What the March-April 2005 Mercury Retrograde Means For You, Pt.2

by Robert Wilkinson

In this part two of the article we'll explore more about this phenomenon that occurs three weeks at a time three times a year. At the end of this part of the article I have included a table so you can find out how this March-April 2005 Mercury retrograde period affects your individual sign based on your birthday Sun sign. Like all Mercury retrograde periods, these three weeks offer a chance to reorganize in the areas of our life ruled by Mercury. These are the houses of your chart ruled by Gemini or Virgo, any planets in these signs in your chart, and the house occupied by your natal, progressed, or solar return Mercury.

All retrogrades show us that sometimes it is more important to be inwardly oriented than outer-directed. Mercury, the "Guide of Souls," challenges us to cultivate our "fellowship with the Eternal," explore our deeper issues and useful but overlooked details in what's being discussed or asserted, take an unusual view, and allow ourselves to be led by the future implications of what's happening.

In Part 1 of this article, we explored some specific qualities of the present Mercury retrograde period. Hopefully, you will have your important paperwork in order by Wednesday, March 16th and are ready during the three week retrograde period to deal with things you've put off, or see the return of things from the past. This March-April Mercury retrograde is going to give us new understanding about the events of the past four months. It will show as information and insights into the revolutionary processes in motion since the Spring 2000 lineup in Taurus.

We can again re-value, re-think, and re-confirm some things, seeing their significance in our lives. We'll get more insights about right action, and by the end of this retrograde period, we will stand on the threshold of four months of adjusting to open to a more objective consciousness around recent new beginnings, and find liberation through humor and contrasting points of view. We will learn to observe the salient elements of situations and people, and are challenged to embrace the "joy of life's discoveries." Take a look at the mirror your life is holding up so you can come to an understanding. Get a new and broader perspective on yourself, and play whatever roles you're called to play, since you will gain assurance through the continual rehearsals. We will come to release many things, and thereby find the power of our personality through casting off inhibitions in expressing our genuine self. By mid-April we begin a four month period where we must focus on the common responsibility and not get diverted through idle passing fancies and diversions.

The threshold we all stand on at a platform of re-evaluation is that of glimpsing ultimate forms of personal fulfillment, but must re-trace certain steps before we can move toward that desire. Remember all the various kinds of powers and skills you cultivated in the past, and come to a greater self-realization. See what you have retained that is still viable. Glimpse a higher form of personal fulfillment, project your realization of wholeness into your everyday life, and see how you've been "weaving your immortal robe" that indicates what your heart's desire actually is. Be the simple excellence of your genuine self-expression, and see what skills you have that can bring you what you want. Through some roundabout or indirect perceptions or communications, you will stabilize your ego through what you want to preserve, so practice diligence, and keep persisting in whatever interests your uniqueness or genius. Reject dull routines as false forms of security.

The conjunction of the Sun with Mercury and both conjuncting Venus will bring many parts of the life together, and there should be both sweetness and pleasant interactions that take all of us in new directions. Given the full moon that precedes this multiple conjunction, this period at the end of March should concretize many things in pleasing ways. Couple this with the Mercury sextile Mars with the Aries planets septile Neptune, and you have an emergent fork in the road with many opportunities for productive activities, ideas, and interactions. As with the last retrograde but for entirely different reasons, meditation on how to self-organize to get grounded is especially effective in late afternoon just before and during sunset each evening.

All in all, this should be a very productive and satisfactory Mercury retrograde period due to the number of harmonious aspects in play these next three weeks. The front end of the retrograde period features Sun, Mercury, and Venus all favorable to Mars which softens the septile to Neptune, and the Venus-Sun trine to Pluto helps Mercury. Saturn going stationary direct just after Mercury goes direct shows major changes are in the air globally between March 19-22, and what we visualize that weekend will impact our lives for a long time to come, since we are dreaming the dream of the archetype to present itself in our lives over the next long cycle. Mindfulness that weekend will pay major dividends, as long as you remember that sometimes dreams come true in ways we didn't anticipate. Even though the first part of Mercury retrograde periods usually are chaotic, this one should be okay. It's the early April T-square that will move mountains, one way or another, depending on how we responded to the Capricorn transits in January and early March. The Solar Eclipse will change the vibe tremendously, but that's another story for another column. And, as a bonus, its direct station at 2 Aries tredecile Saturn portends some very interesting interactive specialized situations for months to come that are one of a kind. Be ready to demonstrate your alertness to completely unique situations, and you could find yourself in the perfect place at the perfect time.

