Look before you leap is an oft-repeated phrase. But, in truth, sometimes you just have to leap; you just have to trust. That’s what that oft-repeated phrase fails to consider, that sometimes faith is more important and necessary than that which you perceive. Perceptions can be difficult to properly explain or discern, but faith means that a door has just opened and it asks you to step through. It asks you to have faith, to believe that all will be well.
Find solace in knowing that you are in charge of yourself, of your life and of your destiny. You may wish to blame others for how things turn out but in another frame of mind you know that no one else has anything to do with you and your choices, that ultimately everything is up to you. To understand this is your saving grace. Begin to change your frame of mind little by little, day by day, by changing your thoughts, by how you think about yourself and the journey you are on. By gradually taking control of your own thoughts you will also take control of your life. No one else can think for you, just as no one else can choose for you what your next step will be. Pause often and question your decision: Is this really what I want? Ask your heart to give you its input and ask your spirit to pipe up with its desires more often too. Soon you will see progress and understand more fully the true reality that you alone have made the life you are in, and thus also that you alone can make your own new future.
Find your place in the world by first finding your place within yourself; within your body that walks the Earth, within your mind that inhabits your body, and within your spirit that encompasses all that is you. In body, mind and spirit find your grounding so that each day you anchor a bit more in the you that is fully awake, present and ready for adventure. Like a plant growing in the woods, allow yourself to grow too, nurtured by the experience of what life brings. Each day ask for the help and guidance of nature and the offerings of the universe to ground you and teach you. In this manner find your place in the world you inhabit, in the body that you are and in the spirit that encompasses you.
The shadow of Mercury in retrograde hovers over this current holiday season, between December 13, 2023 and January 1, 2024. Mercury is the planet of communication, hence miscommunications, poor communications, confused messages and misunderstandings in relationships are likely.
These events can cause frustration, anxiety and brain fog that can also disrupt communications within the self. On the first day of this current Mercury retrograde, I had three clients oversleep and nearly miss their appointments! Don’t take it personally, it’s in the stars!
During a Mercury retrograde, the technological instruments of communication, like cell phones, computers and printers, can also experience disruptions and breakdowns. In fact, all technological instruments and physical objects are vulnerable to breakdown.
The trickster quality of Mercury in retrograde counsels one to exercise caution and prudence when making important decisions, or entering into contracts, during this period. In effect, Mercury retrograde disrupts the homeostasis of habitual or planned life with objective occurrences that can, on a dime, create a traffic jam that precludes a coveted gathering.
The best guidance is to recognize the objective nature of the energetic impact of this astrological event; meaning, don’t be so quick to blame or take things personally, and surrender with patience to all things. They will ultimately pass.
If it’s not the time to greatly accomplish things outwardly, or in relationship, it is however the perfect opportunity to go inward and examine the thoughts, feelings and memories that are triggered by association to outer mishaps.
The other morning, I pulled the Tarot card of Ruin, the 10 of Swords. This card highlights mental states of despair, helplessness and hopelessness. It easily projects itself into matter and can generate first chakra fears of financial or relational collapse.
Guidance is to reflect upon old fears of ruin lurking in the shadow, which may be associatively activated by this current Mercury retrograde. From this reflective place of recapitulation, the opportunity presents itself to fully release and deactivate the energetic impact of old fears. This is the growth opportunity offered in a time of Mercury retrograde, which is particularly well-timed, as we clean house and prepare for New Life in the New Year.
New life is indeed the chaos of creation. Chaos is creative energy taking form in a new pattern of life. The I Ching represents this birthing process as the third hexagram, Difficulty at the Beginning. Amidst thunder and rain, the air is filled with teeming, chaotic profusion, as new life struggles to break through the earth’s surface.
Old life, where we’ve lived, has been dominated by repetitive, habitual patterns of behavior. When people set intentions for the New Year they conceive the intent for change in new, uncharted patterns of living.
The time of Mercury retrograde disrupts the trance of familiar life, as the ground is prepared to nurture new life. Creative energy is freed from stuck places during Mercury retrograde, as it gathers around and prepares to serve new creative intentions.
Many a myth depicts this struggle for new life. The Titan god of time, Cronus, ate his children at birth to secure his continued rule. The subconscious mind is like Cronus, as it rules our lifetime with established archetypal patterns of behavior that can snuff out the spark of our new, conscious intentions.
It was the trickery of Rhea, Cronus’ wife, who gave her husband a rock wrapped in swaddling clothes to eat, instead of baby Zeus, that brought the change that gave birth to the rule of the Olympian gods.
For humans, the employment of trickery that will break through to new life consists in maintaining the faith of unbending intent, as suggestions are repeated to the subconscious mind that will eventually supplant the rule of habitual patterns.
When we light a candle on New Year’s Eve, we ignite the light of consciousness and affirm our intentions to expand beyond the dominance of purely instinctive reactions to life.
With the support of Mercury retrograde energy this year, already jarring us from the trance of the predictable, we are empowered to take life creatively in a whole new direction. May that be a direction that serves the greater good of all.
Own your life, the unfolding of it, the wonder of it, the horror of it, the mundanity of it, the beauty of it, the sadness of it, the joy of it. Every aspect of life is meaningful, teaching you the lessons you need to learn, leading you onward to another lesson, for as long as you need them. At any age look back in wonder, for all lives have had profound moments and all lives have been a trial. Lessons abound. Then look forward again and keep going, for there is more wonder to come if you look at the unfolding of life with an eye that is open, expectant, aware, and always looking for the meaning and the wonder of it all.
