Going back, reviewing, and looking through archives are always good activities when Mercury goes retrograde, as this process can help us identify unresolved issues from our past and integrate the new information.

What better way to do that, I thought, then to go back through my archives on The Pisces Chronicles (which, I’m sorry to say, is going to have to stay down for several more months). As I was browsing through my old articles, I found a post I wrote last May, when Mercury went retrograde in Gemini. Here’s an excerpt:

Mercury goes retrograde tomorrow, and while it won’t be as difficult as last February’s retrograde, it could be far more interesting.

As I noted in my latest post on RealAstrologers.com, Mercury and Neptune go retrograde within half an hour of each other, and they’re in a close trine. In addition, Chiron went retrograde this morning, also tightly trine Mercury and in conjunction with Neptune and the North Node. What does this mean? (Post continued below…)

Mercury rules communications, commerce, and traffic flow. When he’s retrograde, we tend to experience frustration and delay in these areas. Neptune is the planet of psychic phenomena, vision, and spirituality, but there also is an element of confusion, delusion, and being out of touch with reality. You never really know which it is until you’re out the other side.

Chiron, which was discovered in 1977 and named for the centaur in Greek mythology who mentored heroes and gods, is associated with healing body, mind, and spirit.

Putting these three energies together, I see unprecedented potential for healing our underlying energy fields, what some call the “higher mind.” Whether it comes from “above” or “below” doesn’t matter. The point is that it’s invisible energy that provides the building blocks for our material existence. When you release blockages and negative patterns from your underlying energy field, you tackle many problems at their source instead of just curing the symptoms.

Since Mercury is about communications and our thought patterns, we have an opportunity here to step back and take a look at how erroneous beliefs might be tripping us up. These beliefs may be about ourselves, others, or the world we live in. This review process falls within the category of activities that work better during retrograde periods.

The North Node is about our destiny and purpose. There’s no higher purpose right now than healing the planet, and to do that, we have to heal ourselves at the same time. This extraordinary astrological configuration is providing us with a three-week window to do just that.

This year, Mercury went retrograde in a close trine with the lunar North Node but square Neptune and Chiron, with Jupiter also in the mix. Jupiter will be exactly conjunct Chiron on May 23 and Neptune on May 27, with Neptune turning retrograde on May 28 and Chiron turning retrograde on May 30 — the day Mercury returns direct. Jupiter turns retrograde two weeks later, on June 15.

The theme I wrote about last year is still in effect, if not more so. We can use that energy for deep healing, and many people I know are doing just that. One friend has had back problems all her life and decided last month to start working with a chiropractor last month to get the constant pain and aggravation under control. I just received an e-mail from her that the effort was wildly successful. She is pain-free for the first time in many years, which is of course extremely liberating. The back is literally our “support system,” so I am sure that this development will impact many other areas of her life in the weeks and months to come.

Incidentally, I have not seen her in over a year, and we reconnected just as Mercury was turning retrograde.

I see from comments left on previous posts that some of you are going through healing processes, too. To all, I wish the positive, healing effects of the extraordinary planetary energies in play.

Much love and courage to all,
Pat

P.S. Stay tuned for news of my consultation status …

Image: The Education of Achilles by Donato Creti, 1714 (Musei Civici d’Arte Antica, Bologna). The mythological Chiron was a mentor to heroes and known as a great astrologer.