Should I Wait Until Mercury is Out of Its Shadow Period?

Hello, everyone

I've been wanting to create an online group in which to communicate with members of an organization I'm a member of, but I thought of this idea during the Mercury Retrograde period and did not wish to implement it during this time. However, I always seem to receive a burst of creative energy immediately following the Mercury Retrograde, and my Aries stellium is itching to get started on a new project. This will be a group primarily for communication purposes, so I think the position of Mercury in the chart is critical. Therefore, would you suggest that I wait until Mercury has emerged from its shadow--i.e. cleared the degree in which it first stationed to go retrograde? Does anyone have any experience with projects begun during Mercury's shadow period?

Today's also the Summer/Winter Solstice, which would be cool energy to have imbued in the group. Should I give it a go?

EDIT: On second thought, I'm going to wait at least until the Moon is no longer Void-of-Course, but I could create the group as early as tomorrow morning. Would this be advisable, or should I wait until the Sun gets out-of-orb of the opposition with Pluto, and Mars moves away from the opposition with Neptune? Should I also wait until after Mars makes a conjunction with Saturn?

I suppose a waxing Moon would be more beneficial than a waning Moon, too...

Arian Maverick

A.M. It sounds interesting. I have decided to hold off on a few things when Mercury went retro. Like purchasing a car. Hopefully I can do that in a few days. Hmm... two malific planets conjunction. (Mars-Saturn) One book claims that your efforts will be frustrated. The other book says "death-cruelty-sadism." But I think that would be "opposition aspect" on the latter one. Hmm you might want to let a few degrees pass on that one, ha!
V/r LionKing:sunny:

I'd prefer for the other members not to view me as a sadist; I think I'll wait a few days, then. Thanks, Lion King!

Do you have any suggestions as to which sign would be best on the Ascendant, or where I should I aim to have the chart ruler? The main purpose of this group is communication, so perhaps I should aim to have Mercury angular? I wish I could keep Mercury in Gemini, but I fear that it will enter Cancer by the time all of the negative aspects I'm trying to avoid have passed...

I also want this group to increase a sense of fellowship between members. What planetary placements would foster that?

Arian Maverick

Hmm friendships and the 11 house would be of that matter. But communication would be the 3rd house. So I would take that into account. Mercury is currently out of retrograde. I haven't looked at todays aspects yet while I'm writing this. (Shows what an amiture I am, ha!) Jupiter is also retrograde. From what I understand Jupiter's being retro might not change until the end of the year. But in sports forcasting, Jupiter's retro doesn't matter, hopefully angular matters and Jupiter being in triplicity would out-weigh difficult aspects. Knowing that Mars is getting pretty close to Saturn residing currently in Virgo, I'd do it before it gets any nearer to Saturn, but I do remember seeing a chart that had Jupiter in the 11th house and Mercury in the third house yeasterday. I'd say the sooner the better. (Sorry about all of this... I just woke up, ha!) V/r LionKing
(P.S. Give me a sec to look at a few charts and I will finish this note up.)

Hi there AM!

Mer is done with its second retrograde motion this year, so go for it.

I think waiting has been a good decision, esp as your idea has to do with communication and that's what Mer is all about - more so in the wake of this Mer retro in Gemini - the sign to which the 'communicative' Mercury is attributed. Great idea though!

Arian Maverick said:

Do you have any suggestions as to which sign would be best on the Ascendant..?

Click to expand...

Why not take one of the air signs on the Asc - for your 'communication enterprise' :

Gemini - for obvious reasons
Libra - for amiable communication and a more balanced dialogue
Aquarius - for a tinge of brilliance

Btw, dwelling on the Mercury-Retrograde bit just a bit longer, Mer-Retros are all about air signs this year (no wonder your brilliant 'communication enterprise' popped up at the time of Mer-Retro in Gem).
Mercury retrogrades, in general, provide the opportunity to adjust our thoughts, attitudes and communications about our direction. The adjustments that are slated to occur in 2008 are in air signs, Aquarius (in Jan/Feb), Gemini (in May/June), and Libra (in Sept/Oct).

aquarius7000
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I just read Aquarius' reply and it was pretty good. I don't know where you reside at for perfect time to do this. But here in Indiana, it would be @ 25 minutes after midnight. (Doesn't that sounds spooky?)
At that time it would have both Moon and Jupiter in the 11th house and Mercury in the third house in Gemini. Hope this has helped you. V/r LionKing

I'm in the Eastern time zone; you may be as well, but this map sort of has Indiana in both Eastern and Central! Check it out.

