Mercury Retrograde in Pisces: Astrology of 2/12 – 2/18

Mercury retrograde is close upon us! One of the biggest things we can do to work with retrograde Mercury is practice more conscientiousness and forethought – to think things over more carefully before making choices or saying things we might have to undo later. However, it is inevitable that we make mistakes and how we show up to the process of considering critique and feedback (whether explicitly or through dysfunctional situations in life that reveal something isn’t quite working) and THEN re-aligning, making amends if necessary, and/or repairing the situation is just as important. 

With Mercury in Pisces, we may need to take care of how quick we are to jump to conclusions based on fantastical or unexamined logic. We can totally believe something AND it not be true. While I’m not one to encourage self-doubt, I do think we possess a capacity to know when we are thinking and feeling things that don’t add clarity or service to the situation. It is a remarkable act to be flexible enough in our minds that when another person, a situation, or reality doesn’t match our assumptions or preconceptions, we can edit those inner-monologues.

Mercury in Pisces’ capacity to gloss over details is double-edged. On the one hand, we may need to be more discerning and careful in situations that require attention to detail. On the other hand, the blur that forms between boundaries that normally separates certain camps of information allows us to be more interdisciplinary and intuitive, seeing connections between things that used to be separate.

This retrograde comes after Mars enters Capricorn. Mars cuts or brings energy. Capricorn’s wisdom relates to our development of ability to understand cause and effect and impact. At a lower level, Mars in Capricorn can relate to trying to force things to happen and to leverage whatever strengths we have to wield control. This commanding energy can be the same energy, resourced more constructively, that allows us to possess some kind of inner-strength to not crumble or fall into the abyss – to track an anxious or self-sabotoging thought come up and decide that we’re not going there today because we don’t have the time. 

With Mercury retrograde in Pisces and Mars in Capricorn at the same time, there may be some value in practicing restraint when we feel a little bit off the rails or out of alignment. Alternately, we may lean into inspired action. I picture a royal figure, like a king or queen – having dutifully considered many perspectives, and ultimately aligning with the most integral truth they can.

Welcome back! Or in case this is your first time here, I’m Sabrina Monarch and I’m a soul-centered astrologer. I love providing perspectives on the opportunities of transits and putting into words what the vibe may feel like at this moment in time, to support you on your path & open a dialogue between us and the cosmos. If you would like to receive these weekly forecasts to your inbox, sign up for my mailing list here.

Here’s our week, after a few announcements!

🌟 Bay Area, California (Alameda) – Exploring Pisces Season: a Workshop with Sabrina Monarch

The Pisces archetype brings us in touch with what is unseen and what cannot be grasped – like dreams that fade upon waking or profound spiritual visions that are difficult to put into words. At once foggy or confusing, or lucid and transcendent, the Piscean threads of reality are enchanting and draw us closer to divinity and magic. The Sun travels through Pisces February 18 – March 19 this year, and this is a time of year when many people feel tossed around in a sea of emotions. Yet there are actually skillsets or ideas that could usher in a more enjoyable, magical and mindful Pisces Season, which we will discuss in this workshop! Think of the difference between dreaming versus having a lucid dream – working with Pisces is about learning how to navigate different states of lucidity and discover our capacity for visionary thought, inspiration, and intuition. Pisces can also help us heal through dissolving our sense of separation, or profoundly forgiving or releasing judgements. There are also psychological skillsets to explore in tandem with Pisces’ particular vulnerabilities, like the need for boundaries or developing keener discernment. 

Topics covered include:
-Exploring the archetypes of Pisces
-The transits that the Sun in Pisces will make to other planets this Pisces Season
-How Pisces Season affects you individually based on your natal chart

Get your ticket here!

🌟 Magic of the Spheres podcast is currently on hiatus until the springtime, but there are over 40 episodes about astrology, spirituality, personal development and other topics published! Tune in on your podcast app of choice.

