Debates as The Hunger Games

WHY aren't we standing hand in hand spreading messages of hope, recovery, and healing. This is not the time for me, it's the time for we and us. As Jenna Maroney said on 30 ROCK: <<You two can talk about America all you want, but I’m not going to listen, because there’s no 'I' or 'Me' in America. I mean, if I'm gonna get political, it's gonna be to build a better country for Jenna Maroney. It's an opportunity to finally put a pro-Jenna president in the White House.>> That's all it feels like. If any of those persons wanted what's best for the COUNTRY, then they wouldn't be talking about themselves, they'd be talking about us. and they SURE as hell wouldn't circle up and Hunger Games the new kid in town like they did. I wouldn't have one of those people over my house let alone make them my chicken pot pie (okay, Mayor Pete 'cause he's adorbs and to meet his dogs, and 'cause we're both EpiscoPals ...) ANYWAY ! ENOUGH ! i'm back ! after taking some days off to get those astrology forecasts out, (gewrl, and if you think they were long? that wasn't even HALF of it ... "watch this space") ... and I gotta get TONS off my desk, so here's to a kissy day for kissy YOU and kissy me, and let's DOOOO it ! ! ! LOVE you ! and please to take some hugs and kisses along for your journey from me right here at werk. WERK werk werk werk werk

Juanita Moore

Lettuce Learn from Ms. Juanita Moore today, shall we? from Greenwood in The Great ! State ! of MISSISSIPPI ! ! She wanted to be a performer and took a part in the chorus line at the Cotton Club before becoming a film extra. Yearning to perform significant roles in plays relevant to her times, she joined with The Negro Ensemble Company as Vice President of the original Cambridge Players and took a production of The Amen Corner to The Broadway, kids. She became friends with Marlon Brando, and asked him to lend James Baldwin $75 so that he could write a play, BLUES FOR MISTER CHARLIE, loosely based on the Emmett Till murder that occurred in Money, Mississippi, before the Civil Rights Movement began. Ms. Moore was married to bus driver Charles Burris for 50 years until his death in 2001, and she lived on 13 more years 'til 10 months shy of her hundredth birthday, dying of Natural Causes. xoxo

James Clear: Habits are a memory of past success

#GoodStuff #BumperStickerSpirituality #Habits are essentially a memory of steps that solved a problem in the past. #UrWelcome. xoxo ~ Atomic Habits by James Clear

June Jordan ... we are the ones we have been waiting for

<< Our earth is round and, among other things, that means that you and I can hold completely different points of view and both be right. The difference of our positions will show stars in your window I cannot even imagine. Your sky may burn with light while mine, at the same moment, spreads beautifully to darkness ...

Which means, by the way:
I am not wrong:
Wrong is not my name.
My name is my own, my own, my own,
and I can’t tell you who the hell set things up like this
but I can tell you that from now on
my resistance
my simple and daily and nightly self-determination
may very well cost you your life

For, I am a feminist,
and what that means to me is much the same as the meaning of the fact that I am Black;
it means that I must undertake to love myself
and to respect myself
as though my very life depends upon self-love and self-respect.
And who will join this?
and will sing and sing back into the mountains?
and if necessary even under the sea?
…we are the ones we have been waiting for ... ~ June Jordan >>

Love is NOT the limitation; love is the flying. The Universe Is Unconditional Love.

<< We were created out of love, to be loved, and covered in unconditional, inexhaustible love from the very Source of love. So for us to live as if we were unloved is the limitation, self-imposed, not the other way around. Living with the perception of being unloved is like clipping a bird's wing and removing its ability to fly. A bird is not defined by being grounded, but by her ability to fly.

Remember this: humans are defined not by their limitations, but by the intentions the Universe has for them; not by what people seem to be, but by everything it means to be created in the image of the Eternal.

Love is NOT the limitation; love is the flying. The Universe Is Unconditional Love.

If any one thing matters then all things matter. Because each of us is important, everything we do is important. Every time we forgive, the universe changes; every time we reach out and touch a heart or a life, the world changes; with every kindness and service, seen or unseen, The Universe's eternal purposes are accomplished and nothing will be the same again.

Forgiveness is not about forgetting. It is about letting go of another person's throat. All the Universe wants from us is to trust with what little we can, and grow in loving people around us with the same love poured upon and in and through us. It's not our job to change others, or to convince them, of anything. We are free to love without an agenda.

