And you at least have warning when it is coming.

Just close your eyes and think of England.

WHich some of us need;
it is also a backward look at the path behind us.
Not always negative.

computer and car purchases that you are not making.

It's been good that all the sales are happening right now. I have been foolish before and purchased goods in those categories during this period.
I hope to say I am wiser now as they have never worked out.

It has been a particularly difficult Merc retrograde. I am resting a lot and looking forward to its passage. Just last night I was singing that old 70's song Que Sera, Sera...

It's a good exercise in contentment regardless of situation.

Irritating, but necessary to keep us all moving forward.

Trying to understand all of it as it passes by doing a little shuffle dance.

But I was pissed, pissed I tell you when I found out that an ad for a job I had applied for, specifically stated that dropping by with a resume was preferred. I swear I never saw those directives, and had only emailed it and then called to follow-up. But it's like those words just jumped up out of nowhere. O, I'll stop by, indeed, but it may be too late! Argh!!!

I swear it's like a little evil genie went in and changed the ad (or whatever in the given instance) after the fact.

In my old career, I remember matters that languished and weren't moving forward. Then Mercury retro started and I got phone calls that moved these languishing matters forwards.

I have found

This is just a hobby, but I've begun taking my dog to dog agility trials and the one last weekend brought to light that the one thing that she's not getting, and I'm not doing a good job of training, is throwing off everything else. She has no start-line stay, and last weekend she REALLY had no startline stay, and she also had an idiot handler running after her in front of about 200 people yelling NO!!!!!!! as she blew through the course the wrong way, LOL.

Boy does stuff ever show up! It would be nice to show off her beautiful weave pole ability, if we didn't totally screw up on something I should have had thoroughly trained a year ago. I am also not at all surprised that me, someone who has had a rough ride with crazy wild emotions and a desperate need to control my environment for 48 years would be matched by the Universe with a BORDER COLLIE!!! Oh beautiful, sweet cosmic funny, I love it. (I love my dog too, wouldn't have it any other way.)

Edit to add that I've also been sick throughout Thanksgiving weekend with the never-ending stomach virus. I'm not sure what this brick wall means, maybe just too much emotion rolling around in me and my body gave up for a while and let a damn virus in.

but have been away from it for many many years. I still love to read your posts Ricochet.

It goes forward in 2-3 days

It reminds us that what counts is not who we are when things are going our way, but who we are when they aren't. In other words, a character builder.

is that when things go ker-flooey, it seems easier to step back and breathe and take a moment to let go of the urgency. That is always a good thing. Not that I only need Mercury to be retrograde to do that, but it kind of helps to remind..also, it feels a lot different this time. Set backs are not nearly as frustrating. In fact it is kind of fun to just shrug and say.. "Mercury is retrograde" without an emotional charge. I think the preparations for Dec 21 are making a difference in perception, at least in mine.



Yep, I agree.. it is a character builder <---(edited to add this)

I think.

I'm preparing a newsletter dedicated to just that.
To me, it's the not the END, it's the beginning, the REBIRTH CHART OF 12/21/12 11:11:11 gmt

one big deal

However: I do not believe that it is MERCURY'S INTENTION to have anything to do with our character. Perhaps I am wrong, I keep studying just like all of us here.

I think the character building comes with one's response to delay, irritation and breaking things you know.. the myriad set backs. Perhaps Mercury doesn't mean to deal with character. But it is a good thing to learn patience and how to let go of petty irritations from any teacher.

Just my guess

Our own intention, to make use of any situation as an opportunity to grow, is entirely our choice.

but, I'm asking, what is Mercury's intention when it stops and goes backwards?

a going backward and more as a turning inward. Mercury Retrograde, as I frame it, is an ideal period for introspection and personal review - communication with one's interior life.

to look over lessons we should have learned the first time around?

A second chance at something we were supposed to duly note, or something we missed?

is Mercury's intention when it is going forward?

I know you know, it doesn't actually go backwards. Does it go behind the Sun? I can't find a good explanation.

As for something good, maybe it's like all retrogrades, giving us the space/time to do inner work.

influences us to discover and communicate. Since its orbit around the sun is 9 mos compared to ours, every 3 months, Merc goes rx or travel backwards, just like it appears on a spinning hubcap.

