That’s right people Mercury is direct!! As of Tuesday the 7th our messenger man with winged sandal is busting out and ready for forward moving action! We are a culture devoted to progress and physical manifestation so we often dread the internal, hidden type of movement that occurs during retrogrades. I find the widespread dread and fearsome concerns surrounding Mercury retrogrades unfortunate. It makes me sad that even people who know nothing about astrology have some simplified belief that there’s something bad about mercury retrograde. That couldn’t be farther from the truth!!!
Personally, I had an awesome retrograde. The re-organization, clarity, integration, clear out, retrieval and integrating of my life was huge. I feel thoroughly rearranged and increasingly clear on my priorities, needs and direction of my creative fire. As I begin to move forward now with intentional action I feel directed by my new awareness and look back on the last month with awe and appreciation.
What the hell did mercury just do to me? Whatever he did, I like it. I decided to go back into my reading library and remind myself of the exact superpowers of Mercury, or as the Greeks referred to him Hermes. I found some cool shit.
I offer you this little synopsis with the hopes that you might reflect on how Mercury hooked you up this last month? What did He smuggle over the borders, barter with your Ego to include, what message did He bring back from the underworld and what new bridges and connections are you enjoying thanks to his internal rearranging????
I hope you might open your heart to Hermes and rejoice the next time Mercury goes into retrograde. I’m hoping I might start a revolution in the astrology community and we might all consider celebrating the fact that Mercury is center stage three times a year bringing us his particular brand of wisdom.
Here’s some fun info on my buddy Hermes:
Hermes is the border-crosser and a trickster who rules the realms of commerce, trade, cheating, stealing, and bridging. As the connection-maker, he acts as messenger of the gods linking the gods and goddesses to each other. Hermes stands at the borders of the psychological landscape, identifying where the known and unknown territories of the psyche lie within us. As lord of commerce he then regulates the traffic at those borders. In the myths he often resorts to trickery, cheating, and stealing to bring material across from the unconscious realms and into the streams of our consciousness. You see he’ll do whatever it takes to excite our evolution. In this way, Hermes maintains connections between all aspects of psychic life.
Hermes archetypal energy serves to re-establish movement in stuck and stagnant parts of our psyche. The center of our ruling consciousness is enriched by a good flowing relationship with the trade and commerce occurring at the outer realms of the kingdom. Our psychic health relies on this type of movement from the outer realms of the unconscious to bring meaning, newness, primitive truth, and authenticity to the ruling consciousness. In other words, Hermes expands our identity and keeps things spicy!
We are all familiar with the concept of the hermaphrodite and mythological symbol of bi-sexuality, which relates to a unification of the masculine and feminine energies, the foundational energies needed for creative and psychological life. The connecting energy of Hermes has the capacity to reconcile these opposites eliciting the birth of new awareness and psychic growth. Hermes has the capacity to bridge paradox, achieved in part by his capacity to travel into and back from the unconscious realms, unifying aspects of our hidden parts with their opposing counterpart, leading us towards connected wholeness.
Hermes is also adept at finding the resources from the soul’s depth, a kind of psychological thieving. An individual psyche may steal from their own memory, or from the archetypal bank of the unconscious to regain psychological movement and internal guidance.
The myths of Hermes demonstrates that in conjunction with his thefts a sacrifice is made, showing us that in order to gain the riches of new psychic material we must sacrifice an outdated belief, ego identity, etc.
Psychologically speaking, bartering is a trading between two psychic realities, creating eros, a connection between the two. It is through these acts that these two brothers come to honor and respect each other’s reality.
*References: “Hermes and His Children,” by Rafael Lopez-Pedraza
Upcoming Crowrider Classes with Laura Tabet:
1) Autumnal Equinox Ritual, Friday September 21st 7-9:30pm, $40, Berkeley, CA
An evening to ritualize the turning of the season, to practice our intuitive skills, engage in expressive arts, connect to our community and ground in our bodies in this season of letting go, surrender and inner dreaming.
2) 6-week Transformative Workshop, Berkeley, CA October 9th, 16th, 23rd, 30th, Nov 6th, 13th (6 Tuesday nights 7-9:30pm), $300
Designed to more deeply initiate substantial change in your life, to release old paradigms of perception and liberate the unique expression of the soul. Expand your imagination, capacities and consciousness, dive into questions, myths, personal inquiries, astrological realities, experience shamanic journeying, learn energy work, express your inner artist and more!
