vote). But being ‘more modern’ than those olive green steel monstrosities isn’t saying much.

The machines we’ve had for probably a good 15-20 years (probably more – I’m guessing), are electronic in the sense that they have blinking lights a la an archaic Lost in Space episode. They log votes on a roll of paper resembling old adding machine tapes located in each machine, and they’re also ‘backed up’ on an electronic ‘tape.’

Today’s Mercury Rx Moment

For the first time in our Judge of Election’s experience (and she’s been at this for over thirty years) (I’ve participated as an official in one capacity or another for probably at least 20 or so), we had a major issue confront us at the close of the polls.

One of the machines printed out the results for us to tally…and the ‘register tape’ upon which we rely was BLANK. It apparently hadn’t registered any votes.

We were horrified.

Yes, this is precisely the type of thing that is often attributed to “Mercury Retrograde.”

I’m running out of time to post this, but suffice it to say, we delivered all of the tapes and forms and tabulations concerning the other machine to the Board of Elections, and advised them of the extremely stressful situation of one of our machines.

Luckily, they popped the tape backup into a machine they had at the courthouse and out rolled our printout of all the votes cast on our second machine.

All’s Well That…

Yes. I’ll take it. We were able to quickly tally the numbers from the second machine and add them to the tallies from the first machine. So all in all, it ended up that this was not nearly the crisis it could have been.

But wow – what a stress and a scare.

I, for one, am eager to see the new machines our county officials will be selecting in the near future.

It’s time. The Time of the Dinosaur Voting Machines is over. And I’m just grateful this crisis had a completely benign resolution, because VOTING MATTERS!

(T-752)

Holding My Breath – Day 136

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Mercury – Photo: newsroom.ucla.org

Holding My Breath

I know we’ve chatted (ok, I’ve pecked out some thoughts, you’ve all been mostly quiet) about the astrological significance of ‘Mercury Retrograde’ (sometimes appearing shorthand as Mercury Rx).

This is technically an illusion, as no planets actually move backward. But they can, from the perspective of the Earth and in context to the sun and the rest of the planets, appear to be moving backwards and thus, often, moving back ‘into’ a different astrological sign or house (or both).

It is generally observed that when Mercury, the planet that is often associated with communication and connection, electronic gadgets, contracts, automobiles, etc., goes retrograde, it lasts approximately three weeks. The phenomenon happens three or four times per year.

Inasmuch as Mercury is so key to communication, when it goes retrograde, the conventional wisdom is that we should all spend those three weeks or so reflecting, reviewing, editing, going over situations and occurrences once more, and taking stock. It is generally suggested that we refrain from entering into anything new during this time (since it is a time best suited to reflecting and reviewing rather than forging ahead), such as agreements or contracts. It’s also recommended that we not purchase any big ticket items – particularly electronic items.

Electronics Can Go Phlooey

And who can forget my prolonged struggle with Dell back in the last Mercury Rx, when they eventually ended up giving me a new motherboard or something, basically giving me a new laptop. (Admit it, those posts were simply riveting, right?!)

Another common cause for concern or irritation during these time periods is miscommunication, which can lead to arguments, misunderstandings, hurt feelings, and big messes. Obviously, this is why it’s considered wise to hold off on finalizing contracts – and signing them – during Merc Rx.

To be honest, I rarely take notice when Mercury goes retrograde. I’ve been told by some that if Mercury is retrograde at the time you are born (and it’s thus part of your ‘natal chart’), the usual difficulties most people experience during them are not as pronounced. In my case, it was retrograde when I was born. (As were something like four other planets – a situation I’ll address another time. Perhaps.) But the bottom line is, for me, I’ve barely noticed them.

Except for my laptop snafu during the last one.

This One’s Been a Doozy

And now this one, too. Interestingly, I’ve noticed what seemed to have been a lot more miscommunications during this one, missed calls, missing emails, Facebook went offline or had some big meltdown one day. My Dell once again started acting up. It blue screened on me once. It’s been whirring without explanation. All very worrying. It’s been a three week period that generally seemed to make us all want to just hunker down to wait it out. Engage in that reviewing and releasing activity that’s so often recommended and hope for the best..

Unfortunately, I’ve seen a lot of things break. Of course, there’s the ongoing saga of my car. Oh my goodness. No RToD of late, and the check engine light goes on haphazardly. But there was quite a dramatic message delivered by my car at the outset of this Mercury Rx which I’ve not yet shared with all of you. It’s goose-bump worthy.

Add to that the fact that my espresso machine has decided to completely act out and squirt grind-filled water forcefully and haphazardly all over the place instead of expressing crema every single time I try to use it. (I know; Perhaps I sound elitist and bratty just by the mere fact that I own one of these machines – but hey. Cut a girl a break. I make my own lattés and it’s a simple pleasure that harms no one.)