Oh! So many believe that it is love that grows, but it is The Knowing that grows and love simply expands to contain it. ~ mostly William Paul Young from The Shack >>

2020: Looking back, looking foward

We can be taught through experience? or we can learn through Wisdom. Which will it be. Do you want the learning to happen TO you? or do you want to willingly study and prepare, do you want to be ready to be actively engaged so that you don’t have to RE-act, you can have as much of the situation under control as possible. Sure, no kiddin’, the chaos is still gonna fly around our heads, but srsly, I’m sick to death of allowing circumstances to dictate my impulses, I’m tired as all get out of being pummeled by selfishness and ugliness, that I think it best to study up, prep up, train like an athlete, and face our destiny head on like warriors.

Listen, I don’t mean to threaten you with a good time, but we can do this the easy way or the hard way, and the EASY way is going to take A LOT of work. It’s going to take a selfless concerted effort on our part, on the part of those who are awake while they’re alive, those who are paying attention and who want to strive to make this world a better place. We’ll talk about the 1960s in a second, but meanwhile …

All these happenings in the heavens are all going to happen with or without our consent, and they are going to happen with or without our cooperation, too. We can swim in the current and navigate our trajectory through it, gorgeously, or we can let it hit us, knock us off our feet, tumble us ass over teakettle, and sweep us in its wake. I mean, we can just walk outside and hit the pavement, push our way through the wind and have the elements pelt us, do our very best Lear with ye olde, “Blow winds, and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow!”

but srsly?  WHY ! do we want to continue to live the hard way when there’s SUCH an EASIER way. Because it’s gonna take some work? Well TOUGH TIDDY ! Know what? There are no grown-ups in the room, people ! So, know what that makes US !?!? THE GROWN UPS IN THE ROOM people. WE’RE the ones who are going to have to continue and double-down putting in all this karmic yoga. WE’RE the ones who must continue in selfless actions, philanthropy, volunteering, and embracing selflessness. The era upon which we’re embarking is for the common good, not for individual glory.

I know that sounds very far away, especially looking around us at all the ugliness, but the day is going to come when there are going to be more of us than of that, because it’s what happens when the extreme implodes and the pendulum starts to swing the other way. Karmic Yoga is a means of serving the community and saving the world. There's no goal of glory or fame involved, there’s also no bitching allowed either; we have to pour sweet and kind and good and whatever is charming and beautiful and worthy in to the ether so that it can get in to the stream and spread throughout the Universe.

I know I jumped head first in to this, I’m sorry/not sorry, but I thought it might help to come at an astrological forecast through the back door and not begin with the astrological jazz words. There are eternal dispositions to every one of these massive celestial objects which spin and whirl and twirl and twinkle in the heavens because they’re the exact same ways in which they’ve been dancing since they first exploded on the scene. People been studying and charting and graphing their behaviours and our responses to their positions in this universe for thousands of years, so … we can navigate the immediate future the easy way or the hard way, and here's what's transpiring as we speak.

See, we are moving out of two centuries of an epoch ruled by materialism and might-makes-right (the age of Pisces), and into an era of two centuries of interrelatedness and community (the age of Aquarius). It’s not going to be an easy transition, but some light news is after this Mercury retrograde at the end of March? things are going to speed up at a mind-numbing pace. A door to a radically changed world is about to be unlocked in late March and kicked wide open by December when the forecast says all this … ugliness ... will resolve itself. By the end of the upcoming three year period, if we’re not personally radically changed beings, then we really are just coasting.

Now, know what? COASTING IS PERFECTLY RESPECTABLE, #NoJudge. I am fine and dandy where I am.  But know what else? There’s so much more to do. There’s so much more I can do if I’m given the gift of another day. and if I can stomach the selfishness of sitting on what’s been given me? If I don’t make the most and the best use of all the resources at my disposal? Then that’s a shande as they say in Yiddish, a shame … a low-down dirty shame … a misuse of gifts and talents and opportunities afforded me each and every day I wake, and the LEAST I can do is some Karmic Yoga … not for the benefit of Karmic Cleansing, not for any benefit on my part, but for the betterment of humankind, pitching in … it’s the least we can do, no?

Okay, I know I buried the lede, but here we go, DEFINITIONS FIRST !

