scorpio Mercury retrograde
Today is the first day of our last Mercury retrograde this year! When a planet retrogrades it appears as though it is moving backwards. However, a planet’s retrograde or “backwards” motion is an illusion that occurs when a planet approaches Earth in its journey around the Sun. Because Mercury’s orbit is very speedy, one year on Mercury equals about 88 Earth days. This means there are roughly three and a quarter times a year that Mercury will approach Earth, resulting in approximately three to four retrogrades a year.
In this retrograde cycle, Mercury finds itself in Scorpio. It will move into Libra on October 27th (still retrograded) on the same day that Venus will leave its fall in Virgo and enter its home in Libra! This means that Mercury and Venus will be playing with the same energy. But before then, Scorpio’s energy will dominate the themes of the first half of this retrograde. In order to gain insight into what these themes might be, we can look at what’s been going on with Scorpio’s second ruler Pluto.
Pluto recently went direct on October 4th, after a 5 month long retrograde which started in April. This retrograde was incredibly chaotic, as Pluto received squares and conjunctions from Mars and Jupiter. These planetary tensions ignited power struggles on global and interpersonal scales and asked us to witness where in our lives we have become complacent and indolent. With Pluto recently going direct, we gain the opportunity to see the results of our hard work over the last few months. The direct motion of Pluto also indicates that we have ended a major cycle in Karma. This statement sounds shinier that it is—these shifts are often incredibly subtle.
My hope for the collective is that we can use the first 15 days of this Scorpionic retrograde to tie up loose karmic ends as a sort of nod to the fresh start that Pluto gave us with its direct motion on the 4th of October. At this time you may dig in graveyards and revive psychical habits which are of no use to you. Perhaps you’re running into parts of yourself you’ve never seen, or thought you concealed well enough for them to never appear again.
With the major Libra energy waiting, this Scorpionic leg of the retrograde journey may be calling forth some of your unfinished business to unravel. The emphasis, first and foremost, should be on your end of stick. These first 15 days are meant for you to sit with your shadow and dwell in your cave. You can use this time to prepare for the potential of old relationship patterns to resurface when Mercury enters Libra, the sign of partnership. You can reflect on the past and gain clarity about your locus of control. What is your part and your responsibility?
Once Mercury enters Libra, the unexpected revival of the old can provide a solid testing ground for whatever alignment or resistance you display while Mercury passes through Scorpio. These retrogrades teach us that everyone in our life is an actor of some deeply buried part of ourselves. These cavernous territories within our subconscious have a confusing origin—are they inherited, are they systemic, are they self-created? Maybe all of the above? Nonetheless, the point of self-inquiry is to acquire comprehension and self-love, not to find hard-lined answers about ourselves and the people in our lives. Carrying that idea into this retrograde can keep you grounded amid the complexity.