And now…the other pole of my ingestion of fluids is hampered as well: my freezer’s ice machine has suddenly just stopped making ice. Aaarrgggh. I am one of those people who likes a lot of ice in my tall glass of seltzer water. Well, that’s thwarted now. And I’ll be honest: I am bummed.

Collateral Damage, Too

Finally, while it did not happen directly to me, the transmission in one of my son’s cars just totally bit the dust on Monday, stranding my daughter in law on a busy highway. The cost to replace it is extremely high – and it is such a disappointment. The car was cool to drive and was pretty, too. Best of all, it was great on gas. It was a Chevy Volt.

Today we went looking for a replacement and didn’t we end up spending all our time running from one place to another completely wasting our time due to ‘miscommunication?!?!’ Two different times we were told that a used vehicle we were interested in was at the place we called. And both times, after traveling there personally to test-drive each one, we were told it had ‘just been sold.’

Wow!

So needless to say, I’m psyched that Mercury stations direct tomorrow (the 28th). By Friday Mercury will once again be appearing to move forward in the sky – and hopefully flow and harmony will be restored. I’m holding my breath.

(T-975)

Mercury Rx – Day 122

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Mercury Retrograde (Rx)

I had a nice start on a post tonight and just deleted it.

It was an incipient riff on all the glitches, slow-downs, and common irritations I’ve been experiencing on my laptops over the past few days, but especially today.

It’s no big deal, or rather, these hiccups shouldn’t and wouldn’t be all that remarkable except for the fact that I am achingly tired this evening.  As in, I can barely keep my eyes open as I try to write this quality tired.

March 6th – March 28th, 2019

Of course, anyone who is familiar with astrology would chime in that these glitchy annoyances are associated with the fact that “Mercury is retrograde.” As I described in my post a week ago, it is said that when Mercury goes retrograde, communications are often hung up, misunderstood, confused, or delayed, electronic devices tend to break or ‘go on the fritz,’ and it’s generally thought of as an inauspicious time to either buy electronic stuff or enter into contracts.

The reason behind this is that the planet Mercury is associated with communication and electronics. So when it is retrograde (which means the planet appears to be going backward in its orbit from the perspective of Earth), the attributes Mercury usually promotes tend to go awry.

I’ve never tracked this closely in my personal life, but I try to keep it in the back of my mind, simply as a form of cosmic good hygiene. And you may recall, I did have a bout of intense aggravation during the last Mercury Rx with my Dell laptop (resulting in my decision to use my MacBook Air for all posts since)!

If I can postpone buying an electronic item during the approximate three weeks that this astronomical situation takes place (three or four times a year, I believe), then I do so. I also try not to sign contracts unless it’s absolutely necessary, and bearing in mind the potentially cantankerous effects Mercury Rx can have on electronics in general, I tryto laugh when stuff randomly stops or slows to a snail’s pace. Or blips out. I’ll admit it: I said try. I didn’t say I’m successful.

Effect of My Weekend Reflections

A recommended strategy to deal with Mercury Rx is to focus on such activities as reviewing, revisiting, editing, and reflecting, instead of moving forward with new projects or initiating big changes. So I find it intriguing that I ended up engaging in the ‘reflections’ I did over the weekend. They were big for me. And I really feel like the act of expressing them ‘to the world,’ in a sense, liberated me.

For myself, that meant that I finally felt ready to move on to digging into reflections of another sort. I haven’t yet had a chance to perform this contemplation in the manner that I’d hoped because other people were engaging in their own re-enactment of dramas from years and years ago, and these happened to affect me personally.

Spiral of Evolution and Growth

As a result, I’ve been distracted. But I like to describe this process of facing the issues that come back to push our buttons again not as living life in a circle, but rather in a spiral. Being given an opportunity to deal with an issue again is like being given an opportunity for a ‘do over.’ The most practical approach to this spiral metaphor is to realize that we don’t go around in circles. Hopefully, we’ve raised our expression of our energy high enough that we approach the problem from a slightly, or perhaps greatly, shifted point of view.

Thus, we (hopefully) never repeat the exact same response to a challenge or an issue. We’ve evolved (again, hopefully). And so we’re given another bite at the apple; or looked at another way, another chance to choose a higher octave of response to our situation.

It feels as though I’ve been ‘holding space’ for a number of people, myself included, to experience this upward spiral toward growth.

As a result, I am in extraordinary need of reviewing and realigning myself with the comfort and wisdom of a clean set of sheets, the backs of my eyelids, and a long night of sleep.

There are some good stories brewing. I just have to watch some of them play out before I tell them.

Thanks for hanging in there with me. I hope your personal reflections are yielding powerful insights and affirming the evolution we all hope to see and feel in our lives.

Rooting and Reflecting; Photo: L. Weikel

(T-989)