• JUPITER: The planet symbolized as the sky god ! the god of thunder. Know what thunder is? The result of lightning. Know what lightening is? When nature equalizes itself after a buildup of electrostatic energy. The sudden increase in pressure and temperature from lightning produces a rapid expansion of air and creates a sonic shock wave, often referred to as a "thunderclap" or "peal of thunder". Thunder and lightning are ways the Universe cleanses itself from a buildup of tension. JUPITER is also the bringer of Light, the god of gods. JUPITER's temperament is philosophical, variety loving, knowledgeable. JUPITER LOVES expansion, indulgence, growth, optimism, risk taking. JUPITER  governs our ethics, our philosophy about life, where we want to learn and how we can benefit from that knowledge. JUPITER is a lucky charm that expands whatever it touches, thus showing what it is that we do on a large scale. JUPITER is about the search for truth, and governs law, religion, philosophy, and education.

• SATURN: The planet symbolized by the god of farmers, sort of, the god of agriculture kind of, the patron of sowing and harvest, seeds and wealth, abundance. SATURN LOVES hardworking and ambitious people with discipline and commitment. SATURN LOVES to reward those persons who work hard with fame and success and achievement and a sterling legacy. Saturn describes our ambition in life, our major life lessons, and our feelings of inadequacy. SATURN informs us about restrictions, limitations, boundaries, safety, and practicality. 

• CAPRICORN: The star sign ruled by Saturn and embodies all of the above attributes of the planet Saturn.

• AQUARIUS:   The star sign who says, "We’re in this together, I am a connector, I achieve and desire to achieve and make a name for myself in this world; I am orderly, a planner, ambitious, and know how to have and maintain discipline."

So … Jupiter and Saturn are huge, big planets that have a lot of gravitational pull in the galaxy. Every 30 years, Saturn comes back to the exact place it was when you were born. Your 29th to 30th year on this planet is very important, it’s called your “Saturn Return Year,” and it KIND of solidifies the type of person you're going to be for a while … we sort of come to some conclusions around 25, 26, we experiment trying on different personalities and costumes, but about 28? 29? our subconscious starts to firm up who we are and it’s not just the “ohmuhguh I’m turning 30 !” sort of thing, it’s actually a force greater than our fears.

So … Jupiter chases Saturn through the heavens, and every TWENTY years, Saturn and Jupiter end up spending time together in the same place, the same “house,” the same area of the wheel of the zodiac. Every SIXTY years, Saturn and Jupiter come “home” to Capricorn where they are most comfortable, where they have “Dignity” because they are in their home turf, where they have the highest universal vibration, and where they are most powerful in influence.

Know what 2020 - 60 is? 1960. Remember what happened in the 60s? Chaos, yes, but a destruction of all norms, all strongholds on what is true and good and right and just. All the walls surrounding all the lies came tumbling down and all the people who did the most harm were uncovered, at least, even though many not brought to justice. Even though many of the lessons learned were easily forgotten or misplaced or taken over by other forces like the "ME" generation of the 70s, the "GREED" generation of the 80s, the bills which came due in the 90s, and the general flailing of the aughts and here we are ...

So right now we’re going in to a period where the cosmos is lined up in such a way that we can completely change who we are and our trajectory through this existence. Like … you know those times when people say

… outside of like rehab, but rehab too, I guess, I mean like

someone goes from being a paralegal to being Wanda Sykes

someone goes from gluing plastic flowers on to his mother’s flip flops to being Michael Kors

THAT is the level of complete Doctor Who Regeneration possible to each of us is right now in this era … as everything else swoops around us, and things get faster and nastier until it all implodes, we are able, right at this second, not as much to make our dreams come completely true, as we are literally on The Cusp of A Great New Age, building an infrastructure to support a major refocusing, setting priorities, learning on a whole new level, and being inspired to achieve a legacy that is worthy of the gifts we've been given.

REALISE ! however, this is taking place in Aquarius. Aquarius is concerned with the environment and with paring down excesses. Notice the new plastic bag ban that is coming in to effect, notice little things you might be sacrificing, ordering in, going out, to save up for a Ninja Foodie or a cruise (ooo, not a cruise, a trip to a domestic seashore far away from international travelers ... sorry ... too soon?). Think of these adjustments not as punishments but for sacrifices which will reward in days and years to come.

It is possible right now to begin starring an entirely different movie if we want to, and the universe is POISED to remove all the obstacles in our way, bless our every step with bounty and peace and prosperity and auspicious voyages …

Pam Gregory says that if we can just allow ourselves these monumental blessings, if we will just get out of our own way, do the work, and allow these blessings to come upon us, we can use these months “positively to find a sense of deeper personal purpose to live with a deeper state of meaning in our lives … like it's almost starting our life with a blank sheet of paper because the veil is so thin between the inconceivable galactic energies which are descending into our earth plane right now, so much so that … this is a superb time to create an entirely new life for ourselves … and the more we can forget the past the better …

... so we need to just get that blank sheet of paper, meditate, think of what we would really like to offer to the world, living with a deeper sense of meaning and a deeper sense of personal purpose, and what best of ourselves we can bring to the party to help heal the planet.”

