Rock and Stone
Mercury in Capricorn
After two months of doing corkscrews in Sagittarius, Mercury finally entered Capricorn on January 8. This ingress should come as a relief, maybe even a cause for celebration. Now that the Messenger has entered dry, discriminative Capricorn, Mercurial topics such as communication, travel, teaching, and learning should all improve. Mercury’s difficulties in Sagittarius were amplified during this recent transit by a retrograde period, three squares to Saturn, and the fact that Sagittarius’ ruler Jupiter has been in similarly screwy shape - retrograde in Gemini and unable to offer much help. Myself and those close to me all reported difficulty in articulation, travel, and just generally stringing together a coherent sentence.
However, in the sign of the Sea Goat, Mercury demonstrates far greater efficacy. Although lacking essential dignity, Mercury greatly benefits from the stony Saturnian topography of Capricorn. It excavates ideas through inquiry and draws knowledge from the interior of the earth. Here, Mercury operates within an expansive timescale. Drawing upon an awareness of history and finitude, Mercury steadily stacks stone on stone to construct cairns and cathedrals. It lays careful plans, making incremental consistent progress toward goals. “Slow and steady wins the race,” says the winged Messenger in Capricorn.
Mercury’s efficacy is further improved by the sextile it forms to its domicile lord Saturn who is in Pisces. A constructive flow opens up between the two signs. Imagination pours in from the starlit seas of Pisces, but Capricorn is able to ground it down into something real. At this time, Mercury will additionally apply to a sextile with Venus who is also in Pisces. To Mercury, the Fairer Benefic opens doorways to beauty and smooth avenues of communication. Mercury will perfect this pair of sextiles at nearly the same time that Venus conjoins Saturn at 16° Pisces on January 18. Together in Pisces, Venus and Saturn conjure the melancholic beauty of a beach in wintertime - the swirling grey clouds, the desiccated beach grass, and raging waves. There is a sublime and potent well of inspiration forming from which one can draw musings that move hearts and minds.
If Mercury’s retrograde or general transit through Sagittarius brought progress on creative projects to a half, don’t let this transit pass you by. This moment provides an effective time to start again steadily and find sure footing once more. It's time to concretize whatever art has been gestating within your imagination.
Today's rocking tune comes from the mighty Wind Rose, a power metal band from Tuscany, Italy. All power metal provides some flavor of fantastical escapism, and Wind Rose is no exception. They have carved out a niche for themselves by embodying the Dwarves from Tolkien’s legendarium. Their discography is filled with rollicking songs about mining, underground kingdoms, and slaying cave trolls. Musically, the tracks are chest-beating marches filled with call-and-response gang vocals and folk instruments. Lately, it is this whimsical, jubilant, even silly style of metal I've needed. If you want to rock like a Dwarf, check ‘em out!