On Friday, Mercury turns retrograde at 5.58 Capricorn. The Sabian Symbol for 6 Capricorn is, I think, a beautiful and exciting one: “Ten logs lie under an archway leading to darker woods.” The logs can be the things that are blocking your mind, and powers of perception, from seeing the truth. But lay them out in a certain way, and they can also serve as steps that take you deeper into the darker woods.
Mercury is turning retrograde in a conjunction with Pluto and the Moon’s North Node, and the combination is designed to help us acknowledge some ugly truths – about ourselves, and about our world. Sometimes loss and shock and grief open up channels of communication that can’t be opened any other way. This is what writers and journalists attempt to do. We tend to think of writing as a relatively safe, even sanitized profession – alone in a room at a nice little desk, perhaps looking out the window at a lovely tree. But the act of sitting down to write places you under the archway; to get to the darker woods – the deeper insights, the honesty needed to tell the stories people need to hear – you first have to deal with those ten logs.
It’s fascinating to me that Mercury turns retrograde just at the threshold of Capricorn’s 7th degree. Astrologer Lynda Hill refers to the following degree as the “Quest” degree, and its Sabian Symbol describes the state we’re headed toward. The Sabian Symbol for 7 Capricorn is “A veiled prophet speaks, seized by the power of a God.” Hill wrote about that degree, “Info is coming through someone or something, and it may be difficult to know whether to fully trust it.” We’ve already had a very strong manifestation of this “quest degree” in the past week, as Wikileaks editor-in-chief Julian Assange surrendered himself to authorities. Governments all over the world are outraged by his disclosure of classified documents. In the aftermath, while he’s a hero to some, many questioned Assange’s character and motivations, not sure whether to trust the information he was disclosing.
Telling secrets for the greater good, telling difficult truths, hiding yourself while speaking on behalf of a greater power or cause: this is where we find ourselves at this Mercury retrograde. What’s holding you back from being your most honest self? What is obscuring your view and keeping you from seeing the whole truth? What are the secrets you’re holding onto, hoping you can write and speak and share your thoughts effectively without having to tip your hand and present yourself or others in an unflattering light? Some of these logs have the shape of the South Node in Cancer – a need for safety, security, and belonging, the idea that the world is a place that can be made safe and secure and predictable.
When Pluto comes to visit, he exposes all the secrets, and the flaws in all the philosophies that have brought you such comfort, and tosses them on a bonfire. During this Mercury retrograde period, it’s time to identify the ten logs, and then to surrender them to the bonfire. Only then can you make your journey all the way into the darker woods.
