Last December, Mercury turned retrograde at 6 Capricorn, near Pluto. At the time, I wrote about Mercury drawing us into the “darker woods” of ugly truths about ourselves and our world. The work of self-examination we did then holds us in good stead today, as Mercury turns retrograde again. This time, Mercury’s turning point is at 25 Aries, the Sabian Symbol for which is: A Double Promise Reveals Its Inner and Outer Meanings. Among other things, Sabian Symbol expert Lynda Hill writes of this degree:
This Symbol often indicates a choice that arises between the heart and doing what you want to do social obligation and knowing what’s right.
With Mercury and Jupiter lately opposed Saturn in Libra, the sign of justice and ethics, this Sabian Symbol seems to offer a vision of this Mercury retrograde period as a kind of lantern we can carry into the darker woods that were explored last December. This is a time for unethical situations to come to light, and a time when we’re asked to behave ethically in the face of competing loyalties – even at the expense of our own desires and comfort.
It’s worth noting that Mercury turns direct on April 23 at 13 degrees Aries. This degree’s ominous Sabian Symbol: A Bomb Which Failed To Explode Is Now Safely Hidden From Discovery. Don’t take the “failed to explode” part too literally, though. After all, Robert Oppenheimer, father of the atomic bomb, was born with Jupiter at this degree. There are bombs now falling in Libya, and likely will be for some time; nuclear reactors in Japan are threatening to melt down and render a large portion of the country uninhabitable. Time bombs are ticking, some exploding, some perhaps ready to do so.
Uncovering unjust, unethical behavior can be explosive, too. But some of the important truths that need to be brought to light – which, today, may seem poised to backfire spectacularly on those who have behaved unethically – may end this Mercury retrograde period still “safely hidden from discovery.” Is all the truth being told about Libya? About the nuclear peril faced by Japan? In your own life, are you feeling pressured to speak your mind about injustice, sick to death of charming doublespeak that obscures the truth, determined to stand up for those who are being manipulated and lied to – despite almost certain unpleasant consequences for yourself?
Telling the truth and demanding the same from others is work well suited to Mercury in Aries. It requires bravery and valor, quick-wittedness, and even, in extreme situations, a certain emotional bloodlust. If you don’t have these, this is the time to acquire them. Even if you’re afraid, even if it costs you – do what you believe is right, and don’t let explosive wrongs go undetonated and undiscovered.
Mercury will be retrograde from March 30 – April 23, 2011.
