Mercury Retrograde October/November 2019
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Relevant Dates:
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October 11 Mercury enters its shadow at 11 degrees Scorpio 40 minutes
November 1 Mercury is retrograde at 27 degrees Scorpio 34 minutes
November 20 Mercury is direct
December 7 Mercury is out of shadow
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For those of you who love the prospect of watching mysteries unfold, you’ll find this upcoming Mercury retrograde to be most fascinating.

Scorpio, the sign in which Mercury will retrace its steps,is the sign of things hidden from view. That includes, but is not limited to,secrets, mysteries, sex and sexual organs, all matters related to reproduction,plumbing, a hidden underbelly, death and all things related to it, such as wills, inheritances, morgues, mortuaries, cemeteries and funerals, anatomical parts associated with elimination, taxes and tariffs, stagnation, stagnant water, reptiles, sewers, sinks in kitchens and bathrooms, poisons and toxicity,tyranny and tyrants, and insurance.

Understanding Scorpio

Scorpio is the sign that comes after Libra. The latter is the seventh sign of the zodiac and is associated with partnerships,accommodating and joining forces.

Now that the partnership, Libra, has been created, it is the job of Scorpio to share the resources. (Scorpio is the opposing sign of Taurus,the sign of individual resources.) So, let’s examine this process of sharing resources.

When it comes to a legal marriage, resources are merged. What’s mine is now ours and what’s yours is now ours. Even under other partnerships,the same issues apply, limited to what has been agreed upon. So, Scorpio addresses the handling of these resources or assets. Scorpio, the eighth sign of the zodiac, is also associated with the eighth house of the chart, such as sex,inheritance and death and all things associated with those matters.

On a practical level, what happens during the process of sex and reproduction? Individually owned resources, the sperm and the egg, join forces and become one. Essentially, they die as individual entities, and in the process, merge to create new life. Interestingly enough, the word for orgasm in
French is “la petit mort,” translated into English as “the little death.”

The same thing happens during the fall of the year. Many plants release their seeds and fertilize the ground for the upcoming spring. Leaves disintegrate, providing protection for the cold ground during the winter and mulch for the spring. In both cases there is a process of renewal taking place.

The concept of death and inheritances goes hand in hand,when looking at Scorpio and the eighth house. When one dies, their resources are redistributed. So, once again, we’re looking at the notion of shared resources.

On an anatomical level, Scorpio is not only associated with the sexual organs, but also the eliminative organs. if you go back to the analogy of the disintegration of the leaves in the fall, they are the detritus,in a sense, that will be reprocessed in the springtime.

As humans, we join forces with what feeds us by consuming food. Food is broken down within the digestive track and then must be eliminated.

All the above are representative of Scorpio and the eighth house matters with respect to the physical world. There is a much “higher” side of Scorpio, which is the healing and surgical side, the use of power to transform. Like a detective, Scorpio possesses an uncanny ability to peer below the surface and pinpoint areas of vulnerability, be they physical or psychological. They can use their powerful stingers to annihilate the source of pain. When we seek healing via surgery, we are essentially stripping ourselves bare, putting ourselves in the hands of someone who possesses the ability to facilitate healing. The surgeon digs below the surface, removes that which is detrimental, thereby paving the way for rebirth following the death of the harmful entity within. The same goes for psychotherapy. We lay ourselves bare,bringing our private issues to the surface for examination, with the hope of understanding the source of our psychological pain in order to release it. In both instances, there is a sense of vulnerability, as we place a certain amount of our fate in the hands of someone other than ourselves.    

In these instances, we must, by definition, relinquish a certain amount of control. In the case of surgery, we are entrusting our bodies, i.e., resources, to another. In the case of therapy, we are entrusting our deepest, darkest secrets to the therapist, with the expectation that they will act with discretion and hold our private issues in confidence.

Within this vulnerability, there is also the awareness that the one being healed may feel a sense of dependence on the healer, as the healer is perceived to play a necessary role in the process of our own healing.After all, surgeons, under most circumstances, cannot operate on themselves.There may be an underlying resentment toward the healer or one who helps facilitate the healing, since the one being healed may feel helpless with out the contribution of the healer. Put another way, the person in need of healing,wants/needs what the other has to offer, but by the same token, feels powerless in the awareness that they must rely upon someone else to do what the patient cannot accomplish on their own. Hence, issues surrounding control can easily arise. Similar to the sexual union, one person needs the other person in order to reproduce. If such a merging is denied, one may feel a sense of powerlessness, because they alone, are incapable of reproducing on their own.So, the thinking runs along the lines of, “Even though I may need you to join forces with me in order for me to get what I want, I may also feel a sense of anger and resentment toward you because I feel powerless to be able to accomplish what I want/need, on my own.”

There is also a peculiar sort of logic wrapped up in the yours, mine and ours concept. In this mindset, there’s an expectation that if I eel emotional pain, then you must also feel my pain, since we are joined together. If I am hurting and you are not, then I must see to it that you also feel some sort of pain. The reality lies in the fact that the one who is feeling emotional pain is the one responsible for those feelings and how they deal with them. If someone says something hurtful to me, I have options as to how I respond. If I’m weak and define myself by how others view me, I may allow myself to feel hurt by their attack. If I am responding from a point of inner strength, I recognize that I need not own the hurt that has been projected toward me and that it is not incumbent upon me to own that pain and hurt.

Having said all this, what is the potential for using Mercury retrograde in Scorpio in a positive fashion?

This is a perfect time to participate in some soul searching and ask ourselves what we are holding on to that may be ripe for coming resurfacing.Am I holding on to thoughts of pain, jealousy, bitterness or resentment? If so,how is that serving me? Or, as Dr. Phil likes to ask, “How is that working for you?” What is the payoff? Am I so accustomed to wallowing in my pain or detritus that it feels not just familiar but also comfortable? On the other hand,am I eager to lighten my emotional load, let go of that pain and revel in the freedom of no longer being attached to those feelings?

On a non-emotional level, this is a great time to become one with your inner sleuth and participate in other sorts of digging, probing,researching and releasing. Are there mysteries lurking for which you are seeking answers? Is there a cache of paperwork hidden in the basement that requires your attention? Is it time to research insurance matters and restructure protections? Use this time to probe appropriate depths. Dig down below obvious surfaces – for, below the surface, in the apparent darkness, lie the answers to your mysteries. This process may readily apply to documents,data, private matters such as sexual matters, wills, loans, prior surgeries,prior medical procedures or medical protocols. This may also be a fitting time to re-evaluate the distribution of resources or the shouldering of mutually held responsibilities.

On a very mundane level, pay close attention to such things as keys and mobile devices. Things of this nature may slip through the cracks,fall into an abyss, particularly one of standing water. If something technical goes awry, zero in on systems akin to plumbing, elimination, exhaust and reproduction. Look for issues such as stagnation, deterioration and things that have died their own natural death.

Happy digging and probing. May your research prove successful and may you take joy in releasing what no longer serves you well.