Mercury Retrograde, Tarot and You - An Update for June 2013

Mercury's ruling tarot card,
The Magician from Corrine Kenner's Wizard's Tarot©

The astrological theme for June has been communication and Mercury, the planetary ruler of communications has been camped out under the sign of Cancer this month.  Many of us received messages from our higher selves insisting we get rid of our baggage and get serious about establishing meaningful dialogues with ourselves, our co-workers and in our personal relationships as well.  For those of us who've listened and worked hard to clear the channels, the Universe, in a master stroke of irony, developed a litmus test for the end of this month.  Mercury Retrograde.

If you're not familiar with Mercury retrogrades, I'll take a minute to explain.  Each year as Earth orbits the Sun, it overtakes Mercury three to four times.  When we pass Mercury, it creates the optical illusion that Mercury is actually reversing it's orbit.  This optical illusion is a metaphor for the mishaps and misstatements that punctuate our lives during this period.  Mercury goes into retrograde on June 26th until July 20th.  Afterwards, we have only one more Mercury Retrograde period to deal with this year.  It runs from October 21st to November 10th.

Have you tried planning a fun, last minute get-away this week

Cancer the Crab's ruling card,
The Chariot from Corrine Kenner's, Wizard's Tarot©

only to find your reservations have become a big, red, tangled ball of yarn?  Has your computer or smart phone suddenly refused to function for no particular reason?  Did your carefully worded text or email ignite a volley of controversy?  Welcome to the joyless pit of Mercury Retrograde - bad communications, emotional quagmires and missed connections.

This month's Mercury Retrograde may be a breeze, but on the other hand, we're still feeling the effects of our Super Moon on June 23rd.  If you had a rough patch during the Full Moon it may be continuing, but don't despair.  There are several quick fixes you can do to get things back on track.

The key to a successful Mercury Retrograde is preparation.

1) Know your yearly retrograde dates, relax and breath into them.  Meditate more often.

2) Keep you expectations low during this time, both personally and professionally.  Try not to enter into new contracts or negotiations.  Don't decide to have air-clearing discussions with friends and family.  

3) Remember your  "R" words.  Renew, revisit, rest, re-plan, re-figure, renovate.  Things that are already in progress can benefit from a Mercury Retrograde revision.  Those are safe to do.

4) Keep your favorite tarot deck handy and plenty on sage and sweetgrass incense about for cleansing as needed.  Swords caution you about over-thinking or living in your head.  Cups point out over-indulgence of angst.  Pentacles keep your feet on the ground and Wands remind you to revise ('r' word) your game plan.

Follow these steps and while life won't necessarily be a breeze, it will be much easier. And if all else fails, invest in a vat of liquid smudge.

Lady Oracle

The exceptional tarot deck, "Wizard's Tarot,"© by Corrine Kenner and illustrated by John J. Blumen is available for purchase at my website  www.ladyoracle.net

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Full Strawberry Moon At Perigee, June 23, 2013 - Super Trooper

The Moon from Corrine Kenner's
"Wizard's Tarot," illustrated by
John J. Blumen

If you’ve been checking out the web for information on this month’s Full Strawberry Moon, you’ve may have heard the term, “Super Moon” bandied about. Although Super Moon may sound more like the title of a cheesy disaster movie, it actually refers to the Moon at perigee, or more commonly, the closest point to Earth during the lunar orbit.  The Moon reaches perigee four to six times per year. On June 23rd at 7:32 a.m., EDT, our Full Strawberry Moon will be at perigee in 2° of Capricorn.  What makes this Full Moon so super is that this will be the closest the Moon will be to Earth until August, 2014.

The Strawberry Moon occurs two days after Summer Solstice while the Sun still appears to be at a standstill over the Tropic of Cancer. (See blog: “Get Ready, Get Set, Get Solstice”) Our Sun is in the sign of Cancer on the 22nd, opposite a Full Moon in Capricorn.  A Capricorn Moon runs a little cooler than some moons, its energy a little more withdrawn and self-contained.  This is not bad with the over-abundance of crab energy out there.  The house of Cancer the Crab is ruled by the Moon and the downside to the crab’s energy is that it can become very touchy, even volatile.  

