TMRM: Typical Mercury Retrograde Manifestations

1. The massive earthquake aftershock in Japan: total TMRM.

2. The imminent government shutdown via congressional gridlock over the annual budget, which is already halfway through: also TMRM.

In the first case, this Mercury Retrograde action falls under the category of "natural disaster." In the second case, it is a matter of choice -- although many Left-leaning individuals would consider the RepubliCons and Tea Partiers also to fall under the category of natural disaster. Yet it must also be said that the Democrats do not deserve a medal for refusing (at least as of this posting) to give in to the Far Right's two-pronged agenda of wanting to take away -- on a worldwide level-- women's right to control their own bodies, as well as aiming to evade environmental responsibility. The Dems need to grow a pair (of lungs) and seize this opportunity to point out to the populace now, not in 2012, that the budget standstill has nothing to do with jobs (the number-one concern of most people) and everything to do with social ideology (and extortion).

My feeling is that our planet is growing increasingly upset -- Neptune in Pisces may literally unleash a vail of tears in the form of floods.

And more and more people in the US are growing upset that our so-called democracy, with a government supposedly by and for the people, is transforming into a plutocracy. But will there be enough impetus to vote, protest, march, revolt, strike, whatever it takes to bring about real change, or at least a real option that is not cloaked in spin, hype, and lies? The Uranus/Pluto square, aka 2012, may well see such extreme action and reaction. Right now, with Mercury Retrograde, people are more likely to internalize growing resentment.

And I am sorry to say it, but if the current motto of the US does not change -- which is, "I've got mine [however much or little that may be], so screw you," -- when 2012 rolls around, no one save the "lunatic fringe" will budge from their place in front of their home-entertainment system. In other words, it is our job to educate ourselves and foment change if we are dissatisfied, not just bitch about the do-nothings and know-nothings in DC.

To quote John Lennon, "Strange days, indeed."

Welcome Neptune in Pisces

For the first time since the mid-nineteenth century, Neptune is back in its ruling sign of Pisces. How apropos that Neptune was officially discovered as it transited Pisces back in 1846! And we can thank Uranus, the planet of genius and technology, for that discovery -- or rather, we can thank the two astronomers who mathematically proved that it was the presence of another, as-yet-unseen planet that caused Uranus's orbital irregularities.

Neptune, of course, existed long before its first sighting -- but once this mysterious outer planet entered the public consciousness, many Neptunian/Piscean things blossomed or gained in popularity, including photography, opiates and alcohol, impressionist art...and, in the United States, an increasingly divisive view toward slavery (Dred Scott was 1857) that would lead to the Union's dissolving (Neptune) and the bloodiest, darkest chapter of U.S. history: the Civil War.

We will only get our feet wet, so to speak, with Neptune once again in Pisces before it retrogrades back into Aquarius in early August, but the next four months may bring unexpected creative inspiration and an increase in compassion -- specifically, the desire for universal freedom, not just one's own. This does not mean we will all become artists and freedom-fighters (or flood-fighters!), but if either urge is already inside you, Neptune will act as its midwife. And the birth may very well be a long, bloody labor of love. For Neptune is also about universal love, and the pain an individual will endure, even welcome, for the sake of that giving life and expression to that love.

Peace.

PS: Literally as soon as Mercury turned Retrograde last Wednesday, I came down with the flu. I am beginning to improve enough to sit at my desk and post this blog, but going into the office to proofread ad copy is out of the question, even though I am losing money as a no-benefits part-timer. I haven't been this sick since I was a child -- my fever hit 103 before finally starting to moderate, but I am still experiencing localized overnight flooding (i.e., the right-hand side of the bed). I really should've gotten a flu shot last fall, since I knew that Neptune would enter my 6th House (at 29'09" Aquarius) in March, while it was still flu season. Very. Big. Mistake on my part. Please take this PS as a precautionary tale, and ponder this verse I just created: If ye know your own chart well / Ignore astrology at your own peril.