Back to Center
…On the next Mercury Cycle & the Galactic Center
“This thing IS what it seems to be: a galactic intelligence. It’s a billion years old, it’s touched ten million worlds. It knows the history of 150,000 civilizations. It’s beyond the possibility of our conceiving it…”
-Terence McKenna
Facts:
- Mercury Pre-shadow: Nov 25th, 23' (22°10 Sag)
- Mercury goes retrograde (Rx); Dec 12th/13th (8°29 Capricorn)
- Mercury cazimi/beginning of the synodic cycle; December 22nd (0°39 Capricorn)
- Mercury stations direct (SD) on January 1st/2nd, 24' (22°10 Sag)
- Mercury post-shadow ends on Jan 21st (8°39 Capricorn)
There is an area of the night sky that has no rival. When you look at it, a mixture of awe and terror effervesce and creates thought bubbles filled with question marks. What looks like clouds around it are actually billions of stars; what seems like a dark patch of the night sky is the center of something ineffable; we call it a black hole, but what is it, really? Some say it’s where Souls come from and go to when we die; others see it as the entrance to heaven; and for astrologers, we see it as the end of Tropical Sagittarius, where at precisely 27º sits the Galactic Center of the Milky Way. It’s a space to pay attention to, in other words.
Since late November, Mercury has been traversing around this territory in what is called the “pre-shadow” (a sample of the degrees that will be hit during the upcoming retrograde). Often — especially for those sensitive to Mercury Rx’s — many tricks and compelling events begin to create their own kind of bubbles. When snagged by some accident or breakdown, it’s important to first ask: Mercury, what am I to be learning here? When staring at a black screen or just before putting a fist through the wall, it’s essential to remember to keep Mercury close in our minds. There are always lessons beyond the tangle of our lives and where Mercury is transiting in the first place to look for clues (22º Sag-8º Cap).
With Mercury stationing in one sign, and moving back to another, we must consider two houses (in a Whole Sign chart). If Capricorn is your 1st house, the retrograde will begin there and end in your 12th; it’s as if he forgot something at the event horizon and must return for it. Is it a vision? A surprising Truth? Some whistle for blowing? A sense of freedom? Because all seem to relate to the Galactic Center (GC; 27º Sag).
One of the most vital parts of any Mercury Retrograde is the cazimi. It’s when one cycle ends and another begins. It’s also when the sly planet crosses into the heart of the Sun (what cazimi actually means). It’s a conjunction between the two (this one: 0º39' Cap on Dec 22nd). And it’s in that moment when we must be like hawks on the limb, waiting for the Big Idea to come scurrying along, and when it does that’s when we swoop down to snag it, then bringing it back to our nest to tend to. It’s not a dinner though, it’s an idea that wants to be incubated and explored and shared throughout the cycle. This is the idea. An idea infused to some degree, by the Galactic Center (just a few degrees away).
And so, with so much of this happening in proximity to Hunab Ku — or the Galactic Butterly according to the Mayans — we should be tracking some of the big ideas here and asking even bigger questions. This is a space that intimates the Supreme Being. It calls in Oneness. It challenges us to suspend our disbelief just long enough, so that revelation can happen. It’s the “Gate of the Gods.” Ultimately, it can bring us back to our center — to the ground state. Whatever travels in and out of us here must be accepted. It’s cosmic. It’s Divine. It’s tricky in all the right ways.
Enjoy the retrograde.
…I’ve taught an entire series on how Mercury Cycles work their magic; if you’d like to watch, you can do so HERE:
https://www.adam-sommer.com/product-page/the-mercury-cycle-series
And I do offer Mercury Journeys as well if you’d like to engage all this material for the entirety of the cycle. Just email me if interested.
Eudaimonia,
Adam
