It's Virgo Season. It's Mercury Retrograde. Here’s what you need to know about this powerful duo
by Dianna Fontes
photo by Susan Wilkinson for Unsplash
“Pop Astrology has made millions off the false narrative around the Mercury Retrograde Cycle and most of what’s being shared by Pop Astrology hides a very powerful gift that’s hidden within these cycles.”
The first thing you need to know about Mercury Retrograde cycles is that they aren’t here to piss you off. Mercury Retrogrades are here to remind us why a linear path that’s solely focused on consumption and growth is deadly in the delicate, perfect ecosystem this Earth provides.
Pop Astrology has made millions off the false narrative around the Mercury Retrograde Cycle and most of what’s being shared by Pop Astrology hides a very powerful gift that’s hidden within these cycles - making sure we’re doing our ShadowWeRK. So as we head into this extra powerful Mercury Retrograde in Virgo Cycle let’s remember that we don’t hate Mercury Retrograde, we hate capitalism, patriarchy, and the weapons of whiteness. Let’s remember that Venus represents what we NEED and we all need to do our ShadowWeRK if we want to find true health and wellness.
Reframing Mercury Retrograde Cycles. Pop Astrology shares this false narrative about Mercury Retrograde because it gets clicks when it frames the Mercury Retrograde Cycle as the reason everything sucks. The truth is, everything sucks because the systems of capitalism suck. When you reframe how you look at the Mercury Retrograde Cycle you’ll see there’s a grand and powerful intention behind it, one that we can use to disrupt these systems while also healing the wounds we’ve all suffered under its feet. When we are striving to live a life of Sweet Disruption we can now see the Mercury Retrograde cycles are Magical Gifts and Tools for that WeRK. It’s all about our perception and perspective of this powerful opportunity. Don’t believe the hype. Say it with me, “I don’t hate Mercury Retrogrades, I hate capitalism!”
photo Christina Deravedisian
WTF is Mercury Retrograde?
But wait, WTF is a Mercury Retrograde in the first place? In astrology, Mercury is the planet of communication (both expressing AND listening). This also includes our personal and collective beliefs, knowledge bases, as well as our overall systems and machines; things like the internet, small engines, and travel. This planet is why we have language and sentience. It’s also why we want to put things in boxes and line them up or why we created cars, roads, and planes - we want to get places so we can talk to each other and learn more!
Because Mercury is closest to The Sun its orbit is really fast compared to Earth so as it “laps” us it appears to move backward from our vantage point roughly three times a year. This doesn’t mean that Mercury actually moves in reverse, it just appears that way from where we are. It’s like when you pass a car on the freeway and it feels like that car starts going backward. It’s not, it just appears that way.
Mercury goes through roughly three retrograde cycles in our calendar year and this is why it’s the retrograde cycle that gets the most attention in Pop Astrology; because we literally FEEL that shift in energy so often and we SEE it showing up in real life so literally. How? Well, it causes glitches in systems, travel, small machines, communication, and our ability to understand things. This causes delays in production and that is very upsetting to capitalism. Thusly, as the cogs in capitalism’s wheel, this becomes very upsetting to us. We can’t do the wOrk for a few weeks while this cycle rolls through our lives and that can feel terrifying in a culture where productivity is the only valuable objective.
So, how is this retrograde cycle helpful you ask? Mercury Retrograde Cycles are here to help us fight against bad systems and edit our mistakes. These cycles are an opportunity for us to rest, daydream, and commune with the spirits. We can use these sideways times to fuck up capitalism and patriarchy by refusing to toe the productivity line it’s forced on us. It’s also an amazing time for downloading our own personal messages from the Universe. We can walk intentionally into the Underworld and do deep personal ShadowWeRK while also collecting new Magical Gifts and Tools for helping the collective. It sounds very weird when put so simply however, if you really think about it of course these oppressive systems don’t want us resting, daydreaming, or communicating with the spirits (aka: doing our ShadowWeRK) because if we did we’d never stand for the bullshit these systems have pulled off the last few centuries.
