Mercury retrograde and Pluto back in gate 60: Attunement, dedication, seeking the magic in the mundane, and acceptance of temporary bonds falling apart that led to greater self-awareness nonetheless.
- 14 January 2022 11:24 UTC: Pluto D back in gate 60
14 January 2022 11:41 Mercury retrograde in 19.3.6.3 (Aquarius)
Lawrence Alma-Tadema - A votive offering
Attuning to others in acceptance and being dedicated - or none of that, and maybe even breaking bonds. All things are interrelated and serve a purpose, and not all things are meant to last when that purpose has been fulfilled. Being conditioned into distracting research, projects, and collaboration, being conditioned into doing one's own research, and possibly being guilt-tripped for either one.
Watching people attune with ease and being sensitive to each other – or watching them getting extremely moody, careless, overly sensitive, and lose dedication and other people's support. Breaking bonds that did not work, often because the other person's shadow might have been underestimated, or because these bonds were solely based on the need for resources, despite character mismatches.
Either we are at the wrong place, wrong time, self-alienated, and alienated from others, with a lack of peace. We then might becoming overly sensitive when people do not value our ideas or do not see us.
Or we are attuned to others and maintain direct yet sensitive action and communication. In such relationships, it doesn't really matter whether people are interested in every idea that we have or not, because there is a general peacefulness in interaction and things just work.
Currently, we are in a moon cycle that either solidifies trust despite being far from perfect and needing time to mature - or that lays open superficiality and a lack of depth, which may strengthen opposition and force people to move on. This moon cycle finishes on the south node, and as we approach the end of January, it brings major irreversible endings of karmic cycles.
On the 4th of February, Mercury goes direct in the 61.4.6.2 on the 3/5 cross of the Sphinx with the Sun conjunct Saturn in the 13.3, and with Mars bringing the need for defense. I might have mentioned this Mercury retrograde before when I was writing about the 8.3-eclipse, at least I thought about it. This Mercury retrograde can bring a process of understanding what or who's worth attuning to, and what not.
People might try to make suggestions, and they are not always being heard. Often, that's rightfully so because they would be a mere distraction. Then, both parties might reconsider the extent of how deeply they can involve the other person without being too distracted, or they might reconsider the whole existence of the relationship when collaboration would not be fruitful. Mercury going direct on the 4th of April can bring the need to defend oneself against questionable influences and distractions, including the selfish expectation and demand that we will take people somewhere and that we will offer our energy and resources, although the foundation of this journey is not solid, and although it might bring instability. Being cautious about what people want and what they have to offer, and defending ourself against unjustified or unfitting demands that benefits them, but not us, can bring a new direction of deeper stability.
And yet, too much pessimism, suspicion, and distrust can easily drain us or others and hold us back from purpose. I'll refrain of telling the whole story of my parent's schizophrenic neighbor who regularly called them at night and spoke onto their phone that they should stop conducting toxic gas into his flat. But you get the idea. The guy certainly didn't feel as if anyone was valuing his ideas – he called so often, but no one answered. Sometimes, being heard it not the most important thing there is, and sometimes it's not necessarily helpful to the larger framework either. However, this example demonstrates how too much pessimism can also be detrimental. Too much pessimism can be especially detrimental if the pessimism is directed toward yourself. It is especially detrimental if it prevents you from even trying something that you would want to do, and if it prevents you from giving the right thing a chance when you refuse to assess it to begin with. Sometimes, pessimism acts as an excuse for procrastination.
For some of those who feel unheard, the reason for not being heard might be that they are trying to be heard with misinformation and superficial ideas that lack substance, and others simply don't buy it. Maybe those ideas lack introspection and disrupt the peace and the natural flow. In that case, it might be helpful to reflect: Do we need to investigate whether something is true or not before we share it and claim it to be true? Do we need to stop lying and start to simply say it as it is? Do we need to learn to focus more on what is practical for progress, and think things through more thoroughly before we act or suggest them to others? Do we need to accept that our ideas, even if true, can be distracting to others in certain life- & work situations and not the right thing for them to pay attention to and to invest in?
When it comes to people's mystical paths and their search for inner truth and awakening, each of us has our own path. The truth that we found and that's deeply nourishing to us might be absolutely worthless to the person standing next to us - and that's okay. It's for us only.
For others, other people might be misinformed and refuse to hear valuable and helpful information and advise. In those cases, if it's way too bad, and if the misinformation leads to disharmony and decay, it might be worth considering if this is the right place for us to be in, and the right people to commune with. For example, if you work in a science lab, and your collage repeatedly ignores warning labels and security measures, or confuses labels and substances with each other, which puts you all at risk of explosion or fire, and then tells you that it's not that big of a deal, this is not a safe place to be.
If your business partner doesn't do their research, ignores the details, and repeatedly spends money on buying bad quality materials or the wrong materials that you then can't use for your product, not as a one-time mistake to learn from, but because they simply refuse to do their work diligently, then that's not helping survival and the maintenance a solid and secure business foundation.
Other times, people might have thorough ideas and things to contribute, but they simply are not with the people who have similar goals and aspirations, and thus those people are indifferent. Then this Mercury retrograde can bring the realization that we might want to look out for a better place, for example a new work place that's more suited to us. It can let us seek to be in the right place at the right time with those people who will value our ideas and contribution.
Overall, for many, this Mercury retrograde might bring an experience of learning what does not work, and accepting change, impermanence, and transitoriness. But just because most things do not work or have not worked, it does not mean that nothing can and will ever work. It just means that we have found greater discernment of what's worth going for, and what truly isn't. Before having learned this discernment, it's like going into an all-you-can-eat buffet, truly eating it all, not liking half the things we eat, getting allergies from one or two items, and ending up with a stomach ache and running nose. After having learned better discernment through experience, we can go into the buffet and know exactly which foods we enjoy, how (not) to combine them, and which foods we do not want to eat. The experiential wisdom helps us to circumvent the stomach ache and to accept that certain things give us a stomach ache, so that we can truly enjoy those things that we do enjoy and that do not give us a stomach ache. With a stomach ache, because we failed to eliminate what did not work so well, our most favorite food is not really that enjoyable. But without stomach ache it's great, and we can really enjoy its taste. All mistakes basically help to get us to a place without stomach ache. When you find yourself being pessimistic at the detriment of your own spirit, it can help to call to mind all the things in our life that actually do work, big ones or small ones. We tend to overlook them and just take them as a given.
Generally, this can bring very good communication that stays on the surface or that helps us to succeed on the mundane plane. Whether we feel that is worthwhile, or whether we feel we are making too big of a sacrifice for the wrong thing, that's up to us and a question of our priorities. It will differ from situation to situation.
This Mercury retrograde can lead to the establishment of a good solid framework and secure foundation.
Also, Mercury going direct might bring to a lot of satire and jokes to digest the experiences and attempts that did not work.
Not everything should be accepted, but some things need to be accepted because they can not be changed. A good laugh lightens the load. Satire can help keep us sane. It can be a very healthy way to help us deal with those things that we can not change.