Tag: mercury

transits

Great time to declutter your mind

Lisa

Okay so we’ve got this gorgeous square between retrograde Mercury and Uranus, sun and Pluto are conjunct … I want to share something I do periodically, especially during transits really invite us to make decisions and mentally cleaning house.

Close your eyes, take 3 slow deep breaths, then make a list on paper (not electronically) of all the projects, ideas to explore, stuff you’ve been meaning to do, stuff you should do etc.

Include everything.

Learn a new language, clean out the frig, read more to your kids, have that difficult talk with your neighbor, eat healthier, exercise, clean out your desk, clean out the pics on your phone, paint the bathroom …

List ALL of it. All the stuff running through your head that you need to be doing.

Once you’ve gotten it all down, do 3 more slow deep breaths and review the list.

First, circle anything that supports your well being. We’ll come back to those at the end.

Next, cross off everything you don’t really want to do, stuff you feel obligated or pressured to do. You can revisit each later if you ever want to do so, but for now you don’t want to it so cross it off. These things get no more of your daily mental energy.

Next, cross off things you do want to do, but now is not the time. If it isn’t something you have actual plans to start or do in the next few weeks, cross it off. Doing so doesn’t mean you will never do it, now is not the time. These things get no more of your daily mental energy.

Look at everything that isn’t circled or crossed off and ask yourself how important each is to you right now. Today. Does it soothe your soul, bring you joy or exquisite pleasure, energize you, amplify love in your life? If so, circle it. If not, cross it off.

Now look at the circled items. If the list of circled items feels overwhelming, cross some more off. This isn’t a list for your whole life, this is a list for your life now and you can only do so much now.

Once you have it narrowed down to a few things, do three more slow deep breaths and consciously choose to do them, then cross them off as well, because they are now part of your daily life and no longer require you to contemplate doing them.

You may not eat perfectly healthy every day, but you’ve decided to make it part of your daily life. So do it and if you have an off day, eat better the next snd move on. Maybe you don’t read to your kids every night, but do your best and when you miss a night, get back to it.

The point here is to stop thinking about all these things you believe could improve your life and just start doing some of them that fit your life now.

It’s incredible how freeing, light, productive and energized we become when we clear the mental to do list we’ve got running in the background on a loop.

Let me know if you do it.

transits

Mercury Retrograde

Lisa

Have more conversations. I feel like there’s an abundance of opportunities now to hear your soul through your conversations with friends, both what they say to you and you say to them. Capricorn gives tangible value to these conversations.⁣

Regarding what to watch out for …⁣

⁣Everything you can imagine is happening in someone’s life right now. People are dying and being born … people are at war, others are making peace … people are falling in love, learning knew things, having their heart broken, getting hurt, finding their strength, moving to a new home …⁣

⁣Everything is possible and happening in someone’s life right now. Follow your intuition, your heart, your higher self that wants the best for you regardless of how much Gatorade people talk about. ⁣

⁣Do what’s right for you. Follow the timing your soul urges you towards. It is more profoundly reliable and impactful than any transit.⁣

⁣Thanks to the friend that inspired this post. I love talking with you. 💕⁣

transits

Mercury Retrograde

Lisa

Mercury goes retrograde in Gemini today and I’m here to remind you that you can do ANYTHING during Mercury retrograde that you would do otherwise.

Metaphysics 101: Your mind is powerful. You will tend to create and reinforce what you believe. If you believe in the gloom and doom messages of Mercury retrograde you are more likely to have problems.

Here’s how I embrace it and advise clients.

💫 Be more open to personal reflection.

💫 Be more thoughtful about the power of your words.

💫 Be more intentional with your communications.

💫 Listen more. Be attentive.

💫 Listen to your soul.

💫 Evaluate lingering ongoing projects, finish them or intentionally take them off your current to do list so you stop giving them mental energy. You can revisit them at another time in life.

💫 You can absolutely sign contracts, mortgages, leases, etc. It’s best to ALWAYS read them carefully, regardless of a retrograde. Live your life and trust yourself. If this is the right time for you to do something, do it.

Astrology can be a powerful tool for getting into cosmic alignment. It’s still just a tool. There is no more powerful method for cosmic alignment than listening to your own soul. Please be wary of anyone that directs you to override that by telling you with certainty what you should do or not do something, especially when they cite a metaphysical tool to rationalize it.