One of the blessings of Mercury in retrograde during this era is, anything that stalls? any business dealings, any writings, any projects, any communications which don’t quite click? the stalling gives us the opportunity to check our work, to cross the Ts and dot the Is and wow is THAT an antiquated phrase. The pause gives us time to make absolutely sure that everything is absolutely correct. THIS is the time to do our breath work. THIS is the time to meditate, to chant, to ruminate. THIS is the time when the Galactic Center is open to us, hears us, blesses us, and is at its highest frequency in our consciousness.

We are well blessed by imagining a column of white, diamond-sparkly light coming from above through the top
 of our head, pouring that light in to our heart’s center, and imagining breathing through that center and expanding the light throughout the universe. The cross of a “t,” the light down from up and out through us. We are poised to make quantum leaps in our own elevation and the world’s evolution.

I’ll close with this right now because there’s an important watch-cry for the next, oh, 90 years that I think we need to employ:

SIMPLE IS BESTEST. 

If you're writing something and it's three paragraphs? make it one. Especially right now during this Mercury Retrograde (Feb/Mar 2020)? Especially through the end of the year? We may have every best intention on the planet to tell someone something? But if they have no ears to hear it, it’s going to possibly go south, possibly be used against us.

There is no “convincing” anyone of anything right now, people are locked down, baybee, locked down TIGHT, and they’re not letting go. They’re happy in what they swear works, they say they don’t want to bitch and moan and the next thing you know they’re reposting something HORRIBLE about this one or that thing and all you can do is shake your head. They know spreading discord is antithetical to a life filled with bubbling joy, but habits are hard break. The older I get the more I realise why old southern women do that thing, that shake their head thing, with a wry smile and say, mmph mmph mmph.

Listen, now, conversely, people are going to be careless with what they’re saying, and a good way not to get caught up in the misunderstanding on OUR side is just the old side-step.  People are going to tromp through puddles, but you can just jump to the side and not get caught, not get splashed on.

We are NOT required to engage, you know, we are NOT required to respond. That’s where the old chestnut “bless your heart” comes from, and you don’t even have to say it out loud. I don’t CARE anymore if people think I’m rude, I literally just stand there now, I literally just walk away. I can't afford to say anything anymore because it’s not worth it to me, it’s like talking to a drunk.

When I MUST engage, I give it the old E.S.T. routine, Erhard Seminars Training, a.k.a Meisner Acting Method, “What I think I hear you saying is this, and then I repeat what they just said to me back to them with no line readings, no emotion, just the exact words they used. I've LITERALLY had people completely deny they said any of that, and most times they’ll hear how awful or stupid or careless what they said was, and they’ll try to fix it with backpedals or new utterances, but “Honestly, Lucy,” it’s just exhausting and so much better to let it be and let them figure things out for themselves.

There is SO much more to talk about, but let's start with this, shall we? now you have the overview? Peace, dear ones, and love and soul ...

<< Harmony and understanding, sympathy and trust abounding. No more falsehoods or derisions! Golden living dreams of visions, mystic crystal revelation, and the mind's true liberation ... Aquarius ... >>

Mercury Retrograde Once and For All permalink

Hello, stargazers. Love you. This is going to be one of two longish entries because of the monumental shifts transpiring in the Universe which will affect us for the next 30, 60, 90 years and require a look-back to 1960, 2000, and even 1100 ! c.e. ! isn’t that thrilling ?!?!

THIS post is going to be a permalink for MERCURY RETROGRADE and this information is ALWAYS true, regardless of where Mercury is Right Now on [INSERT DATE HERE]. These are the Cosmic Rules for a Mercury Retrograde.

p.s.: I haven’t been writing lately because it seemed to be the same old thing: "new moons offer a chance to sew new dreams; full moons bring to fruition the dreams we sewed; Be Kind Rewind, lather rinse repeat." So, ganug already with all of that, you got bored, I got bored … and then I was sitting in the sacristy the other Sunday and the 15 minute warning bell sounded and it reminded me of my time in the rolling hills of southern Indiana when those same sounds called us back to the Abbey and we would hike up our skirts and say, “SISTERS ! WE’RE LATE FOR PRAYERS !” … (okay, maybe that was just me? I can’t remember, but) I remembered at that moment there have ritually been bells which ring to remind us to bring our spirits home, to center ourselves, to ready ourselves from a higher purpose … and so if there needs to be a yenta to clang the teakettle, then let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

THE FAKE-NEWS-IN-ASTROLOGY-REPORTING IS THE TERROR BAKED IN TO THE WORDS “MERCURY RETROGRADE,” okay? So quit pushing that narrative please? Mercury retrogrades are WONDERFUL ! ya know why?

