Mercury Return,Carol Anne Ciocco

Mercury Return

Tree limbs rise and fall like ecstatic arms. Leaf sounds talk together like poets making fresh metaphors. ~ Rumi

At the water's edge, the same veined leaf returns, back and forth. - @semaphore


Today, September 12, Mercury stations direct. (There is much rejoicing in the land:) This means that in a few days we will have a more forward-moving feel to life. Mercury Retrograde at the end of the summer of the Cardinal Cross offered an opportunity to take a break and review. The problem is, not only is September a *new beginning* time, but the Cardinal Cross provides an incessant urging toward action. Mercury Retro just sorta through a monkey wrench or two into action-taking for some. So we might have felt like we had one foot on the gas, one foot on the brake. Stop - Go - Stop - Go. Luckily that will be shifting out now.

Just a heads-up in reference to the astrological landscape of this fall. I recommend that we move forward with our projects (as best we can against a chaotic backdrop) between now and December 10, with a special eye to Thanksgiving weekend as far as culminating what we start now.

This is because Mercury will go Retrograde (yes, again) on December 10. It will then go direct on December 30, and a new beginning will dovetail with the well-known Gregorian New Year-New You in January. So, this year, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hannukah and New Years are an invitation to take a holiday in a true sense. Don't expect to get much done between December 10 and 30. This is often true every year but more so this year due to astrological patterns.

P.S. see below for information on Venus Retrograde which adds a twist to this.

Cardinal Cross Culmination

The equinox is when the Sun is balanced in all four directions, between North and South, East and West - and Heaven and Earth. - Aluna Joy

During the days surrounding the equinox in March and in September the axis of the earth neither tilts towards, nor away from, the Sun. - wiki


The Cardinal Cross has now been set in motion and it will reverberate into time and space for literally decades to come. Like the ripple from a pebble thrown into the lake of consciousness and human events - it will live on, perhaps forever. (To read about the Cardinal Cross in more detail click here to read my newsletter on the subject: http://conta.cc/9r1Pu3)

The Cardinal Cross is a throw-down to you, to me, and to all humans in these pivotal times. We leap the divide between ages - and the divide between 26,000-year cycles - we have to decide collectively what we want the new cycle to be like. Your own personal decision contributes. Turn the Wheel.

The Cardinal Cross ascends. It is no longer mundane and visceral as it was this summer. Now it is the Galactic Cross. Now it is the Cross of the Turning of the Ages. As such it's indelible etheric imprint will be activated at every Equinox and Solstice from here on in.

But this particular Equinox - falling so close to the perfected Cross events of July and August - is especially loaded with its energies (just as the Summer Solstice was back in June as the Cross was building to it's click-point).

The Cross is activated by the Full Harvest Moon on September 23 and this closes the portal of the Cardinal Cross Eclipse Summer of 2010. The CARDINAL CROSS says to The FULL MOON: YOU COMPLETE ME.

The Full Moon of September 23 (see below for info on the Full Harvest Moon) will be right next to Uranus and Jupiter on the Aries cusp of the Cross. The moon will be opposite the Equinox sun (which is always at Zero Libra) and the planet Saturn is at that same point, Zero Libra. Intense Pluto will be at a 90* angle to this Full Moon.

In general the Equinox is about balance; and the Full Havest Moon of September is about gathering and winnowing. Falling within hours of each other, and with the heavy star-crossed planets of Saturn, Pluto and Uranus involved -- we will feel the heat of the Cross again, this time with a mandate of balancing and letting go. The action required of the Cross is being delayed due to our old baggage. Time to jettison it and balance our consciousness. (See below for more info.)

September 22: Autumnal Equinox

You're what the autumn knew would happen / after the last collapse / of primary colour / once the last absolutes were torn to pieces / you could begin. // How you broke open, what sheathed you / until this moment / you amaze me / now that I watch you / starting to give yourself / away to the wind. - Adrienne Rich

We had joy we had fun we had seasons in the sun. But the wine and the song like the seasons have all gone. - Terry Jacks, "Seasons in the Sun"


The Autumn Equinox occurs at 11:09pm on Wednesday September 22. The Equinoxes are the seasonal time of balance and harmony when the days and nights are equal in length.

