Retrograde in Retrospect

Mercury Retrograde is over.

In Scorpio, it's been quite an intense time for many of us, so this is a short review, as a last look at this particular retrograde cycle. Normally I get to enjoy a time out of sorts, a recuperation and a way of catching up with myself which has been afforded me in a number of ways = but how do you take a time out when many others are going through the tailspins usually associated with Mercury in Retrograde?

Balance as always is a key, and to keep a reminder close by mentally or physically that all we meet, is but a fragment of ourselves, lost of forgotten but ever close at hand to remind us of who we could be, who we were, who we will be/may be, and who we can be if we choose to move with our flow rather than against it.

"Going with the flow" is always the Mercury Retrograde theme, even if you:

lose your home as many did in California (with the onslaught of forest fires), even if you lose your best friend (a friend of mine received word her friend had been killed by a drunk driver yesterday), even if family sees you as a destructive force by continuing on your own way shining light in areas others would rather not touch (as in my case this month and many others I have witnessed), even if you lose a job (as another friend did after losing one previous to that, through no fault of his own), even if you lost your voice (as some Scorpios did), even if you missed a deadline because you realized you were a week out of whack (as another friend did, losng a major assignment), even if you lose power and all technical devices along with your workload (as I did two days back while on a call to Amsterdam)....

Losing....

Giving something up. A Scorpio theme. By hook or by crook, Scorpio is a theme of letting go. BY force, or by choice. What did you lose, I wonder? What didn't work out as you would have LIKED this past three weeks?

Other highlights I found amusing (and annoying all the same) were:

The electrical piano a friend so kindly sent me from overseas (to reignite my love of playing and beauty in creating music, since my old piano I kissed goodbye in England) arrived under Retrograde and would not work. Talks with the company did no good, customer service was useless. I gave up. And then, on a day when I really had no desire to try and figure it all out, a few mouse clicks and MAGIC - the thing worked.


The electrical outage that cut off the last portion of a reading I was giving to a friend in Amsterdam that took out my building and the rest of my block plunging us all into an abyss (yet creating a magical peaceful vibe with no buzzing, no music just the sound of our hearts beating).

The reverse decision of a magazine to publish my column that was already ready to go and all completed, based on an "editorial" issue.

The Writers Strike here in Los Angeles that could land everyone without their daily dose of TV escapism (unless there are re=runs...how Retrograde, huh?)

The near strike of the trash collectors out here which would have been a very stinky mess.

The talks of strikes in the postal services here and in England, a very common thing under Mercury (mail deliveries) Retrograde.

I am sure there are countless more. The main theme I've seen lately has been a major trawling of our minds (Scorpio) into dark places. Our own psyche and that of those whose lives we share and who share our own. Dark times are interesting places to find light - inner light. And retrograde planets, by their inner retrograde motion, are the pathways that lead us to that which is hidden inside.

As we move back on track with Mercury, don't allow the lessons learned, and the experiences gathered during the past 3 weeks be forgotten as timely reminders that it's our duty as spirits-living-human=lives to know that greater forces are always at work, and that loss really could be an opportunity for something greater, if only we can let our egos stop demanding full compliance. Why do we fear so much a loss of power, when we are immensely powerful beings?

Breathe. Sigh. Relax.
And give yourself another couple of weeks to feel you're finally out of the tunnel, free of the forest, and back on the open roads once more.

Take one last look back now, salute, smile and hey - if you're reading this - you made it! You're still alive, hanging on and that is one amazingly frigging cool thing, especially with the cosmic tides the way they have been lately.

Welcome back! It's great to be sharing this wonderfully wacky journey with you.

Love,
Neil

P>S The picture above is of the 5 of Cups, in the Tarot Deck (Rider-Waite), the symbol of loss, disappointment, but also "water under the bridge" and the remains of something beautiful that has and never will be lost, once we shift our attention.