Mercury in Aries
I hope this transmission finds you well. Mercury is currently in Pisces, relaxing seaside after whatever intense inspections occurred in Aquarius. Mercury has plenty of time left for meaning-making with Jupiter in Pisces, so I wanted to reflect back on the wider journey of Mercury recently, as well as where we are headed next. I’ve listed dates of interest below to mark your calendar!
Mercury signifies exchange:
exchanging things of value like currencies
the internal exchange of neuronal impulses leading to thoughts and reason
the external exchange of ideas in the form of the oral and written word
the exchange of our own selves from one position in space time to the next in the form of travel and movement
Mercury signifies repetition and patterns which is exactly what is needed for us to recognize music. Mercury holds the entire spectrum encompassing a duality pair, and was the only God able to travel between the upper and under worlds. Mercury finds their joy in the 1st house, the place in our charts where the Sun transitions from the underworld to the upper.
With all these things in mind, Mercury has its heliacal setting, Wednesday the 16th of March. Mercury disappears from the morning sky under the blinding beams of the Sun until April 17th. The above significations don’t go away, but they do become more quiet, hidden or held inside of us, happening out of the public eye. Pisces is already a rather quiet sign, and so Mercury also not being visible is additive in this regard. Mercury leaves the library vibes behind on 3/27, removing at least one layer of veils. The middle of this time period is punctuated by the Aries New Moon happening on 3/31 into 4/1, just a day before Mercury’s conjunction with the Sun.
Working with Aries
Impulses or gut instincts arise easily in Aries, a decisive place of fire, embodiment, and action. The diurnal nature of Aries expresses itself more externally, in more easily-perceivable ways than say the Martial nature of secretive Scorpio. With Mercury visually hidden during its time in Aries, what usually might be overtly said or acted upon is not. Our local or distant travel may happen without much fanfare or announcement. Us doing things Our Way, may have to be done more quietly for now, individualist tendencies held closer to the chest. Our decisiveness or actions may be put to use in matters that are more private to us. I often hear folks say “some work is an inside job”, and this resonates with me here.
One trick with Aries, and fire in general, is being aware enough of body and motivations to notice volition inside of us BEFORE acting. It’s that restlessness we feel right before we get up out of our chair to go get a cup of tea. It’s the fire in our stomach, chest, or throat when we need to act or say something we feel passionately about. We can quickly enough discern whether it’s a hell yes, or a hell no. We can listen to that because it’s super important information, but maybe wait (even just one minute) before acting. Now of course Aries is the handiest for bypassing this entire process of awareness - it’s why Mars can be good in a crisis or in combat, decisive and fast acting. We don’t have the privilege of acting mindfully all the time, especially when we are in danger. We need this quickness sometimes. But for most day to day affairs, this level of intense speed doesn’t serve us.
While Mercury in Pisces is seeks the subtle, Mercury in Aries is a great time to observe what overtly fires us up. Pay attention to the things that inspire you or motivate you this next month. Also the things that make you jealous - the jealousy shows us what we truly want. The Aries New Moon + Mercury + Chiron + the Mercury Cazimi 3/31-4/2 will be a great time to do this observation. What of our individualism or needing to go our own path is scary or painful? Ya know, before we had Uranus/Aquarius being the eccentric authentic person of the Zodiac, we had Mars/Aries:
Being authentic in a species that is hardwired to cooperate with the group can be hard.
Being authentic in a society that excludes those who are different is painful.
These themes show up in Aries by themselves, Chiron adds a sting to that wound. What ideas do you want to embody, to live out those ‘Hell Yesses’ and ‘Hell Noes’? Mercury has the ear of the Solar King on April 2nd, and can transmit any info to him that will help in our pursuit of autonomy and living our lives in a way that is uniquely best for us. Selene, in New Moon form will pass over Mercury and Sun immediately before their meeting, relaying how we FEEL about it all. What do we want to birth, and how can we do it in a way that is sustainable for our energy levels?
Mercury’s Journey
Mercury has been through a lot since December, learning which dynamics in our lives are unhealthy or unsustainable. In early March, Mercury in Pisces explores what our biggest dreams are, what needs healing, what needs accepting. Only with clear cognition can we truly accept what is there, and Jupiter is a good mentor to have around. The bigger picture is in view in Pisces. In Aries, Mercury will explore and lean into what truly sets our hearts ablaze. Mercury will enter deliberate and dependable Taurus on April 10th. One week later Mercury will emerge in the evening sky, one more cycle wiser. In Taurus we plant, and we plan how we will protect what is grown, or preserve it. Backup plans are appreciated. Change and instability are the challenge here, because just like plants in the dirt, Taurus thrives in consistent conditions for growth. Now that we’ve unearthed what is in our secret gardens, examined the findings, and come to make meaning decisions, Taurus gives a container to plan our work and work our plan. We can change our minds or make adjustments as planets start to wander through Gemini, but that’s putting the cart before the horse.
This Spring we really have a chance to begin to embody all the transformation that has been happening behind the scenes since Winter began.
Dates of interest:
3/16 - Mercury disappears from morning sky
3/20 - Sun’s ingress into Aries
3/27 - Mercury ingress into Aries
3/31 - Aries new Moon conjunct Mercury and Chiron
4/2 - Mercury Cazimi
4/10 - Mercury’s ingress into Taurus
4/17 - Mercury reappears as an evening star