Mercury enters Virgo: Discernment and Self-Observation

Mercury in Aspect to Jupiter & Saturn

 

During its journey through Virgo, Mercury is going to align with Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto. Mercury opposes Saturn in Pisces on August 2, offering us an opportunity to observe in what instances we are drawn to silence ourselves, censor ourselves, or fear sharing our true ideas and opinions. While we often feel that restrictions and constraints come from the outside, it is a good practice to notice what role we may play in limiting and restricting our full expression. 

 On August 10, Mercury trines Jupiter in Taurus, supporting our desire to learn and to share what we know with others. This alignment supports both deductive and inductive learning processes and begins a process of revision and reorientation of our beliefs, perspectives, and perceptions. 

On August 23, Mercury stations retrograde at 21º Virgo. During and after its retrograde, Mercury is going to align with Jupiter again twice, on September 4 and September 25. The series of Mercury-Jupiter trines will offer us opportunities to restructure our existing beliefs and worldviews, expand our intellectual horizons, and align with the new values that may emerge as a result of a profound and pervasive shift in perspective.

 

Mercury in Aspect to Uranus, Neptune, & Pluto

 

On September 30, Mercury trines retrograde Uranus in Taurus, offering us an invitation to open our minds to new dimensions, be more experimental, and question habitual ways of thinking and perceiving our reality. Around this time, there are higher chances to receive downloads and insights that give us new, unusual ideas about how to solve a problem, deal with a situation, or move forward with a project.

Mercury opposes retrograde Neptune in Pisces on October 2. This alignment will inspire us to integrate our intuition into our decision-making and learning processes rather than relying only on the rational, linear mind. While, on the one hand, the Mercury-Neptune opposition increases our sensitivity and perceptiveness, on the other, it can correspond with a sense of confusion, brain fog, and difficulties concentrating, and linear tasks could be more challenging to perform in the way we are used to approaching them.

On October 3, Mercury in Virgo trines retrograde Pluto in Capricorn. This alignment sharpens our perceptions and our ability to see and understand the deeper undercurrents at play in every situation. The Mercury-Pluto trine facilitates psychological self-exploration and invites us to empower ourselves by working on letting go of mindsets and ways of thinking that are keeping us stuck and stagnant.

 

Mercury enters Virgo: Releasing Perfectionism, Allowing Change to Unfold Organically

 

Mercury’s long journey through its domicile of Virgo will offer us many opportunities to improve our efficiency and organizational skills and create a more functional reality. While embracing the analytical and observational nature of Mercury in Virgo will benefit our productivity, functionality, and awareness of what can be improved, taking it to an extreme may also lead to a tendency towards overthinking, self-criticism, and excessive worry. It is essential to be aware of any inclination towards excessive perfectionism and try to be gentle with ourselves during this time, rather than letting the awareness of what can be improved bring us down and keep us stuck.

Mercury’s upcoming retrograde through its home sign represents a great opportunity to question existing ways of thinking, perceiving, and approaching our daily reality, our jobs, our healing journey, and our relationship to our body. The upcoming weeks and months will offer us an invitation to stay flexible, stay mindful, and stay present with what is arising, without immediately trying to fix it or to make sense of it, but rather cultivating acceptance and allowing change to unfold organically.

Mercury from Leo to Virgo: Deepening our Self-Observation

 

Transits of Mercury reflect our changing orientation relative to logically understanding our reality and ourselves. In Astrology, Mercury is the planet related to the left brain, the analytical mind, communication, language, and inductive learning. Mercury has a Yang and a Yin side. While the Yang side of Mercury rules Gemini and the process of gathering information, facts, and data to classify the environment, its Yin side correlates with Virgo and with the functions of discrimination, critical thinking, and self-analysis.

While Mercury was in Leo, we had opportunities to observe our relationship to self-expression and self-promotion and to allow ourselves to be celebrated, seen, and appreciated. We had chances to practice communicating with confidence, sharing our ideas with the world, and allowing our voices to be heard loud and clear.

Mercury’s ingress into Virgo brings a more reserved and analytical vibe and encourages us to shift our focus inward. This transit supports our ability to access deep states of focus and concentration, inspires us to deepen our self-analysis and self-observation, and invites us to integrate more discernment into our lives.

 

Mercury enters Virgo: Problem-Solving and Daily Optimization

 

Virgo is a Mutable Earth archetype, the sign through which we develop a conscious relationship with our physical body and our health, and we gain awareness of what we have to do, daily, to preserve our wellness. We become aware of the impact of our everyday choices, we analyze what doesn’t function optimally, both externally and internally, and we learn to embrace a service-oriented perspective. We also learn to discern between what is useful and what isn’t, we select and categorize information, and we focus on solving problems and optimizing our reality.

During Mercury in Virgo transit, our mental energy will be directed toward problem-solving, improving functionality, and optimizing of daily tasks, work, and chores. Establishing and maintaining healthy habits and routines is a topic likely to take center stage during the upcoming weeks, a favorable time to improve our nutrition, sleep habits, and exercise routines. This transit could inspire many of us to focus on decluttering, deep cleaning, and all sorts of cleansing practices aimed at purifying our environment as well as our bodies.

Mercury in Virgo invites us to be more mindful about what we take in, both physically and energetically, and to be more discerning relative to the energies we expose ourselves to, the thoughts we entertain, the information we consume, the food we choose, the environments we spend time in.

 

Crystal Pick for Mercury Enters Virgo: Hematite

 

As Mercury will be in Virgo for longer than usual, hematite is an excellent Virgo-associated stone to keep you grounded and strong, and your mind clear and discerning throughout this long transit, even while Mercury is retrograde.

It’s a very calming, nurturing, yin energy stone to help you stay cool and collected even when heated emotions or mental tensions arise. Regulating and harmonizing, hematite will help you return to your natural rhythms and cycles as it nourishes your mind, body, and spirit from the deep power of the Earth.

Its heavy iron content acts like an anchor to ground your awareness into the physical plane, increasing your focus and determination, and sharpening your mental faculties and perception to find the best solutions going forward. If you find yourself feeling over-critical or worried during this transit, hold onto some hematite and soak in its grounding and protective energy.

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