Mercury + Mercury Rx: What the Heck Does it Mean?
It’s that time of year again! Mercury is slowly making its way to a standstill and total turnaround of our mental body and communications, easing us into the new year on a note of stillness, followed by a complete restructuring of our understanding of a certain area of our lives. About three to four times a year, the planet that serves as a giant megaphone, amplifying and messaging our thoughts, ideas, and communications, appears to stop and change directions in the sky. This may not be more than just an optical illusion in space, however, it is much more than that for us energetic beings here on Earth! When any planet stations retrograde, it takes the outward moving energy and turns it inward. In other words, with Mercury, a retrograde means that the emphasis is taken off of outward communications and expressions, and focused on our own inner mental landscapes and communications.
Perhaps this is why Mercury Rx has a loud reputation for causing so many disruptions and confusion, especially with technology and communications. Mercury, as a planet, rules over the small webs of interconnection and movement that we have within humanity. Think city highway systems, local transit and routes, interpersonal communications, and technology that helps us post, broadcast, or display our thoughts, ideas, and communications as well as receive that of others. On a regular day when Mercury is direct, it oversees these complex yet incredibly important systems, helping us to connect our individual minds to one another through verbal, written, and sometimes even physical communications (body language, facial expressions, etc.).
When Mercury ventures into its retrograde period, it does a complete 180 on these energies, and instead of moving energy smoothly between individual people and small groups, it focuses its energy and efforts on moving the mental energies around within our very own, personal inner systems. While it isn’t necessarily working against us during these short periods of retrograde, it definitely drops the flow of outer movement and works to bring us into flow with our inner mental movements. This has been widely observed to challenge interpersonal communications, technology, and even the ability to clearly express your thoughts outwardly and have them be received as purely as possible.
Mercury Rx, depending on what energy (astrological sign) it is retrograding through, has a tendency to put such an emphasis on our own thoughts, inner voice, and personal mental workings that it is almost as if we are all in our own bubbles of perceived reality, bobbing around, bumping into one another. Mercury Rx is the time when our thoughts and expressions have the potential to be misinterpreted or received in a way that was unintended, due to the simple fact that everyone’s own mental perspective is drawn completely inward, making it slightly difficult (but never impossible) to get on the same “wavelength” mentally, so to speak.
Mercury Rx in Capricorn: All Systems Reboot
December 29 - January 18
Wait… haven’t we been here before? Mercury retrogrades are very typical and regular, meaning that Mercury Rx has worked its way through the capricorn area of our charts before! In fact, in the last 7 years, it has touched here about 3 separate times, mostly concentrated around the beginning and end of 2016 and into 2017. So, while it has occurred a few times in the last decade, it has been quite some time since this specific flavor of Mercury Rx has visited us in this way the entire Rx being in only capricorn) and we won’t see a drop of this specific Rx energy again until the beginning of 2029 (however, Mercury will continue to move direct through this area of our charts, reinforcing and making use of the revisions we’re about to make).
So, what does that tell us? We are clarifying and anchoring into an always-evolving structure that we started to redesign back in 2016-2017. We are completing the remodel of this structure so that it can carry us through the rest of the 20s. No pressure!! But seriously, don’t sweat this. The extraordinary thing about astrology is that it is the mirror for how our energies are organically moving and evolving. There is nothing that you need to push or force to get this work done because it is naturally going to move you no matter what. Simply staying aligned with yourself, your energy, and your life journey will help the energies move organically and through the simple power of awareness, you will be led into transformation with ease. This goes for ALL astrological happenings. Cool, right?
So, let’s get into the nitty gritty of this specific Mercury Rx, and then I will lead you lovingly into your personal horoscopes for this transit! First, let’s talk about capricorn. Capricorn is a cardinal earth sign, meaning it is all about forging new paths, initiating movement, and leading forward. With it being an earth sign, it focuses its energy on the material and physical realms, making capricorn all about the long-term life path and building the structures that create sustainable growth along the way. Capricorn is ruled by Saturn, the planet of tough love and hard knocks, who also rules time, tradition, boundaries, discipline, authority, responsibility, and our life-long learning and evolution. Saturn teaches us all about the challenges and restrictions that we come up against on our life journey, for the purpose of cultivating resilience and helping us sharpen our life wisdom here in the physical world.
