Mercury Retrograde in 2014

Mercury goes retrograde February 6 2014 and the traditional advice is “Don’t travel, Don’t sign contracts. Don’t marry. Don’t touch electrics!” But the whole Mercury retrograde cycle actually lasts eight weeks and happens three times, sometimes even four times in a year! That’s a long time to hide under the duvet and a real waste of a truly magical time.

Mercury generally zips between two worlds, or rather, the two hemispheres of our brain. So during the retrograde period it is like Mercury has gone down into the Underworld. In the realm closer to spirit we become more right-brain orientated. It is dark, so other senses are heightened. We will feel extra sensitive here, psychic even. Everything will seem hyper-real… you will notice things you had overlooked before. This will prompt you to re-evaluate, renovate, re-invent, re-form, and reinvent. It’s true you might have to redo things, because Mercury will hit the same degree three times, but what this transit won’t let you do is to go into autopilot.

There are danger spots though. When Mercury is stationing retrograde we are at the wobbly stage where we are likely to slip-up, make mistakes, and misread another’s communications. But once we are over the threshold and into the Underworld, we can safely go about our business knowing we are in another realm. The same goes for when it is stationing direct, just make sure you give your brain a few days to adjust back to solar thinking. Whichever houses Mercury retrogrades in, will be your Underworld zone, where you will question everything. It will make you jittery about signing contracts, because you will be constantly thinking, “Is this what I really want?”. Before the retrograde, is a good time to finish off those Solar left-brain projects and gather information to bring down into your cave at its retrograde point. Then you can slow things down, let yourself be taken into other dimensions, try on different filters, experiment, shine a light on your demons, then recharge and reboot.

Mercury Retrograde February 2014

Mercury turns retrograde on February 6 2014 and it is pretty much a mermaid-drenched Neptunian affair. The most difficult thing will be just trying to think straight, as it will feel like you have somehow ingested 5 kilos of magic mushrooms without realising it. This is fantastic of course if you were planning to go on one of those psychedelic trips… Instead, save the airfare to the Brazilian rain forest and sit by your local pond instead. No need to absorb anything stronger than fresh dew drops folks, I promise. The vibrations between Aquarius and Pisces can be a little tricky however, as water and electricity do not mix (Except in a washing machine capacity). So Mercury here is taking you through two zones that are going to overlap and bleed into each other slowly which they do not do ordinarily. You will get flying fish and colourful electric eels (or a new washing machine if that square…) In technical terms this means you get shocks off your computer, so be very careful about leaving cups of coffee near keyboards during this time. Communications over the internet are going to be the most sensitive to this sopping wet Mercury retrograde. For once, sludgy snail mail might actually be more reliable, as odd stuff is going to happen with cyber post.  Jpegs are corrupted in tranist and emails get eaten by mallards.

The Mercury retrograde chart is pretty dramatic with a red-hot poker of a Jupiter opposite Pluto. Dusky Pluto is still so near a fresh-out-of-retrograde Venus, in her Lucifer phase right now, making her more provocative than usual. All things considered then this is a very seductive Mercury retrograde. The Sun on happy-go-lucky Sualocin adds to the feeling of a naive Persephone being whisked away by a rugged pirate. Mercury turns very close to the waning quarter Moon, so emotionally we will be feeling extra vulnerable to any saviours. Moon opposite Saturn drives us to “man-up”, despite a huge urge to burst into tears. However we do need to be kind to ourselves and shut off that inner critic and judgemental voice. So what, if we want to let things go a bit. Those effected strongly by this retrograde will feel like feying helplessness for a while, hoping to be rescued. Why not hey? If you are usually the rescuer it will make a nice change. The thing about all retrogrades is they are great for turning things upside-down and inside-out.

