Astrologer Erin Sullivan said in her book Retrograde Planets that Mercury direct is the ‘cycle of attention’ and Mercury retrograde is the ‘cycle of awareness’. This Full Moon highlights a more intuitive understanding of our world. Where logic proceeds along predictable paths, awareness takes in the ripples of information from all 360 degrees. This Moon cycle stresses feeling your way through. But lest we leave your mind out there imagining the worst, it has a job to do as well. This Mercury Retrograde takes us on a journey through our patterns of relationship. We move from Judgement, to Pushing Upward through conflict.
That doesn’t mean conflict with others, although it can play out that way. Anything you experience outside of you is a reflection of what happens inside of you. Change your inner landscape and the outer ones changes, too. This Mercury Retrograde highlights where we entered adulthood as an integrated adult or where we entered as a wounded child. We have the opportunity to identify any disempowered feelings so we can choose to do things as the adult we are now. This is why conflict shows up. It helps us interact with the world from a more optimistic, engaged place.
Challenges become more of an adventure to discover who you are in the field of life instead of proof the world doesn’t love you. Disagreements with others give you a chance to make your own choices. The problem with the wounded child perspective is difficulties can push you into a corner you protect. You can decorate that corner, put up the best deterrents for problem people but the best you can hope for is those conflicts squeeze you into smaller, safer space.
The opposite is when challenges stir up something in you that rises to meet it. It’s tempting to settle for smaller space that has you right and the other person or side wrong. But that’s a missed opportunity. Instead know that judgement is in service of helping you define what does work for you. So who or what you judge is really almost irrelevant, except they teach you more about your values. Then the key is to speak to those values in a way that invites or encourages others to see what you value. Who knows, they may join you in appreciating it if you give them the chance.
Instead of right/wrong, good/bad, yes/no see the next few weeks as a map making exercises. Whatever triggers you teaches you more about who you are. It can define not just what you feel but how you shape your world with it. When you let it be creative instead of confrontational, so many more options abound. Resources stay on the table when you no longer have the wounded child looking through frightened eyes at the monsters in the world.
There are big things to be done. Let who you are be defined by how you show up for what feels aligned with you. It’s as simple and as potent as that. Then learn how to do it in a way that reinforces that strength and models it for others. There is collaborative gold in that path. It beats the hell out of hunkering down in a corner defending a space you didn’t define for yourself, your fear did. This Full Moon and Mercury retrograde invites you to feel you way forward. You get to decide whether you spend your time defending yourself from someone else’s view of you or defining your own. The Cards and Stars will help.
Thank you,
Lisa Greenfield
9/10 Pisces Full Moon two of cups
With Mercury in Retrograde in the gate of Judgement and the Full Moon in gate of Authenticity. This kind two encourages us to “know thyself” with kind eyes. Unless you are willing to see the naked truth of who you are, not who you wish to be, all you engage with is built on unsteady ground. Still, give yourself credit for whatever has been created. This time reveals us to ourselves in all our imperfections. Not to shame or punish us but rather to give us a chance to choose more than the patterns that have defined us up until now.
Pay attention to your stories. Whenever something happens, the story you tell yourself about that is what reveals the wounded child or the integrated adult. Sometimes both may be present… Investigate. Get to know YOU. You are so worth your time and all your connections benefit as you see yourself, truly see yourself with loving accepting eyes as you are now.
The young you needs you to treat yourself with kind firmness. Probably something you didn’t get much of as a child. Find the loving, strong parent in you and weave the sore places in you into the fabric of the strong adult who survived and learned. There is a whole world waiting for more of you to join it and help it become a place you love to spend time. This tender two reminds us that when we treat ourselves with that kind of loving support, it becomes a rising tide that lifts all relationships with it.
9/11 three of swords
This card, which can signal break ups is perfect for the transits today. Except they are internal break ups. While they may lead to separating paths down the way, the fact is it almost impossible to keep doing things the way they’ve been done. We reached that fork in the road. Sun square Uranus means the lights have gone on and even if you shut your eyes, you can’t unsee what was revealed. Now it may show up for you when you watch another person, but the ‘aha’ is there. Remember, we judge what we ourselves struggle with, we are just doing better in the moment than they are.
