Mercury On The Road In The Shadowlands

'On The Road',2012

The Shadowlands of Mercury is a strange and disorientating place but one not to be overlooked. Mercury entered the Shadow time on the 18^th October 2012. This is a strange but fascinating piece of the astrological jigsaw puzzle and one well worth further examination. Although still moving forward, this time is actually the start of Mercury's journey back on itself. Mercury is running along that part of the road it will have to travel back down again on the 7th November 2012 which is when it starts it’s Retrograde phase. This road is a dimly lit shady zone and one which can be potentially destabilising. These couple of weeks, just before the full Retrograde, is essentially when Mercury is ‘not in its right mind’ and is thinking very differently. 

Actor Viggo Mortenson - Mercury in Scorpio
as 'Old Bull Lee' (writer William Burroughs) in 'On The Road'

Mercury can appear to be sprinting full pelt on some very wobbly terrain. It may feel quite disconcerting, in a way rather like running on broken glass or some other very inappropriate material. We may want to rush on and get it over with and yet part of us instinctively knows we are only going to have to come back to clear it up later. In effect the length of road we are hurtling down at such a pace is littered with material and detritus, most of which the flight of foot Mercury may choose to bypass. Attention is focused on the distance whilst the ruts, pot-holes, signposts and left luggage is actually being ignored. But not for very long because, in a few weeks, Mercury will be dragged back with a pan and brush, highlighter pen, ticket machine or notebook to collect and deal with ‘the ignored’ and overlooked.

The road we are now on, this few weeks before the Retrograde, already appears to be quite difficult, unfortunately sometimes this is literal. Roads are a part of Mercury’s domain, as are market places, trading centres, transit junctions such as airports, harbours, stations and ports. A wide brief for sure but there is a thread which links and connects them all. These shadowy streets can perhaps take a little more effort in negotiating than they did before. On the 21st October, 2012 France woke up to a surprising example of this disruption, when the pilgrimage town and of Lourdes was hit with severe flooding, its streets awash with water. 

        
Obviously we can't be worried every time we step on a bus or take a trip to the shops for some groceries, there is absolutely no need for further unwarranted and unnecessary anxieties, but there is perhaps a need to inject more of an overall awareness. We would all benefit from exerting a little more concentration from time to time, anyway. We often take so many things for granted, we tend to act more on impulse when we are in a hurry and rely heavily on habit when we are tired. Generally exercising more vigilance at some level, with greater patience and making less assumptions will create more time not less - ultimately should mean less stress. We may need to 'up' our levels of self awareness, to slow down and reassess of our own accord and not leave it up to circumstance to force our hand.
Sometimes however, unhappily, these things are just taken out of our hands. On the 20th October 2012, in the U.K, for example, a car inexplicably plunged off a bridge into the river from a normally quiet average street in Bristol, six police then dived into the river to rescue the occupants and all then went to hospital. While in Cardiff on the 19th October 2012, a man in a white van, usually synonymous with 'everyman', went on a indiscriminate hit-and-run rampage over a three mile area and injuring nearly 20 people. The man named as Matthew Tvrdon but the police investigation into the circumstances surrounding what happened on Friday is complex and ongoing. Sadly there was a fatality in both apparent random incidents and as yet no real explanations.

Communications are Mercury ruled and we are aware that they could just splutter to a halt at the wrong moment and sometimes without explanation when Mercury lurks in these shadows. Electrical outages can occur, electrical equipment and computers can fail  phone lines are vulnerable to damage and accidentally cut pipes leak and grids breaking are all examples. All these connections show the important yet invisible physical lines which interconnect us all are and how we all can be affected by these connections when they break down. Mercury’s shadow can reminds us just how vulnerable and tenuous, these bands, that we rely on and tie us together, really are. When they snap and trigger unexpected consequences, even when it is not always for the worse but just different, we have to make a myriad of adjustments.This domino effect of dependancy is a real reminder of what we rely on and how we all choose to live our lives in co- dependency and co-operation. 

This Mercury Shadowlands takes place over two signs, watery Scorpio and then fiery Sagittarius. Bridging two signs and two very different territories is disconcerting enough for any traveller to negotiate let alone doing so in the shadows. It is all the more worrying if the lights go out just as you pass over the threshold into a new land anyway, you can’t rely on old patterns, the light switch will be in a different place, the plug voltage doesn’t match and the road signs are foreign to you. Having a power cut in your own home, at least you know where you have stashed the matches or candles but in a new house or a strange hotel it can be all the more bothersome.

Actor Tom Sturridge - Mercury in Sagittarius
As Carlo Marx (writer Allen Ginsberg) in 'On The Road'

While the U.S.A had to contend with the repercussions of a heat wave and a extreme electrical outage this July 2012. (Mercury Shadowlands In A HeatHaze) The USA is now preparing to face Hurricane Sandy named Frankenstorm, which is looking like the biggest storm to hit the US mainland when it reaches the shore on Monday night 29th October 2012.  Weather forecasters have predicted strong winds and dangerous flooding to the East Coast from the mid-Atlantic states to New England. Hurricane Sandy will have a serious impact on major cities like Boston, New York, Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia in one of the most densely populated regions of America which is home to tens of millions of people.
                 
That section of our chart where we have the late degrees of Scorpio and early Sagittarius will be where the compass arrow is pointing. This is where we experience the wobble most acutely and consequently where we should exercise a bit more caution. It indicates where it just looks like we may just have to go back to the drawing board around a lot of things. This will seems so frustrating and sometimes just plain daunting and demoralising.
Expect to re-view and re-evaluate a lot of things during this period and slowly things will start to make more sense. 
The best way ahead will be to prepare for some degree of misunderstanding and therefore double check all forms of communications, any assumptions and interactions. 
                
When Mercury is in the Shadows what we have to say may also come out wrongly or just get plain misconstrued, no matter how eloquently expressed. Oddly we can feel more pressured to meet deadlines as well, at a time when we also feel least equipped or inclined to do so.
Of course, all travel arrangements will need to be high up on the agenda. Keep your flashlight to hand and plenty of water in the car if you need to travel. We may also have to try to be as patient and tolerant as possible and give others a bit more legroom and leeway at this time. As regards what we can't control, such as delays and frustrations, well again we will also have to be more accepting because this too will pass. 

Perhaps we will be given time on our hands which will make the space to reflect and review some of our old ideas and ways of thinking and imagine how our life would benefit from reframing them. Somehow things may suddenly come into sharp focus and we just 'get' what is really important. Maybe we will be given the chance to emerge from this Shadowland road trip or road blocked and impassable, in an entirely new light. Out of what appears to be just a mess and a jumbled disorder, a new pattern will have to be found. A new picture will have to be drawn and a brand new paradigm has an opportunity to materialise in our lives. Interestingly, the astrological community is quite rightly 'a buzz' with the anticipation of the U.S.A's presidential election, taking place on the 6th of November 2012. Yes, that is just as Mercury emerges from the Shadow Road trip and stations, then goes right on into Retrograde with a whole new set of implications. Ripe for a right scrabble and scrap, it seems. The road ahead looks decidedly bumpy and full of shades and shadows but the reflections and realisations we have reflected on in the shadows may just point us to a new path or help us to clear the obstacles that are strewn on the old road so that we can see it in a brand new light. 

(Scribbles & Moonwalks Mercury Retrograde).

Republican Mitt Romney & President Obama
Make their points but how will Mercury shadow effect the Presidential election 
        (Axis of Power & Possessions - Scorpio/Taurus)  

credits: totallywp.com & iceposter & film filia & channel 4 

posted by pippa ponton & jphibbs