root to rise : Mercury Rx in Capricorn + Venus & the moon
How’s everyone feeling these days?
With Mercury retrograde ruling over Mars retrograde in Gemini, there’s been a lot of tension in the air.
Mars will hover at 8° Gemini for 21 days!!
mars goes direct January 12, 2023, but will stay at 8° Gemini before moving back through Gemini to cover all the points of it’s retrograde from now through the end of March. Even as mars stations, this story is still wrapping up!
Mars has been retrograde since October 30, 2022, and the final moments feel wily. Take note of any frustration or exaggerated impulse for combative or urgent directions forming. If you’re curious, think back to the beginning of September (the first week of September starting September 3, 2022) when Mars first passed over these degrees in your chart. The current phase of where Mars is retrograde emphasizes this moment in some way… how does the narrative link up for you?
With Mercury, now also retrograde, having a say over how this all plays out… it feels like something gets internalized/slowed down/glitched. It’s a good time to reflect on the desire for action or results… reminding yourself that knowing what you want is different than actually having it. Desired outcomes can only occur when you take the time to plan accordingly… and sometimes even the best made plans go rogue.
If Mars rx in Gemini can teach us anything, its stay open to the possibility that desire is often fickle, and we have less control over the outcome of things than we’d like to imagine. With Mercury rx in Capricorn, the stars suggest not to put too much energy into a path that has already proven it’s bound to be unpredictable. Ground yourself in what you can control, and let go of anything that makes you feel heated.
Mercury Retrogrades through Capricorn from December 29, 2022 - January 18, 2023 between 24° - 8° of Capricorn. The mercury retrograde shadow period* includes December 12, 2022 through February 7, 2023. The peak of the retrograde will align with a Mercury/Sun Cazimi at 16° of Capricorn.
*A Shadow Period is the weeks before & after the retrograde which cover the degrees that Mercury will go back over in Capricorn twice. The shadow period of a retrograde can be a foreshadowing of themes that will need to be addressed throughout the retrograde cycle. If you have any personal planets between 8° - 24°, or specifically 8°/16°/24° of Capricorn, this part of your birth chart will be emphasized. .
What does it mean when a planet is retrograde?
Astrology is a visual language of light. The language of the stars & planets comes from the experience of humans being in relationship with the phenomenon observed in the night sky. Over centuries, patterns emerged that seemed to translate into messages between the heavens and earth. That is how Astrology began. A relationship with the cosmos through careful attention to the subtle shifts in the natural world.
When a planet goes retrograde, it appears to loop backwards in the sky from the vantage point of Earth. Astronomically, the planet does not move backwards, but as an example of Einsteins theory of relativity, the retrograde cycle happens when a planet’s orbital path get’s closest to the Earth. We experience a phenomena of the planet seeming to slow down, as Earth and the planet pass one another on their orbits around the Sun.
Mercury is the fastest moving planet in our solar system (the Moon is faster, but it is technically not a planet, better defined by the term luminary). As the closest planet to the Sun & with a very unique elliptical, the ancient astrologers associated Mercury with Hermes- the winged messenger of the gods. As the only planet able to ‘disappear’ into the rays of the Sun & emerge as frequently as it does, the significations of this imply that Mercury can go to the source of power and carry out information to the rest of the solar system at rapid speeds unlike any other planet. Mercury has both an inferior and superior conjunction with the Sun, representing the ability to go between the heavens & the underworld.
Mercury Retrograde through 2023 happens in EARTH SIGNS.
Last year, Mercury retrograde occurred in Airs signs. This represented the need it go back and revise/reflect on the topics of communication, relations, connection, ideas, intellect & conversation.
This year, Mercury will emphases the Earth Signs, doubling down on the material realm of
Capricorn (December 29, 2022-January 18, 2023),
Taurus (April 21, 2023-May 14, 2023),
& Virgo (August 23, 2023-September 15, 2023)…
ending 2023 with a final retrograde station at 8° Capricorn December 13, 2023.
Mercury RX in Earth signs wants to make magic with the physical plane. This is where Mercury lands- delivering messages from the heavens to the physical realm of Earth. This year, we will likely face a need to reshape the physical structures which support us. This could show up as ‘renovations’ of our relationship with the physical world… be it buildings/material objects/business structures/government/food/consumerism/physical labor/quality of craftsmanship … & how we express/market/transport/communicate/and exchange the value of the physical goods created on the material plane.
Venus & the moon
There is something unique about the degrees of this retrograde.
Last year, Mars & Venus met at 18° Capricorn. Beginning a new 32 year cycle, and initiating a ‘reset’ of energy when it comes to passion, relationship, and overall how we balance and maintain our ability to hold and sustain creative flow.