February 16, 2020

Mars enters Capricorn: 3:33 AM PST‘

(Image: Taj Francis)

Mars will stay in Capricorn until March 30. Mars will form conjunctions to the South Node, Athena, Jupiter, Saturn and Pluto during its stay in Capricorn (stay tuned for upcoming forecasts for the details!).

• Mars in Capricorn is a very commanding placement. The raw, instinctual potential of Mars is filtered through a sign that correlates with structure, discipline, and authority. Where Mars in Capricorn transits our individual natal charts there may be an added drive to “get it together” and we may possess more energy for the task.
• With Saturn in Capricorn conjunct Pluto as the dispositor or ruler of this Mars placement, we may be experiencing a pressure to break free from oppressive patterns which we become most aware of when they are blatantly dysfunctional or have come to a head. We are not the only ones under pressure as we share these skies, so it would not be unlikely to witness others grappling with their frustration of longstanding or historic issues coming to some catalytic or transformative point. In these scenarios it may be worthwhile to consider what hidden forms of power or latent forms of agency are being awakened. There are truly some places of inner-empowerment that come through with maturity, parts of ourselves we did not feel we could totally own or grapple with in the past. Similarly, if there is a place in life that is handing our ass to us (sorry, can’t think of a more apt saying) this may point to a necessity to uncover some of our own responsibility in the situation that we have not claimed or stepped into, at our own detriment. 
• There may be temptation to blame others for our circumstances, but when we do so we miss out on the opportunity to become more radically self-aware of our involvement in creating those circumstances. We cannot change others but we can change ourselves to change our lives.
• There may be a higher degree of camaraderie in the air for people who feel they honor the same value codes with the same level of integrity. There is a certain degree of grief or loneliness that people of high integrity often carry around, for not being equally met or even acknowledged for the work they are doing. Being seen or met at this level can be deeply encouraging. If it strikes you, this can also be a good time to authentically express gratitude or acknowledgement to people who hold it down, people who you can tell are doing a good job. Or perform acts of service to share the burden with them. They may literally sigh with relief. Acknowledgement is often a hidden Capricorn desire.

Mercury stations retrograde in 12 Pisces: 4:54 PM PST

A timeline: Mercury will retrograde back into Aquarius on March 4, and will station direct again March 9 in the late degrees of Aquarius. Mercury re-enters Pisces March 16 and leave retrograde shadow (the point it originally stationed retrograde) on March 29.

• Mercury retrograding through Pisces may ask us to tidy up our unexamined fantasies. Intentional dreaming and visualizing is one thing. But the fantastical stories we create about others’, their intentions, what they meant when they said x, etc. can quickly pile up and distort our world. It may feel similarly alarming to feel misunderstood by others, if they reveal to us their interpretations of our actions or words in a way that we feel completely missed in translation. Any of these mis-matching interpretation scenarios imply two things: 1) the radical truth that we are not in control of other’s perceptions and 2) the possibility that we could be clearer in our communication, both in addressing agreements and intentions and clearing the air when we feel something has gone awry instead of letting the debris of stories and projections pile up and cloud the mirror between us and other.
• As much as this plays out in a relational context (unexamined fantasies and stories about one another clouding the connection), this dynamic also plays out in our relationship with the world around us. The ways we frame reality, our experience, our beliefs, colors our experience deeply and even puts us in touch with potentials within reality accordingly. Simply try going out to a cafe or on errands as though you are on the top of the world, you’re madly in love, you feel you look great, and you think everyone is beautiful. Life will meet you in that space in a different way than life would meet you if you went out running the subconscious or conscious narrative that you look bad, you’re having a shitty day, and you don’t trust people. It’s not that woo when we put it that way, but then it is – the implications of revising our narrative about reality is magical and truly altering.
• For better or worse (depending on how you feel about it) Mercury in Pisces puts is in touch with dream logic as it happens in the waking dream of our reality. The symbol of hitting EVERY red light when we’re in a rush points to an inner-dynamic as much as it points to a supposedly random external scenario. The danger of Mercury in Pisces is becoming mentally inflated and deluded when the symbolic nature of the reality we are immersed in becomes so loud that it’s overwhelming. One of the antidotes here is the saying “see it all and believe nothing” as well as having proper mentorship or enters with guides and teachers if we are experiencing psychic or intuitive openings. It is helpful to know people who believe our mystical experiences, but can perhaps also guide or nudge us when we are getting carried away with our conclusions of meaning.
• How to balance such ethereal dynamics with everyday normal life? Remembering that taking care of our bodies, bills, vehicles, homes, etc. is grounding and deeply orienting. The mundane only lacks magic to the extent we believe it does. Virgo is a necessary counterbalance to Pisces, and we can reflect on ways that attending to our physical reality is a devotional and spiritual act, and one that helps ground or anchor us in a chosen dream. Perhaps we do have an active imagination and fantasy life. How do we apply it and weave it into the waking dream?

