Mercury to Retrograde In Cancer

Yes, it's almost that time again. The second Mercury Retrograde of 2007 is about to begin and we are now in the prelude period. I am already seeing some things beginning to unfold for people (or unravel, depending), so I figured it was about time we had a little chat.

Yeah, I know. Mercury's retrogrades are the transits everyone loves to hate. But as B-rad said in Malibu's Most Wanted, "Don' be hatin'.". And as Jung said, what you resist, persists. The thing to remember is that it really doesn't have to suck, there is much magic here if you can wrap your head around it. And there's mayhem if you don't. I'm here to help you figure out how to get with the program.

This retrograde starts on Saturday, June 16th and lasts until July 10th. It will be exclusively in the sign of Cancer, ranging from 11 to 2 degrees. AND it's a long one - about 25 days rather than the usual 21. To better understand how to work with this one, you have know what you have in your natal chart, and to stay focused on the hard-shelled realms of the sign of Cancer.

Ruled by the Moon, Cancer governs your home and your family. Any planetary activity here demands that you re-evaluate your definitions of both. So guess what your first order of business is going to be. For most of us we are looking first at the traditional definition in terms of the family you have by blood and by marriage. But we also must consider the less traditional definitions which are those homes and families you have created by your emotional attachments. This means anyone who feeds your head and nourishes your soul, and anyone who is beloved by you: friends, neighbors, co-workers, group members, and pets.

That can be a pretty big group, and that alone could keep you busy for a good, long while. But Cancer also rules mothers and mothering, and by far the biggest place I am already seeing this retrograde reveal itself is here. I've got a large number of clients having spontaneous combustions and/or epiphanies about their mothers and mother-figures (though I'm sure none of you Freudians are surprised by this).

One of the things this retrograde will give you if you let it is a greater appreciation for and understanding of your mother. And all her glorious duality. This transit reveals or re-emphasizes her negative legacies and her positive ones, the things you learned through her deliberate endoctrinations and the things you acquired unconsciously and unwittingly through observation. The bottom line is that whatever mama issues you bring forward from your childhood - both positive and negative - will be projected onto your relationships in adulthood (both personal and professional), regardless of how conscious you are about it. So you might as well pay attention.

This is huge, and if you only get this far you are ahead of the game. But the brave ones, the thick-skinned ones and the ones who have been at this for awhile are crossing the threshold into the next stage. I am seeing a lot of folks doing this, as well, people who are blasting off from the mere awareness phase into actual shifts,. This is where the magic is, where it gets really, really real.

So for the stout hearted, this retrograde is a time to put the family first. And I don't mean in some convoluted, right-wing, extremist-fundamentalist sort of way. I also don't mean aggressively confronting the members of your family about every single freakin' thing that you think have done or are doing wrong. I do mean strap on some balls and initiate a conversation with said beloveds about how to best address whatever the elephant in the living room is for you guys. And don't say, "what elephant?". Everybody has at least one, baby. And if you are clear that some members of the older generation of your tribe might not be around much longer - this is a real window of opportunity for you.

The biggest thing to remember during a retrograde is to relinquish control. This is, above all, a time of great surrender. I think the hardest part of these retrogrades is that you really have to be here now and deal with whatever reality there is. This is not a time to languish in the la-la-land of illusion. If you're having trouble distinguishing between the two, call me. We'll figure it out.