Mercury Retrograde in Pisces: Mental Spaciness and Chaos Firmly Anchored By Some Earthy Assistance

Mercury retrograde: February 16 to March 9

12 degrees Pisces to 28 degrees Aquarius 

Communication and intelligence planet Mercury stations retrograde at 12 degrees Pisces on February 16 (4:54 p.m. PST), flanked by Black Moon Lilith at 5 degrees Pisces and Neptune at 17 degrees Pisces.

The illusions are thick. The maya threatens to engulf us. It's hard to tell what's real from what's fake on the world stage and even, at times, on a personal or social level. Even people with highly-refined and built-in bullshit detectors could have a hard time with the swirly-whirly mental states, cloudy thinking, and gaping blind spots indicated by Mercury retrograde in the sign of its detriment. 

The bizarre glitches, strange contacts, and general high weirdness began in earnest when Mercury entered the retrograde shadow on February 2. The winged messenger moved into Pisces on February 3, and all logic-based bets were off. 

In particular, the thoughts, ideas, conversations, dreams, connections, and interactions we've experienced since February 2 will be coming back up for review, but during the retrograde through this final and most ethereal sign, we may be going back over the etheric wake of any previous conversation or exchange of words that has lingered in the psychic air. 

Any thoughts, verbal/written exchanges, or connections that are still haunting us or creating a psychic disturbance of some kind could be re-visited during the Mercury in Pisces transit, which extends to April 10.

Mercury finds it a bit tough in the sign of the fishies, and a retrograde in this sign only adds to the mental and verbal struggle. This is an astrological indicator associated with a stronger potential for cloudy, messy, dreamy, or illogical thinking. It can be difficult to find precise words. We're certainly not the sharpest of thinkers under Mercury Rx in Pisces, especially with a retrograde station conjunct Neptune and Black Moon Lilith. There's a temptation to daydream or fantasize. It's more difficult to stay on top of the time or the date. Details may be slipping through our sieve-like minds like water, and it can be difficult to stay focused on the material here-and-now.  A little extra effort is required to keep things running as smoothly as possible.

Attempting to maintain our usual mental sharpness, quickness, and efficacy, especially in jobs that involve intense detail work or working with the public, could be downright exhausting under these influences. There's a requirement to simply surrender to the (temporarily) fuzzier and flowier thinking. 




"Spacing out" is one coping mechanism when the synapses become overloaded. Cut people some slack for this, but also be on the lookout for inattention. This can be dangerous, especially while driving. 

We're very sensitive to words and tone now, and verbal harshness or criticisms can have a real wounding quality. In light of this, make sure to keep any retrograde-based frustrations or angst in close check.

The good news is that Mercury in Pisces catches some very solid ground, some very solid support, some threads to follow that actually make sense, as it forms aspects to the bodies in earth signs Taurus (Uranus) and Capricorn (Mars and later Jupiter and Pluto).  

As lost or psychically-engulfed as we may feel at times during this transit and retrograde, we can't get tooooooo far out there in the etheric soup before we're pulled back to material concerns and grounded realities.  

Action and direction planet Mars enters Capricorn on the same day of the Mercury retrograde station, February 16, and this indicates a desire to keep our feet on the ground and our minds in the game lest we miss a prime opportunity!

The Sun enters Pisces on February 18, and again, this Pisces season, the astrological indicators suggest that we will be enjoying a stronger than usual element of earthy grounding and support.

Transiting Jupiter in Capricorn forms an exact sextile to Neptune in Pisces on February 20 (17 degrees), followed by a Mars in Capricorn trine to Uranus in Taurus on February 21 (3 degrees). 

We experience a 4-degree Pisces New Moon on February 23 (7:32 a.m.).

The interior conjunction of the Sun and Mercury Rx occurs at 7 degrees Pisces on February 25 with the Sun-Mercury in Pisces in tight sextile aspect to Mars in Capricorn.

Mercury Rx then continues into a sextile to Uranus in Taurus on February 28.   

All these earth-water contacts indicate a necessary anchor to the material plane and to practical concerns as we navigate the watery Piscean realms. Again, this is an indicator that we can't get too far "out there" before being reeled back in by the necessities of the material here-and-now. 

Spirit may be tapping us on the shoulder, whispering in our ears, and communicating to us through dreams more intensely than usual, but we are meant to be applying the spirit-based intel in practical ways in the material world.