So both of you are suggesting that I do this tonight?

EDIT: An air sign (Libra) is currently rising, but I've got both malefics--Mars and Saturn--in the eleventh house, which I think I should try to avoid. The Moon's also the apex planet of a yod configuration involving Venus and Saturn.

Arian Maverick

Suggest waiting then.
Mars/ Saturn in the 11th house of community etc might give birth to a 'war' community and we can certainly do without that

From the 'communication-in-community' point of view - it might be good to have Sun, Moon, Venus, Mercury in houses 1, 3, 11, and keep Mars, Saturn, Pluto out of them.

Sorry, can't make any suggestions on time, as I'm based in Europe.

Good luck
aquarius7000

I'm trying to find a good date before I settle upon a time.

Unfortunately, Mars will be conjunct Saturn by the time the Mercury shadow period is over, so I'll have to wait more than a month for that to clear.

Should I create the group during the New Moon of August 1st? Or should I wait until Mercury is no longer combust?

The only problem is that Mercury moves away from the Sun only to conjunct Saturn, and Venus is also conjunct Saturn around the middle of August. Would this Saturnian influence make the group too serious? I want to discuss important organization matters, but I also want members to get to know each other. Mars is applying towards a pretty tight square to Pluto on that day, which seems somewhat ominous.

There's a pretty scary-looking Grand Cross when the Moon moves into position on August 25th.

The further ahead I go, the more negative indicators I seem to find

Arian Maverick

Yes... I'm on the west side of the Indianapolis are 40n06 87w15. My time would be eastern (I keep a close watch on all the ball games, ha!) Aquarius7000 again is correct on advise about house placement. And yes please avoid Mars-Saturn conjunction. Hey I know that it is a weird time but the planet placement has both Moon and Jupiter in the 11 house (friendships), and Mercury (communication) in the third (also communication). Running over a few charts I found the best time would be the one I advised. You can still catch this in the next couple of days in about the same area of time, the only problem is... Mars gets closer to Saturn. That's why I advise as quick as possible at the given time.
V/r LionKing

Whew!... Just read the last message that flew by me. August? Hmm I would have to look further into that one. Now off the top of my head... there is a Solar Eclipse in the first week of August. There is a Lunar Eclipse on the 16 of that month. I would have to look further to see how this would effect.
V/r LionKing

I'm looking at the chart for the Lunar Eclipse now, and it has Saturn, Mercury, and Venus conjunct in Virgo within three degrees or so and these planets are trine Jupiter, which is pretty nice. The Virgo stellium is loosely opposed Uranus, though, and Mars is tightly square Pluto. That last aspect scares me...

Arian Maverick

Weighing the pros and cons, from your last few posts- AM & LionKing, I (strongly) suggest to avoid the more (negatively) intense constellations of Mars-Pluto and Mars-Saturn. Also, personally, I wouldn't like to start something new under the shadow of an eclipse.

One more thing, if you were to start the 'project' when the Sun brightens up the Virgo-skies, and with the Stellium of Sat/Mer/Ven + Sun all, in Virgo=> could result in too much of Virgo (weaknesses surfacing) = critical attitude towards.., reserve, members holding themselves back etc.

Going back to Mars-Pluto and Mars-Saturn not-so-very-nice aspects as the year proceeds, these aspects will be too fierce for the Jupiter trine with Mer/Ven/Sat to combat. Also, remember that your 'project' will be there to stay- meaning it'll be a long-term thing (right?) so the Pluto, Saturn aspects (as outer planets) will be manifesting themselves in their full capacity in the long run.

My suggestion therefore is to not delay the start of your project all too much - AM - and commence with it while wider distances and more degrees separate Mars/Sat/Plu.

But, please, this is only my opinion
aquarius7000

Thanks for the advice, Aquarius

Do you suggest that I do this as soon as the next air sign is on the horizon and forget about waiting out Mercury's shadow period?