Capricorn and Saturn both represent the harrowing mountains we come here specifically to climb, and the tremendously satisfying yet difficult journeys and lessons that help us climb to the top. Capricorn is all about our life’s work from the perspective of a soul who came to the physical world to be challenged, stretched, and grown into the next level of its capacity. While we're here and young, this energy can feel relentless and unnecessarily challenging in some ways. The older we grow, if we live our lives with self-awareness and conviction, the more this energy turns into the satisfaction of wisdom well learned and the hard work that got us there!
This retrograde is all about accessing the heart of certain structures in our lives that are going to be extremely pertinent over the next 6 years. This retrograde will open these structures up and ask us to consider the parts that will not assist us any longer, once moving us forward but now holding us back. It will replace these outdated systems with new structures that, over time, will move us forward in growth tremendously.
In the area of your chart/life that is overseen by capricorn, there exists a building whose foundation has become a little dilapidated. While that is part of the life journey and certainly okay, this retrograde has major blueprints and plans to reinforce the structures of this building and spruce it up indefinitely, so that it can house a powerful energy for you moving forward. Remember, capricorn is always looking to the long-term and wants to build the structures that will serve our aspirations, goals, and journeys ahead to bring them to fruition. You can trust that the area of your life that gets reworked by this retrograde was not only in need of some restructuring and reinforcement, but will also greatly benefit from the work done now in the years to come.
Mercury Rx in Capricorn Horoscopes
*For best accuracy, please read horoscopes from your rising sign. If you have a late-degree rising sign, read for the rising sign that proceeds yours! If you are completely lost when it comes to your own astrology, visit redrosereadings.com and book a session with me to learn the sacred secrets of your very own stars!
Aries
This Rx, you can expect a total reworking of your perception of your long-term goals, and professional aspirations, as well as the ways in which you are publicly perceived, especially as it relates to your life’s work. While this may translate to a few bumps in the road when dealing with co-workers or work-related communications, know that the frustrations are trying to point you toward the systems and structures that have formed cracks and may be keeping you from truly taking off in a meaningful direction. This moment asks for you to get curious about the snafus that keep you from feeling connected to the magic of your long-term goals and aspirations. Are there some structures here that need to be reworked to carry you even further or is this Rx asking you some bigger questions about whether or not you’re on a sustainable path forward? Either way, this moment wants to help you settle even deeper into a clear perception of your path ahead, especially as it pertains to the personal and professional successes you’ve had your eye on. In order to do so, however, Mercury Rx needs to point out the bumps in the road that might be keeping you from trailblazing forward and finding your very own definition and reality of success. Take any professional or work/public setbacks as redirection and know that keeping an open mind will benefit you greatly here.
Taurus
This Rx has big visions for you! It wants to bust open your bigger-picture understandings and restructure the ways in which your beliefs and inner wisdom serve you as you expand forward. There likely has been an immense amount of messy inspiration happening in this area for you recently, perhaps even leading you to the threshold of the exciting yet daunting woods of the inner unknown. It is important for you to allow any discomforts or contractions you may feel during this Rx to guide you to the structures of belief within your being that want to break free and reach new heights. This moment may feel a little like the outside world is gently guiding you to examine your inner belief systems or perhaps even put certain beliefs to the test. This Rx is trying to help you take the larger pieces of wisdom within your being and rework them into daily, applicable guides for navigating your moment-to-moment internal perceptions. This transit is all about embodying truer perceptions and beliefs, especially when it comes to the bigger, wiser, and more existential questions within your being. During this time you may feel called to explore new authors, genres, cafes, or even countries, intuitively searching for inspiration and perspective. While this Rx is primed to cause hitches and delays in any type of long-range travel plans, every frustration or bump in the road serves as an opportunity for you to see it in a more expansive way. What at first glance might seem like a plan-shattering delay or cancellation may turn out to be the path to a deeply magical and transformative conversation. Keep an open mind and follow your whims, wherever they may lead – or delay you.