February 18, 2020

Sun enters Pisces: 8:57 PM PST

Bay Area folks – come to my workshop in Alameda on Pisces Season on February 16!

The Sun is in Pisces until March 19.

• Pisces Season is emotional for many people, and not in a way that feels like we have much control – it’s like tides of emotions coming in, upwelling, and settling down, and repeat. The emotional palette of Pisces is vast, also, ranging from despair, bliss, ecstasy, confusion, sorrow, wonder, and anywhere in between. Developing a greater capacity to be with ourselves while we feel (rather than trying to escape or distract) is an attunement we can pick up. When you find yourself overwhelmed and tempted to distract or numb out, see if you can titrate in a little more presence with your mood. Is there a prayer you can offer or words of comfort you can offer yourself? Can you dance it out? Can you put it into words or song? If you move with it, it can yield gifts and help move the energy.
• With sensitivity levels higher this season, it can also be a nice time for retreat when possible. If not a literal getaway, we are speaking here of mini-oases throughout the day, whether that is deep breathing, or a meditative bedtime ritual with pleasant scents and candles and a comfortable bed. We may have to construct the moment by arranging our living space or making the time, but if we set the container we can also relax into it. 
• The more practiced we are at meditation or mindfulness, the easier it is to slip into that state throughout the day as a normal way of being. When we take small moments to be prayerful or mindful, we are actually training ourselves to do that more often. Making this kind of space this season could be a complete game-changer, a reprieve from whatever capacity we possess to be a hot mess. And when we are hot messes, at least we can make art with it (see the first point in this section). Either way, the name of Pisces’ game is surrender.

Thank you for meditating on the planets with me this week! I really appreciate you being here with me as I know that if you connect to this writing we have likemindedness and that is so special. Please share this article with a friend who you think would resonate!

Please let me know what you think in the comments – truly I want to know so leave a note! I love you and you are soul family to me, thank you for finding your way to these words and resonating with them in whatever ways you have.

If you enjoy these forecasts and would like more personalized guidance re your personal astrology, I would love to read your natal chart and transits for you! If you would like me to explore the themes in your chart, book a reading with me here. 

I meditate on charts before the reading and combine my knowledge of astrology with my clairvoyant abilities to offer you some insights about themes you are working with in this life based on prior lives, and what is the evolutionary purpose of this lifetime. I recorded an episode on my podcast recently titled Befriending your Intuition and Clairvoyance if you’d like to learn more about my relationship with clairvoyance along with tips for increasing yours!

I can work with your specific questions and shed light on ongoing issues or patterns you would like to shift, as well! Book with me here.

I’m also becoming increasingly expressive on instagram, so go find me there @sabrinamonarch and say hello! I’m posting content there that I don’t share anywhere else and I love interacting with you there as well as on twitter @sabrina_monarch.

With love,

Sabrina Monarch

Sabrina Monarch is a soul-centered Evolutionary Astrologer who publishes weekly astrological forecasts, works with clients and teaches. She is a novelist and has a M.A. in Philosophy, Cosmology and Consciousness from the California Institute of Integral Studies.

(Top Image: Nona Limmen)