Mercury Retrogrades in Taurus | time to shut the heck up

quiet by nikolineir

Mercury stations retrograde today at 23 degrees Taurus (where is 23 degrees Taurus in your natal and progressed charts?). If you have any planets at 23 degrees of the fixed signs - Taurus, Leo, Scorpio and Aquarius - you will feel this retrograde more intensely (this includes both Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders - I am sure both are re-vamping things now).

Mercury is thoughtful in Taurus anyway and now that he will be retracing his prior steps, he might be downright unresponsive and dogmatic. Words will really matter now. What we say will not just be accepted at face value - statements will be questioned. Talks will need to be walked. When in doubt - we'll re-look at the situation before communicating, maybe we'll just shut up. Decisions will be up for review. Written material will be, and should be, scrutinized now. We can't believe everything we hear or read.

Questions and problems will resolve more slowly. We may not have the answers until Mercury goes direct on May 22nd or maybe not until he is covering new ground entirely on May 28th. Being prepared for a long process will make things move smoother.

Something from the past can come back around for another look. Things that come out of the blue now may not look so good (or bad) when Mercury moves direct.

With our North Node in Virgo and Mercury the ruler of Virgo, plus the four other retrograde planets right now, we will all be a bit more tired of the stuff we are already tired of and re-thinking, re-working and re-evaluating our future plans/path forward.

The best use of this energy as always is the "re's" - "re"laxing, "re"viewing, "re"searching, "re"organizing, "re"generating, "re"connecting, "re"creating, "re"viewing, etc. 

 xo all

Venus into Taurus | making the most of what we already have

walking through dandelions by frank beer

Mercury stations retrograde today. We are now working with five retrograde planets, something we haven't had in ten years. Almost everyone's energy level will be lower. Our sense of timing, ability to focus and keen sense of whatever it is we would normally pride ourselves about having a keen sense of can be thrown off.

I thought I would use this time to "re"vamp my websites. Every morning I open the back-end, make a couple changes, feel overwhelmed by the enormity of the task ahead, look out the window and go for a walk ....

Tomorrow Taurus moves into Venus. Venus loves (and rules) Taurus. After her weeks in Aries trying to be a lover and a fighter, she is quite content to settle into herself again. Taurus suns and rising signs get more attractive (both physically attractive and more able to attract).

For everyone, this transit, particularly when coupled with all this retrograde mud, can help us really appreciate what is right in front of us.

Taurus is a fixed sign, so things happen slowly. It can take some time for a person who is used to (remember we are hardwired to crave what is familiar) seeing beauty in a lush green lawn to appreciate the magnificence of a dandelion.

(did you know the word dandelion comes from the Latin "lion's tooth" - dandelions are some of the honey bees earliest food, are reproductive superstars - an energy sorely needed now and have centuries of usages in food, drink and medicine)

Taurus is a fertile earth sign. She is the earth in a sense. Taurus rules our 2nd house of love, money and values. Where is Taurus in your natal chart? This space is about to receive its annual visit from Venus (beauty, love, self-esteem, values, women). How can we make her feel more welcome?

Taurus is the sign of comfort, but not the comfort of five star hotels and maid service. She values simplicity - fancy or complicated embellishments just get in the way of true comfort. It gets easier to see (and feel) that now. With Venus here until May 24th what we want and what we need are fused into the same thing. 

The power and real beauty of Venus in Taurus is a deep seeded belief that everything we need is available to us. Either we have it, or we can attract it, if we believe we are worth it. 

Friday is also the last quarter moon of the monthly cycle. This is the final piece of this year's Aries New Moon cycle, so whatever those New Moon intentions set into play this is when we play our final hand. We follow up on anything that it makes sense to follow up on, we let the other cards fall.

xo all