Virgo-Decan Three
We have moved into decan three of Virgo, this took place yesterday on the 12th of September. To refresh, decan three begins when the Sun hits the 20th degree, and will have essentially nine more degrees to complete before it enters the sign of Libra at 0 degrees.
The planet that rules Virgo is Mercury, and it also has its exaltation here, revealing great mental prowess, acuity, and thresholds.
This decan is also ruled by Mercury. The mercurial energy is three-fold, very strong and influential.
As I wrap up this astrological series on the decans of Virgo, it is appropriate to reflect on the tarot card associated with this decan, one that focuses on completion and ending of cycles. The card associated with this decan is the 10 of Pentacles. Images that concern finality, legacies, wealth, abundance. It speaks to generations and riches, and ancestral patterns. It presupposes we are at the end of the cycle represented by the number 10 and the image of the elder who is surrounded by his accumulated wealth, including family. This time of year speaks to the end of the summer, the ever present growing darkness and the wilting of fruits on vines. The notion of completion and harvest haunts all of us currently.
Virgo and Mercury are both mutable energies, and with the three-fold punch currently, this mutable presence is felt in the changing of the seasons, from summer to fall, both seasons are present. The burning glow in the days and the cooler evenings that bless us with dewy mornings, this is the mutable energy of Virgo and Mercury. It is two things at once, trying its best to hold the space. When the Sun hits Libra, it will be Venus and Saturn’s job to judge our work, pulling out the scales and measuring our harvest.
In mythology, Mercury or Hermes, was the messenger of the Gods, son and the right-hand of Zeus. He brought forth the news from Olympus down to the mortals. He dove down to the underworld, and consulted with Zeus’s brother Hades. He was known to cross boundaries between the gods, the mortals, and the underworld. The psychopomp archetype is present at all cross-roads. He holds the space for us when making the hard decisions, encouraging us to remember to really engage, take risks, to live and even to kill off the aspects that no longer serve us.
But what is Mercury currently doing now in the sky? As the Sun moved into decan three, Mercury was sitting still in Libra. Mercury detests sitting still, he is out of rulership in Libra, and cannot see his home in Virgo by aspect.
He is quick when he starts moving, speediest planet outside of the luminaries. He is depicted with wings after all.
This stillness is the stationing degree of Mercury’s retrograde period, which will eventually bring him back into power when he re-enters Virgo through retrograde motion on September 23rd.
Mercury is blocked and challenged, especially at the stationing degree and cannot communicate the gods will as freely as he can when speeding forward in the sky. His mutable voice is essentially mute, speaking in whispers in Libra. If you are at a cross-road, the decision may be hard to see right now. If there are disagreements, resolution will be found down the road, but not now.
Mercury was known to represent thieves as well, and one must be careful when it comes to protecting what they value in this material realm. Whether it be a password or a vault, Mercury retrograde can stir up the thieves in the night.
When Mercury hits the opposition to Jupiter in Aries, there could be a fiery reveal surrounding the secrets that had been told prior to this engagement. The air should clear when Hermes re-enters Virgo and gains dignity, which not only happens late on the 22nd, but this is the exact time when the Sun enters Libra, a very powerful omen. This is known as a cazimi, when a planet and the Sun join at the exact degree. This may manifest a bright mental explosion that brings to light all that was previously in the dark. This retrograde cazimi makes me think that whatever was hidden, spoken of, or acted upon in dark Saturnian corners, will come to light, whether we want it or not.
My astrological advice is to go forward these next ten days with a heightened awareness of what we speak, even whisper, has its own karmic life. The scales in Libra are being polished and shined, preparing to rule.