Mercury is light, it's not much for "inner work"; being the ruler of Gemini, it's about "how the mind learn" and communicates. That's what obsesses all Geminis: how the mind works. It most important what sign it is in. That tells us how your mind works and the types of things you think of. All Mercurys are in the same sign as the Sun or next door.

I see no purpose when Mercury goes Rx. The reason I fight this is because: the old books talk heavily about planets being malefic or benefic. Mistakenly, people grossly overestimate Jupiter as a Great Benefit, when in fact there is a great downside to it - like economic collapse. Likewise, Saturn is unfairly classified as the Great Malefic, when nothing could be further from the truth. The truth with Saturn is that LIFE WILL FORM IN THE SHAPE (Since Saturn is the crystalizer) OF WHAT YOU OBSESS ABOUT MENTALLY. And most of us send many negative thoughts "out into the universe."

Therefore, I can see no positive purpose to Mercury Rx. Yet, I'm reluctant to see it, of all planets, as malific.

So, I keep researching.

am or pm?

Coincidence or maybe not. I AM...

and then stopping.

It feels so wonderful when you stop doing it.

without it there's too much vibration overload to differentiate anything.

hope the analogy helps.

Like the negative spaces in a piece of art, or the spaces between lines of text without which you couldn't read anything.

I started my new job today. I was trifle worried all weekend and all the way in because I had a verbal offer with full time training schedule on my answering machine, and had completed the online security form that constituted accepting the offer, but I hadn't received a start package with written confirmation yet. So big sigh of relief when I made it through security and reached the training room where there was a seat with my name assigned.

We got out early, so I had time to get to the post office and there was my start package.

The start letter had the wrong training schedule in it. if I'd gotten the package on Friday on my way to work, or on Saturday, I would not have shown up to my orientation!!!!!

On the one hand, I can see them getting confused, since I'm hired part time to work evening shift, but was put in the full time, daytime training schedule while they are concurrently running a part time evening training session!

On the other hand, the last time I worked there they changed the training schedule between the time of my interview and when we started, from 4/hours day for 6 weeks to 6 hours/day for 4 weeks -- and left the new schedule out of my letter and one other new employee's letter. This had a major negative impact for *both* of us and since the start letters were identical, there was no ready excuse for how a paragraph simply disappeared without someone having removed it.

Anyway, this time around mercury's retrograde prevented me from receiving my start package in time to miss my 1st day of training! So if somebody was trying to sabotage me, she was the one by mercury, not me!

Too W.E.I.R.D.!

It's particularly rough for me.

For me it manifested as a case of complete and utter blindness to detail on some pretty important documents. The documents are screwed up beyond redemption, but with a lot of work the situation can still maybe be salvaged, with some possible benefits coming along with the required changes. Can't say I am happy about it in any way shape or form, but it really doesn't seem like being pissed is gonna do anything to help. I found out about the problems today and I literally had to sit and work it thru mentally. I think I must have been thru all of the Kubler Ross stages in the span of about two hours.

I came home early and just sat for a while. Cried a while. Raged a while. I frequently find myself saying, "It IS what it is" and I knew I was gonna be ok once I hit that point.

Rick, you ask if there is anything "good" about Mercury Retrograde, and I have to say that for me, it forced me take the time to consider what gifts surround me and what blessings I carry. Maybe those retrogrades are what you make of them--just like everything else.




Laura

Venus goes backwards and I know why
Mars "
Jupiter "
Saturn "
Neptune "
Pluto "

I have NO idea WHY it goes backwards, it's not just a coincidence.
It's not so I can change my way of thinking (Mercury)
It's not so I can change my mental machine (Mercury)

I just don't know why.
Yes, everyone here wants to make the best of it while it does so, which is understandable and mature, but it tells me little
about why it does. All the planets have distinct purposes behind their "movements".

Guess I'll just keep on rubbing my chin.

I guess I'm just a "why" kinda guy.

For me I keep 'doing things' during a time of 'not doing things' which invariably means later or during the next merc retro "redoing or renegotiating' those same things.

Something in there for me about being a human 'being' instead of a human 'doing'.
Up until now, I like to over think and over do.
Maybe Merc retro is helping me to jump off the wheel and just be.

is so different?

