Mercury turned retrograde this morning at 9:41 (UT) at 19PIS52.

Mercury retrograde in Pisces is the first of 3 retrograde periods this year that all occur in water signs. The water signs are typically associated with your emotions. Mercury then is prompting you to reassess how you are doing on an emotional level. During this Pisces phase, it will be important to allow yourself to feel. If you are used to pushing your feelings to one side, this may be a time when the flood gates are opened. It’s a necessary healing.

I’ve been seasick on dry land twice this week already. It’s a recurrence of a problem I have with my balance but it’s fitting with the gaggle of planets in Pisces at the moment. This morning I have washed the dishes, washed my hair, cleaned the bathroom and washed four lots of laundry. The heating is on to dry the clothes, turning each room into a mini greenhouse. I opened the windows but Mother Nature is having a hissy fit, retracting her promise of Spring last weekend. The warm sun has been replaced by arctic air and snow showers.

Whilst the washing machine grumbled in the background and flooded my floor with each cycle, I downloaded a music program onto my laptop and then lost about two hours of the day photographing every card of every tarot deck I own. Somewhere in between, the memory on my camera ran out and I spent another hour absorbed in deleting hundreds of other photos I’d forgotten was on my camera.

Yesterday, I found myself in the midst of a conversation reminiscing on old tunes that the radio was playing. People spontaneously spoke of their memories of times past. I often find these conversations difficult as my memories are clouded. Ask me to recall a dream you once told me 15 years ago or a tarot reading or a song, no doubt my memory will be crystal clear. Ask me what I was doing in my life in 2001 and I couldn’t possibly tell you. I have few ‘life-markers’ – few buoys in the endless water to grab onto. Mostly it seems that I float on the surface of life with my face down, gazing into the depths of the oceans or turned up, drifting on my back staring into the beauty of the night sky.

Mercury retrograde in Pisces is like this – memories bubbling up from the depths, vague recollections, tidal emotions. In this sign, Mercury feels its thoughts and thinks magically. Logic and reason are replaced by intuitive knowing. There may be a tendency towards escapist thinking, poor me or a secretive air. Sometimes people become more evasive, their spoken words not matching body language, giving off confusing signals.

The retrograde degree is on the Sabian symbol :-

A Table Set For An Evening Meal

Dane Rudhyar says of this degree ” [it] promises a satisfying or fulfilling end to whatever one has been undertaking.” He was talking in terms of coming to the end of your life and moving into a spiritual existence where the spirit is renewed and sustained: the rewards of a life well lived.

But in the context of this retrograde period it suggests that its about a growing awareness that you are coming to the end of a cycle or period in your life and now you are wondering whether it was all worthwhile. There’s a growing hunger for something, an awareness of absence just as much as the promise of fullness. It’s in that sense of missing, awareness grows.

As we move through the retrograde period, Mercury makes a variety of aspects. A conjunction to Mars brings up issues of passive aggression if things don’t seem to be flowing in the right direction. It may be necessary to let your defences down in order to feel your way through. The conjunction to the Sun on the 4th March is like light glimmering on the water. Things are getting clearer but reflections are still distorted. The retrograde ripples out with a string of aspects on the 7th and 8th March which are likely to bring some calm. Saturn and Pluto offer you an anchor. Maybe you’ve been deep-sea diving and you come up for air. Maybe you were just in too deep but now your feet can touch the bottom. There’s a strong caution however not to judge the tide too quickly because a square to Jupiter before Mercury stations direct, might see the waters swelling again, taking you off in a direction you didn’t anticipate. Wait until Mercury is clearly out of the shadow zone before making any firm decisions as to what happens next.

Mercury stations direct on the Sabian symbol

A Parade Of Army Officers In Full Dress

This symbol addresses ‘group responsibility’ (Rudhyar). Pisces is the most compassionate of all signs and understands the bond between all of us. Sometimes it is necessary to surrender for the sake of a greater good. If you find yourself needing to give up or give in, be aware that there is a bigger story playing out. It may be a case of losing a battle to win the war.

This may seem an illusive retrograde where nothing is as it seems. Whilst it is wise to take note of the images that pop into your mind, keep a strong awareness that your imagination is apt to play tricks on you. It may feel like you have been thrown in the deep end and now it’s up to you whether you sink or swim. With the sign of Pisces represented by two fish connected but swimming in opposite directions, you may be more that usually aware that actions create reactions and what you do has consequences, whether you define them as good and bad. All that said, if you let it, your intuition is likely to be spot on if you know how to listen.

To use this retrograde period positively, get creative. Use your imagination, feed it inspiration. Teach yourself how to look at the world as an artist sees it. Honour your inner artist! Learn to sense your connection to the world as a whole – we are all part of the collective unconscious. This is an opportunity for self-reflection which can break down the divides. Spend time alone in prayer or meditation. Read spiritual books or imaginative stories. Start a dream journal. Have a tarot/astrology reading or make an appointment with a healer. Perform small acts of kindness. Sift through old memories, release pain, shed a tear, forgive.

Tread water while you reflect, re-think and revision. Wait for the tide to turn. The anticipation will whet your appetite for future adventures.

Mercury Retrograde – Dates to Remember

8th February 2013 Mercury enters shadow zone

23rd February 2013 Mercury stations retrograde at 9:41 (UT) at 19PIS52.

26th February 2013 Mercury conjunct Mars

4th March 2013 Sun conjunct Mercury 12:58

7th March 2013 Mercury conjunct Venus

7th March 2013 Mercury trine Saturn

7th March 2013 Mercury sextile Pluto

8th March 2013 Mercury conjunct Chiron

10th march 2013 Mercury square Jupiter

17th March 2013 Mercury stations direct at 20:02 (UT) at 05Pis37

6th April 2013 Mercury exits shadow zone

Thanks to artists from deviantart.com

Fish Stock 0016 by phantompanther-stock

Mercury stock 3 by hidden-england-stock

Blue grunge texture by SolStock