Uranus, the planet of rebellion, of disruption, independent spirit and thought turns retrograde on 13th July for it’s annual 155 day retrograde period. This happens on a regular basis and normally one would not take so much notice, however this time Uranus is now in a series of square aspects to Pluto and it’s turn to retrograde motion coincides with Mercury, the planet of communication and of the mind turning retrograde too a couple of days later on 15th July. What’s more, these two planets which represent the way we think are in trine aspect in the skies above us.
Retrograde periods happen when the transiting planet in relation to the earth seems to move backwards in the sky. It is caused by the variable orbits that the planets take to go around the Sun, they don’t just all follow the same plane or circular path and it so happens that a retrograde period happens when the transiting planet makes it’s closest pass to the earth that retrogradation happens. The picture below shows a retrograde loop of Mars, but the effect is the same for all planets when they go retrograde, they turn, reverse and then double back on themselves passing over the same spot 3 times.
If you are Aquarian by nature or more potently have an Aquarian ascendant or have Uranus in contact with one of the angles in your chart, especially your ascendant, then you will feel the vibes. Mercury’s retrograde period is much shorter, just under a month this time, but often depending where Mercury is placed in your natal chart or if you have a Gemini or Virgo Ascendant, you may find that you have to endure more annoying miscommunications, travel disruptions and little annoying things going wrong than the rest of us. My Mercury is in my 10th house of career, and things never seem to run smoothly at work when Mercury about turns. Incidentally, the only ones who do seem to benefit are those who have Mercury retrograde in their own personal chart. President Obama is one of their fold, and he should thrive in getting his message out in the next month.
A case in point right now which illustrates things. The UK chart has Uranus conjunct it’s ascendant (from the 12th house) and transiting Uranus is on the descendant square to the Midheaven and opposing the Ascendant, a important place to be. You would expect disruptions and possibly technical things to go wrong in the UK as Uranus slowed to a stop and so it has proved. Last week, one of our major banking groups had computer problems and millions of people could not access their money, and today just before Uranus and Mercury go retrograde, the mobile (cell) phone provider O2 has lost all phone and internet signals across the country (including my mobile phone) and so a quarter of us are cut off from everyone else except for using old fashioned land lines. Uranus is also I think behind a potential problem that could potentially hurt the reputation of the UK. Pluto as I said is square to Uranus right now and sitting in the 3rd house of transportation. A crack formed in the road in an overpass on the main motorway link between Heathrow Airport and Central London where the Olympic Games are being held. It is causing transport hell in West London as the motorway has had to be closed for safety reasons, just before thousands of athletes, officials and sports fans fly in for the games. Very, very inconvenient timing, and all down to the two tricksters in the skies that are Uranus and Mercury before they set off on their retrograde paths.
Let’s step back for a second now and think of the wider implications. Uranus and Mercury are at their closest point to the earth in their orbits. Remember this. Uranus’ and Mercury’s effect on us should then be at it’s strongest, especially as they both grind to a halt, focusing all that Uranian and Mercurian energy on one particular degree in the zodiac, the point where they turn. So are we going to have mass revolution and freedom from tyranny because all this Uranian energy is flooding down upon us? Are we all going to suffer mass communication breakdowns? Probably not, although there will for sure be shocks and disruptions and unexpected things going awry, depending on how your chart reacts to these planets.
One thing for sure, you cannot avoid this moment, so how will it affect us personally? Robert Hand thinks that when there planets are close to the earth, we lose perspective on their energies. We are closer to them so we feel their energies more intently and we tend to take the unimportant details in a situation more seriously, losing the wider more significant messages and lessons in the long run. So the lesson here it seems is during a significant retrograde period to consciously step back, to see the bigger picture and to assess it. Many will not in the next few months as Uranus has an effect, and their actions, although rebellious and well intentioned, may well miss the mark and not have the desired outcomes that they wish for.
Uranus and Mercury are linked as they rule the mind; Mercury rules our daily thought processes and Uranus, often seen as the higher octave of Mercury rules our higher mind, our intuition. Both these planets turning at the same time are giving us the message to think about the previous few months of direct motion, and assess who we can bring freedom to our lives and our minds. What restrictions have been placed in our way and have been blocking our progress? How can we break the shackles binding us, so that we can make that progression to experience new fresh challenges, and in the process grow as individuals? How can we find the higher truth, the new avenues of expression that can result in greater self-illumination?
With Pluto in tow (the bulldozer or wrecking ball in the sky is there in place to knockdown any obstacles in our way), this retrograde period I think is the cue for us to step back, assess your life and think very carefully which direction you want to go, for if you harness the power of Uranus and Pluto and you make the right choice, you can go anywhere you want to…