Gemini
This Rx is all about reconfiguring the structures that connect you to and sustain what you share and receive from others. While the last few weeks might have revamped the ways in which you collaborate with and are affected by others, this moment will ask for you to have a little patience and to look at your boundaries. Any shared projects, journeys, or energies may give you pause for a moment or two, giving you the opportunity to rework your end of the deal. Is there something that you need to ask for more of or delegate? Are there any energies leaking into your life and draining what you have to work with, especially when it comes to shared resources and projects? Check out the structures that help organize what’s yours vs. theirs and note that this time is especially ripe for hiccups that involve an immense need to reconfigure what boundaries keep your affairs – and your energies – organized. If you are feeling constantly intruded upon or like your magnetism has gone haywire and is just drawing any and all energies in, take some time to be with yourself and to parse out the ways in which you might have your wires crossed with others. This is an especially ripe time to reconsider the people and energies you want to collaborate with or bump up against so note that any disturbances or messy shared energies are guiding you to the places to look at with curious, self-empowering eyes. Chances are, the word “no” will be your super tool over the next few weeks. It’s okay to bow out of the hustle and bustle of group work and slide silently into your own inner wells. Boundaries are your best friend!!
Cancer
This Rx is here to help you restructure the more important relationships and connections in your life, especially when it comes to the ways in which you communicate your needs and understand the needs of others. For you, this moment is placing an emphasis on the structures in your committed partnerships, friendships, and connections that sustain you in this world, particularly the structures of communication and understanding that help harmonize your relations. While this may translate to some minor mix-ups or misunderstandings, know that any frustrations are presenting themselves to show you where the cracks are slowly forming. Because we are dealing with Mercury here, you can bet that communication will be the center of any snags, but also the center of any solutions moving forward. But before you can smooth the road, this Rx is asking you to get clear on how you understand, communicate, and advocate for your very own needs. Chances are if you run into any challenges with those you are closest to, the first solution is to examine your own end before pointing the finger. Any and all snafus here are, by design, showing you where you could stand to strengthen the ways in which you communicate not just what you need, but also what you want and where you’re headed. Any shared goals or long-term plans are especially in the spotlight right now, giving you ample opportunity to reconfigure the ways in which you understand and express these things to your precious others.
Leo
This Rx hits a more personal note for you, bringing the focus to your inner workings that keep you grounded in your routines and self-care, especially as it relates to habit, health, and overall wellness. Chances are you go through phases in this area, creating a structure that sustains you until you evolve and it begins to block your progress forward. This moment for you is all about taking the habits, daily routines, and health-inspired actions that have served you up until recently and tweaking them to better fit what’s evolved in these areas for you. The first part of this journey, however, may involve addressing the cracks that have formed and the ways these structures have begun to sag. It is wholly possible that you don’t need an entirely new way of being, as much as you might just need to recommit to the methods that have already been proven to serve you greatly. This could be a great time to go back over health and wellness journey’s from the past, especially around this time of year. In what ways have you revamped your routines upon past new year transitions? What goals and journeys have you vowed to take but lost your umph as the years unfolded? Wherever your daily structures and habits may be lacking or causing more work than they’re worth, are up for renewal! Take a deep breath and know that finding what fits your current self best is not something that can be rushed or implemented without reflection. This moment wants to help you fine-tune the ways you care for yourself and your health so that when we leave this Rx behind and get going into 2023, your foundation is ready to carry you far.
Virgo
This Rx has the potential to be a great breath of fresh air for you, so long as you are willing to give yourself the time and space to prioritize what feels most pleasurable and true to you! Happening in the area of your chart that focuses on pleasure, creativity, joy, play, imagination, the inner child, and self-expression, this specific Rx is asking you to seek out and reform the structures in your life that emphasize the rightful importance of refilling your own cup. This energy is the epitome of ‘putting your own mask on first’ so that you can have an impact on others. Self-expression is a huge way that we share ourselves with others and move others in ways that only we can. This moment is asking you to get very clear on the ways in which you may have been blocked here before, leading to never-ending cycles of burnout and unhappiness. While it’s true that capricorn energy is all about hard work and discipline, being a virgo rising means that this energy is dedicated to the area of our life that involves a much less serious vibe. During this transit, ask yourself what mental ideas or perceptions have kept you from prioritizing pleasure, fun, and free-spirited creativity in the past. Then, determine how you can reform and restructure these perspectives so that they work FOR this part of your existence, rather than against it. It’s true that creativity and joy happen most freely when they’re not scheduled, but having capricorn in this area of your chart means that perhaps your greatest method of giving yourself some time off from hard work and serious life IS to plan it out and adhere to what will get you there!