The Moon is currently in Aquarius, and Aquarius is also the next air sign that will be on the horizon. I'm not sure if I want the Moon conjunct the Ascendant, though, and an Aquarius Ascendant would also give me Pluto in the eleventh house.

I'm currently entertaining the possibility of setting my alarm to 2:30 AM so I could create the group around 3 AM. This time will have Mercury conjunct a Gemini Ascendant with the Sun conjunct the second house cusp. The Aquarius Moon is conjunct the Midheaven, but again, I'm not sure if I like both malefics festering in the fourth house.

I can't seem to get the Sun, Venus, and Mercury all in the first house, and I want Mercury to be in the first house rather than the twelfth.

Arian Maverick

As an addendum to my previous post,

Here's my take on dates AM & LionKing

Looking at the block between Jun 24 and July 4 seems not too bad, though I prefer late Jun - say some thing like mid next week - 25th Jun looks nice - see below

Mars-Sat are at least 8°-9° degrees apart.
Sun and Venus are close in Cancer
Mer will be its agile and quick-to-communicate self while still in Gemini. I think later Mer starts forming a square to Ura
Ura is sextiled by Jup. Uranus goes retrograde on June 26
Pluto will be trine Mars at 3°16'
Ok, Mars will be opposing Nep at 2°24, but then you can't have it all
Moon is conj Ura in Pisces on the 25th. Later in the day, it gets into a square with Pluto, so first half might be better

I see no major hassles, timewise for the the period recommended above. Looks quite safe to me. What do you say??

Some more important movements:
Mars goes conjunct Saturn on 10th Jul
Mars is opp Ura on Aug 6
Mars squares Pluto on Aug 16/17
Partial Lunar Eclipse with Full Moon in Aquarius on 16th Aug


Hope this helps
aquarius7000

I found this quite helpful; I'll explore these charts now. Thanks!

I still like the idea of a Gemini Ascendant conjunct Mercury in Gemini, although I don't really like the idea of having to wake up at 4 AM to do it. This chart would have Mars and Saturn in the fourth--not the third, which you said to avoid--and the Pisces Moon would be conjunct Uranus in the eleventh house. Aquarius would be on the Midheaven conjunct the North Node.

Arian Maverick

P.S. Your use of smilies was very creative

AM,

I just did a chart using day: 25 Jun 2008; time 3.45am; place: Pittsburgh (PA),

and with this data - at the time above - and if I got the time difference etc right, we have the chart as in the attachment.

I like the concept of Asc in Gemini. and MC in Aquarius.

Neutral Mer sitting on the Asc
Sun & Venus in 1
3 & 11 are neural
Moon is in 10 in a sextile to Jup, besides conj Ura

Major planetary aspects I explained in my previous post.

Looks good, what do you think

aquarius7000

This looks good; now I just need to find a way to get myself to Pittsburg at 3:45 AM!

I'll have to attempt to create a similar chart in my location...

Again, thanks for all of your help.

Arian Maverick

Arian Maverick said:

I found this quite helpful; I'll explore these charts now. Thanks!
I still like the idea of a Gemini Ascendant conjunct Mercury in Gemini, although I don't really like the idea of having to wake up at 4 AM to do it. This chart would have Mars and Saturn in the fourth--not the third, which you said to avoid--and the Pisces Moon would be conjunct Uranus in the eleventh house. Aquarius would be on the Midheaven conjunct the North Node. Arian Maverick
P.S. Your use of smilies was very creative

Click to expand...

Think our posts crossed, and amazing that we liked the same idea.

Just living out my good old Aquarius Sun & Mer Thanks
Hope that the Aquarian MC will get your 'project' some creative and helpful responses!!

Also, had a look for the same day (25th Jun) with Libra Asc, but can't get Pluto out of 3 and I think Sat & Mars move to 11

So, if you like AM, I'd say stick to the 25th (adds upto 7- lucky no. ) , and don't forget to set your alarm for the crack of dawn (or actually even earlier ) to keeo the GEMini ASC.


Good luck again
aquarius7000

I'll write a reminder to myself in my calendar. Thanks!

Arian Maverick