We’re still in the wake of the August 21 inertia-busting total solar eclipse and have another week of Mercury retrograde review. These converging energies may feel like past and future colliding in the present, increasing the need to remain focused on our truth. We saw how a divided America could be united for a brief moment in time, freed from all worry by the total enchantment of the eclipse event. Doesn’t this demonstrate how easy it can be to shut down all the disquieting chatter in the mind and enjoy the gift of what is happening in present time? Will it always take something like this spectacular astronomical event to do that? Perhaps for a collective movement to happen, but this concept is worth reviewing on a personal level as Mercury backs into to Leo on August 31. After spending five weeks in Virgo cleaning mental house, Mercury’s brief ten-day return to Leo may help us lighten up from dark thinking and experience the spark of fun in learning how to creatively navigate life. “If something is wrong, fix it if you can,” said the classic American writer Ernest Hemingway, who has Mercury in Leo, “but train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.”
Mercury returns to 29° Leo, the degree of the eclipse, on September 2 and stays there until it turns direct on September 9. Any planet touching a sensitive eclipse point can trigger incidents, and Mercury, ruling communications and perceptions, does so with intense laser focus as it lingers on this spot. This could correlate to something hidden being revealed – information emerging either from unconscious realms or coming to our awareness from external forces. The possibility for breakthrough ideas is amplified by a trine between Mars in Leo and Uranus in Aries, also on September 2, that is in very tight alignment with Mercury, which conjuncts Mars on September 3. With this entire bundle nearly exact the eclipse point it could be an understatement to say that we may experience some drama, but let us not forget to put the fun in it. As Hemingway drolly said: “When you stop doing things for fun you might as well be dead.”
Release of the eclipse energy by this fiery planetary triad could express as an abrupt war of words or warlike declarations because Leo’s archetypal sense of pride may get the better of one’s judgment to back down in the face of provocations. This could easily escalate into rebellious behavior due to the flowing link to Uranus. On a personal level, for those committed to learning self-awareness, the strong-minded Mercury/Mars pair trine future-oriented Uranus in fire signs could manifest in original ways of thinking. Uranus opens us to the unique and innovative, and in Aries there is a pioneering push to explore new territory. The Mercury/Mars/Uranus combination indicates that the stamina and strength needed to take on a payload of new information is available for the taking. This astral dynamism can also correlate to a strong personal need to express creatively, bringing with it an equally strong sense of confidence and enthusiasm. With ego pride put to the side, Leo at its best has a heart-filled sense of generosity and nobility, which if focused inward manifests as a gift of love to self that is transforming. Hemingway expresses it eloquently: “There is nothing noble about being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.”
With the eclipse and this week’s planetary alignments emphasizing 29° Leo, it is worth contemplating the Sabian symbol for this degree: “A mermaid emerges from the ocean waves ready for rebirth in human form.” In his book An Astrological Mandala, the great modern astrology pioneer, Dane Rudhyar says the keynote for this symbol is: “The stage at which an intense feeling-intuition rising from the unconscious is about to take form as a conscious thought.” Rudhyar continues his humanistic interpretation, writing: “Any creative thinker or artist knows well the peculiar mixture of elation and anxiety characterizing such a stage. Will the intuitive feeling fade away reabsorbed into the unconscious, or will the inexpressible realization acquire the concreteness and expressible form of a concept or a definite motif in an art form?” According to Rudhyar, “the fire of desire for concrete and steady form burns at the root of all techniques of self-expression. An unconscious energy archetype is reaching toward consciousness through the creator, as cosmic Love seeks tangible manifestation through human lovers.”
Here’s the data (Pacific Time and rounded to the nearest whole degree unless otherwise noted):
August 31 – Retrograde Mercury at 29°59” Leo at 8:29 a.m.
September 2 – Mars trine Uranus at 28° Leo/Aries at 5:13 a.m.
September 3 – Mercury conjunct Mars at 29° Leo at 2:39 a.m.
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