Libra
This Rx is looking to change the structures of your home, whether it's your internal home, your physical, external home, or a mixture of both! When it comes to your external home, this moment may be bringing to your attention the little (or big) projects that are beginning to reveal themselves as important. Whether there are physical cracks in the foundation, or just a need to rework the inner space within the structure you call home, this time is less about jumping on home improvement projects and more about scheming up the changes that you want to take place eventually. Slowly but surely these projects will find their way into your reality, but for now, use this moment to recognize and sit on what isn’t just right. Spending time in the space of what could be done may prove to bring you to not only the ideas that will serve you best but also the steps that will get you there! Gather ideas, and create a Pinterest, but keep the tools in the toolbox for now. The time to build will come organically and right now, your focus lies most powerfully on all of the different ways your dream space could take form. If this energy is hitting more internally for you, replace the idea of reworking your physical space with the notion of reworking the ways in which you build and bring home with you, in your heart space, wherever you may go! This moment could be asking you to rework the ways in which you find the people, places, and energies that feel like home or, on an even bigger scale, the very root of what you consider home to be. It is possible that this moment could bring you on a journey deep into your roots and the people you came from, helping you to understand the cracks in your internal foundation and the ways in which they may be preventing you from finding true belonging in this world. However it unfolds, this Rx has big plans for adjusting the foundations you come from and rest within, with the end goal of giving you something strong and loving to anchor yourself into so you can explore this world and always know where ‘home’ is to come back to.
Scorpio
This Rx is here to give your ideas, thoughts, and inner/outer communications a total cleansing! Happening in Mercury’s favorite astrological house, this one is a double hitter for you, in the best of ways. This moment is asking you to reprioritize, reprocess, and reassess the ways that you understand, think, and speak to yourself through your very own inner voice. Having capricorn in this area of your chart means that you organically work with your mental body in a way that favors the long-term and sustainability. This moment acts as a moment of release, a brief time for you to get out the thoughts that most need to be moved to create space for future percolation. Chat up with your besties, type up that email you’ve been waiting to send, and write down the stories and ideas that have been on the tip of your tongue. Note that your communications and expressions may be far from perfect, but this isn’t about perfection. This moment is more focused on helping to free the flow of what’s been lying dormant or what’s been clogged up. The whole manuscript will not see the light of day quite yet, but putting pen to paper may get you well on your way. If there is anything you have been waiting to think about, say, express, write about, or exclaim from the rooftop, now is the time to open your mouth and get curious about what wants to come out and get the ball rolling. Again, this is not necessarily the time to edit and publish, but don’t let perfectionism keep you from brainstorming and throwing some ideas around. Keep a running tab of all of the thoughts and ideas that squeeze themselves out of you during this time; once Mercury stations direct, who knows what could take off and grow into something ready to be received by the world!
Sagittarius
This Rx wants to help you reassess all things material and financial. When it comes to your resources, this might be a time when they are scant or having a hard time flowing to you. This moment is wanting to teach you about what you value and consider to be a non-negotiable resource that you need. If any frustrations or limitations come up in regard to your wealth, finances, or resources, know that they are pointing you in the direction of limiting perceptions of worth or availability. Can’t find your favorite skin care product? See if you have enough to last you at home and accept that if it can’t find its way to you, you aren’t being left empty-handed but rather you’re being asked to tune into your very own resourcefulness. This moment is asking you to decline any part of your being that feels like your own worth is the root of any financial or material misfortunes or lack. On the surface, Mercury wants to help you break down and restructure your finances, expenses, expenditures, and budgets. Deeper below that, Mercury wants to rework the way you perceive your very own value and worth. While it is true that hard work and glamorous systems will take you far in the material realm, it is even more true that the ways in which you view and label your own worthiness will either limit or free you from the cycle of hard work and nothing to show for it. If you have been struggling in this area in any way lately, use this time to cleanse yourself of any self-limiting beliefs, thoughts, or perspectives around money. Restructuring the ideas of worth, value, money, wealth, and resources so that they work in your favor, releasing any blocks or limitations from the past, is key to this transit for you. Get curious about how you work with your money and resources and the ways in which it may be working against you, and then use that wisdom to implement new structures so that 2023 can bring you all that you need and desire!
