Feature Attraction - Mercury

Historical/Myological Facts

• Mercury was the Roman god of trade and commerce, in the same vein as Hermes of the Greeks, the messenger
• In India Mercury was called Buddha
• Mayans charted the motion of the planet Mercury as well; records of their detailed observations are found in the Dresden Codex. These include the appearance of Mercury as a morning star in 733 B.C. and as an evening star in 727. The Mayans also calculated that Mercury would rise and set in the same place in the sky every 2,200 days
• Translations from surviving cuneiform tablets reveal that Mercury was designated by many names, including that transcribed by archaeologists as MulUDU.IDIM.GU.UD. Mercury was often associated with Nabu, or Ninurta, the god of water and writing. Later, in Akkadian, it became known as Shikhtu, meaning "jumpy"
• For the Egyptian Mercury was called Thoth, the great measurer - a divinity associated with knowledge, and the inventor of speech, writing, and arithmetic
• For the northern ancestors, Mercury was named Odin, the supreme god. Often referred to as the god of wisdom, magic, and war, and the inventor of runes, his name means "inspired one". Odin was worshiped throughout northern Europe (including Britain), wherever the Vikings and other Nordic peoples settled. Odin was also known as Woden, and it is from this form that the English word for Wednesday is derived

  450 B.C. the Greeks started studying the motions of the planets and using geometry to measure the size of the Earth, Sun and Moon. Mercury was known by two different names, associated with its evening and morning appearances. These were Apollo (god of truth, the arts, archery, plagues, and divination) and Hermes (god of writing and messenger to the other gods).

Fast Facts!

• Mercury is the nearest planet to the sun. It has the most extreme contrast in temperature between day (430°C) and night (-180°C) in the solar system. Daytime temperatures are high enough to melt zinc and tin.
• BUT! Mercury is not the hottest planet, Venus is due to its heat trapping atmosphere
• Mercury's axis of rotation is oriented nearly perpendicular to the planet's orbit (axial tilt=0), so that in the polar regions sunlight strikes the surface at a constant grazing angle. The interiors of large craters at the poles are permanently shadowed and remain perpetually cold, below -212ºC (-350° F). Amazingly, radar observations of Mercury's north pole by Arecebo(a region not mapped by Mariner 10) show evidence of water ice in the protected shadows of some craters.
• Mercury's orbit is highly eccentric; at perihelion it is only 46 million km from the Sun but at aphelion it is 70 million. 
• Pluto has the most elongated orbit, two-thirds further from the Sun at aphelion than at perihelion.
• Mercury has virtually no atmosphere, meaning life as we know it is impossible.
• Mercury rotates three times for every two orbits of the sun
• This fact and the high eccentricity of Mercury's orbit would produce very strange effects for an observer on Mercury's surface. At some longitudes the observer would see the Sun rise and then gradually increase in apparent size as it slowly moved toward the zenith. At that point the Sun would stop, briefly reverse course, and stop again before resuming its path toward the horizon and decreasing in apparent size. All the while the stars would be moving three times faster across the sky. Observers at other points on Mercury's surface would see different but equally bizarre motions.
• Mercury is the second densest major body in the solar system, after Earth. Actually Earth's density is due in part to gravitational compression; if not for this, Mercury would be denser than Earth. This indicates that Mercury's dense iron core is relatively larger than Earth's, probably comprising the majority of the planet. Mercury therefore has only a relatively thin silicate mantle and crust.
• Only one spacecraft has been to mercury, Mariner 10, passing three times in 1974-75.
• However NASA's Messenger is on the way, launched in August 2004, and will fly by three times and then enter mercury orbit in March 2011. Then in 2012, ESA/ISAS's BepiColombo will be launched, also into mercurian orbit.
• Because of mercury's proximity to the sun, it cannot safely be photographed by the Hubble Space Telescope.
• Mercurian atmosphere is thin enough to be described as an exosphere, meaning the constituent atoms never collide. The identified elements in the exosphere are sodium, potassium, hydrogen, oxygen and neon. Ions and high frequency electromagnetic radiation from the sun are responsible for dislodging the atoms in the exosphere.
• Mass (kg) 3.302x1023
• Diameter is 4,880 kilometers (3,032 miles) (32% that of Earth) 2nd smallest of the classical planets now the smallest
• Perihelion (km) 46.00x106
• Aphelion (km) 69.82x106
• Length of day (hours) 4222.6

Why care about Mercury?

It offers a chance to examine another outcome of the processes that also produced Earth, Venus and Mars.

Learning how Mercury ended up the densest planet (after correcting for internal pressures) will tell us much about planetary formation.

Discovering how Mercury has sustained a magnetic field while larger bodies either have lost an earlier field (as Mars did) or have no present field and no record of a past field (Venus) will help us to understand magnetic field generation in our own planet.

Mercury also has the thinnest atmosphere among all the terrestrial planets and an incredibly wide temperature range. In fact, temperatures vary from nearly the highest in the solar system (at the equator) to among the coldest (in the permanently shadowed areas where ice deposits seem to lurk). Documenting the nature of Mercury's tenuous and changeable atmosphere and the composition of its mysterious polar deposits - thought by many to consist of water ice - will give us new insight into the volatile materials in the inner solar system.