I woke up this morning and had at least a part of my personal answer. Mercury, among other things represents the mind and the trickster and getting somewhere. The thoughts that your mind create, create your experience of life. The thoughts are the vehicles and the creative impulse, which is why we must control where our mind wanders. All of this creates our illusion of Maya. Retrograde speaks to the trickster aspect of Mercury, but it can also be a glimpse behind the veil.

I'm still a little foggy here, but this feels like the right direction. If Rick lists what he knows about why the others go backwards, the pattern may be clearer.
Best,
Melissa

revisit and repair or redo.

Any big project I've started during Merc retrograde has been a nightmare. I started work on my farm during Merc retro back in '03. The contractor trashed the place and tried to con me into paying him to steal my topsoil. Subsequent Merc retros presented the opportunity to revisit and repair the damage he did.

More recently, I applied for my new job right about when Merc turned retro. I started the job on Monday, when it turned direct. The job was a nightmare 3 years ago. Nightmare manager, who set specific people (moi included) up as her fall guys. Insufficient training, me thrown out on the floor unprepared and with zero support systems, training docs stolen off my desktop. Etc.

I've been welcomed back. Nightmare manager was walked out the door. Her fave employee, who used me to get promoted and tried to get me fired to get her sister into my slot, left 6 months ago. Double the training time this go-round, and I was put on full time day training so I'm wide awake plus am making enough in the next 6 weeks to stay on top of my bills. Changes to QC to de-stress the job.

So I'm calling this one a revisit and redo.

It's always good when the retro is over.

Seriously, maybe it does this so we'll slow down and "reset" ourselves. Then when it goes direct again, we'll be redirected?

Last edited Thu Nov 29, 2012, 07:12 PM - Edit history (1)

What does that have to do w mentality? Warmest answer I've heard refers to the trickster. Gemini was by far the hardest chapter to write about in my book. (followed by Cancer)

I know in my own Gemini infused mind, I usually have so much swirling around in there that I get absolutely nothing accomplished -- just keep starting stuff and working on stuff, but never finishing anything. Maybe this is the way to trick the mind into taking care of the tasks at hand by not starting new stuff for a few weeks?

Gemini here. It took me years to learn or accept this about myself. I love starting things and in some weird way ending them, it's the in between that I just poop out. I love starting all kinds of things, home projects, ideas, new situations, etc. but I also can end things with enthusiasm, jobs, relationships, situations. Go figure. I've learned to accept it and move on.

to finish things
their job is to be a scout, discover, and disperse.

I love ending things , just to get them over with, but I'm not good at it. You are right I love beginning things all kinds of things. In fact I make things difficult on purpose just for the fun of it. The life of a Gemini is not easy but interesting.

that is the ENTIRE clue about the whole essence of the Gemini archetype, imho.

They all do it.

What does that say about "where they are when they say it?"
or "what does interesting really mean"?

I'm very serious about this matter: I've been onto this question for many years. In my book, I do believe
that I have the 11 signs down pat, but not Gemini. I have never read anybody anywhere that does and
think that "interesting" is a major clue

"I make things difficult on purpose just for the fun of it" That's the trickster. Dylan.

People kid me about it all the time- and as you know, I'm Aries/Pisces.

I don't think Gemini is that much of a mystery. They are playful, there is no telling which personality you are talking to at any given time. It's a youthful, discovering, exploring energy. The mind which it rules is a crazy and self deluding sometimes runaway energy until discipline is imposed and then the mind can become a discriminating tool. Gemini is that incarnate.

Where does the mystery lie in Gemini from your perspective?

I was married to a Gemini, engaged to another one, and have a dear friend w/ Gemini rising AND a new woman friend who is Gemini! I totally dig them. I don't recall ever hearing one say, "that's interesting". Although, the two I was intimate with were daring. They would do ANYTHING for fun. Also, right up my ally. I'm sort of a 'wild child', even at this age. ahem They also never met a stranger. The spotlight doesn't faze them. They are so much fun, no one can take offense. The friend w/ Gemini rising does something like this ... it's almost a true twin scenario. The one twin blames the other twin when it 'gets in trouble'. IOW, he is never really responsible for anything. It's the OTHER ONE! Really quite humorous.

intuitive insight, I would never have been able to adjust living with my Sis as well as I have.
It's so very true they are The Toddler of The Zodiac. To deal with a Gemini, is to deal with a child, on certain levels, and I mean nothing offensive, please you gotta know, I love you all!