“Is this change hard, or, is this another intentional narrative designed by the system to keep us from knowing and believing that we are actually very, very capable of change and adaptation?”
WTF is ShadowWeRK?
Now you may be asking, WTF is ShadowWeRK? I am happy to answer this question but it’s a fairly large and intense topic so if you’re not sure about how to do your personal ShadowWeRK you can learn more here.
Is this cycle sometimes uncomfortable and frustrating? Fuck yes. But that’s not because it’s “Astrology Hard.” It’s because we’ve all come up in a culture that’s intentionally kept us from embracing the value of being uncomfortable and feeling frustration. Those feelings show us we’re doing our ShadowWeRK. They reveal an edge that needs to be tended to. They can show us that something might be crossing one of our boundaries or that we’re out of alignment with our integrity (or that someone else is). If you find yourself feeling uncomfortable or frustrated during this cycle just remember that’s likely Mercury trying to show you an edge that needs to be tended. It’s an opportunity, not a curse, so lean into it!
Now that you know there are actually opportunities hidden within this cycle, let's dig into all the ways we can use this particular Mercury Retrograde in Virgo energy to do deep personal ShadowWeRK AND fight patriarchy, capitalism, and whiteness at the same time.
photo: NASA
A few things about Virgo
First, let’s learn a few things about Virgo. Virgo is the sixth sign in the Zodiac, associating it with the Sixth House and a focus on offering healing services to the world. Virgo can be hypercritical and nit-picky but that's because it's trying to encourage health and wellness for all; not because it's inherently judgmental. As you study Virgo make sure you don't allow the steady stream of service-focused keywords to distract you from Virgo's very real need for rest and rejuvenation. We must allow the Virgo part of us (and of others) to be able to express both sides to be complete. The nurse who nags and criticizes to see the results they believe are "healthy" hasn't done their ShadowWeRK. A nurse who knows that everyone needs different things to heal is a balanced Virgo.
Virgo Keywords:
Healthy, Diligent, Discerning, Modest, Perfectionist.
Virgo Archetypes:
The Virgin, The Healer, Nutritionist, Herbalist
I like to start with a few Mercury Retrograde in Virgo thought/journal prompts:
Do you believe that change is possible?
What if all these systems of oppression are just ideas and mindsets?
Why are binary systems so toxic for the human mind?
Do you know WHY these systems of oppression were intentionally designed?
Do you know their origin story?
Do you know how you fit into the ongoing narratives of our culture?
During a Mercury Retrograde cycle, we get to ask, “Is this change hard, or, is this another intentional narrative designed by the system to keep us from knowing and believing that we are actually very, very capable of change and adaptation?” Take some time to think about this. Do some journaling if that’s your thing. Or you could open this up as a discussion with someone you know and see what comes up. This is important because we clearly have some really big collective issues that are going to require a great many collective changes and we’re struggling to do all that changing for some reason. Virgo energy can help us ponder all of this and that with an analytical, critical mind and it can also draw out the mindset shifts and actions we need to take to start the process of changing too. Virgo is an Earth Sign so it can remain calm during a crisis, but it’s also a Sign in a Mutable Mode, so it’s capable of using Imagination Magic to come up with creative solutions. Yes, Virgo energy is that powerful.
A Mercury Retrograde cycle gives us the opportunity to ponder thoughts and patterns like this. It allows us the chance to do our ShadowWeRK around our stuck patterns and then edit and reframe those patterns so we don’t repeat them. Our brains/operation systems need this opportunity to reboot and that’s why these systems of oppression have intentionally tried to make us hate the Mercury Retrograde Cycle. Notice what comes up for you when you consider these prompts and new perspectives of this cycle. It’s likely you’ll revisit whatever comes up for you three times during each Mercury Retrograde Cycle and each time is another opportunity to better understand, edit and make changes, both to yourself and hopefully in the collective too.
If you want to go deeper into this WeRK look at your own chart to see where you have Mercury natally. Look to see what House the Mercury Retrograde Cycle will occur for you and do some research to better understand those Sign and House themes so you can see where to focus your WeRK in each cycle. You can also learn more about this Mercury Retrograde in Virgo on my website here.
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