August 23rd ~ 30th

Martin Luther King used to say to Myles Horton, also a Civil Rights activist, ‘You’ve got to love everybody.’ And Horton used to say, ‘No I don’t. I only have to love the people worth loving.’ And King would laugh and laugh and say, ‘Nope, you’ve got to love everybody’.

What in the world could it mean to love everybody? To love somebody that you actually don’t like, that you’re going to fight and protest against? ~  Sharon Salzberg

In the days leading up to the direct station of Mercury, we go through something of a mental shift, in which we orient ourselves to what we usually think of as normal. Just as we do when we wake up in the morning, clarity is resuming, things are coming into perspective, and the world finally feels like it is returning to its regularly scheduled programming.

On Wednesday, August 28th, Mercury stations at 21º Leo 25’, ending its retrograde phase. This is when those seeds that were being planted at the inferior conjunction at the Full Moon are going to be able to find some sort of purchase. As more information is received and revealed over the next few weeks, and we can see things more clearly, we are also being given a green light to proceed with any waylaid plans and schedules. 

It is not unusual for routines to be be interrupted, to go off program and to even lose our way when Mercury is in its retrograde phase. Many will be making the most of the last bit of Summer here in the northern hemisphere, but by the New Moon in Virgo on September 2nd, there is no more frolicking to be had. We are now in Virgo season and it is time to get back to business. And thankfully so.

As Mercury appears to slow for its direct station, it will make a supportive trine to Chiron, and a sextile to Mars, which in the potential of the new Mercury cycle, is motivating us to take some sort of action. To do something. The trine to Chiron is almost existential in its relationship to suffering, and our healing journey. And this is true both collectively and individually. 

Communications can be difficult, befuddling and even confusing when Mercury is retrograde. We talk past one another, and don’t necessarily hear what the other is saying. However there are times when it is simply more important to just be with others, to hear, to listen, and to be. We can use words to wound, to harm one another, and to blame. But we can also use our words to relate, to have empathy, and to heal. Ignore the former, and engage the latter.

When Mercury stationed for its retrograde phase on August 4th, it was already in the sign of Virgo, a sign that prompts us to take care of business, to organize, schedule, and prepare for the months ahead. But before we were able to do that, before we could proceed, we were needing to go back for a bit of a refresher course in Leo. For it is in the sign of Leo that we connect with our why. Why it matters to us. To know our why in our heart of hearts. That’s the place where we see the rhyme and reason and purpose of what we do. Reconnecting with that is important right now. And not for nothing, this is also the place where we rekindle our inspiration, passion and joy. 

And through the Mercury/Chiron window we are given another reason for connecting to our heart center. And that has to do with our ability to relate and connect to others. Through compassion, through understanding and connecting, we are being given the opportunity to heal, to bridge the divides, and to create new bridges with others in the process. 

The retrograde phases of Mercury can be very annoying. Technical gremlins invade our lives, things need to be fixed before we can proceed. And wires get crossed all over the place. But it is also a very important part of the Mercury cycle, in which we are given the opportunity to review, reconnect with our past, process and make sense of all of the events that have led us to this place in time. This is how we learn. And this is how we grow. 

Shortly after the station of Mercury, Venus will return home to her own sign of Libra on the 29th of August. In her own domain, she will be strengthened and thrive. Relationships will appear to improve, bonds and alliances will be forged, and agreements made. Libra is a sign of harmony which aims to facilitate peaceful negotiations equitable agreements, and allows for the right people to find each other. It is at this time of the year that we become that much more aware of who, and what we most relate to, like, and love. 

There is a lot of weather brewing over the weeks ahead: Uranus will station for its retrograde on September 1st, Pluto will retrograde back to Capricorn on the same day, we will soon enter eclipse season, and Saturn will perfect its semi-square to Pluto. But if we were to take anything from this week, may it be about restoring our hope and our connections with one another. Love rules when Venus is in Libra. May we all take that as our guiding light moving forward. 

As much as any policy or program, I believe that’s what we yearn for: A return to an America where we work together and look out for each other, a restoration of what Lincoln called, on the eve of civil war: ‘our bonds of affection,’ when America taps what he called ‘the better angels of our nature’. ~ Barack Obama (Democratic National Convention, Aug 20, 2024)

For this week’s horoscopes, and how Mercury’s direct station is motivating your sign, click below:

HOROSCOPES