Our Sacred Duty
By
Sarah Varcas
Just as Mercury is about to enter the conciliatory world of Libra it’s brought up short by its retrograde station in the final degree of Virgo, reminding us there are still details we need to be clear on, facts requiring review and focused effort necessary before we can move ahead with current plans. Occurring less than two days before a solar eclipse in Virgo on 1st September, this is a powerful moment which raises a number of questions in need of honest responses: Are we settling for the most obvious answers which merely ‘dumb down’ a complex situation rather than resolving it? Are we lost in detail to the extent that we can’t see the wood for the trees? Has unquestioning certainty blinded us to less obvious but infinitely more important truths? Do we think we’re seeking truth but are in fact only interested in evidence that we’re right?! Whatever our circumstances, time spent reflecting on these questions now will be time well spent.
At its retrograde station Mercury forms a stellium with Venus in Libra and Jupiter in Virgo. This alliance speaks of the need to both talk and listen; to look deeply into life and share what we see in a way that others can understand, even if our message is unpopular! If there are difficult conversations to be had, the next three weeks may just be the time to have them, even though Mercury retrograde is usually characterised as bad for communication. In fact, painting it as such is just another simplification of a far more complex landscape. So bear in mind that whatever you read about this particular passage of Mercury Retrograde (including this!) it will be infinitely more profound than it may at first appear.
Jupiter is currently preparing to kiss Virgo goodbye and enter Libra. Spending a year in each sign, its entry into a new one signifies a shift in terms of how we make sense of the world and our experience within it. Its conjunction with Mercury’s retrograde station speaks of wisdom that needs to make itself known before that particular shift occurs. We have had the opportunity to learn much while Jupiter travelled through Virgo: a chance to look beneath the rocks and stones in our life, to peer into its dusty corners and generally spring clean our thoughts, feelings and attitudes. It has reminded us that we are part of an infinite whole. Not a solitary being living in a void. This fact comes with responsibility which we can no longer shirk in favour of speedy outcomes and rapid ‘progress’. Every moment of our life has an impact and consequences; every decision made and word spoken; all that we do, say and are, within and without. As Mercury travels retrograde through Virgo while Jupiter shifts into Libra we are invited to see deeply into the consequences of our lives and resolve to make anew those places in need of better outcomes. This passage of Mercury retrograde is a wonderful time for life reviews, retreats and reflections focused upon how we arrived where we are today and what we can do next to maximise blessings, minimise stresses and forge an onward journey that reflects our deepest and most passionate truths.
Whilst journeying through Virgo, Jupiter illuminated our relationship with Mother Earth and the deep betrayals that human kind has inflicted upon her. It asked of us a recommitment to honour this beautiful planet, not exploit and neglect her in equal measure. The consequences of our everyday choices are felt not only in our own lives, but in our environment both near and far, each choice as a pebble in a pond, rippling through the collective energy field which connects you and I with everything, everywhere. We simply cannot wash our hands of the profound responsibility we carry as guardians of this planet and all life upon her. As Mercury travels retrograde through Virgo we must connect with her as deeply as possible; to know our body as her flesh, our breath as her very soul, our heartbeat as her primal rhythm reverberating through time and space. As we do so she will speak to us and through us, ancient truths as important today as millennia ago, deep wisdom of spirit and flesh, blood and bone. Her voice will be heard in every heart open to hear and we must listen carefully to all she reveals.
When Jupiter enters Libra on 9th September it begins a year of relationship rectification during which we can forge deeper and more enduring bonds, with those whom we love and those whom we instinctively don’t! We can no longer afford the luxury of dismissing all who don’t ‘make the grade’ or ‘come up to scratch’, validating only those who share our views, beliefs and priorities whilst warring with the rest. Such divisiveness is feeding endless hatred and conflict in this world and we cannot continue down this path without desperate consequences none of us want to see!
Jupiter in Libra releases a balm of understanding and connection on the seas of hatred and division, so stormy in recent years. But it is we, each and every one of us, who must apply that balm in our lives, every day, seeking understanding, cultivating compassion, embracing difficult truths and making decisions that foster peace and diffuse strife. Many won’t do this, such is human nature! It’s tough, to turn toward one’s enemies and see their beating heart as one with our own. And it is even more challenging to stand up against injustice, exploitation and abuse whilst recognising that each and every one of us is more than our behaviours, beliefs and feelings. That life itself is sacred, whatever form it takes.
These are profoundly challenging times with many pushed beyond their limits of tolerance and understanding, delivered into the fractured worlds of hatred, rejection and revenge. As Mercury travels retrograde through Virgo we are invited to reflect upon our own relationship with these feelings, to face the person inside of us who may feel they cannot take much more. Jupiter in Libra tells us we can. That what feels like our limit is in fact a watershed, leading to a new way of seeing the world and our place within it. Faith is important now, in ourselves, in life, in the unfolding of all that must come to pass to birth the Aquarian Age. Faith in our ability to shift and change as necessary, to create a new world from the ashes of the old.
For those blessed with safety and security in a world where so many struggle simply to survive, the responsibility is great: to reach beyond ourselves into a new way of being; to refuse to fall victim to hatred of self or other; to envision a world that nourishes life not destroys it, and do all we can to make it real. We all stand on the edge as Mercury stations retrograde, but will we peer down the precipice before us or across to the other side? Wherever we focus is where we’ll head, so this choice comes with great power. Mercury retrograde in Virgo reminds us it is our sacred duty to choose well.
Sarah Varcas