Full Moons bring fruition both romantically and materially.  June’s Full Moon will be like riding love’s roller-coaster.  Venus is parallel with Mars on June 21st and 22nd, giving us quite a build up for the 23rd.  The romantic highs and lows could be fast and furious under the Strawberry Moon. Even if we’re reasonably certain where our relationships are headed we could find ourselves unexpectedly tossed in the opposite direction.  Luckily, Moon in Capricorn draws power for handling challenges through Saturn, Capricorn’s ruling planet. The Goat naturally strives for success in a variety of areas under the Moon’s influence and this should temper Cancer’s effects on our emotions.  Despite a swiftly changing emotional landscape however, the next couple of weeks can be extremely passionate and romantic.  Just stay grounded and remember June’s recurring theme of creating more authentic communication in your life. 

Speaking of communications, Mercury remains in Cancer until August 8th and the Full Moon intensifies our mission to explore deeper levels of knowledge. This is also the last push to solidify our communications skills before Mercury Retrograde begins at the end of the month, so pay attention.  Saturn in Scorpio helps us remain pragmatic and if we allow it, we’ll be guided to release issues and habits that no longer serve us.

This is an important Full Moon and its effects will be with us for a while. It will be an excellent time for healing, abundance and prosperity work, as well as setting magical intention.  However, it’s very important that both you and your space are grounded and cleared before you attempt working with this powerful Moon’s energy.  A little effort goes a long way.  Ground yourself and enjoy the mystical connection between Earth and sky that is June’s Full Moon in Capricorn.

LADY ORACLE

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Astrological Trends for June 2013 - Part 1, “Retro-Fitting”

High Priestess - Intuition, the subconscious

Saturn in Scorpio, Neptune in Pisces and Mercury in Cancer are all in retrograde this month and they are working in a positive way to retro-fit your life. We’ve had some intense, fiery Wand energy during April and May. If you got out in front of it and used its passion and enthusiasm to design the life you want, you probably feel like your running on empty right now. Hang in there because in June the Universe is giving you a chance to rest up and accomplish some easy re-do work.  

Neptune in Pisces will be in retrograde from June 7th to November 13th. Retrograde means that as Earth passes a planet during our own orbit an optical illusion occurs that makes the other planet (Neptune Saturn and Mercury this month) appear to be moving backwards. Mystical Neptune rules dreams, spirituality and illusion. During its retrograde cycle, our blinders come off.  We review our life choices and our spiritual connections.  Neptune retrograde is when we decide if we’re on the right track or not.  Meditations and dream states are richer during this time - the resulting information, more profound. Powerful psychic energy flows through us, but, we also run the risk of becoming overwhelmed.  Keep your home and yourself clear of negativity and energy vampires especially if Neptune in Pisces appears in your birth chart.  

Saturn in Scorpio has been in retrograde since February 18th.  It turns direct on July 8th.  We’ve experienced a period of challenges (that’s how Saturn teaches) but, we’ve also received the necessary information to overcome those challenges.  Come on, you know you have.  It’s your own fault if you haven’t acted on your new insights.  Saturn retrograde is an opportunity to work on your infrastructure.  Saturn rules our physical and psychological support systems.  During this retrograde, commit to yourself. No, not put yourself first.  Commit to reviewing and redefining your personal guidelines in a positive way. What projects (and you have taken on many) truly speak to your soul? Disentangle yourself from those that don’t.  Avoid over commitment (10 of Wands).  Retrogrades are about renewal, not overkill.

10 of Wand - Over-burdened

Our last retrograde player is good old Mercury in Cancer, June 26th to July 20th.  Naturally, the first thing we all think of are the messed up schedules, miscommunications and mechanical snafus that typify Mercury in retrograde.  Again, we some powerful energy from Neptune and Saturn that mitigates Mercury’s shadow side.  Also, Cancer makes Mercury highly empathic and intuitive. Use Neptune’s heightened clarity and Saturn’s rules of proper conduct to assist you in communicating accurately and effectively during Mercury retrograde and you may not even notice it - and smudge, smudge, smudge.

LADY ORACLE

Here's a link to Part two of June Astrological Forecast, the "Main Event"  clink link!

Part 2 of “ Astrological Trends for June 2013” looks at Venus in Cancer and our New Moon on June 8th.

special thanks to US Games for the RWCS images - Decks for sale through Lady Oracle Tarot   click link!