Weaving New Tapestries of Belief (This Summer's Retrogrades of the Personal Planets: Mercury, Venus, and Mars)

Over the past few months, Venus in Gemini and Mercury (ruler of Gemini) in Cancer, have been in a sweet dance, weaving threads around one another, and now we are beginning to be able to see this new tapestry they are weaving.

Since both planets went retrograde during this time, it extended their stay in their respective signs, strengthening the energy of these transits. 

​Retrogrades are times when planets appear to retrace their steps through recent degrees of the zodiac, and are times when energetically, we get the opportunity to review - to go back and get something we missed and make the according adjustments.  

Venus, planet of love and money, by way of values and value of self, joined Mercury in Gemini, Mercury's sign, on April 3rd, 2020. 

Then on May 6th, the nodal axis of the moon switched from Cancer/Capricorn, where it had been since 2018, to Gemini/Sagittarius, where it will be until 2022. ​

4.3 Venus enters Gemini
4.10 Venus enters RX Shadow
5.6 North Node moves into Gemini
5.13 Venus stations RX at 21 deg Gemini
5.29 Mercury enters Cancer
6/2 Mercury enters Shadow
6/17 Mercury stations RX 14 deg Cancer
6/25 Venus stations direct at 5 deg Gem
​6/27 Mars enters Aries (for 6 mos)
7/12 Mercury stations direct 5 deg Cancer
7/26 Mars enters RX shadow
7/27 Mercury out of RX shadow in Cancer
​7/29 Venus out of RX shadow in Gemini
8/4 Mercury enters Leo
8/7 Venus enters Cancer
​9/10 Mars stations RX in 28 deg Aries

This brought even more importance to Gemini and Mercury as Venus prepared to station retrograde there.  This is because the north node is the point that points the way - it is "where we are growing to."  It's a point of increase, destiny, and growth, which shows us the pathway forward. 

​With the north node in Gemini, Mercury, Gemini's ruler, becomes more important as it becomes the "spokesperson" or "ambassador" for the north node transiting Gemini - our guiding light.  ​

On May 29th, Mercury left Gemini and entered Cancer.  

Mercury stationed retrograde on 6/17, just before Venus stationed direct in Gemini on 6/25, so that their retrogrades overlapped.  Then on 6/27, Mars entered Aries for an almost unheard of stay of six months (it usually takes two months for Mars to transit one sign).  

So what does all of this mean for us now?

Mercury rules the mind, thoughts, and communication, and is known as "the messenger".  Mercury, never too far from the sun astrologically (since it is between the earth and sun), moves through the zodiac the most quickly out of all of the planets, and has the most frequent retrogrades - three-four per year. 

It is fitting then, that we would benefit from more frequent reviews and edits of the things Mercury rules over - our thinking, thoughts, words, and communications.  

Mercury was retrograde this time in Cancer.  Cancer is the moon-ruled water sign connected with the past, childhood past, the mother, tribe, family, home, sense of belonging, ancestors, how we feel nurtured and safe and cared for, and our emotions - specifically our innate emotional reactions that originate deep in our subconscious that are a result of our past and ancestry.  

So, Mercury (the mind) retraced its steps (went retrograde) through the subconscious, emotions, and past (Cancer).  This means we have had the opportunity to look at (with the intellect) some deeply rooted behaviors and emotions, and how they affect our words, thoughts, and communications.  

Venus did the same thing (retraced its steps) in Gemini (Mercury's sign), but Venus rules love and money in our lives - technically, Venus rules our self-value and by way of that, our ability to align with and attract into our lives those things which we most desire.  Venus rules the feminine energy that resides within all of us, and our ability to attract and receive what we desire (as opposed to going after it - that's Mars energy - the masculine energy that resides within all of us).  

These two transits intertwined are helping us weave a new tapestry of belief around ourselves, our value of ourselves, and thus how that new version of ourselves weaves into the larger tapestry of our world and the universe. 

​Mercury helped us become aware of and clear out old emotions and the accompanying behavioral patterns, whether learned or handed down or from past experiences and wounds.  Venus helped us to see more clearly the truth of who we are, and to recognize our inherent and innate worth, and then weave that new tapestry of belief based on this new clarity.  

Now our attention is turning to the strong energy Mars is stirring up as it transits its own sign of Aries for six months and prepares to go retrograde on September 10th.  This is yet another turning inward and review, this time of our sense of self, our boundaries, our self-assertion, and our ability to go after what we desire directly. 

Mars is the sword that severs - the anger that rises up when we feel we need to protect, defend, or "draw a line.  It is also our passion.  Mars energy is an energy that requires careful handling, lest we cut ourselves off from too much, or numb ourselves to the point we cannot access our anger or passion. 

​Mars retrograde helps us better understand this energy within ourselves and our relationship to it.  Because Mars and Aries represent the self (Aries is the opposite sign of Venus-ruled Libra, the sign of "other," and relationship), now we are taking this new sense of self and self-worth gained during Venus' retrograde and reworking our relationship to Mars energy, bringing that into alignment with all the recent internal shifts that have taken place.

Right now, as Venus moves out of Gemini and into Cancer, and we shift our focus to the upcoming Mars retrograde, the Sumerian myth of Inanna's Descent - the myth that is associated with Venus retrograde (Inanna was the Sumerian predecessor of the Roman Venus) holds timely wisdom.  I have written about it previously in "Venus Retrograde in Gemini:  Rewiring Your Self-Worth," and "Venus Direct and Inanna's Journey Home,"  and will be diving into that myth and its relevance to the current astrology more in the near future.  

~Kasey