Just in time for the New Year, we are given the possibility to reflect how our life unfolded for the past twelve months. Mercury, the planet associated with our mind, intellectual abilities and communication, turns retrograde for the last time this year. Aside from what you read on the web about this event, the essence of this period resides in reflection and turning inward. From time to time it is healthy to practice an internal audit of our beliefs, thoughts, and words. Do these mirror who we are, or do we mostly obey social conventions and the cultural conditioning? Does our mind resonate with our heart, or do we keep our longings captive out of fear of rejection? Or do we give in to unhealthy expressions like addiction, paranoia, anger, manipulation while being blindly trapped in a wounded past?
When we allow ourselves to explore in depth the patterns of our lives, we may be surprised to find out that the entire foundation that we built stems from an almost unconscious belief about how we can avoid emotional pain. There is a belief, deeply rooted within us that echoes through the branches of our life. I am not good enough. I do not deserve to be loved. The world owes me. I will never trust again. I can't be alone. Hide, don't let them see who you truly are. Just a few of the things we tell ourselves and while this voice simmers in our unconscious, our ego wants recognition. So we create a mask, one that can hide the wound and help us to belong.
Many times we experience a conflict between the mask - what we project into the world and other parts of who we are, whether that is the wounded part, the creative one or the inner child. The weeks when Mercury goes retrograde are significant in trying to re-examine and re-write our internal scripts. Journaling, therapy, meditation, inner work are tools to employ during these three weeks. When applied to our projects, the energy of this period allows us to pay more attention to those details that need a touch of reform and reediting.
Specifically for Mercury turning retrograde in Sagittarius, we should focus on our belief systems and the ways in which we keep ourselves imprisoned in an outlook on life that does not seem to serve us well. Where we are inflexible, almost fundamentalist in our thought patterns is the inner space to look at, question ourselves and learn flexibility. Novelty and change can be frightening for some of us, because they challenge our sense of security. However, in randomness, in just being present...without attaching to many ties, bliss can be found.
Find out how this Mercury retrograde impacts you, what area of your life is under scrutiny and what unhealthy patterns can be shifted and healed. Book an astrology reading and make the best of this reforming time.