Mercury is heavily influenced by Mars, since it occupies the sign that Mars rules. With all the favorable aspects Mercury makes to Mars for most of its retrograde period, there will be lots of productive actions and initiatives between people and ideas, both large and small. Great time for aligning the lower minds with the actional principle. It's a time to look back at the new beginnings of the past few months, and make productive adjustments as needed. The weekend it goes retrograde, accept your higher responsibilities, and glimpse the vision of a greater cooperative collective achievement that might outlive you.

The entire three week period is one of seeing how you can make a larger contribution, actional (Mar 19-26), emotional, social, and cultural (March 26-Apr 2), and individual-mental-spiritual (Apr 2-12). Expect dramatic events to liberate you from adverse conditions March 20-22, and return to your heart to find healing March 22-25. Commune with your ancestors, accept the pressure, and something radically new can be born between March 25-29. Imitate to launch the vision March 29-Apr 1, and withdraw from projections to get a new inspiration April 1-4. See levels of understanding and divorce the past while sensing the future April 4-6. You'll get shortcuts to success, as well as resolution to some past uncertainties along with fulfillment of ideals and happiness April 6-9. After that, things get out of focus somewhat due to the Mars conjunct Neptune, bringing dreams come true and new momentum or hassles through unclear images and bad vibes. Just manage your feelings, and remember that you may need to guard your new discoveries as you adjust yourself to your new conditions. Organize your affairs, and see the broader context of whatever you're going through.

As with all Mercury retrograde periods, review, reflect, research, gather information, and take a new look at your power to change your point of view and interpretations. This gives a chance to shift how you do what you do, how you coordinate your affairs, and indicates future ideological shifts, educational shifts, travel shifts, and any area where Sagittarius falls in your birth charts. The last Mercury retrograde period in August was a time to adjust to the new values embraced since April 2004, and using what we acquired to secure the needs of the new standard of perfection embraced since Autumn 2002.

To find more about Mercury retrograde, you should order my definitive book on the subject, "A New Look At Mercury Retrograde." Written a few years ago, it has timely and useful information. Though it has been out of stock from time to time, I am planning to offer it as an ebook at a very reduced rate from the paperback, so contact me at laughingcat51@hotmail.com and you'll be sent one as soon as I get the files set up!

By learning about these recurring Mercury retrograde periods, we can understand how to deal with them productively, as well as the months afterwards, which they also indirectly influence. Since this March-April 2005 Mercury will go stationary at 15 Aries you can learn a lot about this coming period by reading all you can about Mercury retrograde in Aries.

If you want more information from this site about how this important time of Mercury retrograde (which happens three times a year every year!) will affect you personally, read the section in the book on Mercury retrograde in the houses. However, in the meantime you can also get some useful ideas of how it will work by consulting the article on this site titled "A Brief Look at How Mercury Retrograde works in the Houses." The houses in astrology show us the specific areas of our worldly affairs where we are experiencing a given planetary influence. You can find out Mercury's approximate position in your solar houses (created by your sun sign position) by consulting the chart that follows:

For birthdays between:

March 4 to 20, read Mercury retrograde in the 1st house.

March 21 to April 2, 12th and 1st houses.
April 3 to 20, 12th house.
April 21 to May 4, 11th and 12th houses.
May 5 to 20, 11th house.
May 21 to June 4, 10th and 11th houses.
June 5 to 21, 10th house.
June 22 to July 5, 9th and 10th houses.
July 6 to 23, 9th house.
July 24 to August 6, 8th and 9th houses.
August 7 to 22, 8th house.
August 23 to September 6, 7th and 8th houses.
September 7 to 22, 7th house.
September 23 to October 6, 6th and 7th houses.
October 7 to 23, 6th house.
October 24 to November 5, 5th and 6th houses.
November 6 to 22, 5th house.
November 23 to December 5, 4th and 5th houses.
December 6 to 21, 4th house.
December 22 to January 4, 3rd and 4th houses.
January 5-19, 3rd house.
January 20 to February 2, 2nd and 3rd houses.
February 3 to 18, 2nd house.
February 19 to March 3, 1st and 2nd houses.

Of course, this table is approximate. One should always have the chart calculated professionally in order to know where the planets are situated, as this helps clarify your exact cyclic pattern. Part 3 of this article will explain the larger view of what recent Mercury retrograde periods have meant for you.

© Copyright 2006 Robert Wilkinson. Last update: 8/27/2006; 10:52:37 AM.