This last week has been exhausting. There’s been a new problem to face every time we turn around. Some of these challenges are minor. Those of our own making, we can simply retrace our steps and repeat the work. Other slip-ups may involve others, those who only want things to operate smoothly and aren’t interested in owning up to their part in the confusion. They don’t want to be seen as being involved for a number of personal failures. Actually there is a great deal for each of us to learn from our mistakes. In fact that is why we are here.
It was the British poet, Alexander Pope who declared “To err is human, to forgive divine” meaning that anyone can make a mistake, but to forgive is not so easy. He was discussing the part that faultfinding played in literary criticism, but errors, small and large, are made in every aspect of life. In some cases, we can let them go and call them learning experiences. But there are times when “blunders” are made way too carelessly or even deliberately. A degree of accountability is necessary to set these deeper matters straight. After that comes forgiveness!
As an Dayologist it is my joy is to interpret the messages that the “stars” have for us. So I wondered if something in night sky was pushing us all to notice and correct the mistakes we are making. I might have consulted my Astrological Ephemeris with its many lists of planetary placements, but instead I chose a quick glance at the CURRENT PLANETARY POSITIONS box placed at the bottom of each Dayology.com page. And OMG, one sensitive point and six of the planets have a R for Retrograde Motion at the end of their lines. No wonder we are spinning our wheels.
HERE’S HOW IT WORKS – All the planets move in one direction around the Sun. From Earth from time to time it “appears” that one or more of these celestial bodies is moving in “reverse.” Today’s astronomers use the scientific term retrograde motion for this regularly reoccurring situation. The ancient astrologers who discovered this strange “behavior” of the planets, also claimed that retrograde motion causes the worldly and personal affairs represented by each planet to be interrupted or halted until the planet assumes its normal motion. At that point things return to normal, and maybe a bit improved, if anything was learned along the way.
PLANETARY RETROGRADE TIMING
COMMUNICATION – Mercury R – 9/27/2021-10/17/2021
ACTION – Mars R – Not until Fall 2022
AFFECTION – Venus R -12/19/2021- 1/29/2022
GENEROSITY – Jupiter R – 6/20/2021 – 10/17/2021
RESPONSIBLITY – Saturn R – 5/23/2021 – 10/10/2021
CREATIVITY – Uranus R – 8/19/2021 – 1/18/2022
FAITH – Neptune R – 6/25/2021 – 12/1/2021
REORIENTATION – Pluto R – 4/27/2021 – 10/6/2021
The most well known example of retrograde motion is Mercury Retrograde, when the planet which is the smallest and nearest to the sun performs this little dance – slow, stop, reverse, slow, stop, and then back to direct. This illusion occurs three times a year for about a month. There are some folks who are publicly aware of this particular retrograde. Air America radio host, Thom Hartmann commonly attributes scrambled communications to Mercury going in the wrong direction. Last week in his Daily Stack he recommends that his viewers consult The Farmer’s Almanac for more information. He may be a social progressive but you can’t really get more conservative than a publication that has survived the tests of time since 1818.
Also in the latest edition of the NYLON lifestyle magazine David Odyssey gives advice for getting through the remainder of 2021 Retrogrades. His depiction of this massive planetary stall is dramatic but correct. He asserts that the end result of all this stumbling around with the planets ends in a kind of planetary re-set. In Odessey’s words it’s “powerful sense of having purged something from your life.” We will find ourselves eager to cast off any “dead weight” that we happen to be carrying around. As to whether this unwanted burden has resulted from our concern about health, politics or relationships, we must evaluate if the reward is worth the effort. Odyssey suggests that we” elevate our external circumstances to our internal vision.”
These days the news is filled with attempts to correct mistakes and solve problems. Much of the general confusion might very well be aggravated by this strange surge of energy. Lawmakers are having problems paying for governmental expenses already incurred and getting essential services to folks adversely affected by economic inequality. Dictators are tightening their grips. We have unsalvageable spills and uncontained forest fires. Even Facebook was taken down by a massive outage affecting Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Oculus. And, of course, behind it all, looms climate change, the result of endlessly poor decisions made against nature.
All things end and new things take their place. One by one all the planets will be resuming their normal movement this Fall. By February of 2022 we should be seeing straighter, and not so confused as to the direction that we must go. Fortunately not everyone will be returning to unreliable sources of information or putting their trust in dishonest figures. They might start thinking for themselves and working together with others. That sounds about right.