The Equinoxes are also a scientifically-provable doorway or opening of the magnetic field of Earth. Twice each year, at the Equinoxes, the Sun rises and sets exactly over the equator, tracking exactly due East and due West, no matter where you are on earth. The Equinox Solar Effect produces a reduction in the magnetic field of the Earth, providing easier access to other dimensions, beginning around 24 hours before, and ending around 24 hours after the exact Equinox point.

It is as if the thick veils between earth and dimensions beyond the physical become their thinnest, and a Threshold forms. It is a Magnetic Threshold, charged and pulsing with energy as the walls of density collapse.

Sacred sites such as Chaco Canyon in the American Southwest and the Mayan temple complex at Chichen Itza are examples of ancient sites that were built specifically to capture the light at the time of the Equinox. The ancients had clear knowing of the importance of this bi-annual collapse in the magnetic field of earth. A time to collapse our own conscious boundaries and listen for messages - or send messages of our own through the opening. Equinoxes are a powerful time for doing ceremonial activations at sacred sites or anywhere you happen to be.

The theme for the Equinox is balance, in every sense of the word. The Spring Equinox is about balance as well, but it is different in tone from the Fall Equinox.

In the Spring we are heady with the vibrant lifeforce energy - dormant for months - now pulsing from the earth. We seek balance in how we plant our seeds, how we visualize our game plan to make hay while the sun shines in the spring and summer.

At the Fall Equinox, we seek the balance of discernment as we look back on how the seeds we planted at the Spring Equinox have grown. Have they produced fruit? Was the full bloom what we intended? What do we need to tweak in our process for next year's planting season? We may need to abandon certain projects, realizing that they died on the vine or perhaps the fruit is bitter. Perhaps we have changed so much since the spring (which, with the Cardinal Cross, we certainly have) that our perfectly blossomed flowers and delicious fruit are no longer what we truly desire.

In addition, this Autumn Equinox has special energies on a galactic level:

"The Zero Libra point marking the Autumnal Equinox is currently aligned with the North Galactic Pole. The North Galactic Pole lies 90 degrees north of the Galactic Plane in the constellation of Coma Berenices. Astronomers consider this region of the sky to be one of the best for studying other galaxies, because the conditions here are favorable for seeing beyond our galaxy. When the Solar Gates (in this case Equinoxes) align with the galactic poles, an intergalactic doorway is opened. This Timing allows for easier access to the intergalactic energy codes coming in through this doorway via the Sun. We can maximize this Timing by choosing to anchor the incoming energy codes of love and light that are intended to assist us and the Earth in the ascension process." - Cayelin Castell

September 23: Full Harvest Moon
Each fall the trees "sacrifice" their leaves. They let them fall to the ground to be recycled. Trees benefit greatly from this "sacrifice." - @Share_This
We have to break the code of mind and free ourselves from thoughts. Wind outside rustles branches. Candle inside is still. - @LaughingBaba


The Full Harvest Moon occurs on Thursday September 23 at 5:17am EDT. The Full Harvest Moon is a sight to behold and it's shimmering light brings abundance, grace and holiness - blessings flowing out to us 100 fold.

At the December Winter Solstice, within the darkness of the womb of creation we gestated unformed intent - dreaming of the upcoming growing season. At the Spring Equinox in March the seeds became formed and were planted in fresh soil. Now, nine months later in September, we gather our harvest.

From this point on, we rush to the dieing, to the point of Winter Solstice No-Light which will be the womb of a higher octave of creation at the next Spring Equinox.

Our ancestors were often frantic in their efforts to bring in the harvest before winter arrived. Without electric lights as we have, the Harvest Moon was the one night during peak harvest when the fields were lit up as if it was daytime. The people labored anxiously to store up as much food as they could for winter. In modern times, we know that winter is always followed by spring, we know that the seeming disappearance of light at the Solstice is not permanent. But the ancients were never quite sure and the winters were harsh. Many wouldn't survive.

The racial memory of this time of preparation gives fall a bittersweet quality. If we are tuning in we might even sense our own mortality. Many people have a fear of winter, and dread the darkness of the short days. So as we frolic in the fall, the exquisite beauty of the dieing leaves reminds us that fierce beauty lives alongside loss, darkness and death.

"We are witnessing a swan song of unparalleled brilliance and beauty, a last hurrah before the world falls asleep and gathers its energies for the year to come. Across the years, we join hands and nod to each other in greeting, ancestors and moderns moving to shared and timeless rhythms in the great dance of time." - Catherine Kerr

So: tend to the harvest and seek to bring your inner and outer lives into balance.