In fact, here’s another great Mercury retrograde opportunity. Be open to seeng how you rationalize NOT listening to your soul.

We’ve all been there. We want to do something or not do something, and so we start rationalizing. If you are into metaphysics, you whip out your cards, pendulums, magic eight ball … anything to get the answer you want.

During Mercury retrograde, own what you deeply know rather than using your mind to rationalize what you want.

The universe is not cruel. It’s always teaching and supporting us, even during Mercury retrograde.

Remember, retrogrades are the illusion of backward motion, so know that you can keep moving forward, albeit maybe a bit more thoughtfully.

signs

Moon vs Mercury vs Venus in Virgo

Lisa

Someone new to astrology, on Reddit, asked about the differences between having Moon, Mercury and Venus in Virgo. The person posting indicated that the descriptions all seemed to be the same and wanted help on how to differentiate them.

I’ve decided to share my reply here. One note, a reply asked about the meaning of “creature comforts.” This is a phrase that refers to things that are physically comforting.

Speaking of comforting, this pic looks completely delicious to me.

Here is my response …

The planets are energy processes. The moon is emotions, nurturance, food, family. Mercury is the rational mind, communication via language. Venus is values, giving and receiving love.

Signs are styles of expression. Virgo is mutable earth. Virgo wants to get it right, to perfect, to analyze.

While there are elements of seeking perfection, analysis, and service in all of the general descriptions for these planets in Virgo, you have to go deeper into the planet’s energy to see the differences.

Moon in Virgo people have a Virgo temperament. They need to feel useful, to be of service. They are often drawn to work in healthcare and music. They need to be busy, to multitask. They take care of people by doing things for them. They need creature comforts.

Virgo in Mercury people have a mind that wants to analyze everything and pick it apart to understand it. They want to know the why of everything, how things work. They think logically and seek to apply what they know in practical applications.

Venus in Virgo people love perfection. They will pick things apart to find the beauty and perfection in it. They want to give tangible presents to people they love.

Venus in Virgo loves puzzles and may be drawn to problem solving, but doesn’t necessarily want to take care of others or be of service to them like the Moon in Virgo. They may more drawn to research versus medicine.

Venus in Virgo may love words and read a lot, but aren’t necessarily drawn to writing or working in a library like Mercury in Virgo.

Does that help?

aspects

Mercury Trine Neptune

Lisa

A trine is a natural flow connecting 2 or more energies in the chart. When people are first learning astrology, they may be tempted to think that some aspects are good and some are bad. For example, trines are good and squares are bad. All aspects bring talents, challenges, lessons and gifts.

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Mercury is the rational mind and how we communicate via language. It’s what makes sense to us, how we think and learn, how we process information.

Neptune is our intuition, creativity, empathy and compassion. Neptune is telepathy, psychic abilities, having a visceral understanding of the experiences of others.

When Mercury and Neptune form a trine, the rational mind and intuitive mind are in harmony with each other. These people are usually very creative and imaginative and often know things without first realizing how they know them. People with this placement often develop a talent for quickly coming up with a rational explanation or set of idea breadcrumbs to explain to others how they know something.

This aspect can also manifest as self-delusion where someone imagines a story and tells it to themselves so often they start to believe it’s true. They may also imagine what others believe and internalize that as true. For some, lying to themselves and others can be easy. They can also pick up on the thoughts and feelings of others and internalize them, both to their benefit and detriment.

Neptune is considered a soft planet, and Mercury a neutral planet, so generally they work well in a soft aspect (trine is soft). The important take away here is that these energies harmonize together. Whether that harmony expresses itself in a way that is helpful, useful, loving, spiritual etc. is determined by the rest of the chart and the life lived by the individual.

Using your own chart is the best way to understand astrology.

If you have a trine in your chart, think about how the energies flow with each other in you. If you have Mercury in an aspect, think about how that energy may impact how you think and what gets your mind going.

Pick any aspect and dive into the energies in the chart and see how they work together in you, and that will teach you something about how that aspect works.

What’s in your chart?

planets

Higher Octave Planets

Lisa

Time to dust off this blog!

The higher octave planets are Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. The planets represent energies in the chart, so think of these higher octaves as higher vibrations of the three personal planets they connect to, namely Mercury, Venus and Mars.

