December 19, 2016 2 min read

We have the 4th mercury retrograde of 2016 fast approaching. typically there are 3 mercury retrogrades per year but in 2016 we started the year of with mercury already in the middle of his retrograde and the end of 2016 goes out in the same way. mercury stations retrograde on December 19th and will station direct January 8th- making the end of one year and start of another deep in thick of an Underworld journey. when mercury is retrograde he is in his role as psychopomp- the winged messenger as guide to the Souls in the Underworld.

When mercury is retrograde we each get a chance to journey into our personal Underworlds to rethink, review and revise the past. this is not a time to start new things or move in new directions. it’s a time to face and deal with the past and complete things that have been left incomplete for too long. mercury is only retrograde for approximately 3 weeks but the entire mercury retrograde journey spans 2 months as there is a front end shadow where mercury goes over all the degrees he will be back tracking over again and there is a back end shadow where mercury goes direct over all the degrees he went over twice already. so we get 3 passes over the area of our charts that mercury is retrograding in and he will make the same aspects a total of 3 times as well- giving us ample opportunity to really ‘get’ what the lessons are and learn them so we can complete things and move into a new part of the journey of life when he moves out of his backend shadow.

One of the defining signatures of this mercury retrograde is mercury in Capricorn trine to the evolutionary north node in virgo and sextile to the south node and Neptune in pisces. we just came out of the intense month of November where Neptune was exactly conjunct the south node (November 3rd and November 17th-19th). big time stuff has been up around where we have been in denial, delusion, spiritual bypassing, playing the victim or the martyr, turning to addictions to numb out, deceiving ourselves or others, or where we have been escaping accountability/responsibility or not wanting to face reality. with mercury harmoniously aspecting both the karmic south node AND the evolutionary north node we have big time opportunities to see the past and make sense of it so that we can let go of the parts of it that have run their course. mercury trine the north node helps us to align or realign with our personal path of destiny and evolution- and with Capricorn and virgo involved this path demands integrity, self/other honesty, accountability, self mastery and commitment to doing the work! these are the two signs that are constantly seeking to better themselves. of course there is a balance here as we want to also accept ourselves (and others) while still staying deeply and profoundly committed to evolution and growth.

To read more from our favorite astrologer Divine Harmony, click here.