The twins are all about the new, the fun, the sparkling things they must see, and about telling as many as they can all about it! This is the good and sunny side.

This discussion is interesting about the interesting part! HAHA!

I'm not an expert, but I just think that with 2(twins), Gems might be doubly super thirsty for knowledge of any kind.

No subject is really off limits, either, notice that?

They LOVE to talk!

haha! That's cute. You're Aquarius, right? Maybe two Air signs?

I'm double Leo, and have never had any trouble getting along with them. I LOVE their energy. There is something of a child like quality. Children who don't want to argue or be disagreeable, in my experience. My ex and I never fought. The engagement guy had something of a 'show' he performed for enthusiastic onlookers in the small town where we lived. HOWEVER. When he started his act, I would leave the premises. I told him if he did it at his company's Holiday party, I would be leaving! Everyone begged him to perform. For my sake, he didn't do it.

There's a split decision on the seeking of knowledge. Two of my Gems don't read and two do.

seriously

why are they the twins?

That's the question.

It is the twin motif due to the constellation it is named after, Castor and Pollux.


The Twins

Gemini is a zodiacal constellation representing the twin brothers Castor and Pollux. Both were mothered by Leda, and were therefore brothers of Helen, but they had different fathers: In one night, Leda was made pregnant both by Jupiter in the form of a swan and by her husband, the king Tyndarus of Sparta. Pollux, as the son of a god, was immortal and was renowned for his strength, while his mortal brother Castor was famous for his skill with horses. Both brothers voyaged in search of the Golden Fleece as Argonauts, and then fought in the Trojan War to bring their sister home to her husband Menelaus. They are traditionally depicted as armed with spears and riding a matched pair of snow-white horses.

The most common explanation for their presence in the heavens is that Pollux was overcome with sorrow when his mortal brother died, and begged Jupiter to allow him to share his immortality. Jupiter, acknowledging the heroism of both brothers, consented and reunited the pair in the heavens.

Castor and Pollux were unique among those placed in the sky in that they are not represented merely as a constellation but as actual stars which mark the twin's heads in the constellation. Castor is bright white binary star, while Pollux is orange. They may be found between Cancer and Taurus.


http://www.comfychair.org/~cmbell/myth/gemini.html

but why?

Think about it, it fits, but why does it fit? I'm still only about 90% sure of that one and that's
because the answer is probably too simple.

I've never read a satisfactory answer from anyone.

For instance, why is common for ANY SIGN to have the sign of Gemini on the midheaven (job line) and they'll
invariably have 2 jobs?

It's the archetype I'm talking about.
Most Geminis agree about this, but don't know why.
I have to know why, because I wrote the book about why the signs are the way they are.

a question that captures the imagination. I know I can't stop thinking about it! And I'm trying to get a firmer grip on your thinking.

In the myth, I find it very interesting (and perhaps a clue) that the "twins" were from two different fathers. They bonded with each other more than with their own full siblings.

Do the archetypes reflect the myths related to the constellations? Or is there another way to discover archetypes apart from the myths?

can be sensed/revealed in a myriad of ways. Astrology, in a lot of ways, has nothing to do with the constellations or stars.
Isn't that weird?

Of course! It's actually the other way around! The constellations are/were named FOR/AFTER the mythologies.

Or did they? Did the first star gazers make up myths to go with constellations or did they chose and name the stars after the archetypal myths? This is a different approach to the thinking process on this. I'll have to let it stew, and take another look at Campbell and Jung.

I agree the archetypes are what it's all about. Michael Tsarion's videos about Tarot got me the closer to understanding archetypes than any other teacher or discipline has.

named after the archetypes

This post makes me surer of my other response to you.

Good questions. Good conversation. Thanks.

Especially since Mercury rules Gemini and the mind

In yogic thought, you have the positive and negative mind. The other mind is the neutral mind that one must train one's self to come from. The positive mind talks you into things.It is the salesman. The negative mind says no to stuff to keep you safe. The neutral mind takes in both types of info, and acts from a non reactive place.

Seems like a long time ago, I read an astrology book that characterized Gemini as the teenager. Having almost finished raising a couple, it certainly seems true to me. Teenagers are all about the development of the mind. If I can just survive this last one until her 20's...

