STUFF TO KNOW - JULY
2013
Mercury is retrograde in Cancer from June 26 to July 20
Mercury, messenger of
the Gods, goes swimming with the crabs. What happens to you during Mercury retrograde weeks? Me? I say c-r-a-p more than I normally do. Just now when I
opened WORD to do this document a blank page appeared that I had never seen
before. The margins were wrong (1.5 inches on left & right). The font was
16 and in blue. Then I remembered
that you can open an existing document, click on new document, and it will
style itself after the opened doc.
It seems that when Mercury is retrograde electronic imps jump into
equipment and have a cocktail party
Mercury in Cancer, messenger of the Goddess
With the messenger in the sign of Cancer (mother,
nurturance, food, home, family), we might expect to hear from relatives long
forgotten. We might take on some
home projects that have been on our minds for quite a while. Yesterday I did a closet cleanup. What a great feeling to get some home
project checked off the list. On
the more serious side, Mercury in the sign of Cancer suggests attention to the
mother and to women in general. In
Texas, we have the women’s reproductive rights on center stage in Austin. The Republicans did not manage to get
their law passed regarding abortion clinic regulations last week. Wendy Davis did a filibuster and
thousands of protestors demonstrated in the Capitol. The Governor immediately announced there would be a special
session so the Republicans could pass their bill. The abortion issue would fall under more than one archetypal
heading, but for sure it falls under the sign of Cancer, ruler of the moon, of
a woman’s menstrual cycle, of pregnancy and the Great Mother (the archetypal symbol
of what it means to be a woman). What is interesting is how the Legislature can proclaim they
know what the Great Mother wants. A
woman lawmaker brought this bill to the legislature and that would require a
complicated analysis of the feminine aligning with the patriarchy. Most of the Republican lawmakers are
men. Men have no vaginas or uteruses and cannot get pregnant, but these
particular men feel compelled to ordain what women should do with their bodies
and their reproductive lives. These same individuals believe in liberty;
believe the government should not interfere with their precious freedoms. At the same time, they irrationally
believe it is okay to deny women their freedom. The bill will probably pass since the Republicans are the
majority in the Texas House. However, Mercury, messenger of the Goddess,
is retrograde!! The bill will
eventually be revised, discarded or found unconstitutional in some way. It is being birthed in dirty water and
will not survive. Mercury retrograde
brings the abortion issue back to the table and back to the community for
consideration. In Ohio and North
Carolina restrictive anti-abortion laws were inserted into the budget and
passed without discussion in the past few days. Basically it was an ambush. Did I mention that Mercury is also a trickster? With Mercury retrograde in Cancer I am
asking what this says about the Republican Party’s relationship with the
feminine principle. No one is forced to have an abortion so what interest do
they have, exactly?
The Moon rules Cancer.
Mercury retrograde in Cancer takes us back to many female
issues. On the personal level it could mean a return to the issue of
motherhood. Some couples might be trying to decide whether or not to have a
child. It could mean a return to a
fertility doctor to try one more time to get pregnant. And, as already stated, there is
a return to the odd belief that a small group of individuals can dictate what
women do with their sexuality and reproductive potentialities.
Jupiter entered the sign of Cancer on June 25 for a one-year visit
It takes Jupiter one year to travel 30 degrees through a
sign (and it takes 12 years for Jupiter to go through the entire zodiac). In 2012 to June 2013, Jupiter visited
Gemini, a ruler of information, learning and teaching. There was plenty of data to go
through. There was lots of chatter
and debate. Now, in the sign of
Cancer, Jupiter amplifies the feeling nature. Cancer is a water sign, one of the emotional signs of the
zodiac. Jupiter makes whatever it
touches BIGGER. Old worn out water
pipes might break. There could be
flooding, literally and figuratively. Feelings will be bigger. We will be asked to process a lot of emotional information
and we are asked to maintain emotional balance. Jupiter is excess so we can get out of control emotionally, we
can get out of control with all things Cancerian (see information on Mercury
retrograde in Cancer—mothering, food, comfort, needing to be babied). Here are some other possibilities to
think about:
·
Being too much of a mother! Practice the balance of nurturing with
proper boundaries. Avoid
suffocating other people.
·
Too much focus on food and drink and emotional
eating. Solution: focus on nutrition and appropriate diet and exercise. Avoid the sofa!
·
Stomach upsets and problems. Solution: talk about your troubles or journal about your upsets. Find
creative outlets for pent up emotions.
·
Being a CRAB. The totem for Cancer is the crab, the critter that sidles
away when it feels threatened. It
crawls into its shell and stays there. Or maybe that crab grabs on with its
pincher and doesn’t let go. Ouch!
