WRITINGS & ARCHIVES ON ASTROLOGY
John Marchesella has been sharing his thoughts, humor, and unique point of view on the topic of astrology for many years, through various publications and internet posts. Here is a collection of a few of his favorites..
Mercury Retorgarde
we apply this image of “backward motion” to all things of a mercurial theme; that is, communication, organizational and informational systems and devices. And that’s saying a mouthful!
From your own telephone, on up to AT&T, and everything in between – answering machines, snail mail, e-mail, office procedures, commuting and so forth – all of go haywire, a little more than usual, during a Mercury Retrograde IF they are used for advancement, furtherance and overt progress.
So, should you hide under the covers for a few weeks? Well, that depends on who you’re with. No, seriously, of course not!
Go with the symbolism of retrograde; that is, backward, in order to be productive. Turn your gaze to the recent past and ask yourself what to be RE-done. Get it? Re-order, re-structure, re-organize. Re-group, revise, repair. Regress with a specific task in mind and go for it!
These can be very fruitful times if you are willing to make the “return trip,” and yes, you can take one literally when travel is concerned. And if you’re worried about air travel under Mercury Retrograde, relax! Mercury “rules” ground transportation, so you’ll have more of a problem getting to the airport than you will getting to the faraway place.
To find out the dates of the next Mercury Retrograde, click here.
PLANETARY STATIONS
On the days when the larger planets, Jupiter through Pluto, turn retrograde or end their retrograde phases, and of course,
give or take 48 hours for the sake of argument, we experience an intense version of the planet. This is called a station. The news gets a little juicy around these times and our individual tempers get a little piqued, according to the planet.
For example, on Jupiter’s station (He’s the good guy), the stock market goes up for a few days and individuals feel “up.” When Saturn, the bad guy, is stationed, life seems to come to a grinding halt. Uranus’ station is a little manic. The station of Neptune spaces us out. And Pluto’s station feels a little, well, murderous. Thank the gods we’re only talking about a couple of days.
By the way, reading the headlines around these times helps us to learn about the planets.
Here are the dates to be aware of in the future; and we’ll provide the previous stations, so you can look back and see what happened the last time around. After all, history is the greatest teacher.
Eclipses…or Might You Be Over-reacting?
New moons and full moons are peaks in the intersecting cycles of the sun and moon. If they tend to bring anxiety, moodiness or any other discomforting emotional state, then simple entertainment or meditation is well advised. The dates of new and full moons are available on most ordinary calendars.
With a little concentration, their symbolisms can be applied to purposeful activity. New projects are best initiated two days after the news when the drive in energy is more focused. Conversely, unfinished business from the recent past is more easily brought to closure or culmination soon after the full moons. This lunation cycle takes lace on a monthly, or “moonly,” basis.
New moons and full moons are peaks in the intersecting cycles of the sun and moon. If they tend to bring anxiety, moodiness or any other discomforting emotional state, then simple entertainment or meditation is well advised. The dates of new and full moons are available on most ordinary calendars.
With a little concentration, their symbolisms can be applied to purposeful activity. New projects are best initiated two days after the news when the drive in energy is more focused. Conversely, unfinished business from the recent past is more easily brought to closure or culmination soon after the full moons. This lunation cycle takes lace on a monthly, or “moonly,” basis.
New moons and full moons are most potent when they occur in the form of solar and lunar eclipses. The ones which apply to the present and forthcoming times are listed below. Although their effects may last only a few days (at most, up to two weeks) before or after the actual dates, the issues which arise at these times can linger “in the air” until the next set of eclipses (approximately six months later).