Plenty of cultural twin stories. One of my favorites is the explanation of life by the left and righted handed twins who are perfectly matched.
http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TheCreationStory-Iroquois.html

The story of the tai chi symbol is another version of this.
http://www.the-mixed-martial-arts-of-mma.com/Tai-Chi-Symbol.html

Any of this help?

To me, as in EZ, Gemini is the toddler while Leo is the teen. I believe the twins have something to do with the very act
of being objective vs subjective. The entire zodiac is purely subjective or even embryonic in Aris and Taurus; not till Gemini does the
"growing entity" realize this vs that. I believe that is the source of the twins as described in detail in EZ.

Still, I remain open to learning. As I said, the hard part about figuring out this sign is that it's too easy.

Thanks for your thoughts.

what I'm referencing are from 1982.

My library is a mess right now, but Schulman's Karmic Astrology reminds me that Gemini is also about the mirror. I think it was likely a Noel Tyl book that had that teenager reference in it. I was reading both of them at that time and it all conflates in my brain.

I'll keep an eye out for the book I'm thinking of that parallels the stages of life with the development of the life cycle.

the Pioneer and the Poet

Differentiation, a split, is necessary for consciousness? Perhaps all in existence derives from binary division, perhaps even into different dimensions?

sort of what I think too

I cannot abide boredom!!!! I will purposely stir things up to keep from being bored, and let me tell you that "bored" is a state that constantly hovers on the periphery, threatening at all times.

So I intentionally make things "interesting", just so I can tolerate most of them.

Aries and Gemini usually get along so well. Neither one likes to be bored. They usually play well together.

I have 2 Gemini sibs, but I prefer the Leo even though he is higher maintenance. My first husband was also Gemini and a lot of his family was Aries.

We usually choose what looks/feels/sounds like home for better or worse.

Geminis seem to be so easily bored w/most of life. Always looking to lighten it up. Perhaps the WHY it goes Rx is just to mix things up. Not to mention when one is so very active (& chatty) there has to be a resting period from time to time, just to recharge the batteries for more flying around!

It eventually ends!!!! Is there a prize?

I read you a lot. Tell me why.

other than the fact that it stopped (went stationary) on election day.

I read somewhere, that Mercury retrograde goes well with activities that begin with re:

Rethink, redesign, redecorate, reduce (think clutter), recycle, etc.

Maybe when Mercury is moving forward, we just are moving so fast that we don't think projects/ideas/actions all the way through?

The Retrograde cycle is the repair and rest cycle, necessary for true progress and balance?

Noting that repair and rest both start with re.

and easy to remember as well. Thanks!

but, I do not believe so, personally, for Mercury

I never seem to endure the extremely negative effects from this period that most do. I use this as a time to slow down & pay attention to what shows up & use that to analyze areas that need more work or attention on my part. You know making lemonade out of lemons.

Or, maybe I'm just used to negative Merc energy since it is conjunct my Saturn & Ascendent. Who knows?

--and realized I bought my travel trailer during Mercury Retrograde. I know that there is advice not to do business during this time, but it was TIME for me to do this. There were a lot of delays and unexpected developments, but I sort of went with the flow of events. I had to stay at friends while it was being worked on, but in the end I was rewarded for my patience.

When you think about it, most of the complaints about Mercury retrograde have to do with machines, ego conflicts, and our expectations and our plans taking an unexpected turn--so I wonder if the retrograde period is about learning how to let go of control. Just a question.

To me retrogrades are the yin cycle of planets--the energy of that planet is not available to help us as much in the world, but is shifted to assist us in contemplation, meditation, dreams and inner work (I cannot remember whether or not I learned this from reading Stephen Arroyo... ). Yin energy to me is about letting go to the void, the unknown and potential of the All.

I think there are ways to harmonize with even harsh planetary aspects, they are opportunities to learn. At least this is what I keep telling myself!!

I will think on that

thank you!

I like thinking about retrogrades as a yin phase. Plenty to muse on here.

We revisit our beliefs. Toodles!

3rd house or Gemini, is the mind as a computer, I think.

Thanks for the thought

but I wonder if it could have something to do, at least in part, with the idea that we can't communicate clearly unless we're thinking clearly. The breakdowns show where things aren't working, but also where we've jumped to conclusions or our thinking has been muddled.