Mercury Retrograde – Words are Sacred

The 15th degree of the fixed signs (Taurus, Leo, Scorpio, Aquarius) are spiritually significant because they represent the midway points between the Solstices and Equinoxes and fall on or close to the Cross Quarter Celtic/Pagan festivals.

Mercury goes Retrograde on April 22 at 15 degrees Taurus. It resonates with the festival of Beltane (usually observed in early May), celebrating the upcoming return of Summer. Fires are lit to represent the end of darkness and the onset of the long days of light and fertility.

Did you know that the 15 degrees of the fixed signs are also known as the Avatar Degrees in spiritual astrology? These degrees are said to open spiritual gateways. They are said to bring in synchronicities and can help us overcome difficult odds. They also invite us to move forward, for better or worse. This creates an interesting dynamic, a dilemma even, because Mercury Retrograde’s invitation is to proceed with caution, and even to go backwards to rest, review and renew.

What can we take from this? Perhaps the Moon gives us a clue. Mercury Stations Retrograde Conjunct the Moon in Taurus, the sign where the Moon arguably feels most relaxed and comfortable. Perhaps that’s the answer. Relax, get comfortable, enjoy the ride, celebrate the season and in your comfort, all the better to see the way forward when the Retrograde is over. This view is supported by the Moon because even though it might be growing in light at the start of the Retrograde, it’s coming off the back of an Eclipsed New Moon so is still dark. Everything is still unseen and unknown.

This Station is also Conjunct unpredictable Uranus. There might be an urge to get your point across and to stubbornly double down if challenged. Words may shock and have unexpected consequences, so be careful of saying what can’t be taken back because this is a Retrograde where words are sacred. But there is the potential, certainly after this Retrograde period is over (it turns direct on May 16), to communicate powerfully with messages that truly resonate with compassionate honesty.

If you'd like some insight into how Mercury Retrograde and other upcoming planetary events affect you most personally, consider booking a private consultation - click here for further details or get in touch via the contact form to the top right of this page.

For the Geeks:

Mercury Stations Retrograde on April 21 (just over a day after the Aries Solar Eclipse).

Mercury goes Retrograde (starts moving backwards (from our perspective on Earth) on April 22 at 15 degrees & 37 Minutes of Taurus.

Mercury Stations Direct on May 14 at 5 degrees and 53 minutes of Taurus.

It starts moving forward again on May 16 at 5 degrees and 53 minutes of Taurus.

The Retrograde Shadow period ends on May 31 (a planet’s Retrograde Shadow lasts until it returns to the degree it went retrograde at). Whilst things start to move forward once the actual Retrograde is over, the end of the Shadow period is the final ‘all clear’.

 

 

The Big Three for the First Three

I've had a great time (once I got over my camera-shyness) recording short pieces for the Academy of Astrology YouTube channel, along with colleagues Rod Chang, Sue Farebrother and Marcos Patchett.

Our latest series of videos run through each zodiac sign, discussing how their essence and qualities filter through the 'Big Three' - the Ascendant, Moon and Sun.

Here are the first three signs - enjoy!

The Big 3...What's up with Aries? - by Marcos Patchett

Are you a bullish Taurus? By Mandi Lockley

The 2 Faces of Gemini - By Sue Farebrother

You can explore the rest of our YouTube Channel Here 

Taurus New Moon: 'Strong, Stable, Determined'

New Moons are seeding times. Seeds germinate underground, in the dark. We have to wait a while before the shoots show themselves on the surface, but still, we plant our seeds full of hope that they will grow into healthy, fruit bearing plants. As it is in nature, so it is in human affairs, metaphorically speaking.

Under a Taurus New Moon, it is essential that we plant our seeds in solid, fertile ground with a realistic, tangible idea about what we wish to harvest in the future. This New Moon asks to think about our resources and work towards increasing our security and stability, to get organised and practical and get things done. This is not a New Moon for risk taking or for unsubstantiated idealism or for empty talk, it’s a time for building and maintaining the material and emotional structures of our lives from firm and stable foundations.

Fortunately, Mercury has just turned direct, which will help us get a bit more clarity and perspective on what needs to be done. Additionally, by the 17th May, Mars in Leo will have finally cleared the shadow of its retrograde period, adding to the sense that we can now move forward at last with our plans and put some of the uncertainty of the last few months behind us. Of course, in our world, we are still very much at the crossroads of immense change (as suggested by the alignments of the outer planets in the early cardinal signs), but at the very least, we can hope for a few weeks in which to let the dust settle, find a little bit of calm space after all the recent upsets, and set down some firm plans for the future, even if that future still remains largely unknown.