Let the judgements reveal where you can more consciously choose your yes by showing you what you are a no for in those who aren’t in alignment for you. Moon opposes Mercury Retrograde so anyone pushing your buttons is your bulletin board for those internal shifts that won’t be denied. Swords represent our mind, which tends to overestimate loss. There is nothing you give up in security that you don’t gain in authenticity and authority. Choose to define yourself, not defend yourself. A courageous yes or no IS what will keep you safe, more so than armor. So let the heavy metal shields go… they won’t serve you in the bigger world unfolding for you.
9/12 three of cups
This is not only one of the hallmarks of good news we celebrate, but also the second three in a row. Which means you have choice. Which is a good thing because the aspects today may bring opportunities disguised as loss. You have to leave that walled fortress and come out into the world if you want to enjoy the bounty available. So while you may not feel like celebrating the way that invitation is served to you, at least acknowledge that whatever you give up makes space for more of what you do want. Reassure yourself that if you created what you want once, you can do it again even better .
So let what is no longer workable go. Be kind to you and list out what you want to acknowledge in whatever it is that is passing away. Give yourself some congratulations on being brave and growth. Look for like minded individuals and share the transition with them. We are wired for belonging and connection. Letting go trips the scarcity wire in our brain. When you belong it helps to acknowledge loss while also reminding each other that the brain overestimates loss. It also underestimates your ability to deal with that loss and see the whole playing field. Good friends and advisors expand your view (if you choose wisely who you consult).
If you struggle with change, ask yourself how old is the fear voice that is in your mind. It’s a good practice to keep checking that younger wounded you. Pain needs a witness. Once witnessed they find it brings down the stress by up to half. Have the adult you be present to young you. Witness your anxiety and find ways to support a better story. One that sees all the resources and paths available to you. Doubt and fear that there isn’t enough for you or that you won’t get your fair share. You will, when you open up to it looking like even more than what you dreamed was possible.
9/13 eight of swords
The triggers continue today but not to torture you. They are here to make the shift inescapable. Your wise self wants you to be free to be more than a collective shadow of your fears with a few moments of light threading through it. Venus and Pluto tension insists you examine what you want and why it’s important to you. Often we settle for what we think we can get or are answering a need for results to validate us.
Try this on instead. Look for what is yours and yours alone to contribute to any conversation, effort or situation you encounter today. This includes all the feelings you have, but shaped so that they bring mind/body/heart/Spirit into the mix along with both your light and shadow of each of these. Learn to feel what it is bring your best self to the party. Be angry but let it be a backbone, not a blow torch. Be cautious and let it make you watchful and curious more than defensive. This eight revisits the adage, ‘the mind is a wonderful servant and a terrible master’. Or another way of stating it, ‘argue for your limitations and sure enough their yours’.
9/14 princess pentacles
You get some help this morning to stand solidly on your own two adult feet before the days festivities take you into transformation territory. The Moon conjuncts the Great Awakener, Uranus, to help rip the bandaid off of those wounds that need fresh air to finish healing. Once you’ve done that (and kiss what hurts) then it’s time to construct a new way of doing more of the same thing. What works best for you to both soothe the sting and nudge you forward once you’ve been comforted? Moon square to Saturn encourages a sustainable path for dealing with fears. This Princess highlights the trust our body gives us when we step forward from a balanced place. One foot at a time, feel what suits you. If you don’t like the results, then adjust accordingly. Great. Now take another step…review, adjust and do it again.
9/15 eight of swords
This Eight is the hallmark of self inflicted injury. With Venus squared off to Mars and the Moon on its way to join Mars, this is where we over correct imbalances brought on through fear. Creativity fear is one of the most shared phobias. It’s why there are so many one hit wonders or overnight successes that then disappear. The more people see what you create, the greater the size of the feedback loop. It takes courage to risk what you are and put it into what you do and stand by your effort if not the results. I’ve tried things and put them out there that were not well received. The criticism can really sting.
With these aspects and this card, we have to look at the places where we limit what we contribute to avoid negative feedback. There can be a fierce internal battle that spills over to relationships with the celestial stew. It’s easy to tell a story that inflates the problem and deflates our sense of self, which leads to overcorrection. It’s a small use of our imagination, to imagine only the worst. What is the best that could happen? That is equally as likely to happen as the worst. Now that is a good use of this transit. It can punch through inertia, expand your sense of self and bring about results you never expected.
