Author's Note: I feel the need to disclaim the quality of writing in this post. Mercury is retrograde, after all. So, with that in mind, I did my best to communicate these ideas in a way that is understandable. I'm not confident how well I did, but I'm choosing to blame any failures on Mercury.
If you are at all sensitive to the workings of the Universe, you may find yourself feeling a little extra these days. Tensions are high. Emotions are rampant. And energy is completely wackadoo. What gives?
There are many cosmic contributing factors to the energetic landscape at any given moment. And now is no exception. Three of the most notable current events exerting their influence on us wee little earthlings are the fact that we are right in the middle of the summer eclipse season, the Solstice just happened, and Mercury is in yet another retrograde phase. Any one of these events is enough to frizz your hair and frazzle your mind, but all three happening concurrently packs a wallop as ridiculous as one of those big cartoon spring-loaded boxing gloves nailing us square on the nose.
Let's break down each of these cosmic phenomena, and how they tend to influence us in our daily human lives. I am going to do my best to explain these complex subjects in simplified practical language. Please feel encouraged to do more research on your own for a deeper understanding of them.
Let's start with Eclipse Season, shall we?
Every year has two eclipse seasons. One happens roughly six months apart from the other. Each season consists of often two, but occasionally three, eclipses. There will always be one solar eclipse and one lunar eclipse, but the third could be either a solar or lunar eclipse. This is all determined by the orbital paths of the sun and moon around the earth and where they intersect. Again, if you want to learn more about the specifics of all this, I encourage you to take a trip down a Google hole. The information is readily available.
From a practical perspective, eclipse seasons are about tension. Eclipses are times when the Sun and Moon are basically in direct orbital relationship with one another. At the Solar eclipse, they are facing off directly, and at the Lunar eclipse, the Earth is stationed between their standoff. It's kind of like they're having a staring contest: It's intense and no one wants to be the first to blink.
This tension between Sun and Moon could also be viewed as tension between the light side of our Selves—the aspects of ourselves that we willingly acknowledge and share with the world—and the Shadow side—all those things we keep hidden, sometimes even from our own consciousness. In addition, the Light can also include external influences; the Shadow, internal. The Light is illuminating and accenting the things we're trying to hide, while the darkness is casting shadows on the “Instagram version” of our lives. It can be a very intense and uncomfortable mirror.
With great tension, there are two possible outcomes: The first is the creative outcome in which something beautiful is birthed from all that challenge. Think of how diamonds are created from intense pressure. The second is the destructive outcome in which something structural gets demolished. This could be a belief, a relationship, a material element (like a financial investment) or the like.
Either option can be a hardship or a blessing, depending on how you choose to perceive it and integrate it. For those who are able to surrender to the chaos of the season, and go with the flow of it, there will be great gains in expansion and growth. But, for those who try to keep everything happening within the framework of the Comfort Zone, it could feel like a very dreadful time full of loss and confusion and regression.
Basically, eclipse seasons set up circumstances that can force abrupt outcomes to situations we've been too chicken shit to address. This is a gift from the Universe to try to help nudge us toward acting on things we're really ready to get done and behind us. These are often things that threaten to open up our lives to new brilliance and flow, which is usually when we tend to drag our feet.
It's like you're Neo, and Morpheus has placed the red and blue pills before you. Will you willingly enter into the unknown of the new life that awaits you; the life you've been seeking? Or will you stay in your comfort zone knowing that it's all an illusion and probably isn't serving you? The choice is yours. Choose wisely.
Lesson 2: The Summer Solstice
The Summer Solstice is the apex point of the Sun's trajectory round the Earth. For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, it's the day with the longest span of sunlight. The Southern Hemisphere experiences this as the day with the shortest span of sunlight. (I'm in the Northern Hemisphere, and so will be framing this article from that perspective. Those of you in the Southern Hemisphere, just adjust for the opposite.) This is a pivotal point during the light half of the year when the Sun shifts from waxing to waning. We are at the height of the Light's power: We are stimulated more by external experiences and influences. We are showing more of ourselves to the outside world, both in our social expression and the wearing of fewer clothes. It's a more active time during which we tend to spend more hours out-of-doors in the big wide world of Nature. However … once we cross that peak of power at the Solstice, we enter the phase of waxing Light, and, with it, the beginnings of the decrease of all this external energy. Each day that follows will find us shining a little less brightly and being a little less extroverted until we reach the Winter Solstice when the solar tides shift on the axis once again.
So, we're already feeling intense levels of tension between our Light and our Shadows thanks to the eclipse season; things are coming to a head in our lives with much more speed and intensity than we are used to having to process. And we are also now, thanks to the energy of the Solstice, beginning to experience a decrease in our energy and in the fullness of our outward expression.
As if that wasn't enough, Mercury has gone rogue—I mean retrograde—adding a layer of mischief and annoyance that only this trickster can.
Mercury is the ruler of things like communication, travel, technology and logistics. When He goes retrograde, these are the areas of our lives that are affected.
As with all retrogrades, if we are able to use these times to take an inward approach around these aspects of ourselves and our lives, we are likely to find beautiful (if challenging) expansion and growth. Retrogrades are times for focusing on the internal influences, after all.
But, if, like many folx, we get caught up in reacting to the external chaos (Why can't I successfully get my point across? Why didn't that text go through? Where did I put my keys? Why are we suddenly fighting so much? And so on …) then we are pretty much dooming ourselves to a very turbulent ride through the retrograde period (and the shadow periods on either side of the retrograde).
To sum it all up … now is an intense time of intense tension. (Did you notice what I did there with the “tense” words?) The best course of action, IMHO, is to remain alert and aware, to consciously monitor our reactions to circumstances and to pause for some exploration of them before immediately reacting, and perhaps to do a little active inner work to get some insight into what might be ready for us to process during this time. And, of course, a little self-care goes a LONG way during times like this.
Remember, we are all experiencing the same cosmic influences. We might not all be experiencing them in the same way, but we're all in this soup together. Do what you can to maintain a sense of compassion, tolerance, and love for yourself and those around you.
This, too, shall pass.
Big love, Blissmakers! Until next time … xoxo!