In 2008, we experienced Mercury retrograding in the Air signs of Aquarius, Gemini, and Libra. In 2009 the retrogrades will occur from Air to Earth signs. Here’s a heads up on the dates.

2009
• 11 January to 31 January, 8+° Aquarius to 22+° Capricorn
• 6 May to 30 May, 2+° Gemini to 23+° Taurus
• 6 September to 29 September, 6+° Libra to 22+° Virgo

The 2010 Earth series begins on 26 December 2009 in Capricorn.

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This Mercury retrograde sets the pace for the new year of 2009. The fact that the first Mercury retrograde emphasize humanitarian goals integrated into the career and business arena becomes important as this focus provides the changes and adjustments needed for 2009. Mercury enters Aquarius on the first day of the year and then Jupiter enters Aquarius five days later. This gives 2009 a jump start to bring the focus onto the humanitarian issues, the human rights issues within our own community as well as the global environment.

Capricorn relates to contracts, pacts, treaties and agreements and these are the elements that will be revised as Mercury brings the issues of humanity back into the environment of adequate documentation. This Mercury retrograde will see many areas contain this type of revision process, from government, to company bailouts, to international alliances, and united nations political goals.

Many of these revisions will be precipitated by the requirements of the checks and balances through the Saturn/Uranus opposition as these two planets still provide powerful aspects that are at the helm of the necessary changes slated for this year.
Because 2009 is universally an ELEVEN/TWO year, we can look to these situations with a purpose of higher navigation or as just a short term-fix so that we can continue the way things were without the bite of change through accountability. The ELEVEN is a combination of several aspects from particular signs, such as humanitarian aspect from Aquarius, philosophical and communication aspect from Sagittarius, and the spiritual aspect from Pisces. The ELEVEN year opens up the opportunity for visionary leadership that is geared to move humanity into a new direction, one that is aligned with the spiritual and philosophical pathway. All the way through the ELEVEN year, we have choices of our alignment, according to these attributes and our core beliefs. This Mercury retrograde sets the pace and prescendence that we will use all year long. This is an important Mercury retrograde and an important start to the New Year.

The signs of the zodiac that are impacted by the Mercury retrograde in January/February as well as the ones that follow have Mercury move into air signs, and then retrograde back into earth signs, which then provide a physical resolution for the issues that are presented by the air signs. The one for January/February sees Mercury moving into the humanitarian focus of Aquarius and then retrograde back into the earth sign that rules contracts, pacts, treaties and agreements. This will set many events into motion at the beginning of the year that will be worked through all year long. The issues emphasize people, groups of people, citizens of a community, company, country or international setting. The primary issues as contained in contracts and agreements will come under review because of the changes that are now occurring with Pluto shifting into Capricorn. How this transformational planet of Pluto will value and shift the value of people becomes a key attribute to the use (or mis-use) of power and leadership.

To have the Aquarius focus toward good-will to mankind becomes the foundation to the ELEVEN year of 2009. The essence of good-will does not mean to allow people to follow their weaknesses, but to emphasize their strength. This becomes the issues that will also come under the Saturn/Uranus scrutiny of accountability as many changes will precipitate revisions and reform of many governments, industries, financial institutions, judicial systems, corporations, international agencies and international alliances. We will see many countries align with others that share the value system regarding people, as the whole spectrum from repression to freedom becomes the perspective that is shared.

Mercury retrograde connects with action-oriented Mars at 23 Capricorn on January 26th, the same day as the Solar Eclipse at 6 Aquarius. This adds an energy to the powerful new beginnings that provide a jumpstart to this year. With Mars in Capricorn, the additional energy emphasizes the elements of Pluto in the Capricorn arena. The focus of Capricorn rules the "structures" of business and the contracts, pacts, treaties and agreements that become the processes and workings of those structures. With Mars activating these processes and Pluto emphasizing the transformation of the structures, we will see many re-structuring issues and reforms of the Capricorn industries to update their systems.

What is Mercury Retrograde?:

This happens three to four times per year, when the planet Mercury slows down, and appears to stop (station) and move backward (retrograde). It's an optical illusion, since there is forward movement, like speeding by a slow-moving train -- as it recedes, it appears to go backward.

What happens during Mercury Retrograde?:

Since Mercury rules communication, it's said that everything goes haywire in that area -- emails get deleted or bounced back, mail is returned, calls go out into the ethers, etc. Some people find that their computers go on the fritz or phone lines go down. I've never seen the hard data on this, so make your own observations. It does seem though that miscommunications abound during the retrograde period.

A Time-Out:

Mercury retrograde gives us time to catch up with ourselves, and to look back. Something from the past might return in a different form. This can mean people, ideas or buried insights that need to surface for you to move forward. Often it's felt as a contemplative time, depending on the sign, a chance to go over old ground again, to claim what you missed the first tim

Be Non-Committal:

There's a long-held belief that it's best to avoid making set plans during the Mercury Retrograde. This means being cautious about things like signing contracts, and forming partnerships and corporations. What gets put in writing at this time may turn out to need serious revising after Mercury goes direct. But since tying up loose ends is the domain of retrograde, this type of finalization might fly.

