Mercury begins its retrograde today at 27° Aries and continues through April 25 when it turns direct at 15° Aries 48’. This is quite a profound time in that this time Mercury traverses the degrees of the upcoming Total Solar Eclipse next Monday on April 8 at 19° Aries. This suggests several things. Decisions made could be reversed or more information comes in that was unsuspected in either public forums or your own personal dramas. This week I am writing about some things that happened THEN way back in 2005 and next week, during the week of the eclipse, I will discuss this further.
The public often balks during Mercury retrogrades and so let me propose another view – look before you leap, research before you sign and check all viewpoints and opinions before jumping impulsively into a situation where you are not able to extricate yourself. Aries impulse is famous for leaping before one look. On the other side of that, the more positive side of that, planning, thinking strategically about what happens if plan A doesn’t work and putting into place a plan B are recommended.
The key thing to remember which supports any sort of impulsive act is that Venus and Neptune are conjoined this week and intuition, a non-verbal gift, we all possess, is a gift if we listen. So, listen to your gut. Hear or see or feel those red flags before jumping into an opinion or a situation. As Mercury turns direct in a few weeks and the shadow of the Total Eclipse falls away, we see things that we didn’t see during the weeks of the eclipse.
It may not be until mid-July that we see the rest of the story regarding international matters as well as our own identity issues completely. Clearer paths present themselves as to what to decide and do. I find it fascinating that this eclipse hits the United States and moves diagonally from New Mexico and upwards through the Northeast coast. This, of course, can also affect weather.
If we look back at the last time this precise degree of this eclipse hit, it was April 8, 2005. Yes, exactly 19 years ago. Looking at some historical notes, leaders die during Solar Eclipses. In 2005, Prince Ranier of Monaco died at the age of 81 years. The funeral of Pope John Paul II took place on the exact day of the eclipse. Prince Charles (now King Charles) married Camilla Parker Bowles on the 9th of April of 2005 and major violence occurred between Palestine and Israel during this same week. Earthquakes struck a few days later in Tokyo and Padang West Sumatra Indonesia.
Whether you liked former US President George W Bush or not, on April 11, 2005, just a few days after the eclipse of April 8 of that same year, he praised the THEN Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for his “courageous initiative’” to pull all Israeli settlements out of the Gaza strip but also told Sharon to NOT expand other existing settlements. We know that part never happened.
Aries energy can be more violent at times. The suggestion for overcoming this tendency is to try to be more like the opposite sign of Libra. Before reacting, consider what is said, particularly during conflicting times. There is a heroic side to Aries as well, and this is how I wish to close this week’s forecast. An evolved Aries energy knows when to stop, when to think before one acts, and with the Total Solar Eclipse aligned with Chiron – at 19 Aries – and often denoted as the ‘wounded healer’, justice may be served within the next few months coming from those rare heroic figures willing to fall on their sword for the greater good. Right now, in this writing, in February, there is a hero in each of us – asking to come out.