Within the many cycles at play in the astrological wheel at any given time, this Venus/Mars conjunction is significant. Venus’s synodic cycle with the Sun is also significant here.
A few months ago, I mentioned a story about Inanna. This myth, the most ancient known recorded myth in human history, speaks of one of Inanna’s journeys through the underworld and back. Noted through the symbolism, Inanna represents the path of Venus.
Venus & Mercury have a unique relationship to the Sun in Astrology. Because both of these planets sit between the Sun and the Earth, they never appear to move very far from the Sun. On the astrological wheel, Venus does not go farther than 48° from the Sun on either side, and Mercury does not go farther than 30°. This ability to stay connected to the source of energy has often emerged in myths and legends a type of power to receive messages through the act of surrendering to fires of the Sun. Cazimi translates from arabic to mean “in the heart of the Sun”.
In the scheme of things, the Sun is what keeps us all living and breathing here. The harmony and divine insight which Venus and Mercury can both represent is integrally woven into their synodic cycle with Source Energy.
To be humbled. To be able to let go of our own sense of who we think we are, our own power even, and look within at the intuitive knowing which must be seen, held, and accepted… is amongst the tropes of the heroine’s journey. …to know that there is nothing ‘out there’ that is more important than what is right here, if you’re willing to listen.
Like any tale or mythic journey, Venus can be the warrior morning star, or the one summoned to go within to the shadows to integrate what has been ignored or abandoned in the psyche through her retrograde period. Venus can be in the stage of aligning to the heart of the sun- receptive to the surrender to divine insight, or the nourishing Venus of love and care which emerges, humbled, in her evening star form. They are all valid and important parts to understand and embody along the path of the feminine. The heroine’s journey.
Over the past year, as we began 2022 with Venus retrograde in Capricorn, we have experienced the phases of Venus as told through Inanna’s descent to the underworld. It began with an intuitive call to look within, layers of surrender, a metaphorical death & resurrection through the act of acceptance of her own inner shadow… and now as Venus finally emerged as an evening star mid December 2022, the new Year begins with a different energy.
In Inanna’s tale, we learn that she must remove 7 layers of her garments/weapons, which have been recognized to symbolize the chakra system. In the Somalian culture which this myth originated these sacred ornaments which Inanna adorned herself in were called ‘me’. They held specific powers which protected the goddess.
When she must go to the underworld she is required to remove her symbols of power at each gate through her descent, but when she emerges just as Venus has in the night sky as an evening star, her garments are returned to her as she moves through the 7 gates.
“ As the Moon meets with Venus in the night sky, each Venus & Moon conjunction for the first half of 2023 will reveal an aspect of our own power, purpose, and potential to be reclaimed. ”
Once a month, from December 2022 through July 2023, there is a particular significance between the Moon & Venus that follows this symbolism. As the Moon meets with Venus in the night sky, each Venus & Moon conjunction will reveal a layer that is returned to us. A bit of information that we may have had to let go of in order to fully integrate the power it holds, and a moment in which that power, purpose, and potential can be reclaimed.
Inanna’s tale is one of the heroine’s journey. In a world which deeply craves a sense of understanding how to move forward, how to build new worlds which can nurture and guide future generations… I believe Inanna’s tale, Venus’s journey with the Sun, and the heroine’s journey are origin points for guidance back to the power, purpose & potential within all of us.
December 24, 2022 as the Moon & Venus met in the sky they formed the symbol of the first garment returned to Inanna. During her descent to the underworld she is required to remove her garments from the head down. As she ascents back to her kingdom, she reclaims the garments from the ground up. The first to be retrieved is the symbol of the root chakra, known as ‘the gate of manifestation’.
In Venus’ current phase as evening star, the end of December 2022 beckons us to reflect on the power of claiming what we need in order to feel rooted, stable, safe, and secure.
With this Mercury Retrograde stationing & aligning with Venus only hours after, there seems to be a message it is important to take the necessary time and due diligence to really identify and reflect what those needs are.
Looking back on 2022, in what ways did you answer an intuitive call to surrender in order to become more aligned to your whole self? What parts of yourself did you discover and acknowledge along the way that you had forgotten needed tending?
Through the journey of this year, what do you know now about what security, home, survival & safety mean to you?
Within the context of your unique experiences, how could you begin to reclaim your power in this area of life? What places, people, practices can bring you more deeply connected to a feeling of safety/belonging/groundedness?
Stay tuned for more about the Venus/Moon star points + the energy of 2023. It’s a big shift!
Astrology is always happening, in layers, lighting up parts of our lives here & there. If you find yourself lost, I say… do as the ancients do… look up. There’s more than enough stars shining a light on the path ahead.
