Celeste's Blog: Mercury in Retrograde in December Prepares Us for a Successful 2011

Celeste's Blog: Mercury in Retrograde in December Prepares Us for a Successful 2011

Mercury in Retrograde in December Prepares Us for a Successful 2011

December 2010 - Back Up or Back Around Click on the image for a larger view. NOTE: Image will come up in a new browser window.

Back Up or Back Around

Mercury’s retrograde again from December 10th to December 30th, but this month Mercury retrograde offers more opportunities than barriers.
The year 2011 is going to offer a series of chances to break free from old limitations, leaving no-longer-useful attitudes, ideas, and situations behind. Americans move less often than we did 40 years ago, so the odds are about nine to one that you’re going to make those changes without leaving your current location.
In 2011, in other words, many of us will be turning in place, redirecting ourselves without leaving home (a break from the centuries when moving on was the typically American way of change).
And what better way to prepare for a year of changes and new opportunities than with Mercury retrograde in December. While Mercury’s retrograde, we avoid shopping by using up whatever’s on hand to use, finish old projects, and plan new works.
During the first half of Mercury retrograde (from the 10th through the 20th), focus on finishing with the past. Weigh the past carefully. Do you really intend to finish a project that’s been idle for three years, or do you want to recycle it or throw it out and give your attention to something else? Is it time to delete old files and software you never use–or at least move them off the computer and into storage?
Even if you spend the entire Mercury retrograde making your life lean and streamlined, doing the hard work of letting go will be the best possible preparation for changes and chances starting on January 2nd.
The chart for Mercury retrograde this December shows a cutting edge of focus (Saturn) ending with freedom and expansion (Jupiter-Uranus conjunction). Clearly, focus and concentration now pave the way for Jupiter and later Uranus moving into Aries, the sign of independence, early in 2011.
The only way out of a rut is to turn your wheels–and the economy’s been somewhere between a rut and a mud hold for several years. Now it’s time to back up and change direction. For some of you, it will be a small and welcome change. For others, huge changes that may or may not be something you planned or would have chosen.
Real change takes a lot of thought. Research by James O. Prochaska, Ph.D., http://www.astrologicalinvesting.com/html/articles_pages/articles-UranusInAries.html/ and his colleagues shows that action is the third step in a six-step process. The earlier stages include precontemplation (when you just think about coming out of denial) and contemplation (when you actually think about change). The first two stages need to be completed before action can be welcomed as the third stage.
When the economy slumps, most of us move into precontemplation on at least one issue. The recent election, along with changing economic news, may have moved you into the contemplation stage on major life changes or on smaller but vital issues. Mercury retrograde provides an ideal time for reviewing your situation, deciding what to change and what part of that change you’re prepared to undertake now.
If the changes you plan are simple and personal, you’ll want to put them into effect by December 31st. If they’re simple, but work-related, you may want to wait for January 2nd, when the western world goes back to work.
For major changes, you may want to wait to make announcements outside your personal mastermind or family circle until Jupiter enters Aries on January 22nd. Jupiter in Aries supports more independent action than Jupiter in Pisces–and even though Jupiter isn’t in its rulership in Aries, it’s still in its element. If creativity or freedom from restrictions are part of your plan, circle January 22nd in red on your calendar and plan to use that day as a springboard.
Retail stores may find Mercury retrograde hard on volume–but post-Christmas sales should still reduce inventories enough to let merchants make significant changes for 2011.
And while Mercury retrograde won’t help the usual holiday delays in airports, it will clear the way for more clarity about regulations and procedures in 2011. By summer, with Uranus in Aries, some of the current procedures should become less difficult.
Don’t hold your breath waiting for Congressional action on anything now. Even changes regarding health care will be more bluster than substance in December, and nothing lasting is likely to happen until after January 22nd. Jupiter and Uranus in Aries do not support some of the universal health coverage rules, such as requiring employers to offer health benefits, so expect them to roll back later. In the meantime, cold weather doesn’t mean we won’t have hot air in Washington.
As for me, I just found some yarn I hadn’t used, and I’ll be knitting while Mercury’s retrograde. And scanning old photos to free up storage. The hard part will be sorting through half-finished writing projects and scheduling time to write them–or not. With a little luck, the dull focus of Saturn and Mercury retrograde will pay off in more stories finished in 2011.
And whatever you want for the New Year, I hope backing up and redirecting yourself during this Mercury retrograde will help bring you the freedom and resources for a great new year.

Mary O’Gara, Ph.D.

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