So use today to bookend the worst thoughts with the best. Pair them up. No matter what cutting thought gets served up, find it’s opposite. Give your mind instructions and be very clear. You are the master and there is no audience in your mind except you. Rewire those thoughts – start there! What worthier place to begin and you make it safe for yourself first. Once you do it there, you see more and more of that safer space show up around you. This way you build your risk tolerance from the inside out. As you strengthen those muscles, expansion becomes exciting more than threatening… how sweet is that. Start one thought at a time.
9/16 death
This card rarely, and I stress rarely, means physical death. Rather it is a reminder that everything has its purpose and time. Death is the winter of life where what was planted, grown, harvested leaves behind fields that rest and prepare for what comes with the next Spring. We still have Venus squaring Mars and now the Moon crosses over Mars to add stress to the inspired need for change. You can wrestle it, but change will still come, just as winter arrives each season. There is a reason for what happens. It’s up to you to create a good story about it.
It isn’t about talking yourself into being happy about something that doesn’t feel that way. Honor the feeling and include trust that you and the Universe will make something good of it with the next growing cycle. I’m not a fan of relentless positivity. I am a strong supporter of balance. For each day there is a night, for each hot there is a cold. So find the balance of flow in what you feel and what you do with it. No rushing needed. Winter may be short or long but it does what it needs to do before it goes. Let your season of endings take what it takes while you practice imagining what else is possible. Choose at least one of those imaginings and take a step towards making it real. See how it feels, celebrate your courage. Balance what is becoming with what passes away.
9/17 eight of pentacles
Ah, the craftsman card. This is more than a student, it is one who strives for excellence at their lessons. The Moon is in harmony with Saturn and Mars is in easy aspect with Chiron. So we can see where our wounds informed our actions so we can make a better choice. Informed by these details you can tell a better story, craft a more engaging path forward. There is a rhythm you can get that is almost mental muscle memory when you keep doing something a new way. It doesn’t even matter that you repeat the old pattern first because it helps you stop, rewire, redo.
This is like resistance training and adds to that mental muscle each time it happens. So watch your inner dialogue, tell a better story. Use your budding creativity to do it. What you put out there comes back to you, so let your report card show you where to adjust. Everything helps you, even the unwelcome, when you take charge of telling your own stories from integrated adult space that has your young self safely in the back seat.
9/18 two of pentacles
This two can offer a warning to be careful scheduling your time today. The Full Moon was actually in a gate of Exhaustion in Human Design, and today’s aspects can have us over promising and under delivering. My father used to call this ‘the eyes are bigger than the stomach’. You may want to accomplish all these great things and yet you still have to do it one step at a time. By all means, enjoy the optimism and vision that may ride in with these aspects. Celebrate what excites you. Then pace yourself. This is for the long haul, it isn’t a sprint. So the more you can measure out your resources and learn to use them wisely, the more you enjoy the process.
9/19 two of wands
Today is the second two in a row which points to paths that separate. There are three of them when you count the Full Moon two. Which means change of direction due to good feedback. There is a lot of enthusiasm available as Venus trines Uranus. It’s a liberating aspect and opens up a world of attractive options. But the hard reality is that you have to have room for the ‘more’ to occupy in your life. If you wish to add things, some things have to fall by the way side.
This two has an electric excitement to it when you talk with others or engage with new ideas. Once you find yourself lit up, take some time to tend those leaping sparks. Practice good fire safety, even if it is mental. Clear out debris that could unexpectedly catch fire, build safe enclosure around it and fuel it well. A little investment in what inspires you is worthwhile. Time will tell what each one has to offer.
9/20 six of pentacles
The Moon opposes Pluto Retrograde today, having us revisit what love and fear losing. You know more about yourself now, then you did when you first felt those things. Six stands for wholeness, healing and being your own authority. What best serves you today is to review where you let society, family, church dictate what you should love. And also check in on where those outside authorities told you not to love. This is a good time to clean mental house on those inherited ‘shoulds and shouldn’ts’. Our inner adaptive child may still give too much authority to what is outside agency, not realizing how much power you have now. As an integrated adult we can be respectful of authority without living strictly inside their guidelines. Find your inner authority, one that fits who you are in present time. It’s necessary to live your healthy, happier life.