“I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way s/he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, and tangled Christmas tree lights.” Maya Angelou, sweetie. She goes on to say, “I've learned that no matter what happens, or how bad it seems today, life does go on, and it will be better tomorrow.”

If you’re new to the ‘ole Rumi chestnut: "Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself,” then Mercury Retrogrades are thee Perfect time to experience the LEISURE the Universe offers us during these periods. OH ! it can be such a languorous time ‘cause GUESS WHAT ! there’s NOTHING you can DO about it except have aye GORGEOUS sense of humour about the whole thing.

When calamity strikes, it’s a time for you to shine, to be that devil-may-care gal in all the ‘40s fashion shots, laughing at it all, "AH ! ha ha ha !," and remember that beauty is not in “good looks,” no; beauty is grace, grace under pressure and stress; beauty resonates from the heart and pours out of the eyes and makes the entire Being glow with a radiance that falls on everyone in its path. OH ! to be in the company of a truly beautiful human, who never wishes to be regarded, no; they turn your gaze to something truly beautiful like some flowers out the window, the perfection of this cup of coffee, the magik of the moment you’re sharing; true beauty isn’t something one possesses, true beauty is a gift we give others.

“Okay cute, Auntie, but my computer just froze, all my crap is on there, I lost my phone, I missed my train, my email was hacked, and I keep getting in to fights because no one can hear anything I’m saying which is all intentionally life-giving.”

Yeah, I get all that and I love ya like my best pair of socks, but you knew we were going on a months-long journey and I told you to pack a change of clothes and some nibbly things … We gotta be growed up and know that if we’re in a period when transportation is going to CONSISTENTLY be thwarted, then we need to LEAVE EXTRA EARLY and if we don’t, and our plans are stalled (STALLED, HELLOWUH, sitting still in space) then that’s on us and it’s a no bitching zone. (and seriously, if you don't back up your data or if your data isn't in the cloud and on a thumb drive then please join us in the 21st Century. Thank you.)

I mean, BITCH ALL YOU WANT ! PLEASE ! LET IT OUT ! LET IT RIP ! LET IT ROAR ! but it CAN’T continue to be a monologue you pull out four times a year every time you show up somewhere, every time you’re in the middle of a typical stall, and you walk in and serve a performance of "I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS CRAP" over and over and over again. Aren't YOU tired of it? It's EXHAUSTING and  it’s cancerous, that kind of thing, and it spreads like wildfire.

Why not choose beauty instead, and take along a copy of Atlas Shrugged or shoplift the new issue of Vogue on your way to the train or take some beautiful sheets of paper and a gorgeous liquid pen and WRITE someone a friggin’ LETTER. Write it to yourself ! about how FRUSTRATED you are being stalled on a train under the east RIVER for an hour, but for the love of apple strudel, DON’T say you didn’t know it was going to happen, DON’T sit there and add to a collective evil YAMMER about how the subway sucks and people suck and Mercury Retrograde sucks …

evil really does feel good, doesn't it? being mean is so satisfying and spreading discord brings a great self-satisfaction because it catches so quickly that fire, but those days are over and gone, please? WE MUST BE BETTER than this, we MUST CONCENTRATE on THEE COLLECTIVE GOOD or we’re not going to come out of this era whole or kind or nice or healthy, it’s going to be like Pottersville in It’s a Horrible Life because George Bailey was never there to be selfless. WE are George Bailey, get it?.

Can’t you see, darling one, that the Universe gives us these respites through the symbol of the planet Mercury for our very own good? To breathe, to restock, to replenish, to check ourselves walking through this life? Let’s take a look, definitively, at Mercury, shall we?

Mercury is the ruling planet of both:

• Virgo (I serve, I analyze, I am logical, I am efficient, I pursue health and thrive on routine); and
• Gemini (with quick wit and brilliant intellect, I connect to the Universe through self-expression and personal observation).

Mercury has its highest power when it is in Virgo and

• Aquarius (We’re in this together, I am a connector, I achieve and desire to achieve and make a name for myself in this world, I am orderly, a planner, ambitious, and know how to have and maintain discipline). 