The Mercury Retrograde Journey

January 23 Mercury starts off in the shadow zone of Aquarius decan 2, the gentle zone of playful dolphins and stately ducks. Mercury here glides along the lake effortlessly and it is also at home in this Mercury-ruled decan also. Nothing tense here, just dreamy “Wind In The Willows” energy, except perhaps a nagging voice saying you should be doing something. You really should’nt! Chillax and meditate. You will return to this peaceful reflective space during the retrograde period, so take note of any ideas that float by your lakeside vista. During this shadow time Venus retrograde is applying to Jupiter opposition  Pluto mentioned earlier so this is when you may be strongly dreaming of that Pirate ship. Something is telling you to keep resisting though.. until Venus turns direct on January 31 that is. Then there is a strong window of temptation from February 1 – 5 where Mercury has daring thoughts on Enif in Pegasus “The constellation gives ambition, vanity, intuition, enthusiasm, caprice and bad judgment.”  Now you might be feeling more than a little reckless. Well, if you are going to have a dalliance, I would grab this opportunity before Mercury goes wobbly.

Mercury stations retrograde February 6 in Pisces decan 1. Luckily it falls on Sadalmelik in Aquarius“Occult interests and research, criticized, favorable for friendship, success in large companies” Not such a bad way to begin this trip. Watch out for Mercury repeating itself with impetuous and foolhardy Enif on February 10 though. You can start to relax into the retrograde by Valentines day at least, when Mercury sits on the back of the romantic swan from February 15 – 17. We are now in Aquarius decan 3 which “marries the swan’s unbridled imagination (and libido) with the transformative spiralling tail of the sea-goat. Saturn rules both Aquarius and Capricorn and is the last planet one can see with the naked eye. It has no illusions and is plain speaking.” This part of the retrograde journey we hit dry land for a few days. February 18 -19 Mercury square Saturn gives us a dose of reality while Mercury on Sadalsuud in Aquarius also snaps us out of our fairy tale; “Social success, favors from opposite sex but some transitory difficulties, retirement owing to abuse of position, sudden loss through speculation, domestic sorrow and trouble.” 

If you are having trouble with a long-term partner here, then you will probably want to escape, either by partying with friends, or camping out at the office. The Moon is on Algorab on February 18 too (8.43pm GMT) activating Uranus square Pluto and making a grand cross with Jupiter which will always inflame situations. This is probably the most difficult day of the whole Mercury retrograde. Those who have been living in a Pre-Raphaelite painting will experience quite a rude-awakening when an ugly cubist horror rips through the canvas. We could have here a taster of what is to come on April 23 in the Grand Cross of Crow mentioned in the 2014 Forecast. We may be tempted to brush this fraught square energy aside, especially as our thinking is such a cockle stew right now. But if something really needs confronting, evading matters like a slippery fish will just breed more distrust that could fester into something far more serious later.

The square subsides and things feel calmer by the February 25 when Mercury starts daydreaming again as it moves back towards Sualocin the Dolphin. You can go back and sit by the lake again as Mercury stations direct on February 28. From now on it is plain sailing. If you have been using this period for artistic or spiritual pursuits take note when Mercury hits Fomalhaut and then Neptune between March 21 – 23. This may be a particularly inspirational and magical time, full of strange synchros linking back to other days of the Mercury journey. You may want to keep a captains log of your experiences!

Mercury Retrograde Stars

Sualocin ~ 17º Aquarius. January 22. Rx February 27. February 28.
Sadalsuud ~ 23º Aquarius. January 26. Rx February 18. March 11.
Deneb Algedi ~ 23º Aquarius. January 26. Rx February 18. March 11.
Sador ~ 24º Aquarius.January 27. Rx February 17. March 13.
Gienah (Cyg) ~ 27º Aquarius. January 29. Rx February 15. March 15.
Enif ~ 2º Pisces. February 3. Rx February 10. March 19.
Sadalmelik ~ 3º Pisces. February 6. Rx February 8. March 21.
Fomalhaut ~ 4º Pisces. February 6. Rx February 8. March 21.

Mercury Retrograde Dates

January 23 Mercury enters shadow zone at 18º 10’ Aquarius.
February 6 Mercury stations retrograde at 3º 20’ Pisces.
9.43pm GMT. 4.43pm EST 1.43pm PST
February 28 Mercury stations direct at 18º 10’ Aquarius.
2pm GMT. 9am EST. 6am PST
March 21 Mercury exits the shadow zone at 3º 20’ Pisces.

You may also like:

1. Aquarius in Each of the Twelve Houses
2. Yin Yang - What It Is and Symbols
3. Major 2014 Planetary Aspects Affecting Your Life

Source: http://darkstarastrology.com/mercury-retrograde/