(Photo courtesy of vectorolie at freedigitalphotos.net)

“Taking it in its deepest sense, the shadow is the invisible saurian tail that man still drags behind him.  Carefully amputated, it becomes the healing serpent of the mysteries.  Only monkeys parade with it.”  CARL JUNG

Mercury began his retrograde (from 23Taurus36) on 28th April, 2016, turning direct on 22nd May at 14Taurus20.  This is happening during Mars’ bi-annual retrograde (see attached Social Media post for more information on that), with Mercury’s station direct happening on the same day as the Mars/sun opposition mentioned (ibid).

I’ve been drawn to contemplating ‘shadow’ and ‘projection’ just recently.  Bill Plotkin (‘Soulcraft’) talks about the shadow holding something sacred – our deepest passion (positive Mars, perhaps?) and, as it begins to emerge in our work with it, “when awareness of (our) passion begins to return, (we) don’t recognise it at first because it (has) been mislabeled” (ibid).

Gregg Braden’s video talking about the 7 Essene Mirrors chimed in with this process for me, helping to make sense of relationship issues through looking at how what we judge (or are in thrall to) in another could be something of ourselves that we have suppressed, something that we unconsciously judge or, equally, something of ourselves that we have given away, had taken away or lost which we see mirrored to us in the Other and mistake it (oftentimes) for ‘falling in love’.

It strikes me that the synchronicity of both Mars and Mercury retrograde in these next few weeks offers us an opportunity for deepened reflection upon our thoughts and the way we communicate them, as well as on the things we are passionate about and how we might act on them (in due course as the retrograde period is likely to hold things back).

For me, Mars’ retrograde through my 9th house brought a dream about a man who I knew as the minister of a church I attended years ago, chiming in with the Sagittarian theme as well as the words of an article which suggested that men from the past might ‘reappear’ during Mars’ retrograde periods – and, perhaps triggering this deeper look into the meaning of the ‘mirrors’?  I see Mercury in Taurus (traveling back from my 3rd into my 2nd), grounding the process of reflection and focus as I put words to my recent experience.

If you’re interested in working with your own astrological chart, I have a beginners’ workshop (in Kendal) coming up on Saturday, 4th June (with just a couple of places left) and I’m also offering a workshop looking at the astrological myths and stories on 11th June.  Individual consultations, tutorials and healing work also available, with the possibility of a beginners’ 6-week evening course in Kendal – do get in touch if you’re interested.

Love and Beltane Blessings!

Helen x