Mercury stations direct in 8 degrees of Capricorn tomorrow (January 18 at 5:12 AM Pacific). It’s notable to me that this station happens at an inconjunct aspect to Mars in 8 degrees Gemini, given that Mars has also recently stationed direct and will very slowly begin to pick up speed and move forward again. So we have these two nearly stationary planets, in a critical and fruitful dialogue, not to mention Mars in Gemini answers to Mercury by being in Mercury’s home sign.
A theme I want to offer in thinking about the coinciding stations of Mercury in Capricorn and Mars in Gemini is about information control and information concealment, and how we’ve maybe been making (or have been confronted to make) crucial adjustments around that.
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The Inconjunct relationship between Gemini and Capricorn
Inconjuncts relate to critical adjustments – the need for refining, the way we make slight adjustments to correct misalignments or awkwardness. All the inconjunct sign pairings seem to feel wildly different from each other and also have something in common. For example, let’s be with Gemini and Capricorn. Gemini can be flippant, chaotic, a trickster, and just say whatever comes to mind without much thought, while Capricorn is pretty ordered, methodical, and would be more likely to plan or scheme the delivery of information. Both signs can know how to “present” themselves – Gemini does it by shapeshifting and being agile enough to take on the form that is needed for the presentation. Capricorn does it by adhering to structures and protocols, which could be of a personal nature (our ethics) or more social in nature, like fitting in.
How this has shown up with the Mercury in Capricorn and Mars in Gemini retrogrades
Considering that Mercury in Capricorn & Mars in Gemini have both been working with information, a domain of Mercury (Gemini as a Mercury ruled sign), one of the themes I’m noticing that has been playing out is that of figuring out how we relate to sensitive information, and the delicacy or abrasion at which we approach, deliver, receive, and discuss sensitive topics.
The longer acting transit of Mars in Gemini (we’ve had Mars there since August 20) has turned up the heat on our communications and thought processes. Mars in Gemini has related to communications that are coming from a reactive place or have easily triggered reactions – caustic words, inflammatory news, etc. Mars in Gemini has also related to a reorientation to this dynamic, such as if we have tried to become less reactive, tried to get to the bottom of our triggers (perhaps instead of asking others to change), or tried to speak more effectively in the moment in the heat. Maybe some of us felt we couldn’t catch a break from these intense conversations, arguments, or message-bombs (you said what to me?!) Ultimately this was like a dojo – supporting our evolution and our skills at communicating under stress or immediate conflict, but often not in a way that felt pleasant or gentle at all. It was a Mars retrograde after all. But conflict is a part of life, and Mars in Gemini may have been helping us to become more agile in our relationship to it, testing us to develop new and more adaptive ways of responding to challenge.
Enter Mercury in Capricorn (starting December 6, stationed retrograde on December 29), contrasting a verbally impulsive Mars in Gemini. Mercury in Capricorn, on the other hand, could relate to a very conservative way of speaking and communicating – carefully withholding and administering information as a way to control one’s own security/needs or as a way to attempt to influence the way the message is received. While we might associate tact and diplomacy with Libra, another cardinal sign, Mercury in Capricorn may also have a certain agenda here around communications being “effective”, relative to an agenda.
The critical adjustment between Mars in Gemini and Mercury in Capricorn
This is where the critical adjustment energy between Gemini and Capricorn comes in. We know that words, while maybe not “things” (depending on how you look at them) can hurt, and do otherwise have real consequences. We adjust here by not saying inflammatory things unnecessarily. We learn to recognize that speech has consequences, and while we can theoretically say whatever we want, it’s definitely not always wise or loving or necessary.
On the other hand, being overly careful about speech out of fear or trying not to say the wrong thing, or being so easily taken over the edge by language or even our own thoughts would be something to consider. Yes, words and thoughts have consequences. But maybe we also have to contend with how immune response to semantics can be taken too far, even at a personal level in regards to our own irritation and stress levels. (The paradox being that sometimes people do use the argument that we all ought to be less sensitive just to say unnecessarily inflammatory things at their leisure and without care… again, wisdom and discernment).
Additionally, Gemini is happy to share a perspective (why not?) while Capricorn is aware of the foundations that could come toppling down with such potentially threatening or inconsistent information. Consider this at a psychological level…
What did this dynamic mean for us?