For the UK, the Taurus New Moon feels like a welcome event. If you haven’t been following the news, the UK electorate went to the polls last week, with the promise of certain change but massive uncertainty around what that change might look like. The outcome of the election failed to give to give one party the overall majority they needed to form a government, resulting in a hung parliament, the first since ’74. After many hours of negotiations and talks, the rightwing Conservatives, who had won the most seats in parliament, brokered an unlikely deal with the left of centre Liberal-Democrats to form an historic coalition government, the first for almost 70 years. Happening under a Saturn opposition to Uranus and Jupiter, this was always going to be an election full of big shocks and surprises, but I don’t think anyone expected to see Nick Clegg, leader of the Lib-Dems to be appointed Deputy Prime Minister, working alongside new Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron (See www.bbc.co.uk/news for the full story). Putting my own political affiliations to one side, this new deal seems to be a positive step forward, or at the very least, represents two opposing parties doing their best to make the best out of a difficult and potentially de-stabling situation.

I just listened to the first joint press conference between Cameron and Clegg, (which started around 2.20pm BST London today) there was much talk of a new radical politics, of a ‘seismic shift’ in British politics (reflecting the Jupiter-Saturn-Uranus alignment), but even more talk of this coalition being one which will provide ‘strong, stable, determined leadership’. A Taurus couldn’t have put it better! Now is the time, under this stabilising Taurus New Moon, for them to get real, get down, roll up their sleeves and get Britain working again! Let’s hope, with a Taurus New Moon marking that start of the Conservative - Lib-Dem marriage, they don’t give in to the worst of Taurus – which can be over demanding, manipulative, suspicious, greedy, obstinate and financially disastrous!

As an end note, we can see the dramatic changes in UK politics in recent and upcoming eclipses which hit the UK chart. Eclipses denote endings, times when something changes, is literally eclipsed. That the 31st December 09 Lunar Eclipse fell right on the degree of the UK’s Sun and very close to its MC, suggests the radical change in political leadership we have just dramatically witnessed. The upcoming July 11th total Solar Eclipse occurs exactly on the UK’s Moon at 19 degrees of Cancer. This Eclipse occurs around the time the new UK government has promised to announce a new budget – which will set out how they propose to make £6 billion worth of cuts in public spending. It will be interesting to see how these cuts will affect the mood and indeed the pockets of the common populace of the UK (which is represented by the Moon in the UK chart). Perhaps things won’t seem as rosy as they do today, as the two new Pluto in Virgo leaders of the UK (such as Cameron and Clegg) finally have to reveal the extent of the economic clean up job that needs to be done in the wake of the outgoing Pluto in Leo leaders - Gordon Brown and Tony Blair before him. Let’s hope Cameron and Clegg can utilise some of the energies of this Taurus New Moon to truly plant some seeds of stability and growth.

Book Recommendation for the Taurus New Moon:
Getting Things Done: How To Achieve Stress Free Productivity

Data:
New Moon – 23 degrees and 09 minutes Taurus:
May 13th 2010 at 06.06pm PDT / 09.06pm EDT
May 14th 2010 at 02.06am BST
UK Chart: January 1st 1801, London, England. 12.00am

Taurus Talks

As the Sun moves into Taurus, here are some quotes from a few famous names that reflect their Sun in Taurus and their Moon sign too - enjoy!

I don't have a sense of entitlement or that I deserve this. You'd be surprised at the lack of competition between nominees - I think a lot of it's imposed from the outside. Can I have my champagne now?  Cate Blanchett, Actress – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Aries

I find it a great antidote... lipstick and mirrors and hairspray.  Joanna Lumley, Actress – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Taurus

He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore.  Sigmund Freud, Psychologist – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Gemini

I recorded the song live in front of an orchestra, and yes, I was very moved, I was in tears.  Burt Bacharach, Composer – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Cancer

I was a personality before I became a person - I am simple, complex, generous, selfish, unattractive, beautiful, lazy and driven.  Barbra Streisand, Singer/Actress – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Leo

For the first time ever, overweight people outnumber average people in America. Doesn't that make overweight the average then? Last month you were fat, now you're average - hey, let's get a pizza!  Jay Leno, Comedian/TV host – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Virgo

I just cash in on the fact that I'm good looking, and I've got a nice figure and girls like me.  Sid Vicious, Punk singer – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Libra

Sometimes, when I'm alone, I put on six inch heels and wear nothing else and dance around in front of the mirror and do my little stripper dance.  Tori Spelling, Actress – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Scorpio

