Upcoming Full Moon in Aries and Mercury Retrograde in Scorpio

October 18 to 21 will be a dynamic time.  On the 18th the Moon will be full in Aries, inviting all of us to assert our independence at a fundamentally emotional level wherever Aries rules our chart.  As the New Moon offers us a new beginning, the Full Moon brings those monthly beginnings to culmination, then declining as the Moon moves towards the end of its current cycle.  With the Sun in Libra until the 21st, this month is one about decisions, which we should all be using to bring any out-of-balance situations back into balance, or as close to balance as we can.  The Full Moon Aries energy will encourage you to express yourself independently, aggressively, and selfishly.  At its highest vibration, you recognize what you must do to be true to yourself and will feel the emotional push to take the necessary actions to protect or bring that truth forth.

In my case the Moon will be passing through my 6th house of Service, where a majority of Energy Points reside (Chiron, Venus, Mercury, Eris, Vulcan, Saturn, the North Node, and Sun).  I can expect a powerful impact from this Full Moon.  Each point will be charged emotionally for me to be assertive with my feelings as they relate to each part of my life that those points represent.  If there is action to take regarding healing my wound (Chiron), I will want to take it.  I will want to actively (Aries) do something to heal it.  If I am operating on the low end of this vibration, then I will likely take action to create or aggravate a wound.  Aries is the energy that will not take enough time in recovery or rehabilitation, resulting in a reopening of the wound.  I will face this high/low vibration test regarding my relationships (Venus), my communication (Mercury), my need to stir things up (Eris), my productivity (Vulcan), my patterns (Saturn), my stretch goal (North Node), and my primary drive (Sun).  If Aries is a dominant theme in your chart, then you can expect this Full Moon to have a powerful impact.

Right on the heels of the Full Moon, Mercury will go retrograde for the third and final time this year from October 21 to November 10 in Scorpio.  Scorpio deals with deep, intense emotions and Mercury represents our thoughts and how we communicate.  Mercury entered Scorpio on September 30, and thanks to the retrograde phase, will stay there until December 6, creating a very long period of Scopionic communication and thinking.  Do not be surprised if your thoughts take you to some of the deeper parts of your psyche, leading you to address issues as powerful as your mortality, or any unresolved subconscious problems.  You may find yourself on unplanned Shamanic psychological quests that require your undivided attention to resolve.  The retrograde phase only deepens the journey because it turns outward energy inward and demands that we slow down and address whatever issues the retrograde energy represents.  Uranus and Neptune will continue to be retrograde during this time, forcing us ever deeper into our own psychological issues.  

Mercury retrograde gets negative press because we are told to be hard driving all the time, so trying to go at life with a-business-as-usual approach is what actually causes the negative outcomes.  We are supposed to slow down, rest, review, take inventory, digest, and process during the Mercury retrograde.  If we can, we will enjoy its benefits and avoid its pitfalls.  While in Scorpio, this reflective energy is going to ask us to do all these things around the issues that transform us emotionally, like our most important relationships and our deepest secrets.  This can be a time to bring those secrets slowly and carefully to the light or bury them even deeper, depending on how we want to treat them.  With an Aries Full Moon it will be much harder to keep emotions tamped down and much easier for them to explode into full view.

Additionally, Saturn is currently making it's way through Scorpio as well, forcing all of us to evaluate our deep emotions and see what is working and what is not.  Depending on the location of Scorpio in your chart, this could mean evaluation of your identity, values, how you communicate with others, family, creativity, responsibilities, partnerships, intimate relationship, expertise, career, community, or spirituality.  I get all my Scorpio fun in the 1st house of identity.  This next month will be one of deep introspection and reorganization of my identity terrain.  If you happen to have any birth energy points in this sign, they will get "touched" by Mercury and it will force you to think about that energy at the deepest level.  I have already spent a fair amount of time digging deep into my commitments (Juno, from mid-September to now) and how I want to communicate with those people I am committed to, especially my daughter.

In general, expect to feel especially intense while Mercury and Saturn share time in this sign.  Saturn will remain there until December of 2015.  Luckily Mercury will be done by December 6 of 2013!

Mercury Retrograde 12/11/2010 to 12/30/2010

Mercury will retrograde from Capricorn back into Sagittarius energizing us to slow down on our goals and plans and review our intentions.  I like to think of Mercury Retrograde like the proofreading and rewriting phase of a school paper, article for publication, or writing a book.  We thrust ourselves into the creative writing process by developing an idea or story in our minds that eventually becomes a first draft, both manifestations of Mercury Direct.  After the first draft is complete, we should take the time to review the work and refine it because, very rarely, is a first draft sufficient ... and even email or Facebook comments can most often use a proofreading.  In general, at this time, we should all be feeling pretty good, or much improved, as all remaining energy points are direct.  Uranus finally released on 12/6/2010 and went Direct, following the release/Direct of Jupiter, Chiron, and Neptune.  When Mercury goes Direct on 12/30/2010, every energy point will be direct until Saturn goes Retrograde on 1/26/2010.

Mercury gets a bad rap when Retrograde because we live in the Western mindset, which is a frontier, forward moving, go hard at all times mentality.  So, when a natural rhythm to slow down, proofread, review, take inventory, check safety protocols, check the service on your car, comes up and we DO NOT do any of those procedures or follow any of those actions, we usually get a mess, a wreck, a bad business arrangement, a faulty contract, and broken this or that.  As I've studied Astrology more and more and found myself getting more and more in tune with my body, I'm observing more of the patterns.  Last night I laid down on the sofa at 7PM, moved to the bed at 9PM and got up at 7AM.  Now, normally, I will fall asleep around 10:30 or 11PM and get up, like clock work, at 5:30AM ... not so on the first day of Mercury Retrograde.

With Mercury Direct in Capricorn we should all have been feeling, in our thinking, a desire to pursue or establish goals and achievements based on the house occupied by Capricorn in our charts and aspects of Mercury in Capricorn to other energy points in our chart.  This period should have been like the creative idea bursting out onto the first draft of the page.  Now with Mercury going backwards in Capricorn and into Sagittarius, we need to spend the next 19 days reviewing, proofreading, and revising our goals and aspirations in those areas of our lives.  Use this period to slow down and take your time, including in your Christmas shopping ;-).  But most of all, especially if you like to have a New Year's goal list, go over it twice, maybe four times.  Think about your long range plans for 2011, which will, based on energy movements for the year, be pretty quiet compared to the fireworks planned for 2012 and until 2015.

Happy Holidays to all!