Mercury Retrograde in Capricorn (joined Sun & Saturn): Be Here Now

January 14th-February 3rd Mercury is Retrograde in sidereal Capricorn. This event happens 3 times a year and receives quite a bit of attention, and really blame, for the days and weeks leading up to, during and sometimes even after it happens. The reason that this particular planet in Retrograde feels so important to us, is because communication is the lifeblood of our relationships and for many of us, our work as well. It can create riffs in our relationships as we miss texts, messages and emails or they arrive late. Even the words we use can be misunderstood as the delay in our cognitive process can jumble our sentences and intentions. What’s the lesson in this chaos? To slow down. To take care with your words. TO LISTEN. Don’t dash off responses and then sit on your hands waiting to find out how it was received. Take the time to say what you mean and then allow others the same. Notice when you misspeak or misunderstand something and have compassion for yourself. Then notice that when others do the same, and have compassion for them. Assume the people close to you mean well and ask them if you are confused or feel jilted by something they say. Every year as people become more reliant on technology, the importance of it working grows. Mercury Retrograde can also easily trip up you phones, computers or any other technology you rely upon. This can feel like an emergency when you are trying to get an important item through or are having trouble receiving essential communication for your work. Slow down. Is it an emergency? What is the worst case scenario? Capricorn is where we are focused on survival and everything can feel crucial. It is also where we are often ‘bare bones” and don’t use a lot of excess, just what’s necessary. This can create a feeling of unfriendliness or as though we are “being used” in communication. It also reminds us to keep it simple, direct and only say what we need to in order to move whatever we are speaking of forward.

It can be hard to feel compassion here, especially since Saturn is in his own sign holding his cold gaze of dispassion. Saturn joined Mercury in Saturn’s own sign can create a feeling of pressure of what we “should” be doing, plus the Sun has moved here on this same day, so not only do we have the “have to” feeling in our sense of Power, but the pressure builds when the Sun and his illegitimate son come together, as they are inimical towards one another. They both apply a pressure, the Sun it is hot and the bright light shines on anything that isn’t true to illuminate that. Saturn is dry and cold and shows that very little is true and even if it is, what’s the point? We will all die one day, so why care about anything? The combination can be quite dehydrating and can literally suck the juicy joy from life, so take the pauses or catches when something doesn’t go the way that you intended and drink some water! Get wet. Get juicy. Realize that the point is not to get somewhere, it is to Be Here. Saturn in his own sign can help us accept the lack of control we have over the most important things in life, and also to find the freedom in that. If we can’t control life, then we can take that pressure off our backs. Our current society thrives on making everything emergency level, deadlines and consequences. Saturn in intelligence can take us beyond that mundane and manufactured pressure that is really coming from other people trying to control that which is not in their control just like we are. In recognition of that which we lack the power to do, we will instead realize what power we DO have. That is to Take Back Time. Slow down, listen, marinate on things before deciding, BREATHE, remember that after you complete one emergency-level task, no doubt there will be another. This doesn’t mean, don’t do anything because what’s the point, it means do everything with care and commitment and humility because sticking a pin in things to rush them through to the next leads to a life built upon a shoddy foundation. When we feel that getting things done “in time” (who’s time frame is it?) is more important than getting things done well then we end up with a life lived that way. If death is the very thing that we are guaranteed and yet also avoiding, doesn’t doing this rush us closer to it?

This is what Einstein was pointing to in his theory of relativity. Time is relative, based on your frame of reference. If we rush to an appointment and get there on time and then the doctor is running late and we have to wait in the office for 30 minutes, we can choose to spend that time tapping our fingers in fury and watching the minutes, or we can choose to “check out” on our phone, or we can choose to have a meaningful interaction or complete a task we have meant to do. We can see that extra time as a gift. Likewise, we can not race to the appointment. We can realize that the car can only go so fast and that ultimately most of our “racing” is actually just tensing up our body and focusing all our attention on “getting there”. We will only arrive a few minutes earlier at best. We don’t need to meander and stop to chat with people, but we can turn on some music and sing, or roll around a new idea we’ve been meditating on. We can also just be absolutely present with the drive itself. The car, other cars, the lights, trees, people, buildings, sky and revel in all that is right then, in that moment. Anyone who has ever meditated can tell you that if you take that extra time first thing in the morning, the rest of the day actually runs smoother and it can feel as though you have actually gained time, rather than lost it. Just by spending 5-30 minutes in presence with yourself, time expands. I think of it as being more able to “flow” the rest of my day as opposed to spending the day “willing things” to happen. When I enter the natural rhythm and flow of myself and the universe right off the bat, my day proceeds in this manner. If not, my day will likely have many stops and starts and frustrations. The particular star that Mercury is beginning this Retrograde cycle in is called Shravana. It is represented by an ear and the 3 footprints of Vishnu, the Sustainer, which is also the formation of the stars that form it. Shravana reminds us to listen beneath the surface of things and to find the divinity in everything. Through recognizing the “God in All” we are more able to move through difficult experiences and challenges with others. We are also able to reap the rewards of being on the path of truth, which is that we become less attached to outcomes in this manifest reality and more aware that we can manifest a different one also. Music and singing, especially devotional or prayerful music can be extremely powerful right now. Singing is a way of using our voice to communicate love. Much of what we say is enshrouded in fear. By regularly turning to the act of not just listening, but using your own vocal chords to sing, you can connect your Anahata (heart) chakra to your Vishudda (throat) chakra and shift your communication to a more loving vibration!

Blessings on your Mercury Retrograde cycle!
Hare Ohm

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