Can you repeat that?:

In our relationships, sometimes we gloss over things that pushed buttons at the time, but which we let slide. What seemed not worth the trouble may reveal itself as a major issue in need of our attention. The Mercury retrograde is a time for review, when the underlying patterns come to light.

Back to the Drawing Board:

Some dreams and goals get lost in the hectic rushing around of daily life. The Mercury Retrograde period can be a rich time of reflection on those longings. This makes it a time for the soul to ponder its destiny. You might look over old journals, review your creative work, muse on serendipities of the past that have pointed you toward your spirit's calling. It can make the retrograde period a time of solidifying a sense of your personal story and where you're headed.

What does it mean in each different sign?:

The Mercury retrograde is shaped by the sign through which it is cast. For example, a Mercury retrograde in Cancer turns the mind toward things like family, home and the invisible emotional bonds that connect us. On the other hand, a Mercury retrograde in Aquarius gives it a different spin, with a review of group dynamics, the larger human community, all from a detached perspective.

Making the Most of Mercury Retrograde:

Astrology is a tool that can make you aware of patterns, like those that come during a Mercury retrograde. Just observe and see what happens, and be open to the past returning for review. If it's coming back, there's likely something more to learn or release from it. You don't have to retreat to the zen monastery, but a little solitude and quiet reflection never hurt anybody. 
  
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Mercury retrograde provides the opportunity to adjust our thoughts, attitudes and decisions about our issues and adjust our new direction as we move into 2009. The adjustments of Mercury retrograde typically occur three times a year (four in 2009) and become similar to a course correction during the flight from one destination to another. The adjustments that occur during Mercury retrograde typically have a theme that occurs all year long, shown by the elements of the signs affected. In 2009 the adjustments that are slated to occur during the retrogrades begin in air signs and return back to earth signs. Thus these Mercury retrogrades take our ideas, decisions and attitudes about specific events and utilize the information to put new processes, contracts,and the like into place.

Mercury retrogrades have a cycle** in which the retrogrades have an exactness of covering the same signs, the same degrees and approximately on the same calendar days. This exactness is seldom thought about Mercury retrograde, with the seemingly chaotic and confusing situations we experience during the retrogrades. The exact Mercury retrogrades we will experience in 2009 were the exact same signs, same degrees and approximately the same calendar days of 1930. This cycle** is seldom talked about in the astrology world, but is the cause of major course corrections for humanity. We can look back at history of 1930 to see the impact of Mercury retrogrades covering the same time frames, the same signs and the same degrees. We are coming to an important time as was experienced in 1930. For instance, the President of the U.S. in 1930 was Herbert Hoover, who had a birthday of August 10th, and the U.S. President in 2009 is Barack Obama, born August 4th, both having Sun in Leo. Few people are old enough to recount the transition of that time, but it becomes history repeating itself to give us a chance to grow as humanity, as a society and to make a difference. The Planet of Mars follows this same cycle and the sequence of Mars retrogrades are similar as well. Mercury rules ideas and attitudes and Mars brings these ideas and attitudes into action. The phrase "thoughts become things" certainly brings home the combined energy of these two planetary connections. With 2009 being an ELEVEN year (in numerology - more see below), Mars retrograde in Leo at the end of 2009 opens the door for visionary leadership to bring forward a higher level of opportunities.

The purpose of Mercury retrograde is to review and revise our life and our connection with reality. The timing of this universe is geared toward the Sun as it moves through the zodiac. Mercury has an orbit that at times gets ahead of the Sun allowing us to look into the future toward new and innovative ideas. However, we cannot continue in that vein until we come back to the present designated by the Sun and put our new ideas into manifestation. During the time that Mercury jumps ahead, we ultimately have to bring the ideas back into the present to test and evaluate to see how they fit into our life. As Mercury retrogrades back into the present, the connection with the Sun happens as we test drive our ideas and re-align with reality and the natural timing of the universe.

The Mercury retrogrades that are occurring in 2009 provide the opportunities for us to make mental adjustments about decisions we have as our goals, aspirations that are our focus during the ELEVEN year of 2009. Because we are making decisions to bring forward the visionary awareness into our new journey, new endeavors, new goals, the events during the Mercury retrograde time frames help us to veer away from the past and take bold steps into our new future. . These adjustments will be very necessary as they allow us to make major changes, emphasizing our bold and innovative choices. The ELEVEN year brings forward the opportunity to utilize the "master" qualities from a Divine perspective of leadership, visionary purpose, and Divine intent. The ELEVEN reduces to the TWO (1+1=2) which provides the basic energy for the year of relating to people, places and things. However, with the opportunities available to bring forward the Divine path available for those AWARE of the ELEVEN, the journey through 2009 provides a pathway lit by Divine opportunities.