Starcodes August 18, 2023

Summer’s momentum drifts to a halt but we may not be happy about that. Mercury has appeared to slow down in its own sign, making this an unusually tricky early pre-retrograde, slowing us down and both deepening but complicating communications. While this is good for our introspection, it’s been lethal around recent natural disasters. But we can still do what needs to be done at a steady pace.

With Mercury and Mars in Virgo, we can feel guilty if we are not busy. The industriousness of the fall whispers to us, we become more aware of the work that’s about to be demanded of us in the cooler days, and painfully aware of the work that needs to be done to save our ecosystem or recover from fire or droughts or floods. It’s been such a dramatic year. Mercury pivots retrograde on Wednesday as the Sun joins Mercury and Mars in industrious, improving, sometimes guilt-inducing Virgo.

A grand trine in earth signs, with Pluto on one corner, Uranus on the other, both trining Mercury and Mars in Virgo nudges us to get started and make a tangible difference. Just do something, anything. But Venus, Saturn, Neptune, Chiron, and Pluto retrograde, and Mercury so very slow as it pivots retrograde- it will be very hard to hurry up and do anything, efficiency is not our middle name this week. We can find ourselves usually tired, our health a tad sensitive to pollens, smoke, and heat. Spacey, and indecisive. But this is a finite condition. Patience.

Let’s be careful not to should ourselves this week; listen to what is actually needed, not what we think we should be doing. Next week Mercury will be moving retrograde and we’ll feel busier than we do this week. The most efficient thing we can do may be to be quiet and take care of one another, be present in our hearts.

It’s time to engage those basic Mercury retrograde skills. Stay situationally aware and scan for unexpected tangential actions. Confirm all reservation, allow extra time, carefully track car keys and important items, check for misunderstandings whenever there’s tension, and make the most out of unexpected delays or apparent wrong turns. Catch up with unfinished work, reconnect with lost items, beloveds, skills, and prepare for a busy fall.

Friday opens under a more industrious Virgo Moon, notice what actually needs to get done, not just what brings…