9/21 ace of swords
Jupiter Retrograde is at a half square with Saturn today, which can call for pruning represented by the sharp edge of this Ace of Swords. Mars is in a constellation represented by sharp words or cutting remarks. Know this, the blade is double edged in the Ace of Swords. Which means it can cut both ways. Words can wound and there is no redeeming value, ever, in harshness. Anger has a job to do, which is to hold a firm boundary against challengers. It is not well served as an aggressor. No matter how good of a reason your mind serves up, the true use of anger is as a consolidation that makes a firm wall that opposition cannot penetrate.
Notice where aggression shows up in your life. Where do you give it and where do you receive it? You are human, so it is there. You may be having energetic mental arguments that are never spoken, but they are there. This is a good time to deal with the feelings of disempowerment that has people overcorrect for possible threat. Our mind sees through a child’s view and tells a story of bigger threat than is there. You need a healthy balance of anger and passion in your life, use today to trim out the places that make it hard for those emotions to operate cleanly. Do it with respect for the wounding power we each have and you’ll be going a long way towards healthy adjustment just by doing that…
9/22 The moon Autumn solstice
The Moon reminds us our emotional landscape moves from dark to bright based on how much light it gathers from the Sun. As this day symbolizes equal amounts of both, it’s a good day to acknowledge the best and worst in us. They have their roles to play and it is in learning from our mistakes, seeing where we fail to do our best that the light can build. Too many people hide their darkness in shame and press it into a corner basement hoping no one will ever see. The problem is that we know it’s there, we feel it. So until we deal with it, those dark places inform anything we do. When you can lovingly face the fears that drive greed, selfishness, hurtful behavior and more you take some of the charge out of them. You bring light to the darkness.
Who hasn’t stood under a Full Moon and marveled at how much you can see in the middle of the night? Bring the light of day to those shadowy places and do it with love. Acknowledge the complex being that you are. It allows you to see and integrate more of what makes you unique. You show others it is safe to do the same. Notice shamers and blamers. They are often the ones who have yet to face their own shadow and so they mock yours instead. Comfort yourself. Then be strong enough to see what you can do with even the darkest space within you. The smallest light repels the deepest dark, no matter how tiny it is. Use yours…
9/23 four of cups
We have Venus opposite Neptune Retrograde today along with the Four of Cups that speaks to walled off emotion. Check where you feed superficial desires instead of risking a vulnerable ask. Neptune is retrograde so it helps to show us where we settled for cheap thrills instead of the real deal. When you only go after something you kind of want instead of what you truly long for, you don’t have to suffer as great a loss if it doesn’t work out. This Four points out that the energy of that will box you in and lead to boredom and disengagement.
What you can do now is prepare your inner self care tool kit with some state of the art supplies to help you when you go after what you really want and it doesn’t turn out as planned. It helps to include a ‘big picture’ viewpoint. If the short term results don’t satisfy, it may just want you to invest more creative contribution. ‘Necessity Is The Mother Of Invention’, after all. Or notice where you collapse and stop contributing when results are not obvious.
Retool your self talk, right! Add a different interpretation that includes practical reality with imagination and possibility. You may need a good care team to help. Identify yours and know they are there. Too much of the superficial sweet stuff will make you sick, go for the real stuff. When you prepare for loss, you can more courageously reach for the real thing. This is your one wild and precious life as you. Take wise risks, be prepared for whatever happens and let yourself be astonished at what can come of it.
9/24 The sun
We have a mix of aspects today, some that feel good and some that have us doubting or questioning our path. The Sun is the promise that no matter how dark the night, the next day will come. So all you have to do is decide in this moment, what is the most you think you can contribute. Offer it up from the part of you that pulls from mind, body, heart and Spirit. Then polish it up to bring your best self to the offering.
Don’t get too far ahead of yourself. Concentrate on doing this moment the very best you can do. Do you feel authentic or did old programming creep in to the mix? No worries if it slid in under the radar. Address it, adjust and move on having refined your contribution. Like a ship’s captain, you turn the wheel a little at a time. Small adjustments can give big course corrections over time. And you are in this for the long haul, right? So do this moment and let all the moments build into the more authentic, engaged, creative, daring you.