[I KNOW this bit is an o.t., I know this bit is “off tangent,” but it is NOT ! off topic. When we’re speaking of a retrograde which is just a planet who went one way, then traced its path backwards and is now coming forward on the same path, we necessarily need to look at the “shadow” side of these signs, the sign on the opposite side of the astrological wheel, because the planet is going backwards, hello, and also the negative aspects of that opposite sign (THEE VERY WORST of the unrepentant spirit’s default) which is the worst case of any scenario that can occur during a Mercury retrograde, just so we can see how that negativity can manifest in our spirit.

So the shadow of

• Virgo is Pisces: With Virgo, "Mercury expresses the way that we integrate what we experience and how we make sense of the world around us through our mind." The shadow side of Pisces is to just give up. OH ! do they give the best pity parties, and they can drag ass. The bed can be on fire and they are positive that someone else is gonna get a hose. They will avoid conflict at all costs and at the first trip or spill of the day? they’re gonna go home, get in bed, pull the covers over their head, and stay there until it’s safe (and they DON’T want to TALK about it).
• Gemini is Sagittarius: The shadow side of Sagittarius is touchy about criticism so much so that you can’t even DEAL with them, they are completely unapproachable. They react violently if their actions are judged to be wrong, they don’t want to be micromanaged, they’re not going to check their work, they’re just going to shoot information out from every orifice, and if you look over their shoulder you’re gonna walk away with a bloody stump. Sagitarians are very physical and can put a lot of vitality into an argument … “it’s called, uh … OOMPH. (#TheWomen)”; and the shadow side of
• Aquarius is Leo: The dark side Leo is personified by this era in U.S. politics: the trait is schadenfreude, sheer and utter delight in other’s misfortunes and glee in watching them suffer. It's worse when they act like they're sorry, and it's over-the-top insincere. Leos throw temper tantrums, especially if they feel ignored and they will drop you like a hot rock to find someone else to pay attention to them. 

Now let’s get back to it …]


<< In classical Roman mythology, Mercury is the messenger of the gods, noted for his speed and swiftness. Astrologically speaking, Mercury represents the principles of communication, mentality, thinking patterns, rationality and reasoning, and adaptability and variability. Mercury governs schooling and education, the immediate environment of neighbors, siblings and cousins, transport over short distances, messages and forms of communication such as physical mail, email and telephone, newspapers, journalism and writing, information gathering skills and physical dexterity. It is the planet of day-to-day expression and relationships. Mercury's action is to take things apart and put them back together again. It is an opportunistic planet, decidedly unemotional and curious. In medicine, Mercury is associated with the nervous system, the brain, the respiratory system, the thyroid and the sense organs. >> sort of Wiki

We good? We get it? So what happens in a retrograde is:

 

There’s a ramp up to Mercury Retrograde Station where Mercury just sits in the heavens and STALLS before it goes BACKWARDS to see if you’re paying ATTENTION ! and to give you a chance to settle in, and get ready. That ramp up you'll sometimes feel, and you'll be all ... my printer just exploded, do you think there's a Mercury Retrograde coming? and then in middle of the whole thing Mercury sits again at a Mercury Direction Station where you get a chance to say, "Hey ... I could be kinder, I could learn to be still, I could extend my mercy on someone instead of kicking them in the throat," and then Mercury trots along smartly to push ALL the lessons we didn’t learn RIGHT back in our face … Sorry, I’m sure there are more lovely ways to phrase that, but time is running out, kids, and we need to start shining with peace and love and joy and stop pushing crabbiness, discord, and dis-ease, m’kay?

Maybe we might try “Clearing Our Shadow,” looking at each Mercury Retrograde cycle as a small wake up call and an opportunity to notice when we are caught up in the patterns of our own shadow. It is during Retrogrades that we tend to be less conscious, that we tend to re-act as opposed to bend in the breeze, and we get caught up in the chaos instead of keeping steady. Moreover, when we act from this place, we set ourselves up for frustration and failure.

The two pauses Mercury makes, the one just before going backwards, and the one just before trotting forwards, are breaths the Universe gives us to take stock, to decide who we want to be, to get it together to proceed feyusly through the world. We are given those gorgeous opportunities to choose, so, Let’s Choose Life, shall we? Let’s choose goodness and kindness. Let’s plan ahead, let’s get out of the way, let’s extend peace and life-giving words. Yeah, it’s all very expensive, but don’t you think it’s the least we can do for the gift of waking up each day?

Some of this is Roman Oleh Yaworsky.