Straight-away the ideas flow in upon me, directly from God, and not only do I see distinct themes in my mind's eye, but they are clothed in the right forms, harmonies, and orchestration.  Johannes Brahms, Composer – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Sagittarius

I'm scared to death of being poor. It's like a fat girl who loses 500 pounds but is always fat inside. I grew up poor and will always feel poor inside. It's my pet paranoia. Cher, Singer/Actress – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Capricorn

When you are down and out something always turns up - and it is usually the noses of your friends. Orson Welles, Actor – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Aquarius

I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it. Audrey Hepburn, Actress – Sun in Taurus/Moon in Pisces


http://www.mandilockley.com/

Taurus Full Moon: Resistance is Futile

Full Moons are times when the Moon is fully visible. Full Moons shed light, expose and uncover important issues. Under the Full Moon we can’t hide from these issues, they come to a head.

Today’s Full Moon chart contains a configuration involving all the fixed signs. The Sun in Scorpio opposing the Moon in Taurus, squares Mars in Leo and widely squares Jupiter in Aquarius, putting the issues of fixity firmly in the spotlight.

The fixed signs uphold and maintain, organise and keep things on track. The problem with the fixed signs is a problem of attachment, manifesting as stubborn resistance to change. Ultimately, the fixed signs teach us how to release our attachments, a hard lesson taught through the painful experience of resisting the letting go process.

Facing and dealing with our resistance to change, on the individual and the collective level, is therefore the message of this powerful Full Moon. To expand the message, to find context and to feel our way forward, we must look to the longer astrological measurements which are currently shaping our personal lives and our wider world.

First, we have the ongoing Saturn-Uranus oppositions, of which we have just passed the half way point. Saturn and Uranus’ ultimate battle is between old worn out systems and methods and new ways which fly in the face of the way it’s been done in the past. If we are too fixed, over-attached and fearful of these inevitable changes, then our resistance, the very thing that we employ to protect ourselves, simply adds to the growing pains of our adjustment to change, causing considerable additional tension and suffering.

This all sounds very grim and difficult, so how can we help ourselves and each other through the undoubtedly difficult times we are going through individually and collectively? How do we embrace change, even difficult, seemingly negative change, with minimum pain, loss and suffering? The bad news is that we can’t avoid change and we can’t wave a magic wand and make all the pain go away, but we can honour the process, by allowing ourselves the time to mourn properly for what we are being forced to release and let go of, be it material, emotional or spiritual.

How do we facilitate this healing and mourning period? Well that is an individual journey. For some, healing is found through their faith or spiritual beliefs, others may seek counselling or psychotherapy, others might find healing through their friendship networks or their families, or through helping others.

However, if we look to the ongoing Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron conjunction, we can identify some themes that can help and comfort us. Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron is about idealism, hope and healing. The conjunction is in Aquarius, a fixed sign, reminding us that part of our process involves learning to let go. This can mean learning to healthily let go of lost dreams that our changed circumstances no longer allow. It can mean learning to deal with disappointment in a constructive way and counting our blessings. It can mean letting go of unhelpful over-idealism which gets it the way of seeing things as they are and inhibits our ability to deal with our situation realistically.

It also means that we should have faith in the healing process and hope that we can move on to build new structures in our lives with positivity, grace, realism and dash of healthy resignation. And here we found ourselves in the space of Saturn in Libra, a space where we can learn to accept our limitations, make healthy compromises, act in a spirit of true co-operation and strive towards creating new balance in our lives and the lives of others.

Please remember that even though it might feel like our own small worlds or even the world at large is playing the end game, this is your fear of change and your fear of the future talking. Fear destroys, inhibits and obstructs growth. This is the grave danger of Saturn in Libra’s square with Pluto in Capricorn.

However, Saturn and Pluto are in the early degrees of cardinal signs which symbolises not so much the end of a season/world, but the start of a new one, a seeding time. Now is the time to focus on new beginnings and start building our new future. Like a seed, we must germinate in the dark and push our way upwards through the heavy dark density of the soil. The positive message of today’s fixed Full Moon is the realisation that, like the seed, we have inside us the strength, resources and determination to do this. Like a seed we must learn not to be afraid of the dark, for if we are growing in the right direction and we plant in fertile soil, we will not have far to travel before we break through into the light.

In our darkest hour on our journey towards the light we can call upon the symbolism of Jupiter-Neptune-Chiron in Aquarius and Saturn in Libra to remind us that we are all in this together, that we needn’t be alone in our fear.

Wishing you safe travels and positive growth.

Mandi