Reviewing our actions is an ideal exercise at this time of year. Where did we miss the mark of our ideals for our own behavior? Do we need to forgive ourselves? Do we need to forgive each other?

Forgiveness involves letting go. It can be difficult to let go of past hurts. Many of us may have been stimulated to anger by the strong war-like Aries energy that is a part of the Cardinal Cross. I have found this affirmation from Doreen Virtue to be especially helpful when dealing with anger:

"I am willing to let go of that part of me which angers me when I think of you."

We can substitute any other negative emotion for the word "angers" : the part of me which is frightened when I think of you; the part of me which feels shameful when I think of you. The part of me which is resentful when I think of you.

It's time to let go and bring our consciousness into balance, not weighed down with heavy emotions that lower our vibration, prevent us from living love and compassion, and block our evolution and enlightenment.The journey of letting go is always a work in progress, but the seasonal energies of this time of year support the process if we are willing to let go in this now.

Venus Retrograde

All the hate being spewed into the world right now is self hatred that refuses to recognize itself. - Christine DeLorey

Our deepest fears are like dragons guarding our deepest treasure. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke


Above I mentioned that *systems are go* from now until about December 10. Well, Venus does complicate things a bit on this front, as it will be retrograde from October 8 to November 18.

Venus went into Scorpio on September 8, 2010 and, except for a brief retrograde retracing into Libra, Venus will be in Scorpio until January 13, 2011.

Venus Retrograde lasts for approximately "40 days and 40 nights". And the Venus Retrograde period is a very significant cycle: Venus retrogrades approximately every eighteen months and has one of the rarest retrograde cycles, retreating only 10% of the time (as compared to Pluto which retrogrades about 40% of the time).

So from October 8 - November 18 we are revisiting Venusian issues of LOVE, MONEY and VALUE, the triple energy signature of Venus. Venus is the quintessential feminine in all her faces and forms, representing love, art and beauty. Because Venus is associated with Taurus in astrology, Venus also embodies our values, how much we value ourselves, our money (i.e. our valuables) and how we handle our resources.

Venus Retrograde is a good time to release what simply has no value to you.

Self-esteem and net worth, as well as our heart's desire (both in life and in love) will be on the docket pretty much through the end of the year.

With Venus in the intense sign of SCORPIO we will be going very, very deep (into our own personal underworld) during this time. Obsessive relationships. Self-hatred. Using money to control people, or being controlled by money. How we work with joint finances, dealing with inheritance/estate issues. The desire for intense sexual relationships where we merge and raise powerful spiritual (kundalini) energies.

The ubiquitous vampire movies and books of late fit perfectly with the theme of Venus in Scorpio. Is that the kind of relationship you want? If so, why? Look at your deepest darkest motives and be honest with yourself. Also check to see if there are any *psychic vampires* in your life.

The goddess that applies here is the powerful *dark* goddess: Creator-Destroyers Kali and Pele, the mystical Dark Madonna, the goddess of the crossroads and 'tween times - Hecate, and the goddess of kundalini and shamanistic sexual connections, Shakti.

We will be wading into parts of our subconscious that we rarely visit. A femme fatale may visit you, or you may become a femme fatale who visits others. This Halloween is an especially good time to get your vamp on!

When Venus re-emerges from her retrograde passage in January, we will begin a new Venus cycle. Mercury will also be completely out of its December retrograde period then and the energy will lighten up.

So this fall it's not necessary that you hold back on your projects but I do recommend that you meditate on the issues of love, relationship, money, values, resources. Especially revisit your investments (or lack thereof) in GOLD as Scorpio (Pluto) is associated with gold and with all treasures that come from deep within the earth. Where does your treasure lie? Are you willing to visit dark spaces, to dig in the dirt, to get it?

Winter Solstice Full Moon Eclipse

Just briefly: coming up in December we have a signnificant astrological event capping off the year 2010: we will have a Full Moon Lunar Eclipse on the exact day of the Winter Solstice. This combination is the crown on a year of intensity and change.
So, just as this month's Autumn Equinox is amplified by the Full Harvest Moon falling within about 6 hours, so our Winter Solstice will be amplified by an Eclipse falling within 3 hours!

As described above, the Solstices and Equinoxes - 2 of each happening every year - will be eternal touch-flames to the Cardinal Cross. This Winter Solstice, the first after the Cardinal Cross perfected in the summer, will be eclipsed and heightened. More to come on the eclipse as it approaches.