Lessons

As I was writing the Planetary Illuminations report for June (coming soon to an inbox near you if you are on my mailing list!!) I found that the discussion about retrogrades was substantial enough to deserve its own post.

Astrologically is not always astronomically correct because we observe the motion of the planets from our perspective here on earth.  From here, the planets sometimes appear to change direction and move backwards instead of forwards, and we call this “retrograde motion.”

As June begins, Saturn and Pluto are already retrograde, and during the month of June Mercury will turn retrograde on the 7th, followed by Neptune turning retrograde on the 9th, and Chiron will turn retrograde on the 20th.  By that time we will have five retrograde planets, which will tend to cause events to slow down and make it more difficult to move forwards.

If you think about a car making a U-turn you will get a sense of how the planet works when it prepares to change direction: Its motion slows down and then comes to a standstill as it makes the actual reversal.  When the planet starts to slow down its influence intensifies, especially if that planet is currently affecting planets in our own birthchart, and the energy of that planet becomes hard to ignore.  If it is Saturn, things feel heavy and we feel a great responsibility.  If it is Neptune, we may feel confused and lethargic but also crave music and meditation.

Once a planet turns retrograde, our attention is pulled back to the past.  Retrogrades provide us with an opportunity to revisit areas of our life that require further examination or revision.

The planet Mercury governs communication and learning, as well as other things involving the […]