We were already primed with the Mars in Gemini transit to feel like information was arousing, triggering, cutting, slicing, taking us to an edge, whether we were the recipients or the deliverers of the (sometimes accidentally) harsh words or news. Then Mercury in Capricorn comes in, retrogrades, and we’re thinking about how we manage (or maybe control) the situation.
There might be, or have been, a heightened sensitivity around the timing (Capricorn) of certain conversations — people wanting different paces/speeds, or wanting to address certain things at appropriate times with an appropriate container (also Capricorn). Sometimes containers are there because the evolving situation is at such a cutting edge that it needs some boundaries to literally contain it – it’s too volatile feeling otherwise.
It remains a question of discernment/wisdom if the excess sensitivity around saying things right and at the right time is in service or if it is a cover for some deeper issue or need, deeper reveal, deeper transformation. The more intensely it’s felt like a challenging dilemma needs to be addressed in one particular way, the more likely it has revealed to us that something systemic is at play. What does the managing hide? What would happen if one came out of hiding? Is one ready for that? And were we put in some kind of situation that revealed to us that we could either keep trying to control something or surrender to the deeper truth that does, out in the open, disturb our equilibrium? (But it’s just as crazy-making to try to keep it down)
Unraveling our own webs can also be a titration process, still bringing in the Capricorn wisdom of timing – should we be seeking to make a change without burning everything in our lives down.
Contemplating the nature of concealing and timing information
Concealing information or managing the timing is in service perhaps to high-risk military operations. It’s in service to the artist developing a work in private before releasing it, as per their creative process choice. Or it may show up in parenting, by not having children be privy to information that they truly don’t need to know or be responsible for. It could show up by no longer including a person in your inner circle because after attempts to work on things or repair, they still have this way of trying to undercut you, and you simply don’t trust them with your inner world anymore.
I find there is some give and take between how true some of these appraisals are (of other people’s capacity to be included ‘in the know’) & the actual process of inviting others into the opportunity to repair. Sometimes, people are very different worlds, communication doesn’t happen well despite best efforts, and the gates/boundaries come up. Other times, we have a breakthrough and become even closer because we took the risk to communicate and stayed in authentic connection that way.
Concealing information relates to trust and managing situations. In some cases it is not trusting others or not giving full choice to others, or not being willing to take responsibility for the real consequences that more honest communication would open up.
There may be other places in our daily lives however, where the call of information concealment is undergoing some kind of change, whether we are learning to have better boundaries or we are learning to loosen control in service to creating deeper connection and intimacy in our lives.
A final thought about Mercury stationing in square relationship to Jupiter and Chiron in Aries
The Mercury station also happens at a square to Jupiter and Chiron in Aries, which has me thinking of how the truth can hurt and it can also set us free. Sometimes truth breaks a bridge (and we have to deal with that) but many other times, truth and communication creates profound openings and initiations, with ourselves, with our relationships, with how we relate to life.
We can scale this at any level, from day-to-day interactions to something more existential, like how we are walking our truth in this life or not, and the ways concealment is a developmental process… we put things away because we’re not ready, or maybe it’s not truly safe to be out. But there does come a time, and there are steps, to come out into the open and have an open dialogue with life. At greater levels of integration, we will all have our reasons for concealing or temporarily concealing information, but the deeper question perhaps is if it’s a truly loving and wise thing to do, or just a fear we’re ready to shift our relationship to.
Upcoming opportunity to study together
Previously titled the Evolutionary Astrology Intensive, this course is being offered again under a new name, Dragon of the Moon: an Evolutionary Astrology Initiation. This program is designed to give students a footing in their own astrological intuition and literacy, and we journey specifically into a deeper understanding of Pluto and the lunar nodes, and how to read charts from the perspective of the soul. We learn how to decode the inherent meaning or value in every experience we’ve ever had (as the soul explicitly learns through experience), and with this insight, also gain the power to make new choices and tell new stories. An understanding of Pluto and the nodes in the natal chart leads to a profound meditation on our deepest desires and inclinations in this life, and the personality structures we’ve created to secure those desires. By examining this material in a grounded, mythopoetic, compassionate space (of the program) we get to uncover new ways that we might relate to our deepest motivations in more life-enhancing ways. The natal chart can guide us into discovering how the story we’ve been living as a soul wants to continue. I have found these teachings invaluable as I’ve grown up alongside them and built my life in relationship to them, and I’m honored to share it with the amazing, tight-knit communities that form around this alchemical fire.
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with love,
Sabrina Monarch
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