“Turn a negative into a positive picture.” Lauren Hill
“Ah, to think how thin the veil
that lies
Between the pain of hell
and Paradise.” George William Russell
Mercury will station retrograde on August 12 at 11 degrees of Virgo. When mercury entered its shadow phase it was aspecting Uranus – the planet of surprise and awakening and Chiron – the asteroid of the Wounded Healer. This indicates that an important theme of this upcoming three week period will be an opportunity to experience revelations or awakenings about the “stories we tell ourselves” and how we can rigidly define experiences in the past related to old wounds.
These stories have a repetitive nature and are in areas of our lives where we assume naturally that we have all the answers. Chiron in Pisces has to do with healing through a growth in awareness of the nature of suffering in the world as opposed to exclusively in our own lives.
Developing a deeper and more compassionate understanding for other people’s behavior or for the motivations behind other people’s behavior is involved here as well. There is always the opportunity to rewrite your life’s journey from a new and evolved perspective. Painful experiences can create fertile territory for personal growth, deeper understanding and a wiser and less guarded and cynical approach to the future.
It is akin to what Hemingway said about becoming stronger in the broken places. Stronger and more wise, I would add.
A good thing to consider is whether the way you think about the past contributes to being more defensive or more open to life in general.
As with all Mercury retrograde periods – do check the details as miscommunications or misunderstandings can arise. This is more of a theme this time due to the station occurring in opposition to Neptune. Neptune rules fog and there can be more difficulty discerning the truth of information being circulated or how things are interpreted.
As many shamanic traditions point out a new, more just and sustainable world is stuggling to be born and birth is often a difficult process. It is wise at this point to focus mental energy on a good outcome and keep good boundaries around allowing too much fear into your life.
The Sabian symbol for the station is,”A bride with her veil snatched away.”