Capricorn
This Rx is an important one for you! Happening in the area of your chart that is all about YOU, your expressions, your magnetism, and how you are broadcasted out and received by others on a very personal level, this moment wants you to reinvent yourself – or, at the very least, reinvent the ways in which you allow yourself to be received by others. During this transit, Mercury is holding the microphone up to you and asking you to get curious about how you view yourself, how you understand your personality, and the ways in which you put yourself on display. Is it possible that there are parts of you that feel like a work in progress, parts that you may want to keep hidden or unavailable to others? This moment is asking you to unveil the ‘works in progress’ and show the people who you are, even when you are under construction. Like viewing a house before its build-out is complete, this moment gives you a rare opportunity to let beauty be in the eye of the beholder and leave some space open for others to perceive you as you are, not just as you aspire to be. This moment holds great power for you when it comes to curiosity and exploration… allowing the unfinished parts of your being to ring out across the kingdom could instill a sense of wonder in you, giving yourself the ample space and creative empowerment needed to rework not just the way that you view yourself, but also the ways in which you allow yourself to be received by ‘the other’. When it comes to your big, bold visions for your future self and how they will get to express themselves, know that this moment is a pivotal point where YOU get to envision a truer version of yourself and lay down the groundwork to unveil the you-est you yet!
Aquarius
This Rx is all about the rich, hidden, sometimes messy world inside of your precious little being that never sees the light of day! Mercury is here to emphasize and hold the mic up to the parts of you that struggle to find awareness or consciousness during the buzzing of your day-to-day life. While this area of the chart is most certainly a mixed bag of beans, you can be sure of one thing: whatever is unearthed and comes to the surface will be transformational for you as you make your way into the midst of 2023. Honestly, this isn’t an easy area to broadcast to your consciousness, BUT it is such an amazing place to start the year at. You are going to be walking into 2023, post-Rx, with an awakened sense of self. While this moment is asking you to get cozy with the parts of you that usually go untouched on the regular, what better way to start a new year than to be in cahoots with the parts that could easily hold you back if they continued to go unnoticed? We’re talking about the grief, the depression, the anger, the sadness, but also the profound poetry within your being, the joy of your freed inner child, the sensitive and intuitive parts that understand others on immortal levels, and the part of you that feels limitless and transcendent, all making their way into the known. This moment screams breakthrough because what happens when our dormant parts rise to the surface? We break through what holds us back in such powerful ways. While this moment is certainly asking you to bravely spelunk your way into your very own caverns, it does so with a touch of magic. For what is seen by the surface can be released, and what is released no longer holds you back from what is ready to become! Both in your being and in your life.
Pisces
This Rx is taking you into the heart of what it means to be a part of the whole. When it comes to your friendships, collectives, co-ops, communities, and groups, you are redesigning the ways in which you find and fit into larger societal structures and social gatherings. Is there a certain way that you would like to see yourself when it is placed against the backdrop of humanity and community? Restructuring the ways that you fit into a whole can be a lonely journey, but it doesn’t have to be! Instead of focusing on what makes you too different to fit into common shapes of society, allow this moment to redirect your thoughts and perceptions to the more organic shapes, groups, companions, and communities that present themselves. Sometimes it’s not a matter of fitting in, but rather molding our communities to fit our very own, unique shapes. If there are any social groups or communal settings that served you once upon a time but have since ceased to evolve you and carry you forward through this world, perhaps it’s time to reprioritize, reprocess, and reassess your needs when it comes to group dynamics and social constructs. This moment wants to deliver to you, the ideas and inspirations needed to help you remold the many different structures of social support in your world to better support the ways in which you want to revolutionize yourself, your life, your community, or perhaps even the collective humanity at large. If something pulls at your heart, you’re on the right path. Let it unfold and remodel itself to fit the bigger picture of your journey through this world.
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