Anytime the sign of Cancer is in the spotlight, we need to practice expressing
what we feel rather than repressing what we don’t want others to see or hear.
Learning how to express without using the pincher is the trick!! You know what I’m talking about, Cancer
folks. You can complain and complain and get crochety.
Rather than let Jupiter in Cancer make our crotchety
tendency bigger, let’s pay attention to our emotional climate and balance.
Jupiter in Cancer: Trust
Your Belly!
We have a year to experience the abundant gifts of Jupiter
in Cancer. For many people this is
a wonderful year to be a parent.
For some it’s the perfect year to get pregnant. It’s a great time to deepen our family
connections. The Moon rules
Cancer. We want to have a happy home. Jupiter in Cancer can help us align with our feminine aspects
and with our psyches. The crab
lives in the sea. We have a year to embrace the ocean and to support the
protection of our seas. Cancer and
the Moon rule the breasts and the stomach. Become more mindful about what you eat, both literally with
food and figuratively with energy. What energy are you eating? What gives you a bellyache? What is your abdominal area telling you? If you have an eating disorder, now is
the time to address it because Jupiter in Cancer may make it bigger. Get help if you have an eating disorder
or get out of control with food or alcohol. If a person or situation in your
life is giving you a bellyache, then some correction is necessary.
Last year, with Jupiter in Gemini, we had more Mercury
associated disorders. Mercury
rules Gemini, so people had to watch their anxiety level. They had to be
careful not to get so over-amped by media, the news and excess data. This year
the focus is more on the physical body and emotional body rather than the
mental/ neurological body.
Saturn leaves retrograde phase, resumes direct movement at 5 degree
of Scorpio on July 8th.
We are swimming in a Grand Trine
After 20 weeks in a retrograde phase, Saturn picks up speed
and goes direct. We are invited to
take action. What plans have you
been making? It’s time to get
stuff done. Saturn in Scorpio;
Sun, Mercury & Jupiter in Cancer; and Neptune in Pisces form a big triangle
in the water element. We can float
in the whirlpool or we can take advantage of the positive current and
swim. It is times like this I wish
I still kept an everyday journal.
How cool it would be to go back to mid February and see what I was
thinking about. What kinds of
goals or plans were in my mind? With
Saturn transiting Scorpio, the goals are both internal and external. Perhaps we have a project that now can
move ahead, but we also have internal issues that are demanding attention. If
you prefer to stay on the surface of things, then Saturn in Scorpio might be a
confusing and perplexing time, because Scorpio is deep.
Saturn is the teacher in the sky. Remember that long ago
people could not see anything beyond Saturn. So Saturn represented the boundary of our solar system. Boundaries
are practical. If you get too close
to me, I might not be able to breathe.
You will rob my oxygen!
Saturn is the planet that rocks our world when we forget to be practical
and pay attention to reality.
Saturn in Scorpio puts the practical emphasis on relational
dynamics. Scorpio is the 8th
house of the zodiac. That 8th
house represents the results of partnering. These results include intimacy and sexuality, money,
shared resources, inheritance and taxes.
It also includes the inevitability of change and death. So much of our behavior is
unconscious. Scorpio is the
detective that shines a light into the unconscious. While Saturn is traveling through Scorpio we are learning
about intimacy and sharing. How
close do we want to be? What boundaries do we need to establish? Is the communication open? Is it veiled in unconscious innuendos?
How far do we want to go with the partner? And what about money? How much to share? Is the relational dynamic working? If a person is not in a relationship,
these issues are still very important. If a solo person wants a union and doesn’t have one, then
Saturn in Scorpio may make that person feel extremely lonely. A person suffering from Scorpio
loneliness will hopefully reach out to family and friends for companionship.
Also, Saturn in Scorpio is a period of time in which to probe into one’s
unconscious for information and guidance. Like Persephone and Inanna, we can
travel into the dank deep underworld to visit the realm of death and rebirth.
Saturn entered Scorpio in October 2012 and will not complete
its work there until December 2014 (and then a brief re-visit to Scorpio from
June to September in 2015.) While
Saturn visits this sign, we can dive deep and dig deep. We can find some answers to our life
long issues and bring reality into the light.
A Grand Trine in water gives us a chance to swim into new territories.
In July we have the help of that big triangle formation in
the element of water: Saturn in
Scorpio, Neptune in Pisces, the Sun, Mercury and Jupiter in Cancer. A Grand Trine is about flow and
relationship. That means
relationship between people, between people and animals, or between life
events. It’s about synchronicity
and meaning. We can admire the Grand Trine, we can float in its emotional pulse,
we can dive into it, and we can use its energy to swim into new territories.