Mercury is the rational mind, how we communicate via language. It’s what we believe makes sense. Mercury can show how we learn, how we take in information, how we process information. Uranus is the higher octave of Mercury and it is the “ah ha” within it is. Uranus is the moment of discovery, our ability to see the connection between seemingly unconnected things. It is the stroke of genius that brings information together and forms something new – discovery, invention, innovation. Uranus is also how we differentiate ourselves, our sense of individuality. It is how we experience and express our uniqueness while staying connected to the whole, to the universe, to each other.

Venus is our value system. It’s how we give and receive love. It’s what we prioritize, what we value, what we are able and willing to love. It’s how we perceive beauty. Neptune is the higher octave of Venus and it is our ability to be love. It is our intuition, our compassion, our ability to empathize, to feel what others feel. Neptune is our creative energy and is visionary, dreamy, and our need to save and rescue. Neptune is transcendent love and a conduit for the soul’s expression in this life.

Mars is our vitality. It is our ambition, sex drive, physical energy. Mars is the energy that drives us to action. It relates to our body, how we move physically as well as the actions we take in the world. Pluto is the higher octave of Mars and is our will. It is our ability to perceive we have a choice. Pluto is about control, empowerment and transformation and our willingness and ability to surrender to a deeper wisdom that can guide our actions. Pluto is the phoenix that is reborn from the ashes. The soul expresses divine will through Pluto.

When looking at Mercury, Venus, and Mars in a chart always look at their higher octaves. Doing so will give you a deeper view of the energy. Pay attention to aspects formed between these personal planets and their higher octave. Look at how the energies may be working together or at odds and you will have insight into strength and struggles in the chart.

I am considering starting a podcast in 2017. If you would like to join me in the podcast and discuss some of your chart with you, email me at Lisa@karmicastrology.com.

© 2016 Lisa Wagner. All Rights Reserved.

signs

The Qualities

Lisa

In the last blog entry I began an exploration of how Astrology derives the twelve Astrological signs by looking at the four elements, fire, earth, air and water. In this post, we will take a look at the three qualities (also referred to as modalities) and learn how these elements and qualities combine to define the twelve signs of the Zodiac.

The nature of the element drives the kind of energy that is most naturally expressed by the sign, and the quality describes how that energy is most likely to operate. The three qualities are cardinal, fixed, mutable. The cardinal signs of Aries, Cancer, Libra and Capricorn each seek to assert themselves. In some way they are all driven and ambitious. The fixed signs, Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius, are all focused and tenacious and have a definitive quality about them. The mutable signs, Gemini, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Pisces, are versatile, restless and seek change.

Let’s look at Mercury in the elements, and notice how the quality of a sign differentiates it from the others in the same element.

The Fire signs, Aries, Leo and Sagittarius are all somewhat action-oriented. The Aries Mercury (fire & cardinal) seeks to initiate the conversation and to speak impulsively. The Leo Mercury (fire & fixed) seeks to continue the conversation by concentrating on a specific aspect, and speaks persuasively. The Sagittarius Mercury (fire & mutable) seeks to go from conversation to conversation and will speak with great versatility.

The Earth signs, Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn all seek to connect thought with form. The Taurus Mercury (Earth & fixed) tends to do so deliberately and indicates a very practical mind. The Virgo Mercury (Earth & Mutable) systematically examines everything, and indicates a more analytical mind. The Capricorn Mercury (Earth & Cardinal) tends to be more pragmatic, and indicates a methodical mind that focuses on what is useful.

The Air signs, Gemini, Libra and Aquarius all seek to develop and exchange ideas. The Gemini Mercury (Air & Mutable) is quick and enjoys exchanging information with others on a variety of subjects. The Libra Mercury (Air & Cardinal) is more mentally organized and seeks to compare thoughts with others. The Aquarius Mercury (Air & Fixed) delves deeply in to thoughts and ideas and then shares what is learned.

The Water signs, Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces all need to feel emotionally connected to what they think and have very intuitive minds. The Cancer Mercury (Water & Cardinal) easily expresses and engenders sympathy. The Scorpio Mercury (Water & Fixed) is capable of intense concentration and penetrates beneath the surface of an idea. The Pisces Mercury (Water & Mutable) intuitively soaks up information and relies on instinct over reason.

To really understand Mercury in a chart, the full depth of its sign is considered, as well as its house placement, degree and aspects. Though it is difficult to separate any one piece out of the wholeness of the chart, much less define it in a sentence or two, hopefully this brief look at Mercury has provided you with some insight in to the twelve signs of the Zodiac.

Copyright © 2009, Lisa Wagner