Mercury retrograde in Pisces with a retrograde station conjunct Neptune indicates a time when we could "fall for it" in a big way. Our blind spots, naivete, and trusting natures could be taken advantage of under these energies. (Watch for scams!)

But the earth sign support indicates a period of time when we are able to make gratifying progress past some old siren songs and through some old illusory sticking points - as long as we're keenly aware of the increased possibility of clouded or wishful thinking on our part and on the parts of others.  

With the help of the earth-water contacts during the Mercury retrograde and transit of Pisces, we're able to mentally work our way out of potentially-detrimental illusions, blind spots, or artifice. If we're really successful with this retrograde (and Mars-Jupiter-Saturn-Pluto in Capricorn are certainly gunning for nothing less than complete success), we can puncture and lay to rest even long-standing illusions that were holding us back and keeping us from achieving what we wish to achieve.

With media, social media, Hollywood, and corporate music acting as straight-up Detrimental Illusion Factories, Mercury - even with the no-nonsense back-up of the earth signs - has its work cut out for it.

Much of the history we have been taught on this planet, too - certain tenets that have been drilled into our heads through the education system and media since we were children - has proven false, and re-wiring our minds in light of the new information and perspective available to us in this internet age is now required.

On a societal level, it seems that flakiness is almost becoming socially acceptable these days as over-scheduled people chronically flake and bail, over-promise and under-deliver, creating chaos and confusion in the lives of others. This is an unfortunate trend in my mind, and with the strong earth influences on this Mercury retrograde, it may be high time for people to get their acts together on this front.

Transiting Mercury in Pisces indicates a time when those who've gone before us, those in the spirit realms, are communicating with us more intensively than usual, providing information and perspective that will assist in the material navigation of this planet. Psychic communication among those still in earthly form is heightened, as well. We're "tapped in" to a greater degree now, and it becomes easier to pick up on subtle levels of communication. Information is flowing to us mysteriously, magically. A beneficial perspective shift is possible that we've been waiting for and working toward for a long while now.

Mercury in Pisces is a symbol of communication that spans time and space, worldly and otherworldly. It's an indicator that the communication-related veils are thin, and we can receive (or provide) messages or insights that connect the dots and bring things together in important ways. There's a strong healing element to communication, information, and perspective under this astrological symbol, and these elements work quite mysteriously, almost of their own volition.

The earthy support Mercury in Pisces is enjoying from the bodies in Taurus and Capricorn indicates a period of time when we can add to the Etheric Resource Databank in beneficial and long-lasting ways. 

When we're able to work ourselves out of some longstanding illusions or elements of misguided thinking, cementing our own mental states on the other side of that, we add to the Etheric Resource Databank, creating progress that others can draw on. When we're able to fully neutralize a commonly-held mistruth or misinterpretation of reality in our own minds, especially one that is held collectively, we leave an etheric breadcrumb trail that others can follow. We unravel some old knots, leaving threads for others to pick up when it's time.

This is some of the esoteric mental work on our plates now as Mercury transits and retrogrades in Pisces.

Mercury Rx dips back into late Aquarius from March 4 to 15. This period includes the Mercury direct station at 28 degrees Aquarius on March 9 (7:49 p.m.), which is the same day as a Full Moon at 19 degrees Virgo. 

The Virgo Full Moon is disposited by stationing Mercury in Aquarius, meaning that the winged messenger and the information it has picked up during the retrograde process are key influences over the Full Moon illuminations. Whatever is being brought to a head around the time of the March 9 Full Moon is closely related to the connections we've made and the perspective we've gathered during the Mercury retrograde.

As Mercury goes direct, we experience another set of supportive and productive earth-water aspects:

March 11 - Sun in Pisces sextile Jupiter in Capricorn (21 degrees)
March 14 - Mars in Capricorn sextile Neptune in Pisces (18 degrees) and Sun in Pisces sextile Pluto in Capricorn (24 degrees)
March 19 - Sun in Pisces sextile Saturn in Capricorn (29 degrees)
March 22 - Mercury in Pisces sextile Uranus in Taurus (4 degrees) and Venus in Taurus sextile Neptune in Pisces (18 degrees)
April 7 - Mercury in Pisces sextile Pluto and Jupiter in Capricorn (24 degrees)

Mercury leaves Pisces for Aries on April 10, and the entrance into that fire sign starts to dry out the mental sog! Mercury in Aries forms a sextile to Saturn, newly in Aquarius, on April 11. 

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